An Idea #AtoZChallenge 2025 fantasy

[Writing Process post] 

I started with an idea. 

Story Idea:

Fantasy story. A world where people are born with a lit jewel at their suprasternal, or jugular, notch. The jewel determines the specialty of the person. Generally, people of the same region have the same color jewel. 

There are exceptions, such as the Purple jewels, which became the specialty known as Order. Long ago, Purples formed societies and created a code of morals and a set of laws. Another exception is the Red jewels, which are connected to the spiritual world. 

The Silvers claim to be masters of portals. They believe they are meant to find portals that allow travel between their moon world of Darterra to Xeata-Lidoffad, the planet it orbits. It is alleged that the first Silver accomplished this but chose not to return. 

New jewels have cropped up. There are now people with multiple colors in their jewels. The world divided over what this means. 

The Golds, masters of travel and discovery,  are adamant that multi-colored jewels are bad and the people must be destroyed. The people of Darterra are being segregated and reduced in numbers. Jaildarn, the current Gold leader, is determined to see the people fight and the population diminish. 

How did Jaildarn get this way? That's the real story. 

Told from the perspective of Belp, a Brown, who was once Jaildarn's friend.

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Does this story intrigue you? Are you a fan of fantasy stories? 

If you are an author, how often do you begin by having an idea?

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My A to Z 2025 theme is a fantasy story. (And some of the process of writing it as well.) 🕮

- J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZchallenge

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website.

2025 A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal #AtoZChallenge

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
a-to-zchallenge.com

The theme I intend to do on my blog this year is a fantasy story. Not just the story, but some of the process of writing it as well. I hope you'll drop in to read it!

-J

  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com

If for one day you could be anyone #IWSG

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:

Ronel Janse Van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

March 5 question -

If for one day you could be anyone or *thing* in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.

I just want to be me. I'd like to be loved and accepted as me, for me. But, that isn't happening in my homeland right now. So maybe I could be a time traveler for a day. Go back to the time when my ancestors ruled this land under my feet. Meet my people. Be a friend to a Lenni-Lenape leader in the time before the invaders. I want to see the world 🌎 as they did, to feel what they felt, to experience the culture, to be ... A Majority for a day. Surrounded by my own people, ones who look like me, value what I value, are what I am. For a day. 

A day wouldn't be enough. Unless it was my last, perhaps. Maybe it is what awaits me in "the beyond"? It would be nice to belong.

Well, anyway, the theme for the A to Z team this year is Community. How blogging unites and supports our community, that sort of idea. Anyone hoping to guest post should reach out to a team member soon. We're trying to schedule our posts so we have more time in April to visit participants.

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 Please follow me on Bluesky. 



Check out the site! Theme Reveal and Sign-up dates are coming this month.

Change published works IWSG

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and Tyrean Martinson!

Feb 5 question -

Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?
No, not really. 
I'm grateful for anything I finished and published.

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https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/tribal-nations-urge-citizens-to-carry-id-as-ice-raids-increase Indigenous people in the Southwest U.S. have reported being questioned or detained by immigration officers.
My people are not doing well.

Cliffhanger #IWSG and Native American Heritage Day

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:

Ronel, Deniz, Pat Garcia, Olga Godim, and Cathrina Constantine!

Dec 4 question -

Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?

There is a major cliffhanger at the end of Fractions of Existence. There's a minor one at the end of Proof of Existence. (Both of which are on sale. Kindle Countdown!)

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Native American Heritage Day #Sale!

The Existence series is an Urban Fantasy with Myths and Legends, and Paranormal Romance.

Omnipotent beings are trying to save human existence. Only united are they strong enough. If they don't reunite, the human race is doomed.

Sale on Fractions of Existence https://amzn.to/3AWVA8v

Coming soon:

Sale on Proof of Existence https://amzn.to/4fSsO86

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https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social Please follow me on the BlueSky social media site. So many writer, author, and book lover friends of mine have made the switch, I find that I shall too. (X no longer favors links in "tweets," as it is switching focus to training AI with the shares of users. The platform I once used daily no longer interests me.) 



@AtoZchallenge.bsky.social  -  The team also has a handle on the growing Bluesky platform.
https://bsky.app/profile/atozchallenge.bsky.social

Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com There is a final farewell post. We have shut down. https://operationawesome6.blogspot.com

Creative Activities #IWSG

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:

Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard , Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

Nov 6 question -

What creative activity do you engage in when you're not writing?

I haven't made much time for other activities recently. I do have some background in sewing, weaving, and bead art. I make good jerky. I have pretty good skills in trapping and natural weapons. (Instead of Cabela's, I go into the forest with nothing or nearly nothing, and survive with whatever I happen upon. 🏹 It depends on how long I'll be there.) 

Some people have given me flack over my skill of being able to turn, for example, deerskin into pants. Or to adorn something with beads. 

"Isn't that a feminine skill?"

In case you're about to take that stance, let me be clear. I have never whipped out a 🍆 reproductive organ to sew with, nor do I know anyone who has. But if you think a needle 🧵 and thread are held with such a body part, you have very different tastes in erotica and crafts than I do. 

Also, no, I don't sell those crafts. I don't do these activities often, just on occasion. 

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"The Harris-Walz campaign released a statement that more than 70 tribal and Native American leaders endorse Harris as president.
Begay said the Native Americans for Harris-Walz program’s goal is to organize and uplift the work of tribal citizens, leaders and organizations that has already been done and provide support to them." - https://ictnews.org/news/how-a-harris-walz-administration-would-impact-native-people-

I am writing this month. Due to policy shifts and last year's debacle, I am not officially participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Best wishes to those who are. 

#IWSG and #WEP Spooky Time #ghost #stories #Horror Horrorfest 2024

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jacqui Murray, and Natalie Aguirre!

October 2 question -

Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

Classic ghost tales... classic... ummm.... 🤔
The Woman in White - as seen in the tv show Supernatural. A vengeful spirit who can cause pain and death, all while begging for help and being unaware she's not alive. I guess that sounds scary to me, enough for this prompt at least.

There's a better one I know, but to mention the word, especially in print, is forbidden. (Not that people outside of the culture don't use it. They do. Including a version in the show Supernatural. Season 1 Episode 2. Right there in the title of the episode is the word that should not be used, especially in print. Sorry, this isn't like "fear of a name only increases fear..." blah blah Harry Potter quote. No, it isn't like that. BUT ANYWAY)

Allow me to present links to some of my reviews of horror novels:

• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4319398401  The Cure by Patricia Josephine Lynne 
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2952218899 The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2701846118 Twisted Tales by Deborah A Stansil
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2123074471 Caught in Between (The In-Betweens, #1) by Alison L. Perry
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2102749649 The Snowman (Detective Quaid #0.5) by Yolanda Renee
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1872165572 The Miniature Golf Course Murders (River Corners Mysteries Book 2) by Sara Penhallow

Here's a mini "lite horror" (more mystery/ myth) novella. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

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https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2024/10/wep-halloween-flash-fiction-special.html
FEAR THEMby J Lenni Dorner

Mother taps on the tallest, oldest tree in the forest. "Be careful, my child, for they will come for you. The time will never come when you can let down your guard. Our people have suffered for hundreds of years from this danger. Do you see this tree?"

I nod.

"The danger has existed longer than this tree has lived. Put your arms around it. Feel the years the tree has stood."

I hug the tree. The bark scratches the delicate skin on my young cheeks. My arms cannot wrap even halfway around the tree. "Why do they come for us?"

She frowns. "That question does not matter. You must focus on not being taken. Not only would you be separated from your family and home, but from yourself."

"From myself?" I rub a spot on the tree where the bark has been removed.

She pulls at my chin so I meet her stare. "The very essence of your being. All that you believe, all the knowledge your father and I have imparted, it would be taken. You would not know nature, and it would no longer know you. For that is their way. They do not share our connection to life. This is why we stay apart from them. To be taken by them is a horror beyond repair." 

The lesson was said before and would be taught again many times. 

Too bad I didn't listen well enough.

They came for me. And all that my parents warned proved to be true. Far worse than what they claimed. 

"Mother? Father? I have returned!" It took many years to find them again.

"We see you. But you cannot return beyond visits." Father hangs his head. The campfire illuminates the tears on Mother's face.

"I am myself. I know nature."

Mother tisks. "Nature does not know you as it once did. You are not who you were. The change is clear."

I still see myself. They see a changed being. I sit at the fire, staring at the flames.

"Show us that you are aware. Point out all that we see, the proof of your difference." Father motions his hand up and down, as if pointing out all of my variations.

I start at my feet and work my way up. By the time I've listed twenty differences, I stop. "They did separate me from myself."

Mother wipes her tears. "Awareness is the true horror. Some are spared knowing. I'm sorry you were not."

Father extinguishes the fire. "Soon the sun will rise. You will go. Perhaps, one day, you might return to us. I wish it could be as who you were. We cannot save you, nor turn you back."

I move to the river, wishing I could wash myself clean of the changes, though I know there is no river strong enough to clean what remains of me.  

FCA 477 words

Tag: Some changes cannot be undone.