avaJclary

How do you pronounce ood? Well, sometimes it sounds exactly like the word odd, and sometimes I add in extra vowels, and it sounds more like Oud, the perfume. If I knew anything about linguistics, I could explain what the oo sounds like, whether it is a long O or short O, or if umlauts are involved. Reading about linguistic terms is like learning a new language. Don’t quote me! Why is English so impossible? Don’t ask me. I just speak it and grammar, I can hardly spell yeh.

Let’s see, my favorite magic girl? I was a Sailor Mars fan. It was the red high heels. Probably. And the fiery magic. And the mysterious aura when she first appeared. Madoka Magica is fascinating, but dark magical girl stories are hard to recommend. I’m a fan of Precure Wonderful, my first Precure! I love their striped ribbons, and the animals are all adorable. Nico is precious. I haven’t tried the Idol one yet.

I’m definitely more of a soft magic girl. I mean, I prefer soft magic systems. Scenes full of wonder and magic, without having to explain exactly how it all works. (Think Diana Wynne Jones. I love her!) Then again, I usually make rules for my magic. It looks like Odd Enchantments will have curses and cursebreaking. Fairy tales usually have “rules”. Does that mean the story isn’t a soft magic system?

Do you ever misspell the word oops? I always forget if it's one or two Os. Inevitably, I write the wrong one and get the opposite. Too bad I don't default to extra Os. So why Ood? My magic system is based around the word odd, but with extra Os. My spellcheck hates me!

Do you ever watch someone play a game you'll never play? The first time I played Elden Ring, I beat Margot after 30hours and then fizzled. The second time, I became a mage and asked: Can you skip Stormveil Castle? Why yes, you can. I ran all over the world, sold my soul to the witch Ranni, and then “beat the game” by watching a let's play. Does that count as finished? Yes, it does.

Elden Ring but cozy? There is an epic, grand mythology to Elden Ring, but it's also a dark and terrifying world full of monsters and tragedy, and mishmashed people. Grotesque and fascinating. There’s also the Academy with the gorgeous architecture and strange moon magic of Renala and Ranni. Sure, everyone wants to kill you on sight, but what if they didn't? What if Elden Ring was cozy? Can I? Is that allowed? Instead of fairy tales, what if this is a cozy epic fantasy?

I’ve got an enchanted tower in my story, so it’s a little like Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel. Sorta. And Puss in Boots, sorta. Who am I kidding? It's not like any of these classic fairy tales. This is just a romance that exists in a fairytale-like world, sorta.

After several months of thought, I'm going to start posting this. As motivation. The first three chapters release on August 6th. Then, I'll go with weekly chapters as I continue to write it, in all its glorious, messy, rough draftness.  That's how I like my stories anyway.

I haven't forgotten about this! The plan is to focus on the story in May. This is completely a work-in-progress, but I like to post the chapters after I have a few of them done, because then I will stop editing them and get on with writing. Sometimes, I do backtrack as I write. Two chapters forward, if I get stuck, sometimes I find going back a little helps me move forward again. I am a panther-writer. I outline as I go, letting my plot spiral onward and upward.

My story in one sentence. A socially awkward enchantress lives by herself in a tower until her old flame shows up needing her help to break his curse!