JG Duke
LightNews LightNews
banner
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
JG Duke
@duke-of-earth.bsky.social
540 followers 320 following 460 posts
Author, reader, grammarian.
#AmQuerying #IndieAuthor #EpicFantasy #📚💙
Black Lives Matter. All cops are bastards. AI is not art. Free Palestine.
Posts Replies Media Videos
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember 28-

I usually spend Free Fridays promoting the book, but as it's the holidays and I am lazy, I will instead say I used to #collect snow globes and glass figurines, especially related to fairies. But these days, I'd say it's just my #bookcollection and #houseplants.
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Picture is of a full bookshelf. Picture is of a sunroom filled entirely with houseplants.
November 28, 2025 at 3:29 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember 26 #Titles

My favorite question!
The title is said 3 times in each book. 1st at face value, 2nd in an ironic or sarcastic way, and finally in a twisted way, entirely counter to the original understanding.
Every single time. 😁😍

#booksky #writesky #epicfantasy #fantasyseries
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 26, 2025 at 12:56 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember 25-
I'm so excited for today's prompt! I've completely stalled at this step for literally YEARS!
Please everyone share your human artists that make human art so that I can finally find a #CoverArtist!!
#art #bookart #fantasymap #booksky #writesky #commissionsopen
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember.
November 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 23
If THESE can get published, so can you!!!
forreadingaddicts.co.uk/10-of-the-wo...

#impostersyndrom #badwriting #keepgoing #writers #writingcommunity #booksky
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember
November 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 22- #SaturdaySnippet

#AStoryOfDainu #BookSky #writesky #writingcommunity #indieauthor #epicfantasy #snippet #quotes
Picture is a block of text taken from the book "A Tchao in Ilimak" by JG Duke. It reads: "Excuse me, Captain?" Hosaka hummed an acknowledgment without looking up. "I was wondering if you-" He paused. He didn't know if he was allowed to ask about the other soldiers. Hosaka begrudgingly looked up. "Spit it out, Tromasa." "It's my bunk mate, Fukaru Lanu. I haven't seen him in a while. Do you know where-?" The Captain closed his book and began rolling his letters. "Fukaru was sent out last week with a team on a supply run." "Oh. Okay. It's just- his cot was empty, so I-" "There's no point in wasting supplies. Especially when we're already so low." Tro nodded, trying to accept the practicality. "Do you know when he'll be back?" Hosaka sighed and stood from his seat. "He's dead, Tromasa. Along with the rest of his team. It was a failed mission; a waste of time and Bash." The Captain left the table without another word. Tro watched his empty seat as though it were supposed to say more. He took in the information slowly and painfully. Dead? He knew this was an army. He knew it was an active army who fought battles. But- death? The thought hadn't occurred to him yet. Death was something that happened to old Tchao and Bash without names, but Fukaru? He was just a boy. How? When? Why? Teeg thumped down next to him where Hosaka had been. The movement woke him from his trance. "Wake up, sleepy tail!" Tro shook away his stare. Teeg's bright smile softened. "You okay?" "It's Fukaru. He's dead." "Who?" Tro was slow to answer. "No one." Just another nameless soldier in the King's Army. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke". Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember.
November 22, 2025 at 7:47 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 21

The Bash of Ilimak were made by the Eldest; Tro and the Tchao were made by the Tenth.
Bash have the gift of magic; Tro and the Tchao live by the logic of deep roots.
Bash are engaged in war; a Tchao like Tro does not belong in a Bash’s Ilimak.

#BookSky #Writesky
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 21, 2025 at 8:10 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 20-
For /this/ book, inspiration came from growing up as a sad, lonely teenager, surviving mental health emergencies with no support, resources, or understanding in a foreign country.
Lots of big feelings!
#booksky #inspiration #WritingCommunity #WritingAsTherapy
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
Art is contribution, history, and immortality. Literature is travel, sagely wisdom, and personal exploration. Poetry is hope, confession, and empathetic ache spanning eras.
Keep creating. Keep humanity human.
#create #art #literature #poetry #booksky #immortality #quotes
Picture is a wall of text. It reads: "I'm here to contribute. We all depend on each other. I depend on people in generations prior to me. People in generations after me will depend on me." - Bryan Nwafor
November 20, 2025 at 1:29 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember day 19-

I *STRUGGLE* with transitions. It never feels right to just say "The next day" over and over again.

