MJ Blackburne

Feels really nice to finally finish a chapter that I've been stuck on for several months. Amazing what 500 words can do to get a chapter back on track

Brain has no reason to come up with two short story ideas over the weekend when there's already two WIP novel series I need to focus on

The biggest research is endurance horse racing, specifically multi-day races. Although the world this story takes place is high/dark fantasy, I still want the race to be as realistic as possible. I interviewed pro endurance riders and watched as much as possible.

Happy new year everyone!

Writing is honestly so great. I just opened Scrivener and at the bottom of the draft is a note I made last night: "there's a severed head involved." How is the severed head involved? Well we're going to find out, aren't we? We're going to put some coffee and the record player on and find out.

Flew back home today, and already I miss my parent's dog (dachshund puppy). It's going to be very weird going back to a dog-less house.

I have writing goals set for 2026 - goals that I feel confident in achieving. To all my fellow writers: may the words come easily and your own goals reached in the new year. (2 of 2)

2025 was rough year of writing for me. From being cut by DODGE, scrambling to find and learn a new job, navigating mental health issues... it has been a lot. I had a goal to finish the first draft, and while that did not happen, reaching the 100k word count is a success all in of itself. (1 of 2)

It's a good thing she's cute

Long-haired dachshund puppy sleeping peacefully on her car seat/bed

Sleeping peacefully as if she hadn’t kept us up all night

Family guy quote "you know the novel you've been working on"

Imagine that you have been mulling over the idea for a novel for years and someone holds you captive until you actually write it.

"The Lurker" is that in book form. 📚😏

Start your new year off right by laughing at our shared plight.

books2read.com/u/bwJrGZ

#Writesky #Booksky #Selfpublish

My Book, "The Lurker" is part of the Smashwords 2025 End of Year Sale through January 1!

Find your next favorite book at smashwords.com/sale ! #EOYsale25 #ebook #sale #books2read #indiebooks

Long-haired dachshund puppy curled up into a donut shape on a pile of blankets in the backseat of a car

When on road trip, gotta be donut shaped

Quote this with what you have accomplished in 2025 no matter how small

♥️ Celebrated one year anniversary with my girlfriend
📝 Passed the 100k word count on my working novel!
✅️ Got a new job
💪 Survived the year and it's challenges

Ideas are, no question, the cheap part. I have SPREADSHEETS of ideas, and if I keep up my current production rate, which is already unrealistically high, I will die before I finish using them all. EXECUTION is the important part.

A brown long-haired dachshund puppy stretched out as long as she could on a blue dog bed, sleeping peacefully surrounded by her Christmas toys/gifts

Someone tired herself out after going raptor mode on all the wrapping paper (wrapping paper was not swallowed during the festivities)

Long-haired dachshund puppy partly on her side and back, looking back at the camera

Heidi says "happy Christmas Eve!"

Visiting the parents for Christmas, and they have a giant bathtub. Something about having an overdue soak with pen and paper to work on the neglicted writing is healing.

A dachshund long-haired puppy sleeping on her back in a pile of soft blankets, pretending to be a contortionist

Oh, to be a sleepy dachshund puppy

The image is split into three columns, each having a color palette. The far left is teal, the middle is red and black, and the right is yellow and dark brown. There are roman numerals on each of the splits, I, II, and III, with Riyati Rebirth, Riyati Rivals, and Riyati Ripple under the roman numerals. Behind the titles and roman numerals are magic glyphs colored teal, red, and yellow respectively. There is a bullet list with the following: Buffy x Persona 4 vibe Generational trauma Childhood friends slow burn Demi, AuHD fMC Contemporary & low dark fantasy with urban fantasy elements Reincarnations Intricate elemental magic Complex & morally grey characters Classism & effects of generational poverty Found family In the colored columns, there is a picture of an illustrated character. In the teal column, a teenage girl with long reddish-brown hair and bright teal eyes looks anxious at the viewer. In the red and black column, a teenage boy with olive-brown hair and light blue eyes looks scared and pensive at the viewer. In the yellow and brown column, a teenage girl with short dark brown hair and bright emerald eyes looks pensively to the side. At the bottom, aligned middle, is the text “riyati.ink” in a box.

“Riyati” is in the top center of the image. It is surrounded by four book covers, from left to right: Riyati Origins (listed as a prequel with 33 pages), Riyati Rebirth (listed as Book I with 218 pages), Riyati Rivals (listed as Book II with 236 pages), and Riyati Ripple (listed as Book III with 290 pages). The following blurb is below: It all started that day, in the forest... Kylie Rae learned she is anything but a normal after a life or death situation revealed that she is not only a mage — a powerful one at that — but also the reincarnation of a long destroyed magic kingdom’s last crown princess. The life she knows is destroyed as she learns people from her past incarnations want her dead and a secret organization kidnaps and tortures mages like herself if they ever discover she exists. Riyati is a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, generational trauma, and finding your own path in life. The series is set in the modern day fictional Southern US town of Opal Pines and includes multiple first person perspectives with characters across a range of queer, neurodiverse, and socioeconomic statuses. Below the blurb, retailer logos are listed as follows: itch.io, ko-fi, Kobo, Google Play Books, Smashwords, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Hoopla, and Amazon Kindle. A plus sign with “more @ riyati.ink” is beside the retailer logos.

Looking for a new dark fantasy series? Check out #Riyati!

🏠 Direct riyati.ink/store
🔗 Itch riyati.ink/itch
🛒 Other retailers (ebook & print) riyati.ink/series
🔮 Riyati Discord (lurker friendly) riyati.ink/discord
🚫 Series cw's riyati.ink/cws
🧩 More info riyati.ink

Individual book info 🧵👇 (1/5)

🐸

"Three women find themselves thrown into the middle of magic, politics, and war, and may be the only hope the world has to prevent the rise of a god."

"A kingdom had already fallen, and the remaining four kingdoms struggled to survive. The Archival Accord, a group of magical librarians and researchers, have become the last line of defense, and they are not prepared for the war that is brewing as a forgotten false god grows in power.

"The world had been slowly falling into chaos since The Collapse. Rogue magic roamed the land, destroying everything in its path, wreaking havoc on the laws of nature. Demons, always hungry for flesh, raid settlements and prowl the deepest and darkest parts of the land.

While "Midnight Bakery" is still a WIP, my attention has returned to a piece that is near and dear to me. I have been working on this WIP for several years, and it is time to finally finish it.

Let me introduce "Rise of a God", the first book in the "World of the Godless" series

Well, it's been quite a year. Eight months have passed without posting, and what a crazy eight months it has been. In short, I was laid off on Valentine's Day (if you know, you know), got a new job, and navigated a new world of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. But the words shall continue!

They are correct

Black cat is mood

Anyway, there needs to be more characters with misophonia and other sound sensitivity disorders.

It would have helped young me in knowing I was not crazy, and open the eyes of many readers of this condition.

Had to resort to digging nails into skin and scratching the area to the point where it became raw. The need and want to cover my ears, to escape was overwhelming, but I couldn't. That would be unprofessional. It took all of my energy to keep a neutral face, to not make a scene.