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krholton.bsky.social
kae
@krholton.bsky.social
240 followers 440 following 500 posts
Agender, any pronouns. Driftless Region, WI. Fantasy & Sci-fi writer. I also design digital & printable planners and productivity worksheets. www.krholton.com
Would you like to buy me a coffee? https://krholton.com/about#tip-jar
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krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 21 - Direction

Levi in The Last Firstborn, not quite coming back properly from a prophecy he just had.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Something was wrong. My body wasn’t where it should have been. No. I was standing. I was being held back—held up?—by arms much stronger than mine. A gravelly voice was swearing in my ear. It was a scary few seconds before my mind was back in place and in control of my body again. I stopped thrashing and gasped in a few breaths. “What in Polea’s wide world has gotten into you?” Marquez asked, holding me in a bear hug to keep me still. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have an answer. “Do you have your feet?” he asked, and I nodded. He let go. I swayed, pulling away violently. I pushed Marquez away. Gravity wasn’t coming from the direction I expected, and I was falling again. Falling down into prophecy, except this time, Marquez’ wrought-iron arm caught me before I hit the floor. “You’re not all back yet, are you?” He swore through gritted teeth.
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 20 - Special

Prophet Levi discovers he crossed a line by testing the Merx's patience and now it's his little brother who will pay the price.
“Tower, play message.” An unfamiliar voice called out from the speakers around the living room. “Hello Prophet Noethi, this is Natalia Merx from the admissions office at Merx University. Due to special circumstances, your brother’s application has been accepted en proviso. It’s, erm, quite unusual, but these conditions are that he immediately move into dormitory housing, and that his contact with you be limited. He’ll also have limited unsupervised access to citynet. These stipulations will be in place for the first year of his schooling so that he can fully focus on his studies. We’ll send you regular updates about his progress. I believe someone’s already been sent to collect him and his belongings. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. We look forward to watching Wes’ growth within the Merx community. All of his test scores were exceptional, so I’m sure he’ll excel here. Have a great day.” A chill had settled over me. “Tower, call Wes’ personal comms.” “I’m sorry,” said the computer. “Access to that unit has been restricted.”
November 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
krholton.bsky.social
Yesss, at-home writing retreat was a success! Finally back above par! And, more importantly, having a ton of fun with this WIP and being able to write new characters.

#WriteRAWR #WriteSky
Screen shot of a line graph that shows word count progress across Oct and Nov. The line was below par for most of early Nov, but now is well ahead of the minimum again!
November 17, 2025 at 3:06 AM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 16 - Run

Levi is out of the frying pan and into the fire in The Last Firstborn. 🔥

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
There was a huge crash on the other side of the street, and a multitude of metal objects clattered on the wet concrete. At the same time that the officer yelled, “What the hell?” a hand grabbed mine and pulled me down the street. My feet had no choice but to keep up, to run. The officer was shouting after me, but whatever had fallen onto the street evidently took precedence because he didn’t pursue us. The guiding hand was small. The person was short, three or four strides for every two of mine. We ran until I was out of breath and the noise of the commotion had faded into the general cacophony behind us. “What happened?” I gasped out. A small voice replied, “Saw you were in it deep with that cop, mister. Know a guy with no ID chip when I see ‘em, eh?” The child nudged me in the side as if we were sharing a scandalous joke. “We gotta help each other out, don’t we? Law of the city, ain’t it. Say, where’d you get that hoodie from?”
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
krholton.bsky.social
Fox in a box

#caturday #OneOrangeBraincell
photo of a long haired orange cat in a small box
November 15, 2025 at 5:37 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 15 - Progress

Why indeed, poor Levi?

From The Last Firstborn, coming some nebulous time in 2026!

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
‟What happened after the killer left the alley?” Vivienne asked, pressing a cup into my hand. “There were lights and sirens. People saw him and called the police I think. He was arrested, just like last time.” Marquez swore. ‟Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked, sloshing water down my chin as I drank. “Not if she still dies,” Vivienne said. “They can just make her stay home though, right?” “The situation isn’t that cut and dry, Levi. Evidently, the Oida heiress is… incredibly disinclined to stay in her apartments.” “Even though her life is at risk?” “I can’t answer for the internal handling of the situation by the Lygus. What I can say is that we will again give them this information. They’ll keep her safe however they see fit.” Why didn’t I feel as if we’d made any progress toward unraveling the plot?
November 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 14 - Week

From The Last Firstborn, which is with an editor right now!

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Every morning Vivienne called me with my agenda—let me know how formal my clothes needed to be. She opened every call by asking how I was feeling. A normal enough question, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was gauging how hard she could work me that day. At the end of the week, she called me back into the cloister to see another prophecy. She needed information to expose that one of “their” legislators was also taking “donations” from the Lygus. Basically, blackmail. “Is this really worth my time?” I asked, a little bolder because Aumbrose wasn’t there. “We decide what’s worth your time, Prophet,” said Marquez. “Remember that.” “Just do what they say,” my father repeated in my head.
November 14, 2025 at 2:33 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 13 - Build

Ohhh, yet another callout by WIPSnips of a section I may need to change on my next revision. I've done so much worldbuilding in book 2 that I'm going to need to update a bunch of stuff in The Last Firstborn.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
“The entire city relies on this damned machine. We need the Merx to work more diligently on trying to understand if we can replicate it. Build a second one for Polea’s sake! We shouldn’t be passing bullshit like this. If the maintenance is so pricey, we’d be better off putting that money into research.” They’re talking about the water purifier. The Merx have an elaborate system of pipes, valves, pumps, and storage tanks, all designed to funnel the poisoned rainwater into the purifier machine, which supplies the whole city with clean water. I don’t understand what they mean by research, though. We know exactly how the machine works—it runs on manna, a gift from the goddess. It runs on divine power. There’s no use researching it.
November 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 12 - Shirt

Levi is having a prophecy to prove Gastone's loyalty to the Merx. Hard to pull one over on the boss when he employs a guy who can see the future.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Gastone looks cool now. His hair is pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck and the top button of his black, collared shirt is undone. He’s in a dim hallway with cold, gray tiled floors and walls. At the end of the hallway is a window. I step forward to peer out the glass and am surprised to see other buildings blocking the view. So, we’re not in the tower, we’re down in the city. This is as close as I’ve ever been to it. Gastone is with three others, all dressed in similar dark colors. One of them kneels in front of a door, fiddles with the keycard reader. There’s a heavy click and the door opens. The power flashes me forward in time.
November 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM
krholton.bsky.social
I started this draft in June and progress was full of fits and starts, even though I really liked my outline.

It wasn't until #WriteRAWR that I finally put in the bulk of my words.

(chart from #trackbear )
A line graph showing word count progress on Firstborn's Legacy. The line has a steep incline in June, then very shallow from July until Oct. In Oct and Nov, the line shoots up from 35k to 72k.
November 11, 2025 at 4:43 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 11 - Burger

No burger, but they do have frozen pizza pockets. :p

This is from The Last Firstborn, my dystopian fantasy WIP
Wes stole a pizza pocket from my plate, so I grabbed the last one before my dinner vanished. “Some congressman disappeared, I guess. People are up in arms about it because he spoke out against the Merx a few times and it looks pretty suspicious. They’ve got a bill going through legislation right now and he was against it. Now he’s gone.” I stopped chewing. Aumbrose’s comment—I thought it had just been a morbid joke. He didn’t have them under his thumb the way he had us, right? The food turned tasteless in my mouth. I set the plate down on the coffee table and swallowed. “What’s wrong?” asked Wes. “Do you know something?” he added when I didn’t answer quick enough. Dinner was turning sour in my stomach.
November 11, 2025 at 3:40 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 10 - Local

