Firepost 20: Set in Motion

Jan 07, 2026

“We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”

-Carl Jung

Set in Motion

Stories and musings inspired by Chapter 20 in Zakolor.

Whenever I think of rising action in a plot, I think of The Great Mouse Detective.

If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a 1986 Disney movie that follows Basil of Baker Street, a mouse with a striking resemblance to one Sherlock Holmes (including a deerstalker cap and magnifying glass). Basil is searching for an abducted toymaker being forced to work for the dastardly Professor Ratigan in his quest to conquer all of mousedom.

The toys remain vivid in my memory. They’re a primitive form of robotics—all gears and springs and whirring and combustion. The toymaker made each one with a specific function, spending hours finetuning them, layering intricacies upon one another. Just like a writer does a manuscript.

The image that really stuck with me is from the climactic battle between Basil and Ratigan toward the end of the movie. It takes place within a giant clock tower (Big Ben, some would say), where enormous gears and machinery clash together, creating the ever-stressful tick, tick, tick of the enormous clock.

This is how I think about plot and character in a story, all interconnected gears that work together—even when they don’t appear to at first. Things rarely “just happen” in a story. There needs to be a reason. An event, a decision, an action or reaction, triggering another event, and so on. The gears all touch, all have an effect.

I suppose, in some way, writing is like physics.

And that’s exactly what I thought about when I titled this chapter Set in Motion in Zakolor. Zak is whisked away from the safety of Tor’alan and into the dangerous wilds. Alone, at least for a moment. When I was writing, all I could picture was the giant gears of the clock clunking together, pushing the hands around the face. Movement. Progress. The beginning of the story’s crescendo.

Clairise’s Corner

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

Pull up a chair because what hasn’t been happening in my life the last few months?

First, I was laid off a week before Thanksgiving.

This is the first time since 2013 that I haven’t had a job. It’s strange. I haven’t been a statistic like this before—but thousands of people are facing this exact situation.

There was a mourning period. That’s why there wasn’t a Firepost in December. I took the time I needed to feel and breathe and let the stress and tension come and go like the tide. Some days it crested, overwhelming, threatening to pull me under. Other days it receded, and the freedom almost felt like relief.

The good news is that I have a supportive family and network. I’m going to be okay. More than that in time, I hope. I’m starting my own company, and I already feel the stretching and growing happening, the rising to new challenges.

And there will, of course, be plenty of challenges.

Our first is that we’re selling our home. I had a good salary, and it won’t be replaced overnight. We were already planning to move anyway (more on this next month), so this wasn’t the shock it could have been, but it was startling to be faced with the sudden reality of not being able to stay if we wanted to.

Even though I’m ready for the next chapter, I’ll miss this home. This town. This time.

But fear not, for we have some very exciting times ahead!

For now, we’ll be cleaning and organizing. Fretting over pictures taken for the listing, then maintaining order for showings. We’ve never sold a home before, so this will be a learning experience too!

Fingers and Keys

Writing updates and craft thoughts.

I received Book 3 back from my developmental editor in early December!

I’ve been chipping away at the edits for the last few weeks. Shockingly, there are no major changes needed. I was so unsure about the process of writing this manuscript, but it seems that didn’t impact the outcomes all that much, which is a relief.

And, as we draw nearer to publishing (hopefully March or April at the latest), perhaps it’s time we do a title reveal?

Ahem. I am pleased to announce that the final book in Zakolor’s trilogy is titled:

The Three Fires.

You may recognize it as a soft expletive from Valecium. I think of it as the equivalent of “bloody hell” in the U.K. The Three Fires are also, as we learned in Book 2, fabled magic from the past. I’ll leave you to ruminate on what that means for the story for a while.

All that’s left is to finish this round of edits, get some beta reader feedback, line editing, a cover, and then we are off to the races!

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: Babel by R. F. Kuang. When Robin’s family dies in Canton, China, he is whisked away to England and thrust into a world of scholars and languages. He is meant to be a translator, a Silversmith who creates wonders from words. But the moment he enrolls at the prestigious Babel College in Oxford, he discovers a darker side to the magic he’s meant to wield. Set in an alternative version of our world in the 1800s, the British Empire is at its height of imperialistic power. This novel has a slower pace, but the last third picks up for a breakneck conclusion.

Watch: Heated Rivalry on HBO. Like the rest of the world, this show hooked me. If you’ve been living under a rock, two star hockey players begin a decade-long affair, risking more than just their reputations in an unforgiving and hyper-masculine sport. While this show starts spicy, there’s more heart and depth than meets the eye. Do yourself a favor and binge it if you haven’t yet!

Play: Medieval Dynasty. This game has been out for a few years, but a recent update added so much customization that I can’t not recommend it. Ever have the desire to build your own medieval town, work the fields, raise animals, collect resources, and make goods? Now you can! With two different maps, borderless building options, and storylines in each valley, this game offers countless hours of fun and exploration with a high replayability factor.

Salacious Sales and Gobsmacking Giveaways

Who doesn’t love free or heavily discounted books? Check out the limited-time events below to grow your library and TBR list!

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.

Through the power of social media, I found myself connected with several other independent fantasy authors. 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!