I also suck at just accepting what I've written. I'll go back and forth on a comma vs a semi-colon for literally MONTHS.

#writesky #writingcommunity #WritersStruggles
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 19, 2025 at 9:54 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 18- Favorite characters

In this book (2), probably Sihan... which might be why Rim was jealous lol
In the whole series- Kenita (book 4), Jash (book 8), and Ekino (book 7).

#booksky #writesky #writingcommunity #authors #characters #ILoveAllMyChildrenEquallyBut
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 17-

#Singing- I was an opera singer long ago. Now I'm more folksy
#Linguistics- got an MA; love phonology
#Languages- I speak 3 languages, and am *trying* for more
#Grammar- got an MA in TESOL, and have loved grammar ever since
#HousePlants
#Ukelele
#Travel
And much more!
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember.
November 17, 2025 at 1:15 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 16

I guess a planster? I legit have a hard time understanding either definition, cause I cannot fathom them in the extremes.
I'm a "one liner". I'll have a single quote that is so good, I'll write an entire scene, chapter, BOOK, around it.
#writesky #writingcommunity #📚💙
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember.
November 16, 2025 at 11:25 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
Tro Yuxim finds himself surrounded by war and magic and chaos. He clings to the hope and calm he finds in a fellow soldier and a spark begins to burn.
But war is hell, and those who live within the army are not the same as those who live without...

#Booksky #EpicFantasy #IndieAuthor #AStoryOfDainu
Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a chopped, dead tree trunk, with a small living shoot growing from the center. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day 15- #SaturdaySnippet

Tro is not a Bash, and yet he finds himself trapped as a soldier in their army and amid their war. He must endure if he ever hopes to get home again, but will the friendships, lessons, and love he finds along the way be enough?
#AStoryOfDainu #BookSky
Picture is a block of text from the book "A Tchao in Ilimak" by JG Duke. It reads: Captain Hosaka released them early for lunch, and Fukaru invited Tro to join his table. But by the time they were in the breadline, too many had again begun pushing and shoving their way to the front, and Tro decided to wait at the back so he did not need to defend his place. He stood there, anxious of the shouts of anger from the Captains and Commanders, or the cries of fear or frustration from the soldiers in the fields around him. He tried his best to block all of it out, until he heard a sound he could not ignore. "Yaik te Jina! Refka toro medesia fre!" He turned to see a table on the far side of the deck filled with three heads of colorful hair. The table was empty except for them; Bash did not often choose to sit with the Tchao, if it could be avoided. They were laughing and chatting so happily, one might have thought they did not know where they were. Tro went through the line and got his lunch – a glass of water and a large, but stale boiled dumpling – then turned between Fukaru’s table of fighting Bash or the other filled with laughing Tchao. It was not a difficult choice to make. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke". Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember.
November 15, 2025 at 8:46 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day 14- post your #pets

These are my three adorkable best friends, Gilly Turtleman McToot, Sweet-Jared Houdini Catsby, and Tevye Shi'thead Snodgrass.
They're all around-and-about 7 years old.

#booksky #indieauthor #petpic #cats #TheNamingOfCats
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember Picture is of a cat sunbathing. Picture is of a cat sunbathing. Picture is of a cat on a chair.
November 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 13- Where do you write?

I'm fortunate to have a home office where I do most of my writing, surrounded by house plants and warm cats. But I'm also a fan of coffee shops and park benches upon occasion.

#writesky #writingcommunity #writers #indieauthor
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 14, 2025 at 1:40 AM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#booksky #books #reading #readers #writesky #writingcommunity #authors #indieauthor #quotes #goodbook
Picture is a quote that reads "Tis the good reader that makes the good book." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
November 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember day 12-

#GoodAdvice: READ. Writer's block? Read. Need more vocab? Read. Grammar lacking? Read.

