The Many Ramblings of K. A. Webb

Looking around the room gave Silvana an idea of what she was up against if she was going to try freeing her people from the Carne. She knew everyone was there because they believed in her, but she wasn’t sure if she believed in herself. At least a hundred pairs of eyes stared at her and she wanted to give them something they’d never had before, as they’d all been born in servitude, but she was scared. Every one of them depended on her to find a safe home and food for them all, when she had no more of an idea of what faced them than anyone else.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

Part 1

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

Welcome!

It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m K. A. Webb, a crowdfunded writer with a love of creating fantasy worlds, and this is the place to start if you’re new to my work. Here I’ll introduce you to all of my collections, my way of crowdfunding (because all crowdfunders work a little differently), and hopefully make things much easier for you than they would be if I hadn’t written this post.

Currently I write fiction for fourteen different collections. Some I write more for than others, because they’re favourites with certain readers, but it’s easy to get me to write more for your favourite collections. I have regular prompt sessions, as well as a prompt page for prompts outside of sessions; you can sponsor a collection so I’ll post more fiction;  you can rent a setting, adopt a character, or create your own ebook, and have fiction emailed to you. The majority of them are fantasy, because I enjoy world building, but my main focus is always the characters I’m writing. That’s a part of the reason I enjoy writing AUs and crossovers.

Most of my collections have been a work in progress for nearly a decade now. There was a time, before I started crowdfunding, when I thought my work wasn’t good enough. It’s possible I still would now if I didn’t have readers who tell me that they enjoy what they’re reading, but I started crowdfunding without knowing if I would succeed or fail, and that was terrifying. I have no idea now how I convinced myself – I’m just thankful I did. People do read my work, although I have no idea how many, and I’m glad I took the plunge.

The oldest collection I write fiction for is the Donor House collection. I started writing the first story for this collection when I was still at school, in a way that could almost be seen as writing serial fiction, because I used to write a bit each night and then my friends used to read it the next day. That was when I realised how much I enjoyed having an audience. Now my focus is the Donor House, which is set locally to me, although I do also write for the world outside the house too. In time I want to begin writing for the two other houses that are in the UK and I would love to have a couple of houses in other countries. At the moment I’m writing fiction from all over the timeline, including from before the house was created, and my aim for this collection in the next year is to introduce all the main characters in the first Donor House that would be there in 2008.

As with all of my collections the Donor House has changed a lot since I first started writing for it. When I first started writing the stories I had this image of a house that had been in use for centuries, but it turned out that I started writing right at the beginning of the timeline. I would love to write about the House in the future, and the vampires I’ve slowly been introducing, because I started this collection to explore the different ways the vampires deal with being what they are. The House itself was started as somewhere vampires who were having trouble being vampires could hopefully find a home, as well as somewhere vampires could begin integrating with humans. Writing about the characters in the House is something I really enjoy and as it’s also a favourite with others I guess I’m not the only one who enjoys this collection.

If you’re new to this collection I suggest you start here.

My next oldest collection, and the one that has changed dramatically since it was first thought up, is the Thear collection. Originally it started as a story about a number of girls who were sent to the planet Thear because there weren’t enough females there for all the males. There were arranged marriages and it was all very different to the collection it’s become, although I am also posting some AUs that show where I began with Thear. Now it’s about the three races who live on Thear – the Dorma, the Uisdro and the Tein-Igni. One thing I plan on doing relatively soon is going back to the beginning of the story and finding out why these three races ended up living together on the same island. I know at one point they got on well, working together to make a home for themselves, but things changed and that’s something else I want to explore.

Thear is easily my most religious world. Everyone here believes in at least one of the deities of Thear, although there are problems here caused by their religion, which is one of the things I’m exploring. As Thearan deities were also once worshipped on Earth this collection has a very close link with the Deities’ World collection.

Strangely the Deities’ World collection is one of my newer collections. I started working on it because Callidora, the daughter of Hades and Persephone, wanted me to start writing about her. The collection has grown as more deities have started pushing me to tell their stories, including Lucifer. I plan on writing about all of the Thearean deities, continuing to write about Callie, exploring the world a little more, and it seems likely I’ll end up writing about Archimedes (Callie’s older brother).

It’s also possible that the Deities’ World collection may start connecting with the Pagan collection. Paganism has always been something I wanted to write about, because I’m a pagan (although I’ll admit that I’m not a very good one), so I’ve been working on fiction for this collection for a long time. Anna, one of the main characters, has changed a lot during that time, and she’s now a girl with amnesia trying to work out where she fits in now that she can’t remember her family or old friends. She is one of the characters I want to throw into as many situations as possible to see how she reacts.

New to these collections? Start here with Thear; here with the Deities’ World; and here with the Pagan collection.

One of the things I love doing is writing characters with magic and seeing how it affects them. Three collections I’m writing fiction for have different magical systems: the Aurora’s World collection; the Heliopath’s World collection; and the Brotherhood collection. (I’m planning on changing the names of Aurora’s World and Heliopath’s World, because they were working names created using characters I was focusing on in the collections.)

The Brotherhood Collection is another one I’ve been working on for almost a decade. Originally it started out as a werewolf story, then it become about two different groups with magic fighting each other, and now I’m using a mix of both ideas, along with the Millennium Bug. The basic storyline is that children born after the year 2000 can have magical abilities and the Brotherhood want to collect them. Shapeshifting is one of the first abilities to maifest, which often has an adverse affect on the children with that power. Later on there are two distinct groups – the Brotherhood and Unity – who aim to teach the children how to use their abilities, but go about it in entirely different ways.

The Aurora’s World collection is relatively new. I started it because I wanted to write about magic being illegal and it ended up becoming the home of one of my most involved magical systems, where the magic a character has is related to when they were born. Every power they have, how it manifests, and when are all affected by the exact moment of birth. I’ve been working on it slowly, because making it’s not a simple way of doing things, but it is fun. Recently I’ve started exploring the other kingdoms and this has led to the introduction of the magic thieves. They steal power from those who don’t know how to use it, some collect magical powers, and their hideout was created using magic. Learning about them has been really interesting, so they’re definitely something I plan on exploring further.

The Heliopath’s World collection is also relatively new, but has gone through a lot of changes during that time. Originally it was a dream world, where characters lived two separate lives on in two places and the story I wrote was about what happens when those two lives collide. Now it’s become about addictive magic, which is something I’m still working on, but every spell a character uses leaves them with some form of withdrawal symptom and the harshness of that symptom depends on the strength of the magic. The other thing I’m exploring is about what happens when a group of magicians all live in one town and forget about what is happening in the world around them.

New to these collections? Start here with Aurora’s World; here with Heliopath’s World; and here with The Brotherhood.

A group of collections that are connected are the Fae World collection, the ‘Astral’ World collection, and the World Walkers collection. I’m still trying to work out if I should integrate the ‘Astral’ World stories into the Fae World collection, because I’m pretty certain that both the worlds were created when the fae were experimenting.

The Fae World collection is actually set in a number of different worlds, including Earth, due to the destruction of the fae’s home world. An overuse of the world’s magic led to the problem, because the fae had no way of returning the magic they used to the world’s core and didn’t want to stop using magic. Stories follow what happened to the griffins, a natural race whose home was the world the fae destroyed; the Dragons, a race created by the fae; the Shifters, who split between going with the Dragons and the fae; the merpeople, who went with the fae; and the twinned worlds, where Lena lives.

The ‘Astral’ World collection is about two different groups of people: the magicians, who have magic and live on Kalinia; and the thieves, who don’t have magic, want it, and spend the majority of their time trying to get it. but can only travel to Kalinia for short periods of time. I’m not certain I started with the right characters or in the right place in the timeline, but I do plan on exploring the creation of the thieves, how the magicians ended up on Kalinia, and exactly what the magic can do.

The World Walkers collection is about another group of the fae, the Thirteen Families, who buried their heads in the sand before realising they had no choice but to flee their home world. In order to stop the same thing from happening to their new world, Athare, they chose to create a web of worlds in the hope they can collect magic using that web. Currently I’m exploring a number of worlds, getting to know some of the races the fae created, and learning about all the different magics the races were given. No one really knows what’s going to happen in the future, especially not the fae, and the name of this collection comes from one of the most unexpected things to happen – the evolution of the World Walkers. The fae aimed to be in control of everything, but magic often makes decisions for them.

New to these collections? Start here with the World Walkers collection; here with the ‘Astral’ World collection; travel to the twinned worlds; meet the griffins; meet the merpeople; meet the Dragons; or meet the fae.

The Afterlife collection is one of my newer collections and I was originally planning on focusing on Caitlyn’s studies as she learnt to be a spirit guide. Instead Richard, who was originally a minor character, ended up becoming Death and taking over. I started working on this not long after someone close to me died, because it does help to write about the afterlife, and I’m glad I did. Somehow it’s become another reader favourite, so I often get prompts for this collection, and I plan on working on a lot more bonus material, as I’m writing about my view of the afterlife.

If you’re new to this collection start here.

The Magi collection is an older one and another that went through a number of changes. Thomar is the character who’s changed the most, because in his first incarnation he was not a nice person, but slowly he seems to have become one of my favourite characters and one I want to write about more. With this collection I seem to be beginning in the middle of the storyline once again, between when the Magi were kept as slaves by the Carne (Thomar is one of the Carne) and when they slowly begin to rebuild their relationship. The Magi are healers and known around the world for their abilities, but due to their past they refuse to help the Carne, until one Magi girl puts aside her feelings and does what she thinks should be done.

I plan on exploring the history of this world a lot more than I have done, especially the history of the Magi, as well as the other races and the magics of the world. This is one that doesn’t see to have become a favourite, although I love it, so it’s been on the backburner a little while I work on other things.

Start here with this collection.

My final two collections are both set on Earth, but they are alternate universe Earths. One is Kim’s Earth, where a population surge changed the world, and the other is a world where there is still an Inquisition.

Kim’s Earth is one that I want to work on more than I have. The idea is one I’ve had for a while – a man-made apocolypse, where the majority of people remaining are under sixteen. My apocolypse was an injection, created to stop Earth’s population from increasing for five years, that ended up killing everyone that had it. Of course there are conspiracy theories about whether the drug was tested well enough before the injection and some people take them seriously, including Kim’s father. She is one of the few people over the age of sixteen alive and ends up taking on the job of looking after a group of children, because they all look up to her. I plan on exploring this world a lot more, as there are other groups that I want to write about and I want to write about the future that they all have.

The Inquisition collection has a very basic premise – the Inquisition never ended. What would life be like if there was still an Inquisition, although this Inquisition is a little different. As I haven’t worked on this collection as much I’m not certain on some of the details, but it’s one I want to make more time for this year.

Start here with Kim’s Earth and here with the Inquisition.

I also write AUs and crossovers, because I love exploring different decisions my characters could have made, how they might have lived if they’d been born on a different world, what their story might have been if they were a different gender. If you’re interested in seeing more of any of these remember the prompts page, you can use the write more button that I have on the bottom of all my posts (every click equals 500 words), or you can commission me to write the story you’re craving.

If a story has already been written it’s going to be up for sponsorship. Every donation of £3 or more will gain the donor a perk and if you have no idea what you want to sponsor then you can ask for your donation to go into the general fund. If you’re low on money but would love to purchase some extra words then collect credits – every comment you make could get you one step closer to what you want.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

There were times when Callum wished he hadn’t followed Lorna. Leaving everything he knew behind had been surprisingly easy at first. It had been an adventure and Lorna was… she was amazing then and still was, even after travelling around the country for over twenty years. Everywhere they went there were people who needed help, whether that was medicines, a dose of healing energy, or both, because the Magi, who had once been a force for good, had changed under the rule of the new matriarch. No one had the same respect they’d had for the Magi when they were truly a group of healers.

Instead people respected the travelling healers, who were Magi but had left behind the new rules and were seen as an entirely different group of people. Lorna and Callum were just two of a growing number, but they were the first. It was thanks to Lorna’s collection of seeds that there were plants all over the country for the travelling healers to gather, because she’d spent their first winter turning a run-down old cottage into a place she could start off some of the more delicate herbs. For Callum it had been the hardest time and some nights he’d thought seriously about running back to his family and begging for their forgiveness.

Cold nights in winter reminded him of that period, and they were still hard for him, but the years had made him realise how important they both were. Without them, without the time Lorna had spent thinking about the future and the hard work they’d both done to create gardens everywhere they could, without those tiny little plants that had become big plants everyone could use, there wouldn’t be travelling healers all over the country, doing the work the Magi turned down, and he was always going to be proud of being a part of that. Even when Lorna had him kneeling down under a huge bush looking for a tiny little herb she needed to make a certain medicine.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, trying not to think of where they were going to be travelling to. News had reached them of an illness that the Carne were facing and their own healers hadn’t been able to combat. That was followed by rumours of the disappearance of a Carne prince and the argument he’d had with his father not long before. Callum had never believed that the Magi should withhold help from anyone, but he wasn’t sure about travelling into Carne land.

Lorna didn’t have any worries at all. They needed her help, so she was going to give it, because she didn’t think that any of the new Magi, as she called them, would walk away from their matriarch in order to help a race of people who had once held their ancestors captive. She’d told him that when they’d spoken, but Callum wasn’t so sure. Once their entire race had been healers, before either of them had been born, and slowly they’d split into two different groups. The healers, like Lorna, and the Magi, and he didn’t doubt that there were still healers within the Magi who would leave to help the Carne.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

Written for LJ user wyld_dandelyon’s prompt: The promise of the seeds sleeping dormant in the ground.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.

Based on the prompt what happens if someone is allergic to the energy of the Magi? from livejournal user ysabetwordsmith.

It was the only thing Terrence could do to help the girl in his care. He knew, after many lectures from his older sister Marnie and several mentors, that using his energy to heal someone was a last resort. Everything else had to be tried first. It was too easy for energy healing to go wrong. That was why they had turned to making medicines rather than using energy to heal. Sighing he tried not to listen to the voices in his head, repeating the same things over and over again. If he didn’t try energy healing then the girl in his care was going to die the same way all the others had.

Carefully he channeled his energy into the crystal he wore on a chain around his neck. Once the crystal was warm to the touch he knew that he could use it on her. He removed it from the chain and placed it gently on her forehead. She moved uncomfortably, moaning slightly under her breath. Breathing slowly, he tried not to think of all the horror stories he’d heard about energy healing going wrong. Focusing on her he gently pushed a little of his energy from the crystal into her body. For a moment he thought everything was fine. Everything was going just as it was meant to. Then she screamed. It was a terrifying sound that seemed to go on for hours, even though it was probably only seconds because someone ran into the room at the same time as it stopped.

“You should have come to me before you tried that,” the person said, lifting Terrence’s hand, with the crystal still tightly clasped in it, away from the girl’s forehead. “Now we have to wait and see if she comes through what you’ve done.”

Terrence looked at her, feeling tears well up in his eyes. “It was the only thing I could do.”

“I know.” There was a long silence. “We should have done it days ago but everyone is scared of energy healing since your aunt… well, since what happened.”

“What’s happening?”

“Her magic is fighting with your healing magic. It only happens in people who are allergic to our healing energy and before we stopped it was a very rare occurrence. I think it’s something that might happen more now because no one is used to having a mix of magic in their bodies.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I should have been the one to try working with energy healing, not you. Your mother’s going to kill me if something happens to you.”

“I made a choice Sherryl. If I get ill because I choose to heal someone then that’s simply the way it’s meant to be.”

“You know how many people have died because of this disease.”

He nodded, watching the girl’s face contort with pain. “Saving the life of this girl would be worth it.”

“You’re more like your sister than anyone gives you credit for.”

For the first time Terrence looked at Sherryl and smiled. “She taught me everything I know. If it wasn’t for her I never would have become a healer.”

Originally posted at dreamwidth.org as kajones_writing.

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.