Jon Sparks
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jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Jon Sparks
@jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.8K following 2K posts
After more than 30 years, and 60 books, as an outdoor writer and photographer, I’m now fully focused on fiction with the Shattered Moon series. AI-free (and I mean free).
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jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 4/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’; ‘screen’ is not a common word in this world, let alone as ubiquitous as it is with us. There’s just one instance in the book.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Evisyn reined in and gazed across the lake toward the great house. At first glance, Skilthorn looked the same as it had on her previous visit. Not beautiful, as Jerya herself had said, but imposing. A great slab of a house in a setting that deserved something more delicate. At second look, she could see that that there were new buildings to the right of the main house, largely screened by trees: horse-chestnuts with their flower-clusters like little inverted chandeliers, sycamores, others she couldn't immediately name. She clicked her tongue and tapped the borrowed gelding with her heels. Reluctantly he resumed his pace. "Nearly there," she assured him. "I know you're tired but you'll be well looked after here."
December 5, 2025 at 8:34 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 4/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 19 instances of 'city'; two in this extract.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"Well," said Master Hasson, "Next let me draw your attention to this drawing." She indicated the wider view that Tor had produced, and drew her pointer along the scatter of strokes, briskly scrubbed in with the side of the pencil-point then softened with a thumb: the banner of smoke. "What exactly are you adding to the air of our city?" Cledril frowned. "No more’n what any fireplace or stove or furnace does, I’d reckon, Dawnsinger." "Well, is that so? Do we know for sure? Doesn’t your firebox burn hotter than a domestic fireplace or kitchen stove?" "S’pose it might, Dawnsinger. But… respeckfully, don’t you have furnaces here? Mebbe a forge?" "You’re right, of course. And the Healers tell me there’s always a surge in respiratory complaints when we have smog… Is that not so, Master Berrivan?" "Quite true, Master Hasson. It’s never so bad up here, but still nights in the lower city, along the waterfront, in winter when everyone who can afford fuel has their fires blazing… you’d feel it in your lungs just walking the streets for half an hour."
December 4, 2025 at 7:30 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 3/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'dominant'. And ‘ruler’ only in the sense of a measuring tool. ‘Powerful’ is the best I can do.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Felgin, she found, was shorter than herself, but heavy-shouldered and barrel-chested; a powerful man now slipping into softness. His voice when he chose was a resonant bass, but in close conversation it was softly husky. They exchanged some observations on the success of the voyage and the investigation of the Spire Isles; he sympathised with her experience of sea-quease. No doubt he didn’t mean to patronise, and no doubt he did have vastly more experience under sail than she did. They both knew this was all inconsequential, and Jerya was sure he was as keen as she was to get to the meat. "Seyeur Felgin, I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting you haven't at least suspected what this is about. I've spent five weeks on a ship or on a small island with Seyeur Harran. You'll hardly be surprised that I learned a few things about him. I know he’s been very keen to acquire two of your slaves. I have to wonder why why you've been so adamant about not selling."
December 3, 2025 at 8:40 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
I have my name on the cover of a lot of books (counting everything, over 70); but an image of me only appears on 3 covers—and only 2 of those are in this 70+.

And the only one in which you can see my face (albeit tiny) is the one for which I have no responsibility.
Just an odd observation.
Two tiny figures on a steep rock climb in the lower right, with a backdrop of woods, green valley, a lake, and distant mountain (Skiddaw). Title reaads 'Borrowdale' and in bottom right is 'F&RCC Guide'. Cover of the guidebook to the Lancashire Cycleway, by Jonsparks, published by Cicerone. Image shows a cyclist in black tights and red top, starting the descent of a lonely moorland road. Cover of 'Off-Road Rides in the Lake District', by Jon Sparks. Main image shows rear view of a cyclist in black shorts, dark top, and red helmet, following a narrow green trail on grassy moorland. Inset picture shows two female cyclists on another moorland trail with heather in flower in the foreground and bracken on the slopes behind.
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 2/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has just one instance of 'percent'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Evisyn shrugged. "Would I ever have become Master Prime without that shake-up we all got, the summer you came back for the first time?" "Some people still blame me for everything that happened that summer, I dare say." "One or two, maybe. I don't know; it's all pure speculation, isn't it? It's fun, but it can't prove anything. But I think very likely you've done far more good for the Guild being here than you would have done in Carwerid." Yes, you didn't say I'd have been a good Master Prime… She said only, "You omit the third possibility." "What's that?" 'I'd have spent ninety percent of my time in the Library and the rest rehashing the argument about whether the Journal-keeper was female or not. Which is what got me off on the wrong footing with Brinbeth, all those years ago." A swift calculation. "Twenty-nine years. Twenty-nine years I've spent here, against less than twenty in the Sung Lands. Draff, I’ll soon have been twenty years at Skilthorn; it’s almost beginning to feel like home…"
December 2, 2025 at 7:19 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 1/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has (to my surprise ) just one instance of 'belong' (and one of ‘belongings’.)
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She stopped, drained her glass in one convulsive move, laid it down and leaned toward the girls. "I’ve got some ways used to it since, been there close on a dozen times. I know how it goes now… but even so, every time, I go hot and cold and shaky when I think… they’re talkin’ about more money for writin’ one book than His Lordship’d get if he sold me." There was another curdled silence. Mavrys poured Vireddi a little more wine; even the sound of the liquid curling into the glass seemed unduly loud. Torvyn lifted her own glass, took a slow sip, almost inhaling more than she drank. "Vireddi," she said at last, "You’ve rendered us all speechless again. And, speaking for myself, I’m a little ashamed. I’ve been thinking how marvellous it is that you can write your books and be so successful, be a best-seller… and I guess I just never stopped to think how some of it might still be hard for you." Vireddi smiled at her. "Don’t yow go frettin’ yowrself about it, m’lady—Miss. It was hard, that first time; I just felt so much like I didn’t belong there, like I shouldn’t even ha’ been sittin’ in that fancy leather chair. And like… like no one was goin’ to buy the book and everyone was goin’ to say I’d wasted their time. Now…"
December 1, 2025 at 8:49 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 30/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 12 instances of 'number'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"He then said that the Zenzile is registered and owned in Sessapont—but I observed that for the duration of the voyage she was under charter by a citizen of Denvirran, a member of one of our leading families. Lord Selton has, in fact, sponsored all the exploration out to the Spire Isles since the very first sighting. "But I’m sure Your Highness is well aware of all the background. I’ll come to the point. We did bring back a number of artefacts, and we—Master Evisyn, Meister Harran, and myself, as the discoverers—we are prepared to place these in your custody, or that of a suitable institution such as the University of Sessapont… under certain conditions." The Prince leaned forward, interested enough to betray himself as such. "And what might those conditions be?"
November 30, 2025 at 9:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 29/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has three instances of 'delicate'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Another thought came to her. "I wonder… do you want to try something?" To demonstrate, she gathered crumbs of bread and cheese from her plate—she doubted chaffinches would be drawn to raw onion—and dropped them into her palm, then stretched her arm across the table. Wide-eyed, Mirendi copied her. With her free hand, Jerya shifted the plates as far aside as she could reach. Just as she’d hoped, a couple of the birds were eyeing up the booty in the outstretched palms. It was almost as if they’d agreed to take it in turns to hop a wary fraction closer. Then the bolder of the two—a female, she noted with modest satisfaction—hopped the last handsbreadth, right into Mirendi’s palm. The girl made a small sound, a soft gasp, but she did not flinch. Her eyes never strayed from the chaffinch as it delicately pecked at a breadcrumb, a crumb of cheese. And when the bird, perhaps sated, took flight, she released a quiet sigh.
November 29, 2025 at 7:26 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 28/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'zigzag', but since a sailing vessel when tacking follows a kind of zigzag course, and there are two instances here…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Evisyn took the binoculars, found her sight-line, fiddled with the focus. Jerya was far-sighted; Evisyn mildly myopic. "Is that the Zenzile?" "Well, I can’t exactly read her name at this distance. But the configuration looks right." "She isn’t heading directly for us, though." "No, but she’ll be tacking. Wind’s about South-East, isn’t it?" "Of course. And it’s not like sailing in a narrow channel, where they’d have to go about every few minutes… How far off are they, do you think?" "She seems to be right on the horizon… If we’re two hundred metres off the sea, that would put her fifty kilometres off. But tacking gives her a lot further to travel. I can’t see her getting here before nightfall, and Bensik’ll never attempt to enter the lagoon in the dark. But it might be a good idea if one of us were down at the shore fairly early tomorrow. Just in case she is coming back, and there’s news."
