The WriMo Blog: The Journey of Legends Fantasy Challenge | Details about my book!

Welcome to The WriMo Blog where I share my monthly writing goals, project progress, and more! Today's post is dive into the book I'm writing for Wattpad's Journey of Legends Fantasy Challenge. If this interests you, keep reading!

I've brought up this book in the past, but now I am going to really talk about it. - I've also been trying to get this post up for two weeks, but its been busy.

First of all, the obvious. Romantic Fantasy, or Romantasy, is the main genre. And as shared previously, the story is inspired by Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. However, I am adding my twist and desired ending. Teddy & Jo forever!

One of the things about this book that I've never tried before is the fact there is detailed politics and a war. This is, in fact, a war mentioned in THE GIRL WITH SCARS, which puts ALLURING STARLIGHT first in the "Realm History". I've put together a timeline for this book and all the books linked to it.

For instance, THE LARK'S PEARL is kinda floating around because I can't figure out where I would put the story. But there are details in TLP that I mention in both A.S. and TGwS, which makes me think I should put TLP way back in the history. Though there is an event the prince in TLP mentions that goes even further back in time.

Side note: at the time of writing this post, I've already written over 3,000 words and steadily continue climbing. And yes, some of these words were from my brainstorm file, but they still count because I am working hard on my story plan/outline. And some of my outline is as I go, because I still discover-write.

One of the things that has truly helped inspire me and kept me motivated is playing around with story artwork and cover design. I spent nearly 5 hours designing this ► cover, just for fun. And I also made it because I haven't designed a complex manipulated cover in over a year. The last one I did was for my ONC2023 novella, INVISIBLE... Still need to write the final chapters for that one.

At the time of creating this post, I have posted the prologue and the first chapters. Reader feedback is positive.

The characters in this story are still inspired by Teddy and the March girls, but there are changes I've made to fit the story I hope to achieve. For example, the March girls are not related to each other, but their characters are still recognizable. Additionally, the character of John Brooke is not my Laurie-character's tutor, but is his best friend in the royal court. This character will still fall in love with the Meg-character.

I will not share too many spoilers, because while I do think sharing as much detail as possible will help me think deeper into my ideas for the story, I don't want to share all too much and have someone take the idea. Not that there isn't a story under the sun that has not been told, but this story is my brain child. However, this one spoiler must be shared;

I made my Amy-character the antagonist. It is not a form of spite, it is not because I can, but it is because that is just how the story works in my head. Trust me, once you read the story, you'll understand.

And disclaimer about her character, because I know it will come up later: The way the Amy-character is portrayed is not to villainize or berate strong, ambitious women with feminist views. On the contrary, this character is also inspired by Hela from THOR: RAGNAROK in the MCU. She thinks her father has grown soft and she wants to carry out his original goal to conquer the land as well as the other kingdoms in the realm. If Cate Blanchet can make you believe the epic character of Hela (because she's a badass!) then hopefully you will enjoy Princess Anne.

Additionally, yes; the Beth-character still dies. But something I am doing is adding the characteristics that make "Beth" to a second character that is close to my Jo-character, but only makes an appearance in a passing-mention.

Finally, something I really hope to accomplish in this story is political intrigue. There is a gathering of these five kingdoms of an unnamed fantasy realm, each having their own reasons for wanting peace, or NOT wanting peace, in the case of the Vrira Empire. I'll share more details about the kingdoms in a different post. Diving too deeply is something that belongs on its own.

That's all for today. I will have another post about my ONC2024 progress in the next few days. Until then stay safe, and stay awesome. See you in the funny papers!

Check out my romantic fantasy, ALLURING STARLIGHT on Wattpad today!

Prince Theo is being molded by his grandfather to become the next ruler of Evæqesta. And for the first time in many years, the kingdoms are gathering together to form a peace treaty. However, such goals remain out of reach as Evaeqesta's greatest enemy continues to attack the border towns and villages. Theo is not ready for battle, but with the help of new companions, and Jossie - the girl not trying to steal his heart - he finds the courage to be the king his grandfather and his people need him to be.

 Alluring Starlight is inspired by the beloved classic novel, LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott.