Occhiolism

“Sword & Creature” is the working title of my romantasy novel. I have been working on this novel full time since approximately November of 2024.

The first draft ended up being around 83k words, while my goal for the overall manuscript is 90-100k. Five minute google research tells me this is an appropriate length for a novel that is a blend of romance and fantasy.

The story is about a mercenary commander who while sacking a Kingdom for a client finds a cursed woman being held captive in a basement by her father. This woman just so happens to be his soulmate. Whacky hijinks ensue.

This is meant to be the first book in a trilogy. I have decided to try traditional publishing, so I am keeping the majority of the details of my book private for now. I am unlikely to post lengthy excerpts from the book anywhere public either. As I’ve been told that traditional agents and publishers don’t really want to touch things that have been posted online.

There is also the fact that many social media sites have terms and conditions of service that gives them the right to do whatever they wish with your work. So I’m being especially careful with this book. It means a lot to me and I love it.

However, I would like to share one of my favorite lines so far. This is from the POV of the MMC while he looks at the FMC one morning after he frees her from her basement prison:

Currently she was dressed in a pair of pants in a color so upsetting I could only call it greige.

We all know that ‘greige’ is definitely the most upsetting color. The unholy mixture of gray and beige should not exist. But I promise you, it does!

• Greige paint swatch from farmhousepaint.com!

Yours,

Ashley

P.S. The more I stare at that color swatch the more upsetting the color becomes.