Swapped for Nearby. This is Levi's first introduction to Eno's life and when the realities of living in the city start sinking in.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Eno’s shoulder dipped as he stepped down to exit the street—the floor of whatever room we were entering was sunken into the ground by several feet. After we’d descended, the door slid closed behind us with a grating crunch. Several of the nearby conversations stopped as we took a few more steps into the room. It got quieter and quieter the further we went, and I somehow felt the eyes on me. “What’s wrong?” I whispered. “You look like you’re from the tower.” And what could I do about that? It wasn’t my fault that— “Here,” Eno said and placed my hand on the back of a plastic chair. “I’ll get you something warm to drink.” I sat down and all the aches in my legs and feet that I’d been trying to ignore came screaming for my attention. I was in front of a tall table, or maybe a bar. Murmuring resumed all around the room, but the tone was more tense.
November 10, 2025 at 2:53 PM
krholton.bsky.social
Clawing my way back up to par

#WriteRAWR #WritingChallenge #Trackbear
screenshot of a line graph showing word count progress over Oct & Nov. The progress is just below a blue line that represents "par."
November 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 9 - Picture

Wes' first time in the actual city in The Last Firstborn.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #cyberpunk
Kile did his best to hold Wes back and answer his litany of questions about everything he could see. I’d started off as annoyed at him for this childlike wonder, but his constant string of inquiries actually helped me put together a clearer picture of the city. And I had to remember: he’d never been down to the city either. He’d been just as sheltered from the realities of life down here as I had. His only exposure was through citynet forums. He chattered on and on about the neon lights on all the buildings and all the different colors they came in. I guessed that’s what that ever-present, faint humming sound was. He asked how the buildings and the pavement withstood the rain. Apparently a lot of them didn’t, but many were painted over and over with a rubberized coating that allowed water to slough off into the gutters instead of degrading the permeable brick.
November 9, 2025 at 4:09 PM
krholton.bsky.social
It's my catnip fund, and I want it *meow*

#caturday #OneOrangeBraincell
photo of an orange cat looking directly at camera and meowing
November 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 8 - Little

Prophet Levi has lived his whole life wearing a blindfold. That has never stopped Wes from being an annoying kid brother.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
We were in the cathedral vestry, surrounded by cedar chests and anointing oils, separate from the world of plasteel and autodoors outside. There wasn’t even a comms terminal in here. So, when the door opened without so much as a courtesy chime, I jumped. Sharply sweet perfume entered the vestry, cutting through the more earthy scents. Vivienne Merx had arrived. So, it was time. Wes made his way toward the door with soft footsteps. His brassy voice was pinched with tension when he said, “Remember what we talked about. I’ll see you there, Levi.” “I won’t see you.” Our little joke. Only I’d never found it very funny. Especially not now. Especially not with what I planned to do. He left me alone with Vivienne.
November 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 7 - Movement

In The Last Firstborn, Levi copes with a lot by running on a treadmill--avoiding all his problems but going nowhere.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
“Race you to five miles,” said Wes. I’d been planning on a quick three-miler today. But his feet were already pounding against the belt of the machine and the word “race” spawned in me some kind of primal urge to compete. I clicked the button to speed up, lengthened my stride. “How fast are you going?” I asked. “Six,” he said, smug. “Easy,” I said, and pushed the button a few more clicks to set my pace to seven. I could hold it longer than he could, and we both knew it. My footfalls were light thumps against the belt while Wes’ were loud, slapping noises. If he wanted to be here for nearly an hour, that was up to him. A few minutes in, Wes said, “This is boring. How do you spend so much time down here?” “When my body is moving, my mind isn’t,” I said.
November 7, 2025 at 2:33 PM
krholton.bsky.social
Keeping a digital #bujo is so fun because you can try out so many different templates without "wasting pages." These templates work well for digital notebooks when you can only see one page at a time!

Check out the bundle of 4 templates here: buff.ly/vkhEgXD ($3 USD)

#Supernote #PlanningCommunity
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 6 - Penultimate

Couldn't find this or any direct synonyms, but I feel like the vibes of this snip from The Last Firstborn kinda fit.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
“Don did have something lined up for tonight, but I’m not sure I want to work for him again. Last time, I said it would be the last time.” “I can help,” I said, the idea so clear I didn’t feel it needed any more explanation. But Eno laughed and said, “Ain’t never heard of a blind bouncer.” “I can tell you if the job is going to go to shit again. I can see it.” “Oh. Easy as that, huh?” He sounded skeptical. Like he was still not confident my power to see the future was real. The unspoken challenge spurred me. I needed to prove it. To prove that I could be helpful, that I could pay him back. That it was going to be worth it to save Wes.
November 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
krholton.bsky.social
Today, I unwrapped my 2026 planner. As I was flipping through the pages, I realized this is the planner that is going to see me through publishing my debut novel. What a wild feeling.

#WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #WriteSky
photo of a deep forest green notebook with "2026" embossed on the front
November 5, 2025 at 5:08 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 5 - Trail

Levi just had the toughest prophecy of his life in The Last Firstborn.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
My mouth felt like it was full of sand. The water had to soak in to my lips and my throat before I was able to swallow. I went back to clutching my head and Wes left me alone. I think maybe I slept a little. Or time was passing strangely. Wes brought me some soup made of Eno’s trail rations. The smell was at once mouth watering and nauseating. Sitting up was a monumental task that zapped me of whatever strength I’d gained through cowering on the floor. Wes propped a backpack behind me to lean on, which was good because the world was swaying beneath me. Wes, bless him, understood my pathetic whimpers well enough to wait a few minutes for me to recover. Once he decided I was ready, he helped me gulp down a few mouthfuls of tepid, watery broth. My body latched on to the meager nutrition. Recovery came quicker after that.
November 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 4 - Steel

They don't tend to use steel in the city of The Last Firstborn because it would corrode so quickly. Instead, they have a material called plasteel that's closer to super strong plastic.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
The device started playing the message. A familiar, low, feminine voice emanated from the speaker. “Levi, I’ve gone through hell to track you down. Please call me. I’ll make it worth your while.” I was suddenly awake. Panicking. Blankets tangled around my limbs like they’d been tied. I flailed and struggled, but freed myself eventually. With blood pounding in my ears, I pulled on pants, grabbed the comms, and flung myself, shoeless and shirtless, out the door. I ran down the mezzanine to Eno’s room. I knew his door by a plasteel placard on the front and knocked hard. It took ages for him to shuffle out of bed and let me in. My hands were shaking as I handed him the comms. “It’s hardly dawn, asshole,” he said. “She knows,” I said. “She knows, she found me. What do I do?” “Slow down, crazy.”
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WriteRAWR

Halloween weekend was a bit nutso so I didn't get much (any) writing in, but! I hit 50% of my goal a few days early, so it was ok. Now, time to get back up to par!

#WritingChallenge #WritingCommunity #Trackbear
Screenshot of a line graph showing daily writing progress from Oct & Nov.
November 3, 2025 at 10:41 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 3 - Nice

Oh Levi. Poor, naive Levi.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
“Are you asking me on a date?” “Yes.” Even with her hand on my elbow, she’d maintained a professional distance. Now, her body pulled in close to mine. Her perfume was chemical sweet. “We’ve put it off for long enough, don’t you think?” she said with a lowered voice. My teenaged-self would have been floored. A date with Vivienne… Things had gotten better between us since I’d saved Gastone’s skin, but this was unexpected. I’d spent my entire adolescence trying to get her attention. “Why now, after all this time?” I asked, but immediately regretted it. “I’ll tell you tonight. Do you want to go or not?” “I’d love to,” I said, trying to keep cool. “What should I wear?” She hummed. “As much as I like the cassock, maybe something more comfortable.” Did I own anything appropriate for a nice dinner that wasn’t a cassock?
November 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
krholton.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - Nov 2 - Cobweb

Back to The Last Firstborn today, and back to an Iggy snip 😂

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
He gave a reedy laugh and went on to tell me about the private rooms upstairs, who used them besides Eno, a history of the interpersonal relationships of those people, and where they were now. I could hardly follow the web of drama he was weaving. Iggy was personable, but his constant stream of consciousness began to grate on me. Maybe it was just because my head was already pounding. My first instinct when stuck in a conversation I didn’t enjoy was to switch into prophet-mode. I’d quote scripture or bless people until they got just as bored of the conversation as me. But I remembered Eno’s warning to keep my mouth shut and listen. Iggy proved to be an infinite font of stories. I tried to pay attention, I really did. Eventually Eno came back and rescued me by hauling me back upstairs.
November 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM