For the last three months I’ve been working on a new lit mag. I joined the team at Black Ink Ocean. We are a literary magazine dedicated to the Southern Gothic and our first issue is out TODAY.
It is called Bite-Sized, and its a Mini-Issue (I.e. 1/2 or 1/3 the size of what we’d like our full issues to be). We decided to do a mini-issue because we didn’t think that a full issue would be conceivable with not only a new team but not a lot of followers. The mini-issue has been a success so far. If you’re up for it, help me make it more of a success by reading it and supporting it.
The issue is free (even though it is accessed through Ko-Fi).
Also! If you want to see my latest writing on substack for Black Ink Ocean: check it out.
I have a lot of new years resolutions and a lot of hopes for the future, many of which are def doable. I will keep you all updated, as I usually try to do.
It’s been a while since I have blogged. I think that in the whirlwind of the year, a lot of stuff has happened to me, and in my life and I just… disappeared? Let’s start with the good news. I have officially been given the title of Managing Editor at my magazine. I am starting as a production manager at a startup lit mag. I am published (yay). I will be applying for my PhD this fall.
It’s been a really good year for me. And while I have not been able to do the sort of writing that I wish I could do, I have been able to continue to go further and to new heights in my actual personal life, career, and everything else. I’ve seen more of my friends, traveled more places, and in general not gotten sick (knock on wood).
But, in all of that I have come to the conclusion that while I think I could do social media well, I’m not sure that’s the path that I want to take for book marketing my novel. I’ve tried for the last few months to do TikTok, and while I can record videos every day, it ends up being more of a chore because I am constantly on the move for my jobs and what I am doing in the real world (so to speak). So, I think I’m going to refocus elsewhere. I always knew that people need to focus at what they’re good at and focus on the social medias that matter to them.
Thus, I’m going to refocus on my blog and YT. I’ve always been good at my blog and YT, and I personally think I can do both better. So I am. Short term videos are not for me.
That means! I’ll be posting more here, as bigger developments happen for my books and my projects.
Current projects in the docket:
Dark Academia/ Dystopia novel (First draft)
The Time In Things – Short Fantasy novel
Neighbor’s memoir
Poetry collection
Restarting the webnovel project.
I’m going to find more effective ways to market my books in ways that matter to my readers. I think that is so much better for me in the long term and long run. That means actually making a newsletter. Actually finding book marketing places online. Attending bookish events here on the West coast (and then hopefully throughout all of the US).
I am certain that this is the post that you’ve been waiting for. Or maybe it was just me. No idea.
So what is The Preface of a Worthy Fable? The Preface of a Worthy Fable, shortened as Preface, is book that I wrote while I was living in Scotland. I wrote it while completing my MLitt and I’ll be completely honest with you, I never anticipated that it would be the book that I would put out first.
For people who may have been following me for years, you will know that I have been querying on and off for years. What you may not know is that I have been writing novels since I was in the seventh grade. That story is one for another time. Today, we focus on Preface.
Preface started as a dream (a pretty standard for me as a writer ngl). I wrote the dream up and have been refining it ever since. It is not the first book that I’ve completed, nor will it be the last. It is, however, something that with every edit, felt the most like “this is what I want to make of my career.”
What does that mean? Essentially Preface is the closest to a manifesto that I’ll publish.
Is it perfect? No. No book is or will ever be perfect. It is, however, MINE. And it’s something that I’ll be able to be proud of, even if others hate it. But that’s art. Once you release it into the world, you have no control how it lands.
Recommendation: Get the print, the ebook messes with the formatting.
Preface is a novel that I like to describe as arthouse fiction. I know that it is a film term, but like arthouse films, this novel is made for a very niche audience. I don’t anticipate it taking off in any way. I put everything in this novel to support the themes. I actually put standard fantasy rules aside in order to satisfy the structure and themes. I use poetry and words on the page similar to ergodic fiction. This is not done through the entire book so I don’t think it qualifies as epistolary fiction.
The book is divided into 27 “Dances” and 5 “Interludes” rather than Chapters. It is split into 5 parts. This form is the same as the dances in the novel.
In the world I’ve created there are Twenty-Seven Dances, which are danced as a religious act every year. These dances a performed to connect the Gods and mortals together, without them the mortals would have no magic and the Gods would die. The dances are split into five sections. When performed an emcee speaks in between the sections, to introduce the next section. Each “dance/chapter” in each of the parts are supposed to reflect the dance that it correlates with. Each part is intended to mirror the section it is named after.
Detailed Thoughts
There is a lot of info dumping (which is a serious no-no) in the first six chapters, as it reflects the section: KNOWLEDGE. Is this proper form? No? Did I do my best not to make this overwhelming? Yes. Does it also feel like a cop-out? Probably, if you’ve never read my writing before. It’s like saying “That’s a bad thing.” “Oh! No! No! That was my intention.”
So you can believe me or not, whether or not I achieved my goal is ultimately a decision of the readers.
I was very intentional in a lot of the choices I made. I’ve read this manuscript too many times to know if it will effectively land.
I hope it will.
I’m proud of it either way.
How is this a manifesto for me? Well, I’d love to explain, let’s get into it.
