This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kevin King will award a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A writer, of any genre, is made by three things. First, loving stories. Second, daydreaming stories. Third, writing stories. If you do those things, you’re a writer.

If you’d like to make money at writing, that requires a few extra steps. But making money isn’t what makes you a writer. Writing is.

Love of stories is what will carry you through the journey of writing. Do you love to read stories? Watch stories? Listen to stories? Do you feel at home in imaginary worlds? Do you daydream of fairies and dragons and wizards? Congratulations, you have the heart of a Fantasy writer. I spent my childhood at the library, reading every Sci-Fi and Fantasy book I could get my hands on. I consumed Fantasy until it filled me up and spilled out my fingertips. I devoured all the words. All the worlds. Apparently, you are what you eat.

Imagination is the greatest tool of writing. Every other necessary skill can be learned, but imagination is grown. Cultivated. Your mind needs space to dream. The first stories you tell are the stories your mind tells itself. I got my idea for this book while working a job where I spent a lot of time waiting, with nothing to do but daydream. One day, a question drifted into my head. What if someone was cursed, but a side effect of that curse gave them a unique ability, and that unique ability ends up being what saves them? That question spawned a flock of other questions about what that would look like, how it might happen, and how it might end. It was the seed that grew my story. But if I’d never had that time to daydream, it never would have happened. You can’t create stories if your brain is always full of other things. If you want to be a writer, give yourself time to daydream.

The final step to becoming a writer is to write. The first things you write will be terrible. That’s okay, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. Some things you will write and keep working on until they are good. It may take a while, but it can happen. Some things you will write and then delete. Even those are not wasted. Master painters all start by repeating simple exercises, copying past masters, experimenting to find their own style. Good writers do the same. I’ve discarded many times more words than I’ve shown to the public.

Making money and becoming known are nice, but not a required part of being a writer. If you just enjoy writing and don’t care about making a living off it, that’s good. Don’t worry about the rest. But if you want to go a step further and make money writing, there’s more work to do. You’ll want to study craft books, go to conferences, join critique groups. Dig into the details of what you like and don’t in other people’s writings, and the reasons why. Show your work to others who will give you honest critiques, and learn to filter that feedback and find the parts that show you where you need to strengthen your skills. Even once you publish and start making money, never stop learning and improving your work. Being a writer requires a fine balance of believing in yourself while recognizing your shortcomings. Accepting something as good enough while recognizing that it could be better, and being okay with that.

The most important thing is to never lose your love of stories. Keep reading, listening, watching, drinking in the stories that fill your soul. And keep dreaming. As long as you keep doing those things, you can’t help but be a writer.

Raendel is one of the Adoël, the cursed people. Passed on to each generation, the curse drains his body of color, leaving his skin and hair a ghostly white. To protect himself from the commoners who fear what they don’t understand, all of the Adoël live as servants to the royal family, using their unique skill with illusion magic to entertain bored nobility. Raendel is bound by traditions, but also by his own lack of self-confidence. Prince Kenan is the younger of two princes, frustrated by his gilded cage and the combat tutoring that feels pointless in a secure and peaceful kingdom. He dreams of adventure, of making a name for himself with heroic deeds. An unexpected assault from an ancient enemy sets the two on a quest that begins as pursuit of vengeance, but soon leads them into a struggle for survival that will teach them both that they are small pieces of a long, dark history. But even the smallest actions can change the fate of a kingdom.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Raendel wove through the room with practiced ease, gliding between isolated clumps of noblemen scattered across the room, passing the time with idle gossip as they waited for the guest of honor to arrive. His gaze flicked along the way in front of him, choosing the path that would keep him farthest away from the guests. Most of them wore enough perfume to give him a headache from five yards away. The enhanced sense of smell shared by the Adoël only added to Raendel’s trepidation. All the nobles stank of pride. The smell of fear drifted in clouds, especially near visitors who had never seen one of the Adoël before. Raendel spent most of his day inside the castle, serving Prince Kenan.

His distinctive features would have drawn stares even without the stories. The name Adoël had been used to frighten children for generations. Mothers would clutch their children as he passed in the street. Don’t go outside at night or the Adoël will get you. Don’t wander into the woods, the Adoël will catch you and suck the life out of you. Each passing generation believed the stories a bit more than their parents. To encounter an Adoël in person resurrected the terrors planted in the hearts of children now grown.

Whispers swirled in his wake. Ghost-child. Cursed. Tainted. Touched by the Necromancer. Raendel had heard them all before, but he still flinched with every sting.

About the Author:Kevin works as a software developer in the Seattle area by day, and an author by night. He enjoys Renaissance Fairs, bookstores, fencing, and daydreaming. He has been reading fantasy from age six, and writing from age twenty-two. He loves exploring fantasy worlds, especially exploring human nature through fiction. Fantasy is his first love, but he also dabbles in sci-fi, creepy horror, and devastatingly sad dramas. He posts regular flash fiction stories to his Instagram account and website.

Buy the book at Amazon.

a Rafflecopter giveaway