WIP Sneak Peeks – Sarina Langer

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019

WIP Inspiration: My Recent Trip to Winchester

Hi, Sparrows!

Since one of the most common questions writers get asked is, ‘Where does your inspiration come from?’ I wanted to share what has sparked my inspiration recently.

Now, I don’t usually base my worlds on real places–at least not previously and not to the extent where I snap a picture for reference–but when in Winchester…

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the city, Winchester is a beautiful, historical city in the south of England. Way back, it was the capital! You know, before London claimed that title.

So, it’s unavoidable that some of its charm rubs off on my WIPs.

Have a look at these stunning spots, which will find their way into my Dreamer trilogy:

The last two are from May, which is why the wisteria is in full bloom.

To come back to my current WIP, this hidden spot will likely feature in Brightened Shadows:

It’s not a great picture because we only had our phones and it’s pretty dark down there, but it does prove that I am the shadow.

If this doesn’t look like the entrance to an underground prison… Which is exactly what it’ll be in Brightened Shadows.

Bringing real-life locations into my books is something I want to do more often. I tend to loosely base all countries on real countries, but politics and economics don’t make for pretty aesthetics.

Winchester does, and every time I’m there I find something new. Next time I’m there I’ll have to get a picture of the little cafe where Esta will spend a lot of her time, which is also a personal favourite ^-^

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into my recent inspiration. Let me know if you’d like to see more!

Sign up for my BOOKISH WITH SARINA mailing list for updates on my books, excerpts, early cover reveals, and exclusive freebies such as the short stories All that I Can Be and Bubak.

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July 16, 2019

A First Look at BRIGHTENED SHADOWS (DARKENED LIGHT #2)

To celebrate NaNo (because I’m actually always celebrating NaNo), I want to give you a first look into the sequel to Darkened Light today. It’s my Camp NaNo project, so it’s fitting!

I can’t share a whole chapter or anything like that (first draft mess!), but I can share the current opening and some graphics.

Let’s start with its Pinterest board:

Brightened Shadows will be dark with light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel vibes throughout. It’s the darkest thing I’ve plotted so far, and I think its board represents that.

Here are a few things it’ll have:

Pissed-off elven gods.

A growing corruption in the worlds as well as in one character.

Death (think I’m gonna leave that vague ;))

Necromancy

The scenery of Scotland and Norway

Gay love

A not-all-happy ending

SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t read Darkened Light yet (get it here!) and don’t want a BIG spoiler, don’t read the quote.

To finish, here’s the current opening (in its first draft messy state):

‘Darkness had fallen over Dunha. Naavah Ora looked at the city at the heart of the spirits’ haven and mourned its lost light.

She mourned the loss of herself too. It had been gradual, slow and invisible like poison, but now it was too late and she feared she’d never know the difference again. Were these her fears or Ithrean’s? She no longer knew.

Ceallach had corrupted Dunha, and whether she was herself or the goddess of the dead, she would have her revenge.

For no one disturbed the souls’ peace while she was their guardian (Naavah Ora?), and she (Ithrean?) would burn the darkness out of her creation and return its light to even the darkest corners.’

I hope you enjoyed this first glance at Brightened Shadows! Let me know what you’re most looking forward to in the comments.

Sign up for my BOOKISH WITH SARINA mailing list for updates on my books, excerpts, early cover reveals, and exclusive freebies such as the short stories All that I Can Be and Bubak.

Take me to the Welcome page.

All content belongs to the author, Sarina Langer, unless otherwise specified and may not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without her express permission.

June 14, 2019August 21, 2019

Meet Esta Anderson (WIP: DREAMER)

Hi, Sparrows!

*waves* I bet you didn’t expect to see me halfway through the month!

I want to share more of my writing progress with you, so I’ve lined up a whole host of things I can show you 🙂

I’m making a start this month by introducing you to my MC from my Dreamer novella trilogy, Esta Anderson. It’s my project for the July Camp NaNo, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Esta lately.

Character aesthetic: Esta Anderson (WIP: DREAMER, urban paranormal fantasy) — All images from this Pinterest board.

Some things about Esta:

Her full name is Estelle Anderson, but she prefers Esta because it has an edge to it and doesn’t sound like a pampered princess.
She’s an introvert and prefers a good book and a hot chocolate to a night out.
She’s allergic to cats but not dogs. She adopted a rottweiler puppy together with her BFF, Bonnie, when they moved in together, and she has a feline spirit guide in her dreams.
She lucid dreams at will. There’s a door in every dream that’s giving her bad vibes–so, naturally, she’s gonna open it. She gets a little (*cough* OMG understatement of the century!!) more than she expected when she does.
She doesn’t give a shit about fashion and wears whatever’s comfy.
She swears a lot and is sarcastic as fuck.
She wants to be an art photographer focussing on surrealism, but that industry is hard, guys. In the meantime, she works part-time in a university art gallery.
She can’t lie to save her life.
She has misophonia and what we both call Bookworm Syndrome.
Her greatest fears include losing Bonnie, dying with regrets, time slipping away from her, no longer knowing the difference between dream and reality, everyone hating her photography, and spiders.
She’s not super close to her family and has lost touch with everyone but her parents and her grandma. Her BFF since childhood, Bonnie, and her rottweiler Buffy are her real family.
She wants to uncover the world’s hidden secrets. The witch next door (who I haven’t named yet) teaches her sometimes.

That’ll have to be enough for now or you won’t have anything new to learn about her when the books come out 😉

I LOVE character aesthetics, so I’ve done another one besides the one above. It’s a little different:

I mean, what are notebooks for?

Both are early aesthetics, so I might make a new one now I know Esta a lot better. They are still accurate and very her, but they can be even more so. Neither features her dog or her BFF, for one.

While every character I (or indeed every author) write has some parts of me in them, I’ve put more of myself into Esta than any other character. There’s still plenty that’s different too, but I still feel like you’ll meet me when you meet her.

I’m excited I got to introduce her today. I hope the first impression is a good one <3

I’ll post roughly halfway through the month in addition to my monthly goals (first Monday) and my monthly recaps (last Friday), so expect new insights around the 15th.

There’s also a new category to go with these posts. WIP Sneak-Peeks is now live in the category drop-down menu, which I’ve added to the News page.

Is there anything else you’d like to know about Esta? Make a tea and ask away 🙂

Sign up for my BOOKISH WITH SARINA mailing list for updates on my books, excerpts, early cover reveals, and exclusive freebies such as the short stories All that I Can Be and Bubak.

Take me to the Welcome page.