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 27/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'disorganise'. I’m going with the solitary occurrence of ‘ramshackle’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Next morning it was just a short ride to the Cadornis Ferry. The boat, a ramshackle-looking thing hauled along a sunken chain by two slaves turning a huge handled wheel, creaked and grumbled, making the horses skittish. Keeping them calm occupied the ten-minute crossing. The river marked the border into Sessapont. This was more ceremoniously marked than borders she’d previously crossed, between Denvirran and Troquharran or Velyadero; there was an arch across the road, and a guardhouse and barrier beyond. However, the guardhouse stood empty and neglected, and the barrier pointed forlornly to the sky.
November 27, 2025 at 7:47 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 26/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'impede', nor ‘obstruct’. Just one of ‘obstacle’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
He showed further delicacy in suggesting he site his tent well away from theirs, beyond the stream. The narrow stream was no real obstacle, but the separation would give the women a measure of privacy. By the time the ground was cleared, tents pitched, and everything stowed within—and Jerya fully dressed again—the afternoon was well advanced. Time for some rest, to catch up on drinks, and to begin a strange, episodic meal like an amalgam of lunch and supper. They had discussed possibilities extensively on the ship, of course, but in the certain knowledge that everything was conjecture until they actually had their feet on the ground. Now, having climbed the first step, and seeing promise that it would be possible to climb further, they could plan in earnest.
November 26, 2025 at 7:34 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 25/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has four instances of 'system'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She didn't, as she often did, say, 'Please, call me Jerya'; but she did smile and say, "It is we who are honoured by your hospitality." With gentle emphasis she added, "And may I present Master-Emeritus Evisyn of the Guild of Dawnsingers?" Meridès offered dutiful words of welcome, but it was clear 'Master-Emeritus' meant less to her than 'Countess', and she quickly returned her attention to Jerya. Doubtless she would have proceeded to gush some more, but she had to breathe, at which point Jerya briskly enquired, "Have you received any messages for us?" "Indeed, yes, your Grace." Jerya lifted a brow, but said nothing. Evisyn had never heard anyone address her that way before. Was it, she wondered, strictly correct? She knew—Jerya had complained of it more than once—that there were endless protocols and etiquettes around the Denvirran peerage; and to complicate matters, each of the Five Principalities had its own distinctive system. Troquharran, for instance, had not Dukes and Earls but Margraves and Burgraves and who knew what else. She knew that Sessapont had a Prince but nothing beyond that. Perhaps 'your Grace' was correct for the local equivalent of a Countess.
November 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 23/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'global' or 'globe'. Going with 'world' (20 instances).
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Ysutèni smiled. It wasn't much, but it was a smile. "I cannot think so—but I never thought of it." "I understand; and as Master Evisyn here will tell you, the Guild of Dawnsingers has only ever admitted girls from the Sung Lands anyway." "That’s correct," said Evisyn. "And not likely to change in the near future." Ysutèni’s look at her seemed puzzled. Evisyn had been introduced, but… well, it was likely the girl’s first sight of a Dawnsinger; and therefore of a bald person who wasn’t a slave. How often did a young Princess see the world beyond the Palatine anyway?
November 23, 2025 at 10:56 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 22/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has just one instance of 'crystal(line)'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She stopped, kneeling to examine the floor more closely. "There’s only a thin film of dust, a millimetre or two. That seems remarkable after so long." "Seems to have been a very clean environment in here?" said Evisyn behind her, voice reverberating off the walls. "Possibly… I’m just brushing the dust away here. The surface looks just like the rock outside, but we’d have to look with a lens to be sure. But the rock’s grainy, crystalline; there’s no natural smooth cleavage, like slate. I can’t conceive this being natural—but how did they do it?” "You must have known, Jerya, that every 'answer' we find is only going to spawn a dozen new questions."
November 22, 2025 at 7:37 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 21/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has eight instances of 'direction'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Sails slackened; only a small jib remained fat with wind, and in the weak breeze the ship was barely moving, not stirring enough bow-wave to disrupt her own reflection. "Ahoy, the shore!" Bensik’s voice carried easily over thirty metres of grass-green water. "Captain!" she called back, not in a full shout but the elevated voice she used to address larger gatherings like Ordinations. "Is there news? We hadn’t expected to see you so soon." "Aye, madame, there’s news: storm coming. It’s black as pitch to the south." He waved a hand in a sternward direction and indeed Evisyn saw that the sliver of sky between two of the spires was dark as a bruise. "Looks like to be a bad 'un. We need to stand well clear of land afore it hits—and either we take you off right away or… well, if you’ve found any better shelter than the tents, I’d waste no time getting to it."
