I've got a new book out!

Student architect Zain is used to her friend Hama filling their shared apartment with antiques and knick-knacks collected from shops and market stalls. But when she returns one day to find Hama missing and a mysterious golden lamp in her place, she discovers there is more to her roommate's newest purchase than either of them could have imagined.

It seems that magic is more than just myth, and Hama has become its newest vassal and ambassador, a being of smoke and fire bound to the lamp and in need of a master. Zain is her first choice, but accepting this amazing power and responsibility comes with a price, one that will test the strength of their friendship and push the very laws of magic to their limits...

Hama of the Lamp: A Short Story

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Special thanks to Vox Adam for inspiring this blog entry with his kind words - thanks man!

Hi all

It's been a long time since I last posted here, years in fact. In that time a lot has changed - The Other Side of the Spectrum has undergone a wholesale transformation, as has the fandom itself. The show that brought us here has also changed and grown in unexpected ways, but I'm glad to stay I'm still as avid a brony as ever.

One thing that hasn't changed however, is my struggle to write...

...until now.

I freely admit that one reason I never finished writing Last Train to Oblivion is because I ran out of steam, and correspondingly ran head-first into a bout of depression. I last published a book in 2012, that being my debut novel Timewreck Titanic, and since then had struggled to write anything. My involvement with Spectrum perhaps represented my biggest creative outpouring since Timewreck hit the digital selves, but unemployment, anxiety and the persistent 'black dog' that weighed heavily on my mind and soul brought even that to a halt. I'd tried to develop new stories, and even discussed possible ideas here in blog posts, but none of them came to pass.

Now though, almost by accident, things are changing. Last summer Timewreck Titanic has been picked up and re-released by a digital publishing company, and the (largely) positive response it recieved has done much to ease my anxieties and depression.

The big change however came later in 2017. I'd noticed a charming series of pixel-art animations by a talented Deviantartist named Tirquaz, featuring a character she had created - an unnamed genie girl, who in these animations would perform a simple action - be it emerging from her lamp or enchanting a magic carpet.

Something about this character's striking design inspired me, but I didn't act on those thoughts until September, when I messaged Tirquaz with an idea I'd developed for a new animation that would explore this character's origins. Her response was enthusiastic, and even though I couldn't pay her, within a week she had rendered the first few seconds of the little narrative I had pitched, showing the genie's origins as a human who, via an enchanted book, becomes the spirit of a magical lamp.

I was so impressed by her rapid progress that I decided to offer something back in return: a short story, illustrated with pictures drawn from her animations. Three days of effort later I found I'd churned out 11,000 words and thirty-something pictures.

More importantly, in that time I had given the genie girl a name, a personality, a history, and a best friend, who became the deutagonist of the story. And I realised I wanted to write more about them. Better yet, Tirquaz herself loved the story, and was wholly supportive of my ambitions.

It was a magical moment, as if my own wish had been granted. Since then I've let my ideas mull over, have shared the story with as many friends and family members as possible, and based on their feedback am ready to try and write a new novel, one I intend to see through to the end.

And, as part of the process, I've decided to publish the original short story, complete with a selection of my pictures and a lovely cover illustration drawn by Tirquaz herself.

The book can be found e-published on Amazon, with snippets available to read on Deviantart. If any of you find yourself intrigued enough to give it a read, I'd be overjoyed to hear your thoughts, critiques and feedback.

Cheers, and Bronies Forever!

~TB3

Comments

[VoxAdam]

I'm very glad that, after a prolonged downtime, so to speak, you have found yourself a new venue to channel your creative flow into. I wish that it'll prove everything you could wish for.