There was something particularly awkward about rendering a blood sample down to a single drop of blood while a dragoness inside a draconian body looked intently over my shoulder.
I wish I could have dazzled Shaessath with my alchemical skills, or at least contributed to the process significantly in some way. Instead, I was just standing th...
2026-01-18 15:52:00 +0000 UTC View PostShaessath was silent and contemplative as we made our way back. I said nothing out of a desire to avoid annoying her.
The source of that desire was something I was feeling a bit conflicted about.
Not too long ago, I would have put it down to nothing but fear, and continued happily with my day. Now, though, I couldn’t deny ...
2026-01-17 15:38:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe day felt like it had been going on forever. Enough had definitely happened that I felt like I should look outside and see the last dying rays of the sun, if not outright darkness. I’d even broken out the wine already! Instead, the world was only just starting to get into the rhythm of a busy morning.
Thankfully, there were small morn...
2026-01-16 16:10:21 +0000 UTC View PostHad an idea recently, so here's me asking: Would you be interested in free ebook copies as part of sub benefits, at no additional cost or sub price increases of course. Will sort out how it will work as a perk later, but I want to know how you guys feel about the idea first! ^^
2026-01-15 19:51:00 +0000 UTC View PostI think we can all agree that the different POV option won the poll pretty decisively! XD In honor of that, I'd like you all to comment WHICH POVs you'd like to see over in the Discord server, or here if you don't like using Discord so we can collect various options for a poll...
2026-01-15 17:19:41 +0000 UTC View PostHow do you put into words a chaotic mess of emotions? Emotions which not only gave you an odd worldview, for a fae, but also drove you to flee from the only home you had ever known, at the risk of being hunted down and seen as a traitor to your Court and family?
I decided to start with the source of the whole mess.
“My parents are ...
2026-01-15 17:16:13 +0000 UTC View PostWith Discord recently launched, and Book 1 coming out today, in both ebook and paperback forms, I wanted to discuss some extra content, which will be ...
2026-01-14 16:12:52 +0000 UTC View Post“Dad!” Alys’ happy voice echoed through our home as she closed her arms around her father, pulling him into a hug that made the human grunt in surprise.
Seeing them together confirmed the suspicion I’d formed based on the wooden statues of Alys’ family: she was much closer in build to her father than her mother. For one thing, sh...
2026-01-14 16:05:21 +0000 UTC View PostAs promised yesterday on RR, in honor of the Book 1 launch tomorrow, as well as because I love reading all the comments, the A.T.Valentine discord is now up and functional! I am ...
2026-01-13 16:21:55 +0000 UTC View Post“W-We should go meet them!” Alys stammered, finding her tongue before me.
Her grandmother’s lips twitched for a moment. Then she gave up control of her expression and let a true smile spread fully across her face. It was almost like the entire room had brightened, now that The Molten Expanse was no longer trying to project malice. In...
2026-01-13 15:44:10 +0000 UTC View Post“Ahem.”
The rumbling voice attempted to intrude on my dreams. I ignored it, warm and comfortable as I was. My brow furrowed a little, and I shifted, burrowing deeper into Aly’s embrace as her wings tightened around me.
“AHEM.”
“It’s still early, Alys,” I mumbled sleepily, knowing that my body would force me to w...
2026-01-12 16:05:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe wolfkin was rather excitable. She also possessed a healthy dose of Nasha’s manic energy. The deluge of information she was giving me about the flowers she’d brought was so overwhelming, it took me until flower number three to gather my thoughts and interrupt.
“That is a lovely flower.” I beamed, hoping she wouldn’t n...
2026-01-11 16:09:44 +0000 UTC View PostI drummed my fingers absently on the surface of my lab table, waiting to see what would come of my experiment as my thoughts kept drifting back to the previous evening.
In spite of the awkwardness provoked by poking at our pasts, everyone had pushed through and enjoyed themselves. We’d avoided the topic for the rest of the evening by dis...
2026-01-10 16:02:28 +0000 UTC View PostI could have deflected. None of those present were rude enough to push, save perhaps Ritsu, who might be inclined to poke at me subtly. (Though I could admit that expectation was likely born from my current prejudice concerning the fox.) No one in the room would have taken serious issue if I refused to engage.
However… I didn’t want to...
2026-01-09 16:06:47 +0000 UTC View PostI liked everyone we had invited, with the possible exception of the fox. (For the time being, at least.) Normally, I was happy to spend time with them. I enjoyed it!
