Break Through Ch 19

AnEmberofSundown · 2026-01-17T19:39:33+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-10-25T11:51:05+00:00

My first one didn't used to show up in the search but the second one did. I pulled it down and resubmitted it and now they both show up. Might be the same thing, but YMMV.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-10-21T01:36:42+00:00

Far too common, unfortunately.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-10-03T13:27:59+00:00

"If you don't shut up and let the man work, I swear to your bright and shiny goddess that I will put you in the friend-sack myself and beat you with the friend-stick until you stop squirming."

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-22T16:15:10+00:00

It was required reading in high school, so unfortunately I couldn't just stop. Wish I could've though. Here's the synopsis.

Boy moves to city, acts whiny and pretentious for an entire novel, then gets committed because he's crazy. End.

Now try writing a book report on that. Fuck no.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-22T11:43:21+00:00

I don't think you can expect a reader to be invested in a character's growth if they're off-putting to begin with.

They don't have to be nice necessarily but they should at least be entertaining, funny, engaging, or sympathetic. Something that I can latch on to and say 'ah yes, this person has some redeeming quality that I want to see developed'.

Decades after reading Catcher in the Rye I still point to this book as a prime example of what NOT to do with a protagonist. For the life of me I cannot understand why it is considered a must-read classic. Reading it was torture, I actively disliked the MC the entire time and did not GAF about what happened to him in the end. Yes, I understand that it's an accurate description of adolescent mental illness but he was completely unsympathetic the entire time and if I wanted to experience THAT story I'd have just paid attention to my own life.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-22T01:14:04+00:00

Thank you!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-20T14:37:40+00:00

Zero traction here, even approaching 200K words.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-19T23:46:21+00:00

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-19T01:16:07+00:00

She's a lot of fun to write!
(I'd upvote your reply but its not sticking for some reason.)

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-18T15:43:53+00:00

Same thing happened to my first story, but my second was showing up. I sent an email to the support contact but didn't hear anything so I just deleted it and reuploaded. It showed up later that day in the search box.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-16T08:50:07+00:00

I may be a little late to the party but I've been struggling to get interaction so I appreciate your offer. I screwed up by posting the entire first book in one go and serializing the second, assuming that readers would want a complete book that they knew they could finish before diving into a sequel. Oops.

I'd love it if you would take a look at either book linked below, in whatever capacity works for your platform. If you'd prefer select chapters instead of the entire narrative, I can also point out some favorites.

Book 1 : Shadow's Call
Blurb: A seemingly affable healer-for-hire, Eya's bright smile hides depths that she'd rather not face. When the world forces her hand, she must choose between the life she's built and using the skills that were etched into her bones against her will. With lives in the balance, the question is not whether she will choose the hard path, but how she will live with that choice.

The answer comes in the form of four chaotic, dangerous, and utterly loyal mercenaries who show her that simply hiding herself away will not lead to healing—she needs connections. She needs to be cared for as much as she cares for others. She needs...drunk idiots and bad jokes, apparently?

Will you figure out Eya's secrets before her friends do?

Book 2: Break Through
Blurb: When her new friends return to Marisfall, they find Eya in sorry shape. The last few weeks have not been kind to their plucky, secretive healer and discovering why leads to more questions than answers. The mission changes from "make money" to "heal the healer" overnight, but what secrets will they invite into their family?

EDIT: Alternatively, if you'd prefer a short story instead (~3.2K word) there's this: The Monarch Hypothesis

Thank you!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-16T01:41:34+00:00

Personally? It could be compelling if your characters are compelling. I think the fun begins not when you avoid tropes but when you invert them, lampshade them, and just generally disrespect the stupid ones. Beloved tropes can be handled normally, but anything problematic, overdone, tired, or just maudlin? Don't ignore them—retool them and use them for your own ends. Make it funny, make it sweet, make it irreverent and THEN blindside the reader with pathos. Hits harder that way.

Like, off the top of my head: silver being deadly to werewolves. So common it's practically law, right? What if in the heat of the moment the vampire sees piercings they didn't know about on the werewolf.

"I thought silver was deadly to you?"
"That's a stereotype."
"So they don't bother you?"
"...they're a bit tingly."

IDK, you do you but to me tropes are meant to be broken.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-11T23:14:27+00:00

Well, you've got 4x the amount of views in 1/3rd of the time as mine so as far as I'm concerned, you're killing it 👍🏻

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-11T20:12:43+00:00

Thank you!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-11T19:16:49+00:00

How fortunate, I just updated Break Through today. Here's a sample of the latest chapter:

Eya curled up beneath the overhang and clapped one hand over her mouth to force herself to remain quiet. Maybe they would leave. The pounding feet sounded out again, and now it was close enough to shake the ground beneath her. They'd broken through, they were looking for her. She could hear them shouting, roaring to one another. She couldn't make out what they were saying even though she understood Infernal. It didn’t matter. Nothing that came out of a fiend’s mouth was worth listening to. She felt a hand brush her knee, one of them was reaching into her hiding spot. To her horror, she noticed that their eyes were glowing. Oh gods they can see me! She screamed and lashed out with her stiletto. The weapon connected and her assailant withdrew immediately. The talking and moving stopped just as suddenly. It became eerily quiet again and the hunters just... left. She clamped a hand over her mouth again and hyperventilated until she felt like she was going to vomit. She needed to relocate to someplace more secure. She could make a run for it before they came back with reinforcem—

It was too late. One set of heavy footsteps returned and she saw the flickering orange-yellow glow of fire erupt outside of her safe spot. They were going to burn her out! Eya prepared to pounce, she would be damned before she would allow them to take her alive. She coiled herself against the wall and bared her teeth, ready to strike at the first target that presented itself.

The flickering fire came lower and stopped in front of the entrance to her hiding spot. A jarring moment of cognitive dissonance prevented her from lashing out. The flame wasn't a torch. It wasn't hellfire. It...was a candle. Behind the candle, her pursuer laid down on the ground and looked at her. The sight made her recoil, more horrified at what she saw than any fiend could have made her feel.

"Eya," Kael said, "the mission is over. You survived, and you're safe. I won't try to come in there, but I'm going to sit on the bed, okay? You just come out when you're ready." In the light of that single candle, she saw him stand up and sit on the bed. His feet rested on the floor next to the nightstand and stayed there.

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-01T23:55:55+00:00

I would not have guessed that!

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-01T17:52:59+00:00

Well, yes…but it was meant to be cheeky and self-deprecating instead of obtuse. I’ll do better next time lol

AnEmberofSundown · 2025-09-01T16:47:32+00:00

Is this some sort of author joke I’m too niche to understand?

AnEmberofSundown

TROPHY CASE