Incidentally, that series is a good read if you want a study on worldbuilding, specifically countries. So many published authors fall into the ‘castle = entire kingdom’ trap. Ash is good to look at, because on the one hand she expertly avoids this trap, and on the other falls spectacularly into it, which is a useful distinction. Her story focusses on two warring kingdoms: one of them works very well (it’s huge, has a populace, politics, many different castles, a navy, an army, towns and roads, ports, etc), and the other fails utterly (Gavril’s ‘country’ consists entirely of his castle, and his ‘army’ of the men inside it).

Just something to think about, and a series definitely worth checking out.

Well done Ivy, you’re doing great! I’m lagging a tiny bit at 13,000 words, but I’m just about keeping up. See you at the finish line .

Honestly Ivy, I don’t know where you find the time or energy to do all the podcasting, blogging and writing that you do, but I’m glad that you do find it .