JG Duke

In the worst of times, ppl need ART. We need music, books, poems, and paintings now more than ever. Don't give up: your story matters.

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”
— Albert Camus

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Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of magic in their works in progress throughout the month of February. The associated hashtag is #Febchantment

#Febchantment speedrun
1- #AStoryOfDainu is a 10-book epic fantasy series. 2- There is hard magic found only in the MCs of Book One, 3- based *mostly* on elements with other stuff sprinkled in too, 4- called ai bado. 5- Ai bado is typically tribal based, with each tribe having a different ability.

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of February. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesFebruary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A wave is crashing over rocks, spraying water into the air. Text reads "Of Wind and Tide, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesFebruary 3

I think Daroke would have liked the idea of soul mates when he was young, but after getting his heart broken so many times, I doubt he'd hold much stock in it.
Soul mates do not, canonically, exist for Bash. (But they do for Wupi!)

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of February. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesFebruary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A wave is crashing over rocks, spraying water into the air. Text reads "Of Wind and Tide, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesFebruary 2- romance

This book actually intentionally lists MULTIPLE failed relationships of the MC. He has three on-page breakups in his young adult life, including an engagement with someone he was "madly in love with".

Spoiler, he does find marital happiness... eventually. 😅

"Reading is a form of prayer, a guided meditation that briefly makes us believe we’re someone else, disrupting the delusion that we’re permanent and at the center of the universe."
- George Saunders

#reading #books #empathy #prayer #ego #indieauthor #writingcommunity #reader

Also, hi, I'm Duke. My series is epic fantasy, spanning across ten books. It is a wholly original world and mythos, not based in any real-world cultures or religions.

I was an ESL teacher for 15 years, specializing in grammar, writing, and reading. I have MAs in TESOL and Linguistics.

The world is called Dainu. Book 1 takes place in Ilimak, the land of the Bash. There are fifteen "lands", each inhabited by a different Dainutara. Bash, Zol, Siil, Ponmas- 15 of 30 Kataloy made life in Dainu, and each one lives in their own space... for the most part.
#FebruaryWorldbuilders

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of February. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesFebruary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A wave is crashing over rocks, spraying water into the air. Text reads "Of Wind and Tide, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesFebruary
Intro to book 4 of the series #AStoryOfDainu, "Of Wind and Tide".
This book picks up where book 1 left off, following Daroke, son of King Dokiro of Ral Palace and princess Ambea of Mos Palace, as he grapples with being the heir to two thrones, unwanted in either.

This is who runs this account.

Hua Cheng!! Whoooo!!! 🦋

a cartoon of a boy reading a book surrounded by books . Alt: Gif is of Linus van Pelt, from the Charlie Brown series, surrounded by books. He is quickly skimming through them.

"So many books, so little time."
- Frank Zappa

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Ahhh!! Congratulations!!

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of January. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesJanuary.

Picture is of text. It is titled "The anatomy of a pitch" Elements: Inciting incident, protagonist, goal/stakes, antagonist/problem, setting. Example: The Wizard of Oz After losing her home in a tornado / a young girl / wakes up in a magical land. / Can she find her way back to Kansas / when a witch is determined to kill her? Picture came from @BluePit.bsky.social

#FantasyIndiesJanuary 30

For free Friday, I want to share with y'all a cheat-sheet I saw from BluePit that was INCREDIBLY helpful to me.

The anatomy of a pitch:

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of January. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesJanuary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A ship is on the open sea, with giant white wings for sails. Text reads "High Winds and Low Whispers, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesJanuary 29- favorite characters

In this book, Dhrisamie. She's so fun to write!

In the series, Ekino Joni probably. I've written the most fan-fic of him. Lol

In the last 10 yrs of reading, Wind Master Shi Qingxuan. They start so delightfully fun, and end so perfectly shattered.

I *really* wanna finish book 3 and 4 this year. They're about 50 & 80% finished, respectively.
Though, I picked up 4 the other day, and realized I HATED the pacing...so I might just rewrite the entire the book. 😮‍💨

#JanuaryWorldbuilders

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”
– G.K. Chesterton

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🧵7. So after all of that, Jaris is still the MC of book 3, it's still about coming home and having massive culture shock, and it's still #AStoryOfDainu, even if every single other thing in between has changed. //🧵

🧵6. This book was gonna be #6 originally, but the story that is now #6 was more fitting, as 5 and 6 are significant numbers there, so I moved this one to 3.
(It's not related enough to the main storyline to matter where it ends up, chronologically.)

🧵5. Of course, the number 10 is significant in the series, so figured 'in for a penny, in for a pound!' and I added a final generation to the plot, and got where we are today: an #EpicFantasy #decalogy.

🧵4. Eventually, I realized my "2 book series" needed more. It was gonna be 5, and maybe I could sneak in a chapter about these people. But then it was 6, and if it was gonna be 6, might as well do 7 and give these their own book.

🧵3. As the story of Book 1 changed, however, that side character completely disappeared. But I really liked the name Jaris, so I wanted to give it to someone else. Plus, I really liked what his people were and their story. So I kept it just in case.

🧵2. This was going to be book 3- and was about one of the side characters in Book 1 learning that he wasn't a Bash, and trying to go home to his ppl.

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of January. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesJanuary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A ship is on the open sea, with giant white wings for sails. Text reads "High Winds and Low Whispers, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesJanuary 27- how has this story changed from the original design?
Ready for another thread? (/7)

\\ 🧵1. When these books first started forming in my head 25 years ago, they were 2nd world portal stories.

Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of January. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesJanuary.

Picture is of a (temporary) book cover. A ship is on the open sea, with giant white wings for sails. Text reads "High Winds and Low Whispers, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".

#FantasyIndiesJanuary 26- cherished memories

Jaris' earliest memory is while sailing to Sol, he sat near his mother's vanity and watched her put on her makeup.
Years later, after she has become Veema, he tells her "I still think you're beautiful, Mabi."

Jaris is a total mama's boy. Lol

"Reading lets us live in someone else’s shoes. Literature builds bridges; it makes our world larger, not smaller."
– R.F. Kuang

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That's helpful, thank you!

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”
— Anne Frank

It's a vile timeline, friends. Keep fighting; keep hoping; keep creating.

#writingcommunity #indieauthor #writers #art #courage #FightFascismWithHope #mordernlife #booksky #StoriesMatter

She tried not to cry. “I want to do the right thing. I want to be a good Ney, but I’m just so confused! I don’t know what to do.” Junalee had no more sympathy. “It’s sad, Marvee, that you’re a grown Ney and you still don’t know right from wrong.” “But I- I’m confused! I thought I did, but now I’m being told differently. So, I just don’t know anymore if-” “Have you ever once thought for yourself? Have you ever once come to a conclusion that wasn’t made for you?” “I-” She paused and thought. Had she? She couldn’t quite recall. “If today they told you the sea is orange, you’d believe them. ‘Why would they lie?’ you’d say. You’d trust their words before you’d trust your own eyes.” “But exactly: why would they lie?” “Why does anyone lie, Marvee?” She waited, assuming it was a rhetorical question. Junalee only repeated. “Why would anyone lie, Marvee?” “Oh, um- I don’t know. When I was little, I suppose I would lie because I was afraid of getting in trouble.” “And there you go.” “But- the Council isn’t in danger of that.” “Aren’t they?” “Who would they be in danger from? What authority is there above them?” “Truth. History. Facts. They lie because they’re afraid of the truth.” “I don’t understand, Junalee!” “And you don’t understand because you’ve never tried to before. You’re too willing to believe. You’ve never once doubted any one else’s intentions. Understanding comes from learning what you don’t know. You’re not interested in learning; you just want to be told the answers. “Even in Sol, you never once tried to learn the language beyond what you needed to say. You never once tried food you didn’t already know you liked. You never once spoke to Taifin who weren’t your hosts. You don’t care about learning; you want answers, not reasons.” “But I don’t need reasons. If the answer is right, that’s all anyone nee-” “If the answer is right, Marvee. If. And if it’s not- you would never even know. Right from wrong: you still don’t even know.”

Pictures is a (temporary) book cover for "High Winds and Low Whispers, a story of Dainu", by JG Duke. It shows a large ship on the open sea, with giant white wings for sails.

Picture is a list of daily prompts through the month of January for authors to share various aspects of their works in progress. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesJanuary

#FantasyIndiesJanuary Day 24- #SaturdaySnippet
This is from mid-late in the book, when Junalee has about had it with the reverse culture shock of being back among "her people".
In this scene, she chastises Marvee for being so eager to re-assimilate, even when the cultural norm is immoral.

Honestly, I'd prefer paper work that can then transpose into digital, rather than a digital peice.

The first book, I want an ocean/beach scene with a massive supercell/hurricane on the horizon, and ideally I'd like it in oils/acrylics. 😬