Dear Writing Diary Entry #20

Publishing Announcement: My Short Story, "THE LAST MASQUERADE AT THE CAROUSEL HOUSE", will be released January 2025!

*Reminder: If you would like to read and review a free advanced copy of my debut fantasy THE FATED, you can apply HERE. Those selected to receive an advanced copy will also receive a free copy of my short story “The Last Masquerade at the Carousel House”. See more details about this darkly enchanting story below.  

October 30, 2024

Dear Writing Diary,

Next year is shaping up to be exciting and full of publishing adventures, one of which I am thrilled to announce will be release of my short story “The Last Masquerade at the Carousel House”. Here is the premise:

A young woman attends an enchanting masquerade only to learn the devilishly handsome sorcerer behind the invitations has vicious plans for his guests.

Yuina Lun is trapped by her own life. Forced by her uncle into a miserable engagement with a controlling fiancé, she is looking for a night of blissful distractions when they attend the masquerade at the Carousel House. Built by Kiro Raidenn, the most powerful sorcerer on the continent, the house is a revolving masterpiece of lavish architecture and dazzling magic. Even more captivating is Raidenn himself, who Yuina can’t help but be attracted to despite the aura of mystery and danger that surrounds him. But as the night carries on, the guests begin acting strangely before succumbing to disturbing and deadly enchantments until Yuina confronts Raidenn in order to save the survivors as well as herself. First, however, she must uncover a secret about her own nature and past that holds the key to her salvation…and ultimately her freedom.

After writing novels for over the past decade, I had fun exploring the different cadence and plot development of this short story. While I believe writing novels will always be my first love, I really enjoy the contained nature of shorter tales. In a short story, I can explore a handful of hours or the most pivotal events in a protagonist's life without having to worry about the more mundane windows of time in between. Through a handful of short stories, I can create and explore multiple worlds and characters over a few months instead of focusing on a single world and set of characters for a year or more while writing a novel. In fact, I had so much fun writing this particular short story that I plan to continue writing more alongside my novels so that one day I might release an anthology—or several.

For whoever’s reading this, how do you feel about short stories and anthologies compared to novels? Do you have a preference for either at certain times or seasons?

Here's to seeing what other stories tomorrow holds.
-K

P.S. Whoever’s reading this, if you’ve enjoyed these glimpses into my writing life, could you please hit the subscribe button? I would love to share more of my writing journey with you in the future. :)