November 21, 2025 at 8:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 20/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has eight instances of 'special'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Torvyn had witnessed Dawnsong before. Growing up at Skilthorn, with Dawnsingers visiting every summer, she must have heard it dozens of times, starting before she could even remember. She had, she thought, been six or seven the first time she had been allowed to rise at a painfully early hour and climb the narrow stair to the roof of the main house, where only a few of the tallest trees broke the Eastern horizon. On the recent journey she had been present for Dawnsong at Under-Keldash, had heard it drowsily through an open window in Blawith, and made a special effort to be up and present at Kendrigg, where Jossena was the sole Dawnsinger. The Song itself, she might have heard a hundred times, but never from more than half a dozen voices at once. This morning would be different.
November 20, 2025 at 7:29 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
A reviewer’s verdict on The Sundering Wall, Book 2 of The Shattered Moon:
"Sparks builds this world with his trademark finesse, immersing the reader in its paradox of familiarity and strangeness."
'Paradox of familiarity and strangeness' is exactly what I’ve aimed for.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
Soon enough she began to feel more hopeful, to get a sense that the peaks were not one continuous chain. Another hundred metres, and she was nearly sure of it. She felt so much lighter without the mass of the pack that she even ran a short way. There it was: a gap; a curiously rectangular notch, deeper than it was wide, parting great blades of rock. Running up to it, only a simple slope of scree splashed with snow. There was an apron of rock at the breach itself, but she could see it'd be easy. If the other side's the same, it's a pass. At once she set out up the scree, picking a winding line where it was mostly smaller stones, avoiding any larger blocks. These, she knew, could too easily be precariously balanced, ready to shift at the merest touch of a boot. Unladen, she still felt light, almost as if instead of the great lump of the rucksack she had wings on her back. She couldn't fly, but she climbed fast, her breath coming in gasps, her heart hammering. What she saw at the top might decide everything. I'll rest when I can see. It was perfectly clear now. Ever since she had seen that notch in the ridge, the first pass, or false pass, she had not merely wanted to see what lay beyond; she had needed to see. This was far beyond curiosity. Now, she needed to see if there was a way into the land beyond. And if there was? No matter what the others did, she thought, barely noticing how she lumped Rodal and Railu together; no matter what they did, she herself would go on now, until she knew. Until she knew.
November 19, 2025 at 9:10 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 19/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 19 instances of 'third'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
They went on, working through the list. First Crossing, West—East: Jerya, Railu, Rodal. Second Crossing, East—West: Rodal. “Making him the first to make a return Crossing, and also the first to do a Crossing alone. Is he still the only one to do that?” “There’s one other I know of,” said Keriset. “Former enslaved, so I won’t mention his name… But that was a few years later.” Hedric only nodded and moved on. “Third Crossing?” Several of the girls thought this was the Selton party. Torvyn, who naturally knew the answer, kept silent, let Hedric put them right. "I’ll try not to feel too much forgotten," he said, pulling a mournful face. Third Crossing, ten years later, East—West: Jerya, Hedric, Lallon. Jerya becomes the second person to make a return Crossing.
November 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Just bring me a good chair and keep the grockles away…
Is that really too much to ask?
Looking through pillars into a shaded courtyard in the Alhambra. In the centre is a fountain supported by stone beasts (possibly lions). Around the sides is a colonnade of double pillars supporting ornate arches. Tall trees appear over rooftops at the far end.
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
A brief excerpt from Three Kinds of North, Book One of The Shattered Moon.
www.jonsparksauthor.com/chapter-one
She stepped on again. The great trees withdrew behind. A band of lighter wood, rowan and larch and sunny tangles of man-high undergrowth, screened the deep forest. Then they came into full sun, day-bleached colours and sudden heat. A butterfly tumbled away, bright as a candle-flame. They crossed flower-deep meadow, passed a row of beehives, skirted threadbare ground where goats were tethered. A stone path, a dodge under the leaning thorn-tree at the gate-like nick in the rocks beneath the tor, and she looked down into the stonecourt of Delven. The whole village seemed to be gathered, men as well as women. All eyes seemed to follow her as she started down the steps, but it was the silence that made her shiver, in spite of the heat. Now she grasped Rodal's fear. She halted at the foot of the steps. Rodal darted a look over his shoulder, then stepped aside. Holdren faced her, tall and thin, space around him though the throng pressed behind. "Come," he said, no more, but Jerya trembled. Behind his headman's gravity she sensed unease. She followed him, back up the steps she had just descended. At the top, just as Jerya was wondering where Holdren could possibly be leading her, he turned sharply to the right, onto the other steps, the one flight in all of Delven she had never climbed. The breath fled Jerya's body. Holdren was halfway up before she could gather her wits and her skirt-hem and scramble after him.
