The Day My Dream Died

Art I made for my fantasy book The Day My Dream Died about a young woman who lives in a world where some people can access a dream realm called the undermind which reflects humanity’s perception of reality. The undermind also breeds dark creatures called fiends which feed on the thoughts and emotions of people. The people who can access the undermind are known as dwellers, and are often relied upon by the people around them to protect, defend and heal those touched by fiends the way a healer wards off disease and helps close wounds. Some societies are more or less proactive in upholding a practice of this tendency, and the view of what it means to have access to the undermind can be starkly different from one culture to another.

Our protagonist, a young woman named Lise, is pursuing her sister who has fled home under the influence of fiends. The problem is, her sister’s fiends seem to have become contagious and spread in the towns she has passed through. Lise finds herself overwhelmed with the number of people dead and dying in her sister’s wake and struggles to catch up in the midst of the terrible chaos. The fiends are devouring people at a rate unseen in recent history. Lise wants to do more than merely survive but even her survival is starting to seem dubious in the face of the fiends’ new developments.

Anyone want me to make some art for you? Either a cover or a vignette of a scene or something like that. If you’re releasing it for free I’ll make it for free. Even if there’s a way to pay for it like a physical version or something, as long as there’s a way to access it for free somehow I’ll make it for free. Not just writing, I’ll make covers for music or whatever else you want some art for as well. I mostly just want to collaborate with other artists.

For TDMDD I really try to thread the fine line of accessibility and simplicity without sacrificing richness/depth of texture. A story that is good on immediate read and still rewards delving as deep as you can go. That’s why I try to ground it in the perspective of a single character and pierce the esotericism and semi-opaque surfaces by keeping it concretely planted in that character’s present experience. Or at least that’s the idea

What you are doing now is what you’d be doing during the holocaust.

I’ve been verging on overwhelmed in the lead up to part 4 but now that it’s coming out I’m chilled a bit and plan to be more present and engaged here and elsewhere. Starting with actually reading some of the work of my peers here, which I’m way overdue. I’ve also been thinking about maybe putting something together to play some video games with people and pick their brains on writing and art in general. Something casual and creative like Minecraft maybe, something conducive to the conversations. And maybe at some point a marginally more formal discussion space for people who want to talk writing and art but don’t care to play games. Anyway, one thing at a time. Sometime this week I’ll be starting to do more reading so I can engage with people more tangibly in the context of their work. I’m excited to check out what people are working on. Some have already reached out to ask me to read their writing and they’ll get priority but if you have something you want me to check out/want someone to be able to talk about it with, let me know. I’m setting aside the works of older writers(all due respect to the dead) on my to-read list for the time being in favor of everyone here who is presently contributing to the great conversation that is art. I feel a need to plunge my fingers into the soil and touch the roots.

Boiled chicken with mayonnaise sauce