Tomorrow is a special day · 5:01pm May 18th, 2021
Last year, on May 19, I published the first chapter of Rekindled Embers. Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Chapter 1.
Wow. One year.
I've been thinking a lot of what I've experienced, what I've learned, and what I've done in the past year. So I thought I'd make a little blog post to share some thoughts about my experiences.
I am overwhelmed by the gratitude I feel. The response to my stories, particularly Rekindled Embers, has been far beyond anything I ever expected. At this point, I've been living in this world for more than two years, and sharing it with all of you for one. The fact that you are all willing to join with me in watching Emberglow and her adventures unfold is a gift.
At my side the entire time I've had the support of Cyonix, my patient, insightful, genius editor. Thank you, my friend. I would not be here without you; I would have given up ages ago.
This has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life, and one of the most rewarding. I'm so excited for the rest of the story. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do or how I'm going to feel when it's all over. I have ideas for more side stories, for a prequel, even for other big unconnected projects, but I don't know if I'll have the energy when I'm all done. I hope so, though.
Now for some news: first of all, some of you may remember some weeks back I held an informal poll about the next illustration I'll commission for Rekindled Embers. You all requested a heartfelt, emotional scene. I discussed it with Cyonix (who in addition to being best editor, is also an amazing artist) and asked him to look into future chapters and pick a scene he would like to illustrate.
I have that picture, ready to go as soon as the chapter releases. I tried to find a way to tease a piece of it, but I couldn't find a single crop that wouldn't contain some kind of spoilers. The hooves are too intertwined. What I can say, though, is it will come very soon; I didn't intentionally time it to be some sort of anniversary illustration, but it's coming close, so that's kinda cool.
I will be doing one thing special for the anniversary of Chapter One: tomorrow, I will be releasing the first story in a new anthology, consisting of short stories that take place in the Rekindled Embers world that... don't exactly fit the Teen rating of the main story, usually for reasons of violence, death, or gore. So for those of you that like things a little darker, please stay tuned for "Our Love Will Survive This", the first story of my new anthology, hopefully to be released tomorrow.
Well, I've already made a general outline for that fan sequel I was planning (you inspired me
), so maybe we could collab on it? Having someone else to poke me when I'm distracted and fill in the gaps when writer's block kicks in, plus the other way around on your end, would help speed things up, I feel. If not, I'd almost certainly need your dramatis personae and general setting notes once Rekindled Embers ends, to make sure I get everything right. Obviously this wouldn't be for a while either way, I have my own novel to finish first, plus a couple other short projects.
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I would absolutely love to collab on something with another author. I've only done it a few times before and thoroughly enjoyed myself every time.
I've been asked casually a couple of times, but I'm 100% on board for anybody that wants to write in my world. I would only ask to be involved in the project in some way.
As far as written notes, well... I'm less organized than I should be. In Nanowrimo terms, I'm typically a 'pantser'. But I know I'll have to put something together eventually, probably closer to when I've got the whole rough draft done.
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Great! I'm excited for what the future brings. And don't worry about the notes, haha, I can always just DM you with questions.
Congratulations, Apple! You are awesome, and I know you’ll continue being awesome!
Keep up the great story and congrats on the anniversary !!! it's great this story is still going strong!!!
One year! Wow, can't believe it's been so long! It's been awesome editing this story so far, looking forward to more awesomeness to come!
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I know this is odd coming from a random person and not Apple themselves, but i'm very proud of you, and really appreciate what you're doing. I absolutely adore when people are truly touched by and inspired by something, and want to contribute toward it with fan work. I love seeing more of that in the world, and I eagerly await your side story as well.