Rebeccae

Illustration of a teenage girl with blonde braids and a blue dress sitting at a desk and drawing.

Sloppy, simple illustration of a girl with yellow hair and a blue dress sitting at a desk and drawing.

I tried to capture what it is like to look at your drawing and only see what’s wrong with it, the things you don’t have the skills and experience yet to fix.

You just reminded me I first got online more than 30 years ago. I’m putting the “geriatric” in “geriatric millennial” over here.

Do I spy a shoutout to the Evil Overlord List?

Banner image with the text “Beneath the Valley.” Near the center of the image, a blonde woman in an ancient-style gray gown plays a lyre-like instrument. On the right side of the image is a close up on the head and shoulders of a bearded, dark-haired man sitting against a rugged stone wall.

HADESTOWN x HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS

All Kasetris wanted was to keep her adopted daughter safe—until she discovers her missing husband is alive and imprisoned. Now she must venture into a dangerous underground labyrinth to save him, but at least she has one god on her side.

#WIPPIT #A #F

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Trying an experiment! I am now offering commissions of chibi character artwork through ko-fi. Please check it out! ko-fi.com/erinabecca/c...

The relationship between Kasetris and her missing husband and how they rebuild that relationship after they are reunited drives the main plot of the book, but Kasetris’s relationship with Atzana, the girl she’s been raising for several years, is also complicated and important.

They do look a lot like dragons, don’t they?

There is an olm that serves as a guide for my characters in the underground cave system they are exploring.

Set of 30 bunch of grapes planner stickers. Each green grape has a face.

A set of 30 mustard greens planner stickers. Each sticker has a little face.

Bunch of grapes vinyl sticker. Each green grape has a face and there is a word balloon saying “grapes.”

Mustard greens vinyl sticker. The bunch of mustard greens has a face and a word balloon saying “mustard greens.”

New sticker designs in my Etsy shop: grapes and mustard greens!

geckosgarden.etsy.com

My kid and I were trying to understand why AI-generated media appeals to anyone and I wonder if it has to do with a lack of empathy. If other people and their experiences are meaningless to you, it doesn’t matter whether something comes from a human or is generated by an algorithm.

Screenshot of a text exchange. Person #1 has sent a drawing of a girl with a brown ponytail and blue-gray eyes wearing a yellow karate gi and a black belt. Person #2 replies, “Ok” “It’s fine”

Drew a picture of my 9yo daughter (because she asked me to!) and this was her response. I am devastated.

I am using her drawing of me as my portrait on this app!

I’ve just started drafting, only about 10 pages in. I guess what I’m looking for is an alpha reader, someone to bounce ideas off of and keep me moving forward while I do the same for them. If you’re still interested, great! But if that’s bot what you’re looking for, no problem.

Text: The temple courtyard was thronged with worshippers, but it was not for them Kasetris sang. Her voice was intended for guests unseen, the ghosts of the ancestors and loved ones who had gone before on the path all must walk. She invited them to be close once more to those who remained. She assured them they had not been forgotten. It was the same song she sang every year on the Night of Souls, when the barrier between life and death was as thin as a veil. The power of the god within her carried her voice all throughout the courtyard and up to the stars above.

Sample text:

Image depicts a blonde woman in a flowing gray dress playing a lyre and a close up on the face of a dark-haired bearded man. The text “Beneath the Valley” is written in white.

Hi, I am looking for a critique partner for my ancient history/mythology-inspired fantasy novel. It’s about a woman who discovers her missing husband is alive and imprisoned in an underground cave system, and sets out to rescue him. Would love to work with another fantasy author.
#FiFRevPit

Drawing of a brown toad on top of a red mushroom. “Toadally Anti-Fascist” is written in white on the mushroom.

New sticker/magnet available in my Etsy shop!

www.etsy.com/listing/4404...

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you!

The danger is that the duchess will also steal Vreta’s memories, taking her identity that way.

Mind magic is not exactly illegal, it is not officially acknowledged to exist.

On the left side of the image, a man in a red jacket of late 1700s/early 1800s style stands with his arms crossed. He appears to be speaking. On the right side, a brown haired woman in a dark yellow jacket and slate gray dress looks away, appearing concerned or upset.

At the same time I am pleased and proud to look at my drawing and I despair at how far I have to go as an artist before I can actually make the picture on the page match the vision I wish I could create. I do really like her jacket, though.

I agree restructuring could help, this is a good start

I agree, it’s just figuring out how to do it elegantly that’s the problem. As is the difficulty with pitches.

Yeah, I think adding the word “own” might help? “Vreta must reveal her own deepest secret—her mind magic.”

Vreta has the mind magic and is trying to save the girl. (The duchess has mind magic too but I am referring to Vreta in the pitch)

Thank you! I wonder if it would help if I replaced the word “girl” with “child”?

It’s Vreta. Thank you for the feedback, I will see if I can make that more clear.

Yes

I don’t know that you need to go all the way back to the drawing board to make it more personal? You could start with something like “Due to their psychic abilities, So-and-so was trained as an assassin against their will…”

I’m having trouble boiling her motivations down into something that will fit into the pitch. If she didn’t save the girl, she wouldn’t be true to herself, she feels that since she has the mind magic it’s her duty to use it for good. And the girl is also her love interest’s sister.

I like this concept but I wish that I got something more personal. This feels too broad and distant to me—I want to know a bit more about your main character(s) and how the stakes affect them personally.

I mean, on a meta level, wealth and privilege? But on a personal level, well, that’s something you’d have to read and find out…

An array of images with the title Stolen Magic. Top row: a line drawing of the face of a young woman surrounded by flames, a regency party, and a governess sitting at a desk. Middle text: “Regency vibes in a fantasy world; Elemental magic, mind readers and memory thieves; Friendship and sisterhood; Neurodivergent FMC; A mysterious murder” Bottom row: An engraving of a mansion, a painting of wisteria, a painting of a woman looking over an artist’s shoulder at his canvas, and a line drawing of the face of a friendly young man.

#MockPit #FiFRevPit

STOLEN MAGIC

To free a girl who’s lost her memories to a ruthless duchess, Vreta must reveal her deepest secret: her mind magic. But she risks losing the trust of the man she’s come to love—and losing her identity to the duchess’s power.