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 18/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'retrograde', nor any of ‘reverse’ or ‘backward’. ‘Step back’ (2) is as close as it gets.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"And you don't need to call me Master. It's only a courtesy title now, anyway. Master-Emeritus for formal occasions." Jerya stepped back, face registering concern. "Has something happened?" Evisyn hastened to reassure her. "When I was Master Prime, as you know, Analind became Master of Peripatetics. When I stepped back from the Primacy—I'm sure you remember—I said I'd serve five years. So eighteen was plenty long enough." "Time gets away from me sometimes." Jerya shook her head, the magpie braid swishing across her blouse. "I know; are we really that old? But, you see, Analind offered to step back and let me take up my old position again. And I won't say I wasn't tempted, to get back to the travelling life, but I couldn't let her do that. It wouldn't have been fair anyway, but I was thinking about the next step, because we all knew Brinbeth wasn't going to be there too long."
November 18, 2025 at 8:28 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 17/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 23 instances of 'spend'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
The routine was clear: as each person stepped away from the Royal presence, the major-domo’s ringing tones announced the name and titles of the next in line. As he finished, the person named would step forward, bow or curtsey, and spend an average of perhaps thirty seconds in converse with—or sometimes merely listening to—the Prince. Some walked away looking mildly crestfallen, one or two appeared disgruntled, but to Jerya’s eyes most appeared delighted. A few even bore exultant expressions. She knew that some people could be awed at the prospect of meeting her, a mere Countess. She always tried to set them at ease, and never surrounded herself with even a tithe of the pomp and ceremonial that infested the Sessapontine court. The Prince, she supposed, had no such reservations. She could hardly doubt that His Highness’s dark eyes had spotted them. She herself, arrayed as she was, might not stand out, but Evisyn’s height, combined with her bald head and white robe—with a Master’s gold trimmings at neck, wrists and hem—would make her stand out in almost any company.
November 17, 2025 at 7:46 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 16/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 33 instances of 'run'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"Am I right in thinking Lord Selton would be willing to vouch that your liquidity would run to a hundred and sixty?" It seemed like a considered slight, implying that her word alone was not good enough, but she had more than thirty years practice in deflecting the indignities the Five Principalities inflicted on the female moiety of its populace. "I have no doubt that he would. And speaking of his Lordship, I’m sure he would prefer to continue using your ship and your crew for future voyages. So let’s end this dance and settle on a hundred and fifty." He sighed theatrically, as if he were being fleeced, but held out his hand. Then he hesitated. "Perhaps, as a lady, you would prefer to seal the deal in another way?" "Why, Master Felgin, do you think I might catch something merely by shaking your hand?" She said it lightly, to make it a joke, though really she wasn’t sure quite how clean his hands were.
November 16, 2025 at 8:41 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 13/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 6 instances of 'progress': four in this short excerpt.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
He wasn’t smiling now. Perhaps the idea of trying his luck beyond the mountains had only come to him in the last few minutes, but he was used to weighing things up rapidly. "Miss Torvyn—Sojourner Torvyn, I oughter say… you, and your friends… I reckon you ain’t from families without two coins to rub together. Might it be one or two among you has a notion or two about people I could speak to over there? Decent people, you know; ones who believe in progress, not just makin’ themselves richer." Progress… she thought. Now there’s a word I’ve heard many times. And what Mamma sees as progress isn’t what Master Perriad would, not by a long way; and what the Prince of Sessapont or the Council of the University of Denvirran would call progress would be different again, both times.
November 15, 2025 at 7:36 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 13/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 68 instances of 'week'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Three weeks turned to two, and then one, and then they were counting down the days, time seeming to speed up and slow down almost together; it could feel like half a day had just vanished, and then you could be sitting in a classroom and suddenly you'd be thinking, this is the last time I'll ever sit here, with these classmates, listening to this Docent, and the moment would seem frozen in time, captured like a fly in amber. Somehow, between quick time and slow time, it came to the last day, and now they were the ones sitting on the stage during the speeches; they were the ones named in the roll of honour, their now-unofficially-official matriculation grades read out. They were the ones lining up to receive certificates from the Preceptor, and applause from the whole school and all the assembled parents and families. They had finished school, and graduated, and there were still fewer than two hundred women in the Five Principalities who could say that.
November 14, 2025 at 8:17 AM