The Preface of a Worthy Fable is what happens when you tell an artist that it doesn’t matter anyway, create what you want to create. Every writer has their Preface. Everyone has that one book that they create because there’s nothing left to lose. Preface is a book looking at what it means to be an artist, and the anxiety that comes with that. It is the drive and the sorrow, the pain and the joy. Ultimately, it is the knowledge that art is not created in a vacuum: it is a cumulation of every life experience you’ve had and the people who have either supported you or haven’t.
Preface is 100% of me. Which sounds scary, especially with knowing there will be many people who will never love the book. However, I love it. And I love the effort i put into it, from the typesetting to the line editing. I love all the time I put into caring. I love every line and every character.
Preface is my love letter to all artists and creatives. It is my love letter to myself. It is for me, but it is also “for you.” For everyone who supported me, now, before, in the future. It is for everyone who has ever felt alone and for anyone who has ever had a dream. It is the representation of a million words and a lifetime of silence.
It is everything. And nothing. And runnons and fragments. And imperfection. And so much joy.
Because at the end of the day, being an artist is about joy. So many people say that art is about suffering, you as the artist. That we must suffer to create. And while we represent our suffering in art, and yet conflict is needed for a story to thrive, art creates connection. It can develop empathy in individuals and form bridges. And those bridges and that empathy and that connection leads to understanding and ultimately a shared experience.
Which to me leads to joy.
For there will always be one person in the world that is happy you are an artist: you. And that is what it means to be a worthy fable.
For, artists create, it’s what we do.
If you’ve gotten this far, I suppose you’d like to see the information that actually matters to readers: the stuff that may or may not make you want to read the book. So without further ado: The Preface of a Worthy Fable.
WHAT IS SILENCE?
For twelve years, Arna has done everything the Gods asked of him in hopes of saving the world after he nearly destroyed it. Despite his efforts, time is up and if he cannot complete the sacred dances by the summer solstice, the world will end. Determined to succeed even at the cost of his own life, Arna is willing to give anything, that is until the Gods tell him to return home.
Forced to face everyone he left behind, all Arna has ever known begins to splinter. Pressured on all sides, Arna struggles to reconnect with those he abandoned while being the savior the world needs. Who will he dance for? Mortals or the Gods? Life or death? A single choice stands between the end and the beginning.
That’s cool and all Marlena, but why did you decide to name it Fox Fairy Font? Why did you decide to self publish? What are your future goals with Fox Fairy Font?
Excellent Questions!
WHY FOX FAIRY FONT
When it comes to the name “Fox Fairy Font” I rather think that this is self explanatory, but I can break it down for you.
Fox = Favorite Animal.
Fairy = One of my favorite fantasy creatures
Font = a third word that starts with “f” and has literary implications.
Is it really that simple? Yes. This isn’t rocket science, it’s creating a name that will stick in the minds of those that say it. I wanted to invoke something that screams “me” while also having the air of a real publishing house. I could have gone with one word, but I decided that all good things come in threes.
It also just so happens that foxes and the Fae (in lore) are both cunning creatures. They are also tied together. They’re both tricksters after all.
WHY SELF PUBLISH
I wanted to traditionally publish, don’t get me wrong. However as I continued to develop the multi-verse that I was working on and the more that I learned about specific aspects of the publishing realm, the more I wanted control over all the pen names and the content. I may make a larger post about this in the future, but for now, know that I am doing it because I want to. Know that I am proud to be doing it and honestly while my mind has changed since 10 years ago when I swore I never would, this has been an interesting step for me growth wise.
It’ll be difficult but I’ve done difficult things in the past. I’m not too worried. Because at the end of the day, I’ve always been writing for myself. I’m selfish and I recognize that.
CURRENT PLANS
My current plans are relatively simple. I plan to use the company to publish my books. This year (2025) I plan to publish one and get YP back up and running for weekly rereleases. In the future (2026 and on) that will probably move to 2 or more.
I plan on using this company for all of my pen names.
PEN NAMES AND THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE
Oh I can not WAIT to go further into this in the future, and I will. For now, when you visit my website you will see three two pennames outside of Marlena Marie: Astrid Axton and Bella Brax. Bella Brax will be taking on the Yasloughve Project from this blog. I will be reediting that and getting it live hopefully sometime late 2025. I am still debating on having a separate website for Bella and I think I may because it will be easier for people to go to the website to find things. We’ll see.
Otherwise, Astrid Axton is name which I’ll use for my first published physical book.
And, Voidfriends, you’ll see that the multiverse officially has a name: The Voriad. It’s a portmanteau of void and myriad. I will go more into the breakdown of the codes, timeline, and “location sequencing” I’ve created to categorize all the books in the voriad.
In short the voriad is the mutliverse that I’ve created that contains all my novels, canonically. Essentially, all books written by Marlena Marie are a universe (which is coded as [STN] ) there are authors in that universe that I am using as my other pen names (like Astrid Axton/AA and Bella Brax/BB). All of the books written by [AA], [BB], [IC], [EK], and [LL] exist canonically in [STN]. This will all come into importance as we get into the [SOS] and [SDS] books.
If none of this makes sense to you, that’s okay. It’s not supposed to. It’s meant to make sense to me. One day you’ll understand it, but for now I recommend saying, “wow Marlena those are pretty brackets” and ignore it.
FUTURE GOALS
First things first, I want to make Fox Fairy Font a full company with employees. I want to have people to help me with the production and the distribution of my books. Once I am able to support a full staff, and can sustain us on my writing (in a perfect world), then we go to phase two.
Phase two, is expansion. I would love to publish other people’s books other than just my own. I want to have the infrastructure in place before I go with this option, since I want to be able to provide the best service available.
Step 1: Hire editors
Step 2: Open for Acquisitions
Step 3: Fulfill the promise.
Of course, right now, this is not particularly possible. I recognize that. However, we all have to have goals. For the longest time my goal was to publish a book. Now that’s happening. That means I need to make another, and another and another. I am not entire sure what the future holds for me. I am certain it will be rife with grief and joy (I am a people pleaser and I really hate people hating me, but that’s the life of an author).
I am certain that regardless of what the future holds it is what I want. I’ve wanted to publish my books since I was 13. It’s now happening because I’m making it a reality. I’m excited to finally reach those dreams.
It has been a year, hasn’t it? So much has happened around the world, and in my life, that I had a hard time finding time to update you all with what I’ve been up to. I started the rework of this website, which I need to finish if we’re being honest. That is a plan for March. I’m going to need to take a solid weekend to get it done. Maybe it will be done in April.
Which is to say, not much but…
Remember that book that I was telling you all about? Well, it’s going to be published on April 29th. I am officially going the self publishing route. I have a new website (under construction, of course), called foxfairyfont.com. Make sure to check it out! I will try to create a notification/subscribe feature for it so that you get information on it every time that I post.
I hope to have the Fox Fairy Font website up and running before the first of April. As it is right now, I really need to put everything into the final InDesign file.
I’ll be introducing Fox Fairy Font in another post, where I talk more about my decision to Self Publish. Additionally I plan to make a post for The Preface of a Worthy Fable (my book).
Thank you all for sticking with me for this journey!
It has been the better part of the year and I realize that I have gone fundamentally radio silent. In part this is because of my job. It is also because I have been working on the edits for the book I plan to self publish next year.
I don’t have a lot to update you on, not really. But I do plan to get into the full swing of things (website, yt, etc) next month.
And while I know I’m the only one who can hold me accountable, really, I hope that you all send me your best wishes.
This is a very short update, otherwise, to tell you that I am well.
It has been an eventful two months into 2024. I have been doing my best with YT videos. I need to do more, I know that, but I can only do what time permits me to do. I am going to try to engage on other social medias first and foremost.
Follow me on Threads and X (formally Twitter) if you haven’t already, or TikTok or Insta. WOW there are so many social media accounts. I will be posting more regularly at least on Threads, I think. I’ll use the others as time progresses. Once I have my formal Publishing House accounts, I’ll have to use them all more regularly. Wish me luck with that!
I hope you are all doing well. I’m getting back into reading, I swear.
Hello Everyone. Welcome Voidfriends, Voidfolk, and those who are coming to my website just because the internet led you here and you have no idea what Voidfriends or Voidfolk mean (you are Voidfolk btw). This is my Self Publishing Resource Guide.
This is by no means an all encompassing, fully functioning, end-all-be-all guide. But it is a start. The most important step in the self publishing journey is research. Research. Research. Research.
Who are good editors? Where to find editors? How to determine good editors. How to find cover artists. What about layouts? There are so many questions you may have (that I have) and this is a relatively good place to start.
This here is one of the stops for A.G. Flitcher on his stop of a virtual author tour. He reached out to me to do this interview to help promote him and his books. He’s an evening writer, cup of coffee, kind of person. He’s definitely been kind to me, when I have been rushing to deadline at my job (we have a week to print! SCREAMING). A.G. when you’re reading this, know that I swear I didn’t forget about you! Life is just sometimes chaotic and stressful ways. LOL. I figure you know that.
As you know, I always support self published authors on this blog. We celebrate their successes in a world where marketing to the masses is no easy task. I have asked him a couple of questions about himself and his process. Be sure to check out the links to his books, if he seems like an interesting author to you! If you read his work, be sure to follow on social media and remember to review if you can. If you like the books, talk about them! Nothing helps self published authors more than talking about them and their work.
Welcome to the Aftereffect Virtual Book Tour. I hope everyone is doing well!
A bit about this interview:
My name is Marlena Marie. This here is one of the stops for T. John and Jon Siniecki on their virtual book tour for their upcoming release Aftereffect. What is a virtual book tour? It’s the same as a real book tour, but instead of going onto TV or to speak at book stores, it’s all online. Their publishing house reached out to me to ask if they could get a spot featured on my blog. Of course I said yes! I may no longer be doing book reviews, but I do plan to continue to do book tours for smaller authors or self published authors. I’d love to continue promoting their books like I have in the past.
I have asked the authors some questions and you will find their answers below. Some are answered together, and others are individual answers. Congrats to T. John and Jon Siniecki for their upcoming release!
Marlena Marie 