L. J. Amber

Notice: TEWWBAD Chapter 97 Updated

Hello everyone,

The hazard of the kind of writing I do is that I need to be emotionally present and accessible to do it, otherwise the prose and narrative don't quite click. That's what happened with yesterday's draft — I was too focused o...

TEWWBAD Chapter 97

CHAPTER 97 – In Perfect Silence, Accompanied

Although great was her exhaustion, rest eluded Saphienne as she lay within the cool sheets of her bed staring up at the colder, celestial hallucination. The challenge waiting for her was equal...

Forthcoming Volume Art for Royal Road

Hello all,

I'm getting ready to do a big edit pass of the existing chapters, and as I finish each one I'll be adding volume art to Royal Road. These aren't the future book covers, just a fun placeholder. Since you're supporting me, you get t...

TEWWBAD Chapter 96

CHAPTER 96 – The Learn’d Magicìan

“Tell me again.”

Across from Saphienne in Celaena’s study, Faylar squared his shoulders. “If anyone specifically asks what I was doing with you, I tell them that I was helping you copy s...

TEWWBAD Chapter 95

CHAPTER 95 – Readers Don’t Steal

Relations were not improved overnight. For the first few lessons after their confrontation with Almon, his three youngest students were wary, Saphienne and Celaena in particular being deeply sceptical t...

Delay — TEWWBAD Chapter 95

Hello all,

Chapter 95 needs reworked. I thought the feedback I got from test readers would be easy to address and have sorted, but the deeper I went into it today, the more I realised I need to restructure it quite significantly (around 30% ...

TEWWBAD Chapter 94

CHAPTER 94 – And Greater Still

Summer turned to autumn as so turned the leaves, and red spread through the hair of the elves who flourished in the Eastern Vale. True to her recollection from the prior year, Celaena was early to lose her ...

TEWWBAD Chapter 93

CHAPTER 93 – The Unknown, and the Unfamiliar

Never before had the apprentices seen their master so elated as he was in his garden after Iolas cast his first spell. Almon laughed for joy, forwent bowing to instead applaud his student with...

Read Ahead Increasing

Hello everyone,

Well... damn. The Patreon has hit $1k a month, which means I now owe +4 chapters to the read-ahead, for a total of +14 beyond the public release.

Rather than drive myself to ruin cramming this all into a tight ...

TEWWBAD Chapter 92

CHAPTER 92 – To Bind, or Loose

Now all but initiated into the ancient ways, Saphienne reacted as she always did when she felt too much: she distracted herself with her intellect. She was powerless to prevent the mill of suffering from gr...

TEWWBAD Chapter 91

CHAPTER 91 – Ways Ancient and Magical

My Dearest Saphienne,

Sat under the maple tree in the upper terrace of the garden, Saphienne smiled through her blush as she read the salutation in the letter from Laelansa. The aftern...

TEWWBAD Chapter 90

CHAPTER 90 – Maiden and Crone

An age had passed for Saphienne since she last entered the library, and potent nostalgia made her pause on the threshold in recognition of what she had never consciously admitted to herself:

This had b...

TEWWBAD Chapter 89

CHAPTER 89 – Assumptions of Responsibility

“You’re the one who shattered the tree…”

Having lived in anticipation of a reckoning with Almon for months, Saphienne listened from beneath a tide of overwhelming despair.

�...

Quick Health Update

Hello everyone,

I'm alive! High dose of doxycycline knocked me on my back for most of this week, but I'm nearly back to normal today (just tired — slept very poorly last night). I'm going to be throwing myself at the writing tomorrow and o...

Delay in TEWWBAD Chapter 89

Hello everyone,

I'm really sorry to do this, but Chapter 89 is going to be late this week.

I've been increasingly unwell since Saturday, consequently working at a snail's pace. I'm phoning the doctor when the surgery opens this morning...

TEWWBAD Chapter 88

CHAPTER 88 – Deconstructing the Unseen

“Thou art mistaken child.” Celaena tried to pull away; the spirit possessing Taerelle tightened her grip. “Wormwood hath come.”

Although Celaena struggled and the alarm bell r...

TEWWBAD Chapter 87

CHAPTER 87 – Mobbed

Crying out attracted the attention of the patrons in the teahouse, and Alinar was quick to hurry over to Saphienne with a towel at the ready, utterly perplexed as he slowed to a halt beside the couches. Thessa had jum...

Update — Writing, and the Patreon

Hello everyone,

This is just a brief update to explain what I'm doing at the minute.

You'll have noticed that we unexpectedly blew past the $500 target for the Patreon, and we're rapidly closing on the $1000 target. Each of th...

TEWWBAD Chapter 86

CHAPTER 86 – In Visibility

Once Laelansa had set off for the Vale of the White River, Saphienne used the remainder of the day to study her sigil and attempt to deconstruct its meaning. She had thought about it idly during the week, and w...

The Economics of Writing for Money on Patreon

Periodically, I get suggestions from readers that the price of subscribing to the Patreon is too high, and that it ought to be lowered, or the Patreon should have another, cheaper tier added.

Did you know that when the TEWWBAD Patreon first ...

TEWWBAD Chapter 85

CHAPTER 85 – Absent Resolutions

With her plan confirmed, there was nothing for Saphienne to do but wait for the right moment to make her move. That meant giving her adversaries time to relax, which in turn meant that they must see her of...

TEWWBAD Chapter 84

CHAPTER 84 – In Justice

Sitting with Laelansa in the expansive kitchen, still cradling Hyacinth within herself, Saphienne contemplated the next step in her plan, aware that there were several preconditions that would have to be met befor...

TEWWBAD Chapter 83

CHAPTER 83 – Other Songs to be Sung

There was much to do before Saphienne began. Were she to succeed in what she intended, she first had to ready her arsenal  — including her mind.

Querying how busy the teahouse would presen...

TEWWBAD Chapter 82

CHAPTER 82 – Unaccountably Sick, and Tired

A small mountain of gifts awaited Saphienne when she returned to the guest room, as did Laelansa, who perched barefoot and cross-legged on the bed with the enchanted tray of tea and chocolates l...

TEWWBAD Chapter 81

CHAPTER 81 – Her Necessary Transgression

Allow me to paint for you a backdrop, before I stage the drama.

The summer solstice festival was a time of joyful unity for wood elves and spirits of the woodlands, the ancient ways embodied...

TEWWBAD Chapter 80

CHAPTER 80 – Summer Snow, and Winter Sun

Of course — it had to be Laewyn who found them on the floor.

When Saphienne sat up with Laelansa – her fury at herself mistakable for the fervid bloom that lit her para...

TEWWBAD Chapter 79

CHAPTER 79 – Ask Not For Whom …

Gathered in the long dining room for interrogation by Taerelle, Saphienne’s friends were unprepared for the intruder alarm to ring, and the instant she tiredly announced its significance they started t...

Profanity in TEWWBAD

A member of the Patreon comments:

The casual use of the word "fuck" by the elves is kind of off-putting. Does the word have the same multifaceted meaning for them as for modern English? Its an ugly word.

Yes, t...

See Saphienne

See Saphienne as she was becoming, the forthright young girl, fourteen years old. Her hair was once more brown as the earth, and she was still pale — though even these features had begun to lose their resemblance to those of the quiet child she ...

TEWWBAD Chapter 78

CHAPTER 78 – Flock Call

Before Saphienne could cast her first spell, she would have to fully comprehend what was required. Through having listened diligently and by reasoning through the apparent implications, she drew several inferences...