Trying to figure out Substack!

A lot of beginnings and endings have happened over the course of many, many years.

I have had a habit of blogging about the Blue Horizon verse for a long time on both Neocities and Tumblr, but never made a Substack, which felt like a rite of passage as a writer.

I'd really love to figure out yet another way to inform people about what I’m doing as a writer…! As most people who follow me know by now, I’m working hard on making certain my debut epic science fantasy novel is a success.

That novel will be called “The Protector and the Annihilation.” Some curious factors are 6 focal protagonists who are BIPOC and queer, 45 LGBTQ characters, 80 characters in general, family rivalries, and 15 sets of twin characters. It’s about three generations of alchemy-oriented mages upon a faraway planet obsessed with ancient Earth (our era) and their troubles across thousands of years!

There’s an accompanying novella/light novel upcoming as well called “The Protector’s memory of them under the sunlight.” The shortest summary is the one I added as a pitch during one of the more easygoing writer’s pitch events:

[Planetary savior Alejandro Altaha knows the warmth with which Antonio Chandrani once regarded him is long lost. When Antonio is chosen to guard him through a treacherous otherworld, Alejandro swallows his feelings, and yet…]

Additionally, there’s already an ongoing webcomic and a Blue Horizon story and character info site full of art, blog posts, lore, some short stories, and character and relationship information.

I feel like beyond projects that excite, people often want to hear about a writer’s thoughts about their life or about life. It’s difficult for me to untangle my thoughts regarding a lot of my life outside how I process it through the action of writing, but of late I’ve definitely been feeling one thing—

FATIGUE.

Since after my late teens, I’ve dealt with immense fatigue. Part of it was due to health reasons. I still remember how energetic I used to be prior to 17 years age, and that energy crashing and extremely rarely reviving afterwards.

That fatigue has followed me for a long time now. It’s been noticeable that despite my finally getting back into a groove on consistently working on projects—the epic science fantasy, the novella, the webcomic—how despite my slowly getting more and more done and accomplished in order to write out and draw a story I’ve been invested in since my early to late teens, there is a fatigue that never leaves.

Even though I feel like I’m reaching a home stretch and that’s very exciting as well as nerve-wracking (if I may be honest), if I don’t take breaks, the fatigue truly gets me. It mixes in with the rest of my mental health troubles and stress.

I can understand why people like to work together on big projects. In hopefully positive situations, not only does it alleviate stress and possibly become something a bit more fun and fond to look back on in whatever way, but of late I’ve been reflecting—I have a stubborn side where I think I should shoulder everything. In truth, working with others is just as much as a part of me as pondering in solitude. It always has been since I was young, though I’ve almost forgotten. It’s nice to reach out to people.

The good thing is, when it’s good it’s good. I feel like holding onto that good was easier as a child—I ran through the rain amid a trio once and felt a profound yet such simple happiness. Those vibrant memories stay, and writing stories to reflect those memories and those soft moments and moods remind me of many millions of things that helped me find that happiness as a child and teenager—what helped me chase after it.

Above is my art of Alejandro [Caldera-]Altaha’s arm from Blue Horizon (and The Protector and the Annihilation) Reference is a photo by Andre Moura at Pexels.