Yet knowing that the whole event was organized so Alys and I could ‘be more social’ just made me feel… awkward.
Was I supposed to do something special? Be more out...
2026-01-08 15:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostI worked steadily for the rest of the day.
Once I finished my daily brewing duties, I extensively tested the properties of all the draconic materials in my possession. Whether I kept strictly to alchemy or tried to incorporate bits of other magical branches, I wanted to craft something new to help me purify Alys’ bloodline. For that, I n...
2026-01-07 15:50:52 +0000 UTC View Post“I have a potentially odd request,” I hedged the next morning after breakfast, putting my cup down on the table.
I had just finished my diluted torture juice. Alys, as always, was chugging the concentrated version directly from the jug.
Some days, I almost regretted making that concentrated juice. ‘Almost’ would be ‘definit...
2026-01-06 20:20:29 +0000 UTC View PostI was about to pull the second flower box out of my storage bag and get to work when I changed my mind.
Though I had only one flower grafted at the moment, it looked so vibrant that I expected it to produce a few more flower stalks in short order. That would let me spread them around the clearing.
I had a better idea for what to do w...
2026-01-05 15:58:36 +0000 UTC View PostI can happily announce it is now possible to pre-order AW book 1! You can find the book's page here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDH1KQ13
And it will be officially up for regular old purchase on the 14th! If that appeals to you, please check it out! ^^
2026-01-02 16:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I decided to grow the manchineel trees as a trap for the invading soldiers, I hadn’t expected them to turn into something so complicated. I’d even planned to get rid of them afterwards to eliminate the hazard they represented.
Yet there I was, standing in the middle of a clearing stripped of everything but the manchineels, intendi...
2026-01-02 16:00:25 +0000 UTC View PostI hope this upcoming year is full of nothing but pleasant events and happy little accidents! Keep on keeping on, and of course, I hope I'll be able to continue writing content you like! ^^
2025-12-31 22:42:18 +0000 UTC View Post“You are overreacting,” Alys said bluntly.
“No. No, I am not! You can’t just dismiss powerful nature spirits, Alys. You were there with me. You saw it!”
“Yes, I did. And unless I’m remembering wrong, the spirit didn’t actually give you that flower. You found it after the spirit passed,” she pointed out reasonably, n...
2025-12-31 16:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe flower I’d gotten out of my encounter with the stag was undeniably beautiful.
Its stem and leaves were bright orange. Three separate flowers branched off to the side, a bit lower on the stem, with a central flower at the top. Each bloom consisted of an outer layer of long, brown petals, cradling an inner layer of shorter, yellow ones...
2025-12-29 15:47:33 +0000 UTC View PostI was still thinking hard when we sat down to eat. In fact, I was stewing more thoroughly than one of the meals Arandel was so fond of feeding to Grafton.
How, exactly, does one bring up a delicate subject without provoking a negative reaction? Especially if the subject recently drove one’s wife to tears, despite her typical poise?
I didn’t have to try too hard to ‘trick’ my dragoness into taking a nap. I knew she hadn’t slept well the day before. And while she could typically keep going for as long as I could without sleep, the tension wracking her mind had left her exhausted.
At some point during my storytelling, I shifted so my back was pressed against the...
2025-12-24 15:58:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe manchineel trees in the other two locations had experienced the same changes. Glowing blue veins, the absence of dangerous poison on the surface, the intensifying of the poison within… everything. It was like something had reached out and altered the trees in ways that specifically appealed to it.
Likely because something had 2025-12-22 16:01:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Life, as it turns out, is always fond of surprising us. It delights in twisting our expectations into wholly unrecognizable results.
That was the only explanation for how I ended up happily married to a lovely, crimson-scaled dragoness within months of leaving my family’s estate. I even had people in my life whom I would consider actual ...
2025-12-21 15:38:09 +0000 UTC View PostIt was rather horrid luck that the day Alys and I took a step forward in our relationship also happened to be the day we received news of the Hergeiros invasion. Our preparations, the attack itself, and my ensuing revenge plan hadn’t left us much time for each other.
That’s probably why I spent the next several days doing the bare mini...
2025-12-20 16:04:17 +0000 UTC View PostTried to avoid it, but there's no two ways about it: I won't be able to maintain the normal posting schedule around the holidays. There's too much going on and too much stuff I need to do.
In light of that, from Monday 22nd of December, for two weeks, until the 5th of January, we'll be doing 3 chapters a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday...
2025-12-19 16:02:09 +0000 UTC View Post