The Chosen One Con

Incredibly, we've hit fifty backers! All fifty of you have put your faith in this project, and I'm super thankful! Fifty is a nice big round number, magical you could say, so to celebrate, let's have some fun with another poll!

But first, let's talk about potions.

In the city of Aefenhold, potions are an everyday item and are consumed frequently, much like tea or coffee. There are three main types of potions that serve different functions, and these come in different colours and flavours.

Only silver and above licenced apothecaries can legally brew potions, and many stores have backrooms with alchemy stations that resemble a chemist. Anyone without a license can purchase minor potions, but the more powerful and dangerous ones are colour coded depending on the level of spell and license required to use it, so silver, purple, and blue vials. Being caught with a potion without the proper license is a crime.

 

Generally, green potions represent biological vials that don't require a license, whereas red represents mental vials, and orange are cosmetic vials, though these colours sometimes change depending on brand marketing and flavour. Potions can also come in a variety of flavours, from apple to aniseed.

The most popular potion on the market right now is the Vim & Vigor by Royal Regis, which comes in the Royal Regis patented gold colour and tastes faintly of caramel. The Vim & Vigor is an energy boost, the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee or energy drink!

Other major brands include Mystic Parlor, Phantom Phil, Tenpenny Tinctures, and the Soulstice Emporium.

So which potion do YOU need today? Vote in our poll below!

Not only did we blast through the funding in hours, but we hit the first stretch goal too, which is to design a map of the city. I'm dragging the artist out of retirement for this one because her cartography and art skills are incredible! Soraya designed the domains crossing map from my Cruel Gods series that I adore, so I can't wait to see how she'll bring the magical city of Aefenhold to life.

The map will now be added as an available add-on and also as a digital reward for those who back the Silver and Amethyst Mage tiers, and a physical print for the Blue Mage tier. There's still plenty of time to update your pledges if you want.



Next, we'll be working toward a stretch goal that adds additional art to the book!

I can't believe that we've reached the funding target within a matter of hours! I'm incredibly grateful for all of your support and can't wait to finish this book and thrust it into your hands. I appreciate your trust in this project and hope to share more with you in the coming weeks and months.

As a celebration, I'm including the opening few paragraphs of Chapter One to give you a taste of what to look forward to! Come back later as RJ Bayley, the narrator of The Thirteenth Hour, will be doing a reading from this scene.



But as they say... This is where the fun begins! As the campaign goes on, I'm hoping we'll keep raising money for some stretch goals. First, a city map of Aefenhold as designed by Soraya Cocoran, the cartographer behind the amazing domain crossings map in The Cruel Gods. Then an additional piece of art for the book as designed by Aowna. After that, I'll ask YOU whether you'd want either a hardcover or an audiobook, and see if we can get there!

Thank you again for all your support. I hope you'll stay with me on this magical journey!

We're just five days away until The Book Bazaar launches and you'll get your first look at Aefenhold in The Chosen One Con!

I can't wait to show you more about this book and the weird and wonderful celebrity-branded spells, enchantments, and potions you'll find inside. But also, I'm eager for you to meet our three main characters of Max, Lyle, and Hope, especially Max as he appears on the book cover.



Max and Lyle are both working class young men who find themselves churned through the city in their own ways. After a violent worker's strike tears their lives apart, Max chooses to become a sex worker rather than face life in a workhouse, whereas Lyle is forced into the aether minds and later becomes an apprentice to a older mage. These different circumstances shape how they feel about magic - Max becomes addicted to magical drugs, whereas Lyle experiences the harm magic causes first hand.

While Max and Lyle are the main two POV's in the story, we'll also meet Hope, Max's younger sister, who is a young trans woman training to be a medical mage. She's definitely the smarter character of the three!

Who are you most excited to meet? Vote in the poll below!