J is for Jupitre

How I have fallen from being the mighiest of all gods! The scribbler, bah, didn’t even include me in her feeble scribble of a first draft of Stealing Myself From Shadows. I crept in, like a thief, when my wife became my wife, only to be infantalized by her pity and her coddling, but I’ve made my way into Tales of the Navel. Just watch. I have a part to play and I will not be denied.

I is for Isolde

A humble sculptor with the strength of stone I carved, a power I’d discover with a beautiful maiden’s touch.

I freed what I thought would be that maiden’s likneness from the stone, only to find out I’d released a curse, a punishment set upon me by a jealous enchantress. The same enchantress would seek to curse the world. Only the maiden my enemy and I love can stop her. Only with my might at Amberwyne’s side did we have a chance at success.

I thought our task was mind-bendingly perilous as is. Now I find none of us; not I, not my maiden, nor my foe, or the land threatened are real. We’re just characters in a roleplaying game and The Players Are the Thing. Only the Gamemaster’s dice have been cursed by the enchantress, whom isn’t happy at being toyed with.

None of us are, but who can save our players other than us? We’re their characters. We’ll have to figure out how to make it happen.

H is for Hebe

A regular at the Navel, I was created so poorly in the original draft of Stealing Myself From Shadows, no one noticed me. In story since and many a Cauldron Tale, I became a serial cup collector and destroyer, acting out my rage against my father and his beloved cup bearer, my replacement. My destructive pattern transformed into a quest to find and become a new me, by opening a Door to a path through the Shadow Forest. Do I succeed in this? You may not have to wait until Stealing Myself From Shadows is released to find out. Just watch the Cauldron bubble here and at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com, to see what’s revealed.

G is for Grace

I was in the very first story our scribbler wrote ever! Not that I’ve grown up and away, not ever from whom I was, not really. We’ve all become more ourselves; Theodora Bear, Nat, Maia (Iama the Terrible?), Heidi, and I. We’re all princesses, dreamers, or enchantresses in our way, if we’re not stuffed animals, making magic happen.

What do I mean? Come, meet us in Wind Me Up, One More Time, and find out!

Mischief Corner Books/Shenanigans Press: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/store/p161/Wind_Me_Up%2C_One_More_Time.html#/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081LPX2WH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Wind+Me+Up%2C+One+More+Time&qid=1573974211&s=books&sr=1-1

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wind-me-up-one-more-time

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-me-up-one-more-time-ks-trenten/1134959345

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1488235515?fbclid=IwAR1_ox2T5jIHibPFBHUqTck0SNaP3pcZIgNM4DS3VAjU47mn3o5iu260bMA

F is for Faith

Faith is the name I chose, when I joined the Servants of the Unicorn. I’ve taken on a very different role from the dependent non-player character I was in an early 1990s Fantasy Hero roleplaying campaign, or was that one of my sisters whom was revised into whom she is now? We are three; the Points of the Unicorn; Faith, Charity, and Hope. We were conceived for Trouble at Caerac Keep, along with the controversial nature of adventuring in our present time and Caerac himself. You may wonder what I’m going on about. Do persuade the scribbler to finish Trouble at Caerac Keep and find out.

E is for Emma

Born from the songs of Suzanne Vega and Sarah McLachlan, I marinated in the scribbler’s imagination for years. I was a concept for Wraith: The Oblivion. I was an exercise in second person perspective, although not here. I snapped into focus during a submission call for ghosts addicted to substance. Your Name is Emma began. I became a ghost tethered to coffee, doomed to haunt the coffee house, where I wrote copious stories and poems I never published. I could only drink my beloved beverage by possessing someone, such as my former lover, Esther. Whenever I managed to leave the coffee house, the Soul Collectors would pursue me. If any of this interests you, do encourage the scribbler to continue Your Name Is Emma.

D is for Danyel

I was born in a roleplaying game at the turn of the century, discovering the world and myself, along with my twin, as we fled our sheltered world from the peril awaiting us to more peril. Our entire family was created in that game, protecting Tayel and myself from their secrets as Dyvian and his religious sect menaced us all.

When that game ended, Tayel, myself, and our entire family were transported to The Keep; the threat changing to match that particular environment.

My brother, my entire family, and I were revised again for a different version of Stealing Myself From Shadows, which became The Hand and the Eye of the Tower. For years, the scribbler struggled with both stories, while my family and I popped into Cauldron Tales, appearing both here and at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com. We appear in other stories; A Godling for Your Thoughts?; My Tool, My Treasure, and I think our scribbler has plans for us in a final story called My Cusps Overflow. All of these books were inspired by Tarot imagery; Greater Arcana or suits, imagery which shaped the Shadow Forest, which also shaped Tayel and I. Enjoy our stories. They’ve been marinating for a long time.

