Firepost 16: Indagomius

Aug 13, 2025

“Hope for the best, survive the worst, find humor wherever you can.”

-Claire Scovell LaZebnik

Indagomius

Stories and musings inspired by Chapter 16 in Zakolor.

The plan must go awry.

It’s one of the laws of modern storytelling. Even within the pages of a cozy novel—where the stakes are generally low—there needs to be a complication. A wrinkle. A twist that surprises and enthralls, drawing us deeper into the plot or the characters or the scene.

Isn’t that strange, when so many of us read for entertainment? You’d think we’d have our fill of complications and wrinkles just by living our lives, navigating a world that seems to shift by the minute beneath our feet. But no. We seek more.

We can blame physiology, for the most part.

Our brains are wired to notice and assess threats. That ability kept our ancestors alive in more primitive or dangerous environments, where predators lurked in the brush. Hearing a twig snap or seeing a flash of fur between the trees could have meant the difference between life and death.

And while some of us wouldn’t consider our daily existence “safe” per se, most of us are not at risk of being mauled by a wild animal on any given day. So what does our brain do with that spare threat-energy?

It catastrophizes, of course.

That is partially what fuels intrusive thoughts. Those dark little gremlins that whisper, What if you just fell down the stairs right now? as soon as you take the first step. Your chest tightens, you grip the railing, maybe you freeze up and wait for the fear to pass, or perhaps you abandon the trip altogether, delaying your descent.

Your brain just invented a threat for itself.

And that excess of threat-energy, to me, is why some of us become adrenaline junkies, or love horror movies, or true crime podcasts. Our brains are built for brushes with death, and when we don’t encounter them regularly, they are sought out or manufactured, sating that “need” or burning the built-up survival energy.

Fiction is much safer than a mountain lion, so I’ll stick with the plot twists.

In Zakolor’s case, when he is getting settled in Tor’alan, he thinks he’s past the more immediate threats he faced on the road. But oh, how wrong he is, as he’ll soon find out.

Clairise’s Corner

Imagine we’re chatting over a mug of something warm with Densba’s favorite busybody.

My day job has been WILDLY busy the last few weeks, and to spice things up, I sometimes sing a little Rihanna under my breath.

Work, work, work, work, work.

Yet, I know I’m fortunate to have a job, to be gainfully employed, so you won’t find me complaining too much about the extra hours or projects. It’s the lesser of two evils, perhaps, but at least this one comes with a paycheck.

And, a pool party with family and friends more than balances out any exhaustion I might face during the week. I couldn’t tell you the last time I’d been to one—a decade ago at least. My parents strung a volleyball net across the crystal-clear water, grilled kebabs, and set up chairs on the sun-warmed pavement.

It was nostalgic, and cathartic, and delicious.

I read a quote earlier today to the effect of happiness being the greatest form of resistance. Laughter and smiles are healing, and though they can be challenging to muster in the current landscape, this is when we need them most.

Fingers and Keys

Writing updates and craft thoughts.

Draft one of Book 3 is DONE!

It ended around 85,000 words, thirty-two chapters plus an epilogue. Thus begins the editing journey.

I’ve already read the whole thing through once, which is important because with my drafting style, I don’t re-read as I write, and 85,000 words is a lot, so there were plenty of details I didn’t remember writing. And that’s part of the fun, honestly. Reading words that are somehow familiar yet almost new at the same time.

And, I have to say, some of it was good!

That isn’t meant to be self-deprecating (okay, maybe a little). But the first draft isn’t supposed to be good. It’s supposed to get the story out of my brain, down on “paper,” and give it a rough structure. Yet there were several moments, lines, descriptions where I thought, Wait, I wrote that? in a good way.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t have plenty of editing work to do. There’s still a lot to add, expand, and rework. I tend to under-write in my first drafts, which means one of my tasks is adding in the details, layering in the worldbuilding to immerse the reader in Valecium and the story.

So, while I’m working on that, I’m also recruiting members for the ARC team. If you would like to receive an advance copy of Book 3 (when it is ready) in exchange for an honest review posted online, please complete this form. If you have not read Zakolor or The Black Caladrius yet, don’t worry! I’ll provide review copies of those too.

Besides pre-orders, reviews are the most important marketing tool for any book’s success. The more a book has, the more credible it appears to prospective readers, and the better sense they have if the book may be for them. And ARC readers are invaluable because they receive the book early, and therefore can read and post reviews before it launches.

If you’re one of those angels, thank you!

Read-Watch-Play

Media recommendations.

Beyond writing, I’m an avid reader, streamer, and gamer. I’ll leave you with a few recent titles I enjoyed from my little corner of the internet. I tend to skew toward fantasy across media, but will engage with anything that serves as a door to another world:

Read: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab. If you’re new here, it’s important to note that V is my favorite author, so I’m incredibly biased in this review. HOWEVER, you still need to read it immediately. I’d read a thousand more pages of these toxic lesbian vampires! Schwab’s stories often unfold around a tightly structured plot. But this one—this one doesn’t, and that makes it perfect. Wandering, and dreamy. Capturing the essence of human desperation, of the reckoning with our own desires and mortality and the sheer injustice of what the world puts in our path. I couldn’t help but fall in love with each of the characters, sink into the midnight soil beside them, and cry for each of their stories.

Watch: Poker Face on Peacock. What would you do if you knew when someone was lying? That is Charlie Kale’s predicament when she is blessed (or cursed) with this ability and detects her boss’s involvement in her friend’s death at a casino. When things get complicated, she goes on the run and stumbles across many mysteries, helping those she can, restoring a little justice where she can. Natasha Lyonne shines in this quirky, refreshing take on true crime stories.

Play: Star Wars Outlaws. Listen, is this an amazing game? No. Did I squeal as I stole some cargo, ran to my spaceship, then jumped into hyperspace in a daring escape? Absolutely. If you’ve always wanted to be a regular-jane in the Star Wars universe, leading a life of petty crime that more than vaguely resembles the life of Han Solo, this is the game for you.

The Indie Author Fantasy Alliance

That sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I just made the name up, but it’s a real thing, I swear.

Recently, through the power of social media, I found myself connected with several other fantasy authors who also independently publish their works. We banded together to cross-promote, thinking our various audiences may have similar or related tastes.

If you can spare a click and a moment to check out some of these titles, I would be very grateful, as would the wonderful writers behind the covers!