T. K. Arispe

Just wanted to drop a quick update! Work is progressing on Pixeldust. It's at about 54,000 words now, and I'm just coming up on the climax. I hope Balt's comic relief doesn't come across as too out-of-place. I actually based his manner of speech on my sister; she's in college and I figure she knows what all the cool kids are saying these days. (I feel so old and out-of-touch.) But Balt's also been coming up with his own Balt-isms because, I don't really control my characters. Like, going into this manuscript I didn't have much in the way of concrete character development for Maria Elena, just that she was super nice, very smart, and a little bit of a nerd. So I let her do her own thing, and I think she turned into a really likable character--she's kindhearted but also has an analytical side, and although she's usually soft-spoken and introverted, if something raises her ire she can get pretty assertive.

I'm really excited to give Pixeldust to my editor, and then I have some side projects to work on while she looks at the manuscript! First off, I'd like to go back over On Borrowed Wings and smooth out some rough bits. I'm not super satisfied with that book, probably partly because it is like four years old (it came out in 2017, but I'd written it the year before and had trouble finding an editor... I'm so glad I have an editor who's been available for multiple projects now). So I'm hoping doing some minor editing tweaks will help me like it better!

Also, I'd really like to put Worth Searching For, my next long-form Neopets fanfic, up here on the blog. It's like 93,000 words long and one of those stories that I got super into and couldn't stop writing, because, Werelupes and sword fights and magic and Pharazon nearly dying (whoops, spoilers), and Isengrim, Suhel, and Celice turned into such fun characters to write in future stories. I feel like Worth Searching For is what really made my Neopets writing explode, because while it was just intended as some follow-up closure to Worth Fighting For, it ended up introducing a bunch of characters and interpersonal dynamics and intriguing hints of information that I found I also wanted to follow up on. It all finally culminated in Worth Returning For (which I finished writing earlier this year and will put up on the blog at some point), which is the ultimate follow-up closure story, and I feel like it's the perfect send-off for Terra and her family.

Anyway I am rambling. Look for Worth Searching For on the blog soon! My edits to On Borrowed Wings may or may not require the label of a new edition, but if they do, I might as well make an announcement here on the blog. (Jacob and Audrey are my favorite parts of the book, no lie. I guess Nimbus is important because her relative normalness kind of balances out Jacob's smart-alecky scrappiness and the way Audrey enjoys being unsettling.)