C is for Caerac Keep

Caerac Keep in Trouble at Caerac Keep was named for me. Long ago, the scribbler would write this novel in coffee houses, a fantasy story inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons handheld game she never finished. The idea of a vampire rising with an undead army to menace a fantasy world fascinated her. This concept inspired many things; including The Keep; an interactive writing project where vampires controlled many of the noble houses, opposing the powerful clerical orders in that universe.

Years later, the scribbler returned to that 1990s novel; drawing it into a world marinating in her imagination since she was a child. Trouble of Caerac Keep became the future in the World of Ouroborous, where centuries before A Suitor’s Challenge took place.

What does this have to do with me? I became the founder of Caerac Keep, a former adventurer, who slew many a monster, acquiring treasures where I went. Alive, I was hailed as a hero. Dead, I’m villified as a killer and a thief, unable to rest in peace.

What do I mean by that? Do pester the scribbler to spend more time on my story, so you can find out.

B is for Briar

Long ago, our scribbler wrote a fragment of ff fairy tale; mingling Snow White and Sleeping Beauty with a dash of Cinderella; the blithe warning of Revolutionary Girl Utena in all its ritualized sexism ringing in her head: “Princesses not rescued by princes are doomed to become witches.”

What if Cinderella was a witch, Snow White’s beautiful and wicked stepmother, and my witch? What if Snow White, once Fairest of Them All was doomed to stalk Sleeping Beauty, becoming her witch?

This idea became a story and a submission which was rejected. This story bloomed into a novella called Fairest. Fairest was accepted, published, and the scribbler never saw a penny for it. She was forced to ask for the rights back.

Revised and expanded, Fairest found a new home in Once Upon a Rainbow, but that publication was of a limited time.

Revised and expanded into a novel, my Rose was able to save others besides me in the new version of Fairest, which is available now.

And me? I was a witch in every version, once upon a time a wronged and cursed princess, until I found my found. Briar was able to bloom from my former self’s ghost, offering me rebirth.

What do I mean by that? Read my story and find out…

Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/fairest/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fairest-K-S-Trenten-ebook/dp/B0CNSL28YR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=26Q4LNG7UIVW2&keywords=Fairest+by+K.S.Trenten&qid=1701720288&s=books&sprefix=fairest+by+k.s.trenten,stripbooks,143&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-ks-trenten/1123806892?ean=2940179155874

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fairest-19

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1483368

Apple Book: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fairest/id6472735190

A is for Amberwyne

Once upon a time, I was a completely different character in a Fantasy Hero roleplaying campaign, way back in the 1990s. I started becoming more me in a Changeling: The Dreaming campaign in the late 1990s as a mad sidhe childing, haunted by memories of past leanhaun ravaging. The leanhaun followed me into The Keep, an interactive writing/roleplaying project in the early 21st century; where my beloved Rhane joined me in surviving Fidessa’s depradations, along with other perils waiting in the walled city. Rhane and I got our own story, a work in progress called The Players Are the Thing. I became a character in a roleplaying game, developing self-awareness of Rhane as my player, as well as the danger all of the players were from Fidessa, villain of the roleplaying campaign. She developed self-awareness and was not amused. Casting a curse upon the Game Master’s dice, ‘Dessa was about to take her revenge, if I and the other characters didn’t save our players. Does this sound interesting? Do let the scribbler know. I’d really like for her to return to our story, please!

N is for Nevalyn

I am the serpent that devours the world. I become the world, yet I still hunger for my earthy flesh. I am a woman who dared to devour the serpent and befriend monsters. I tear down corrupt civilizations ruled by corrupt monarchs daring to call themselves good and me evil. I am the voice that whispers to all of my children, the voice they cannot resist. I am more than A Suitor’s Challenge or Trouble at Caerac Keep. I am the beating heart of Ouroborous; eternal and insatiable. I am Nevalyn. Seek me out and face me, if you dare.

M is for Melyssa

I was a repressed sister of an obsolete order, worshipping a God of Balance. I was a seductive enchantress, drinking deep of my lovers’s creative energy.

Aspects of me remain of those previous incarnations, but I am neither. I became the daughter of Duessa Ashelocke, a deviant arachnocrat, whose passions had no place in my mother’s Gardens. I hungered for more than its blossoms. My hunger led me to Seraphix.

What do I mean? See what tales bubble up at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com and find out.

Hello, Formerly Forbidden Cauldron

Hello, Formerly Forbidden Cauldron. It’s been a year since I stopped by.

Why so long? The print is smaller here and formatting is a lot more work. It’s much easier to blog over at the Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com.

I’m back, for the same reason I returned last year; Blogging From AZ April Project. The theme this year is Character Origins. Yes, I’ve done this theme before. I need to remind myself of what I’ve accomplished, what I have yet to accomplish by blogging here as well as at the Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com.

I’m getting old. I’m moving out of my early 50s to my mid-50s. I’m appalled at how little I’ve done, yet I’ve accomplished a lot.

Time to remind myself of all that. Time to spring forward.

See you in April.