A Discussion of Aether: The Proposal - Letter 1

To my esteemed friend and peer, Jarvey Militanos Consileratello 

 

I wanted to thank you for entertaining me at the Union League this weekend. Your theories on Aether manipulation and application are absolutely astounding. I completely understand why you are spoken of so highly among the Council. I still wish I could recruit you to my R&R department. I believe you would bring a level of comprehension and perspective that we are lacking in our efforts.  

With that in mind, I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in an informal discussion, or debate if you would have it, regarding our understanding and function of the Aether. Being informal, we can forgo the typical, and often overbearing, use of academic and scientific jargon, but rather continue our discussion as we did the other night. Your argument against the casual application of technical terms was, at first, nearly mind boggling in determining your purpose. Yet, after our discussion, I realized that the ability to fully explain an infinitely complex concept while holding to the common tongue is a better representation that you understand the topic, rather than having memorized the technical terms. 

As far as parameters and rules for our discussion, we can take turns proposing a topic question. The other will respond, and then receive a response to their presentation. Finally, the recipient can offer a rebuttal and then pose a new topic of their own. The goal is to challenge each other to have a broader understanding of the Aether, and to allow others to gain insight into what is a very complex and broad subject of study. I believe that the spirit of such a conversation would benefit from the discussion of peers and students in our own personal circles and I would hope you would hold your own private discussions prior to making your response.  

If you are game for such an open-ended discussion, I would like to start us off with the first discussion topic.

  

What is the nature of Aether? What is the natural state of Aether, and how does that nature affect the greater world? What effect, if any, does the manipulation of Aether have on it and the world around it? 

My hope is that we can begin with a broad discussion, and then allow our topics to be more specific, possibly inspired by our responses themselves.  

 

I greatly look forward to your reply. 

Taliesin Montgomery Vanholt  

Cover Art Complere!

Officially oked my cover design! On track for the July 31 release!

Updated Blurb

 Things are still on track for Trinity of the Broken. I have begun talking to my cover artist, and have discussed various concept designs. Next, she will be making a fully stylized version of what we discussed. In the meantime, I felt I needed a better sales pitch of Trinity's plot hook. I feel this is a smoother blurb, that better tells what the story is about, while still holding back key elements.

Trinity of the Broken

Dante Wright is not a good guy. As a member of the illegal arms dealing, Tacoma Vipers Motor Club, Dante lives a brutal life to survive a brutal world. A world full of magic and monsters that exists among, yet separate from the regular mundane world. Dante has lived his life skating the line between these two worlds, both mystically and legally. That is until someone planted a black magic artifact at a business transaction on the same day he went viral using his powers in public. 

Coerced to work with the authorities, Dante discovers there is something far worse than black magic in Tacoma, and now it knows about him as well. Fate seemed to intervein when it presented a set of Rune Blades, but will they be enough of an edge for him to protect himself and the MC he considers to be his family? 

What's new for Trinity of the Broken

 When I decided to turn my collection of short stories into a novel, I never believed it would take me down the path I have been traveling. I am currently in the middle of the editing process. A process that I knew would be tedious, but necessary. Having now started my sixth complete read through of the novel, I am beginning to understand the old saying that, "Editing is the process of reviewing ones own work until they hate it." 

I have not reached a point of hate, but I understand the frustration of rereading the same material over and over again. That being said, we are on track and Trinity should be released on time July 31st. Once I meet with the cover designer and settle on a final design I will begin the process of marketing the book, so brace yourselves for a barrage of updates in the near future.

Status Update

Trinity of the Broken is finished and I am working with Rowanvale Books to put together the final pieces before publication. While I do not have a finalized publication date, we are looking at a tentative date of May 31, 2021. I am very excited to have reached this point, and I will keep everyone updated as I reach each milestone.

Trinity of the Broken Update

Hello evryone!

Sorry for my extended absence, but I would like to let you know that I have finished the major edits and am moving to get Beta readers. I am looking to get it intonpriduction before the year ends!

A Review for Never Go Back by Jason Beech

Barlow Vine is on the run from the Spanish police. Returning home to Sheffield, England, Barlow hoped to escape his problems and reconnect with those he had left five years earlier. Instead of being welcomed home, Barlow finds that, with the exception of his friend Alex, he has been largely forgotten by his hometown. What’s more, he had managed to put himself in the cross-hairs of a local crime boss, through his inability to ignore those in need. Barlow finds himself being pulled ever deeper into trouble, and forcing him to become like the very monsters he was trying to stop. 

Jason Beech’s Never Go Back is a suspenseful crime-thriller that keeps the reader guessing till the very end. Well written and structured, Beech provides a skillful insight into the mind of a man who is descending into darkness. His setting is dark in gritty, but he gives us glimpses of the bustling college town to remind the reader of societies willing efforts to turn a blind eye. Beech is able to provide what every fan of crime-thrillers are looking for in a story, to keep them guessing as to who the real heroes and villains are. Each time it seems like we have an idea of where the story is going, Beech spins us off in another question, having us question ourselves just as much as Barlow. 

Barlow is designed as a haunted and clearly flawed character. This is what keeps the reader’s attention, and is the greatest source of frustration with him. A reoccurring theme of Never Go Back is the idea that Barlow truly believes that he is the good guy, and that his actions are justified in the sense that he feels compelled to help and protect those that cannot help themselves. This self-appointed protector attitude is the fuel that keeps Barlow and the story moving forward, rather than seeking less extreme, or rather, more rational, ways to solve his problems.  This theme and that of an apathetic society, seem to become over emphasized at times, but helps to show the mental state of Barlow and creates a type of mile marker for his de-evolution.  

Never Go Back is an engaging story that flows nicely, and is easy to read. As someone who likes to make story predictions, Beech was able to keep me doubting myself until the end, which made the process enjoyable and kept me pushing to finish “just one more chapter.” I would recommend Never Go Back to anyone looking for a fast paced and solid crime story. I give it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, largely because I felt that Barlow’s good/bad obsession and the public reactions were repeated too often and I wanted a little more robust explanation at the end of the story. This was only a personal preference, however, which did not take away from the overall enjoyment I had while reading this story, and my desire to see what was going to happen next.