#BadAdvice: don't edit as you go. Dafuq?? Of course edit as you go! How can you go back later to fix what you've forgotten you were doing??

#writesky #booksky #indieauthors
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day 11
I #write #EpicFantasy for novels, and #Sci-fi for short stories.
I mostly #read #fantasy and LOVE the #classics.

Lately, I've been reading way too much YA. I need to get back into some higher lit; raise my prose again.
#booksky #writesky #Literature #books
November 11, 2025 at 6:40 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day10
ONE line? How, pray tell, can I pick ONE favorite line?
I really do have so many, but I'd say this one was pretty central to the entire theme of the book...

#quotes #booksky #writingcommunity #writesky #indieauthor #snippet #excerpt #fantasy #alone #haunted
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Picture is a excerpt from the book "A Tchao in Ilimak", by JG Duke. It reads: The silence overwhelmed him, and finally, he cried. He cried from, to, and in the loneliness. He finally understood what Sihan had said all those years ago: the dead did not choose him, he invited them to his nightmares. Terror and Sorrow were better companions than his own empty, lonely mind. It was better to be haunted than to be alone. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day9

I've been waiting for this prompt!
We just bought a house last month, and because our #priorities are correct, the first room to be painted and finished was the library.
Here is my #bookself!

#booksky #bookshelfie #literature #classics #fantasy #danmei #scifi #reading
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Picture is of a home library bookshelf.
November 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day8: #SaturdaySnippet

This is the opening page of book 2: A Tchao in Ilimak.
Book 1's MCs were the Bash; now we get to meet Tchao...

#EpicFantasy #OriginalMythos #AStoryOfDainu
#Booksky #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Readers #IndieAuthor #AmQuerying
Photo is a block of text taken from the book "A Tchao In Ilimak". It reads: Chapter 1 East of the Ria Limash sat on the eastern border of Brachao. It was surrounded almost completely by mountains, forests, or ocean; protected from all sides against any who would try to invade. Protected also, one might think, from any who would try to escape. The Ria Mountains, which served as the border between the two nations, were tall, rocky, sharp, and dangerous to travel in summer heat, winter snow, or spring and autumn rains. The best way to traverse these fearsome peaks would be through the havens and tunnels, carved lifetimes ago by the Usara Bash of Limash and the easternmost Tchao of Brachao. These safe-ways were once a joint project, meant to serve as a long-withstanding testament to the friendship of Tchao and Bash, like the Usara themselves: an entire tribe, though technically more Bash than Tchao, born of families from both sides of the mountains. But that was long ago. Now, with the Bash distracted by wars, and the Tchao afraid of the harsh punishments given to those who displease the Eldest Katalo, their once strong friendship was fading like an old memory. The relationship between them, once bright as an evening fire, was now dim as morning embers. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day7- Free Day

Abducted and sold to a foreign army, Tro must learn to adapt to survive this strange land full of magic and violence. War is hell, but maybe he doesn’t have to endure it alone...
#ATchaoInIlimak #AStoryOfDainu
#booksky #series #EpicFantasy #OriginalMythos
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 8, 2025 at 12:33 AM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember
Day6: #WritersTools
I'm delighted to see a lot of folks here saying they use Libre; that's all I use too. I've used the text-to-voice accessibility tool to try to hear typos. Voice memos on a phone for quick ideas?

#Booksky #Writesky #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #Reader
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 7, 2025 at 12:26 AM
duke-of-earth.bsky.social
#FantasyIndiesNovember Day 5:
I've just finished #Peerless by #MengXiShi. (It was okay. #ThousandAutumns was better.) I'm debating if I want to read vol3 of #LegendOfExorcism or start #CopperCoins, knowing I'll have a long time to wait for the next volume- I'd prefer to binge, tbh.
#TBR #Reading #📚💙
Picture is a daily prompt for fantasy authors to share miscellaneous aspects of their works in progress throughout the month of November. The associated hashtag is #FantasyIndiesNovember. Photo is a temporary book cover. It shows a cut-down tree trunk with a small green twig rising from the dead trunk. White text reads "A Tchao in Ilimak, a story of Dainu, by JG Duke".
November 6, 2025 at 12:15 AM