Awkward beginnings

Introductions first :) I'm writing under the pen name Irada. It means intention in Arabic. It sounds a little lofty and hoity toity, but I've chosen it with sincerity and I hope that comes through in my writings. Plus, when you're a fantasy writer, you get the pass to dream crazy big.

Names are a funny thing. I find myself sometimes thinking about whether this pen name will haunt me in the future. Will it be a proof of my complete lack of intention in life? Or will I somehow live up to it? Scary stuff.

So what am I about? I'm currently working on my second manuscript. It's going by the project name Hollow.

Hollow is an adult fantasy book with a splash of sci-fi and romance. A witch named Cin escapes the Fae realm, leaving her guild behind to come to The Shard, an ancient Vampire planet now inhabited by all manner of supernatural beings, in search of her best friend, Bambi. She soon finds out that Bambi has gone missing in suspicious and dangerous circumstances. So, Cin has to work with Bambi's hyper-controlling, witch-hating, older phantom brother, Ward, to try and find her. But Bambi's disappearance isn't the only mystery they have to untangle. Something is stalking the residents of The Shard, killing them and wearing their skin. Against the backdrop of civil unrest and a serial killer closing in, will Cin and Ward be able to put their hatred for each other aside in order to find Bambi in time? Or will they pay the ultimate price, in blood? Dun dun dunnnnnnnnn!

That's the first time I've tried to write out a pitch for the book. It feels weird and raw. But I can always make it better in the future. Nothing’s permanent on the internet, right?

I started Hollow as an in-between project after I finished a first draft of another fantasy romance-ish book about a Ghoul and a Demon (Project Ghoul). It had taken me around two years to finish the draft of Project Ghoul, and I needed to just work on something else while I gave it time to breathe. Something completely new with none of my previous characters. Thus, Project Hollow was born, and now I'm fully invested in it too 😅. I do plan to go back to Project Ghoul in the future, but that's likely not for some time.

My intentions for this blog are for it to be a kind of diary for me. A way to document my process, share things I learn from making my art plus and give my readers updates. Not that I have any readers right now. But like I said earlier, fantasy authors can say what they want, and it all works out. Trust me.

I titled this first entry Awkward Beginnings because it's just that. I've been umming and ah-ing about starting something concrete so I have some kind of way to connect with future readers. The thought of Instagram or Threads and having to be active on there is a little soul sucking. I don’t like to use social media in my actual non-author life either. So what's left? I think a newsletter/blog-type situation is just what I need. I can share what's going on with me and really focus in on the writing and skip all the rest of the faff. But then comes the inevitable anxiety of actually doing the thing.

What if I make a complete fool of myself?

What if I say something that I regret in a couple of years?

Or what if it's just fine and no one cares, and I don't care, and the world goes on? Wouldn't that be nice? Yes, yes, it would.