Erika Chandler
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erikachandler.bsky.social
Erika Chandler
@erikachandler.bsky.social
160 followers 140 following 270 posts
Writer. Reader. Illustrator. Classical educator. Appalachian. Wife and mother of two. Goldendoodle mom. Anglican.

📖 Tolkien 🎌 Nihon 🥤Coke Zero

Current project:
Japan-based portal fantasy WIP
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erikachandler.bsky.social
I feel like “smash” is not a word I use very much (and did not use in this WIP). From the prologue, set in the past of my otherwise modern portal fantasy WIP.

#amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Tsuchigumo!” A spider yokai. Taka sped across the room to Shima and tackled the leggy monster. It was nearly as big as Taka, but he hit it with such force that both crashed through the shoji screen behind Shima’s bed, rolling violently over the splintered bamboo frame.
December 12, 2025 at 10:37 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Taro is always the voice of reason. But to Ryo’s credit, if mundane life makes Rin have a ki outburst, it’s not a mundane problem anymore.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #YA #fantasy
“You can’t shield her from mundane life, you know.” Behind me, Taro shuffles papers that I’m sure are already full of meticulous notes. I don’t turn to look at him. “You’re an impressive shinobi, Ryosuke, but even your faculties are limited.”
December 11, 2025 at 11:22 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo sabotages a drawbridge to buy time. This guard is basically an innocent bystander (who will also be in trouble for letting this happen), so he feels a little bad about that.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
Sorry I have to do this. In a single motion, I’m over the ledge and behind him in the cramped gatehouse, the hard edge of my arm across his windpipe. He struggles for only a moment before he slumps slowly to the ground, unconscious. I set him upright against the side of the bridge mechanism as I pull my tanto from my waistband.
December 10, 2025 at 8:49 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin’s grief is also tied up with the isolation of not being believed…but her story is so wild she’s not sure she believes it herself.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
Between the frames, my father’s family katana rests in a simple stand. My fingers brush across the familiar design of the scabbard. It doesn’t make me feel safe, exactly…I can’t really use it. But it’s soothing to touch something they had touched. It anchors me to reality the same way the crack in the alley does, with almost the same vivid energy. And now, the blade also serves as a grim reminder of the only part of my story police believed, the only part the physical evidence confirmed. The only knowledge that keeps my sanity hanging by a thread: That my brother was killed with a sword.  
December 9, 2025 at 9:13 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I wasn’t actually sure I’d have this word, but lo and behold!

I never make it to lunch without a snack, Ai-chan. But this snack is a plot device lol #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Shoot…” Aiko mutters, digging through her backpack. Fourth period is about to start, and she’s clearly hunting for a snack to tide her over until lunch. “I must have walked out without my bento this morning.” “You can share mine, Ai-chan,” I offer, pulling an onigiri out of my box. I’m careful to make sure it isn’t one of the Reikai-prepared ones Taro-kun brought me this morning.
December 8, 2025 at 9:11 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
The word “empty” is actually in the title of this chapter as well. Do you title your chapters? I do in some projects and not others.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
I stand up so quickly I jostle the table, overturning my empty teacup. “Whoa, Rin, what’s up?” I don’t answer. Fumbling for my cell phone, I dial as fast as my fingers will move. “Taro-kun?” I’m already halfway across the café, struggling to get my arms in my coat sleeves without dropping the phone. Jiro follows me, shouldering through customers to keep up.
December 7, 2025 at 10:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I think the õmukade is one of my favorite yokai battles for sheer group effort required. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
A long, hooked shape emerges from the widening crack. It clicks onto the tile floor with a sharp snap as one of the squares breaks under the force. Then another emerges, and another…and another. They aren’t hooks, but articulated legs. Hundreds of them. Pincers wet with venom snap high overhead. Sunrays flash off the armored body in piercing shafts of light. Ōmukade. A demon centipede.
December 6, 2025 at 9:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin is slowly but surely losing the ability to hide her double life.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
I close the door behind me with a soft click, slumping against the frame and clutching my phone to my chest. I check the screen again. “Kimura Jiro, Missed Call” spans across the top. My fingers hover over the notification…but I don’t touch it.
December 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ki ended up being a HUGE part of this version of the story. My earliest versions didn’t include anything supernatural or spiritual.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
As soon as my feet hit the ground, a familiar sensation tingles up my spine. Ki, the energy of all living things. But this is different from the life already humming around this city. This kind of raw, potent energy is like Taro’s and my own. The kind only found in the spirit world.
December 4, 2025 at 8:53 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo, the fact that you actively thought, “We’re going to make it,” is a guarantee that you are not going to make it.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
The tall grass of the meadow bends nearly in half with the strengthening winds, but in the corner of my eye I catch an odd shape like a wheel rolling through the blades—tsuchinoko, a kind of thick, venomous snake yokai that rolls by biting its own tail. When the wheel enters my range, I cut it down with a single stroke and keep moving, my katana flashing in the unnatural light. Another tsuchinoko comes up alongside Taro. In this formation, he’s forced to hold his sword in his non-dominant hand, but he bides his time until the rolling ring is nearly upon us, then strikes with lightning speed. The path in front of us is nearly clear. We’re going to make it in time.
December 3, 2025 at 9:18 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
“Fraction” for “percent.”

Of course it will not be that simple, Ryo, because ~plot~

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“Ryo excels in all the disciplines of ninjutsu,” Kin says after an awkward pause. It should be Yoshimaru’s place to answer as head of our order, but I know he’s reluctant to give an accurate assessment of my abilities. “His skill with the blade is unmatched, as is his resolve.” “Very good.” Hiroshi’s steps begin to retreat. Is that it? There’s no way. I risk raising my head a fraction of an inch to assess my surroundings more clearly.
December 2, 2025 at 10:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin disguising herself as a servant—it’s about the most shinobi thing she’s ever done.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
I nod succinctly and inhale slowly through my nose, trying to bring my body under control. My ki is dim for the moment, but my limbs are trembling. “Hey.” Ryo-kun lays a palm on top of my head, and I flinch. His energy is still taut, still hyperaware, but for just a moment, the edge softens. “Remember, we’re not hiding now—you work here, so act like you belong. You’re going to be fine.”
December 1, 2025 at 10:15 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo treads a fine line.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“…A number of yokai have attempted attacks on the girl.” I stop myself from using Rin’s name, remembering Kin’s warning this morning. The more distance, the better. “They’ve all been dispatched. We’ve warded her house and her workplace. She’s under continual surveillance.”
November 30, 2025 at 8:59 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Poor little naive Rin-chan. She doesn’t know what she’s gotten into yet. This was oddly my only use of dedicate in a story that deals with duty a lot. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Tetsuya-san,” I say slowly, “why are you so concerned about the Kawa Clan? Hiroshi-san sounds…difficult…but Ryo-kun has dedicated his life to this Clan.” I picture Ryo and Taro-kun, both members of the Kawa Clan, swords drawn to protect me in the chaos of the Breach. “Can it really be that bad?”
November 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Lots of synonyms for me this week. “Wind” for “zigzag.” I think I posted earlier this week Ryo saying he needed a cell phone. This is later the same day, when some backup would have been helpful 😅

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“See, a sword or a cell phone would be really useful about now,” he mutters. The child rokurokubi flies by in a tangle of dark hair, its long tongue flicking in and out. Reaching around Ryo-kun, I pull one of the small knives from his belt and stand with my back to his. He blinks, but doesn’t object. The three rokurokubi wind toward us, pressing in on all sides. Our knives aren’t strong enough to sever their powerful necks, but I’m silently hoping Ryo-kun has more tricks up his sleeve.
November 28, 2025 at 11:36 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
When Jiro starts waking up to the reality of the spirit world, there is a heavy dose of denial and panic. #WIPsnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
Normally, his ki is sharp and efficient, but level. Today, it flickers like a strong fire blown by a stronger wind. He’s on edge, an anxious something gnawing on his mind. When I finally catch a glimpse of him, my breath snags in surprise. Disheveled, exhausted, dark splotches under his eyes—the face of a man who hasn’t slept in days. Nothing like Rin’s cool, controlled childhood friend who always shoots me dirty looks. Rin was right. Something happened to him.
November 27, 2025 at 10:44 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo realizing that he probably needs to get a cell phone because Rin won’t be able to reach him the “normal” way (meaning she can’t send a paper shikigami messenger to wherever he happens to be lol)
#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“There’s no way for you to reach me if you need me, so I’d better get Kin on it. For the others too.” “How do you normally communicate with each other?” I ask, pressing through toward the register. It’s about to be the last rush of people before the dinner hour. I hold back a sigh, thinking of how crowded House of Ramen will be and hoping I don’t get roped into a shift. But Ryo says the crowds are a good thing for us, because they deter yokai…and other things more dangerous.
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo under the influence of tsuchigumo venom has lowered inhibitions. Nothing crazy, but he has to concentrate hard to not say things that will mortify him later lol But he still thinks some of them.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“As I suspected.” Tetsuya kneels beside Rin and me, examining the wound. The cut is fine and shallow, but the flesh is irritated. “They must have coated their weapons in tsuchigumo venom.” “Venom?” Rin’s face goes pale. “No need to worry, Rin-san. In normal doses, tsuchigumo venom is meant to subdue, not kill. The venom induces confusion, and he probably has a splitting headache about now, but it should be out of his system in a few hours.”
November 25, 2025 at 9:57 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
No debuts around here, so we’re going with “appear.”

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
I sense the wave of ki just as the forest sparks to life around me. Balls of cool blue flame burst into the clearing, whirling around the shrine before resting in front of me. The kitsune-bi dissipates as quickly as it appeared, and in its place a fox curls lazily at the base of its stone counterpart. The kitsune’s red fur flashes for a moment in the moonlight, illuminating seven bushy tails. Not a nine-tailed tenko, a celestial fox, but no spirit to be trifled with either.
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
No “global” but about a million uses of “world” 😅

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“The portal you came through is an aberration,” Ryo says. “That night your brother was killed…something cracked in the walls between the worlds.” My food is entirely forgotten now. I lean forward too. “What do you mean…cracked?” I ask cautiously. The earthy air in the small cave, already heavy, suddenly feels stifling.
November 23, 2025 at 11:07 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I did have one use of “crystallizes,” but it felt a bit spoilery, so we’re going with “clear.”

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Wait.” Ryo-san leans forward, fists gripped so tightly his knuckles turn white. For a moment, I’m afraid he’s going to yell at me for insinuating he might have been a murderer. But his eyes are clear, like he’s realizing something. “Your brother? I thought your name sounded familiar. Kuragi. You were on the mundane news.” His voice becomes quiet, and something unspoken seems to pass between him and Taro-san. “Your brother is the boy who was killed at the Breach.”
November 22, 2025 at 9:09 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
It’s been an unintentionally Ryo-heavy week for #WIPSnips, so it’s Rin-chan’s turn.

#amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Kuragi, get on the clock. Now.” Tanaka-san releases Jiro and turns to me, face already the color of a boiled lobster. I hesitate, looking between the manager and Jiro, whose anger is startlingly white by comparison. “I…” “Come on, Rin-chan.” Aiko takes my hand and leads me behind the bar toward the back. As we round the corner, I catch one last glimpse of Jiro’s back before he bursts out the front door, departing in the opposite direction from Junichiro.
November 21, 2025 at 9:36 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo isn’t the jealous type.

Maternity leave ends today. Praying I can still finish this draft by the end of the calendar year. 20k words to go—an equivalent amount of which must promptly be cut!!

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Try me.” Tetsuya kneels opposite me on the roof. A pulse of energy radiates from him, sensing the boundaries of the house. I trace the beginnings of a ward along the crest of the roof, but he stops me, adding a few special touches of his own. He was always better than me at this. At everything, really. That’s just the way things are.
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Also from Ryo’s first POV chapter.
The previous scene ended with him saying, “Wish me luck.” It did not work out that way. 😅

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Luck is not with me. The familiar asphalt-and-iron smells of the mundane world have begun to soak into my clothes and skin by the time I reach my third rendezvous point with Taro. I’ve been awake for about thirty-six hours. At least, I think it’s about thirty-six hours. Time is getting a bit fuzzy around the edges by now.
November 19, 2025 at 11:37 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I realized that without further context, this is slightly confusing. It’s the “[He who is] still here” whose energy Ryo knows, not Yoshimaru’s.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“He’s still here.” Yoshimaru’s voice is a chilly hiss, and I sense his ki receding back down the stairs almost immediately to follow the stranger. I breathe out slowly, every muscle in my tense body loosening. I know that energy—it brings a spike of gratitude edged with resentment, the same feelings that echo through my childhood.
November 18, 2025 at 9:29 AM