Tag: WIP Wednesday

An Unfound Door, Chapter 16

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Fhiad reflects on the uncanny emptiness of Erdbhein Castle as he leads Agnes to the queen’s ruined chambers. While describing Erdbhein before the war, Fhiad tells Agnes about his three sisters, all of whom were highly competent administrators. Fhiad confesses that he dreamed of becoming a mage so he could return to Erdbhein to build monumental stone structures aboveground to rival the stonework in the long-abandoned city underneath the castle.

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This chapter is about Fhiad processing his grief. It would be the perfect opportunity for an exposition dump, but Fhiad isn’t in a good mental state to deliver a lecture at the moment. Like Agnes, he feels like a failure, and he misses his family.

While Fhiad talks about the past, I hope the reader gets a sense of this character belonging to a much larger story. Unfortunately, Fhiad is never going to be able to live that story, and the reader isn’t going to hear much more about it, either. Fhiad mentions spending time in an ancient city in the mountains below Erdbhein, and tells Agnes that he went to university to study architecture because he always dreamed of building something equally grand aboveground.

That’s an intriguing detail, I hope. It adds another layer of foreshadowing regarding Agnes and Fhiad’s final destination, but the reader is never going to encounter another reference to Erdbhein’s history and culture. That’s what it means for an entire group of people to be destroyed; all of their art and memories and folklore are destroyed along with them.

Agnes is deeply disturbed by this loss, as she should be. Meanwhile, Fhiad’s anger regarding the destruction of Erdbhein has drained away, alongside his sense of agency. At the beginning of the story, he was furious and hostile and scary, but he’s become calmer and more introspective as the reality of his situation becomes clear.

Fhiad’s monologue in this chapter mirrors Agnes’s monologue at the beginning of the novel about how she’s the exact wrong person to handle a difficult situation. Agnes was doing something stupid (bringing a demon back to Faloren) because she felt that she had no power to halt her kingdom’s decline on her own. Fhiad was likewise attempting to do something stupid (stealing a relic that could turn back time) because he saw no other way to address what happened in the past. Fhiad knows that his mother or any one of his sisters could have been effective in restoring his kingdom, but he feels that he himself doesn’t have the power to do anything. And honestly, he’s right.

I think that’s a hard lesson to learn, that sometimes you’re just not the right person to fix a messed-up situation. Not everyone can be a hero. At the same time, if a broken situation can’t be fixed by normal people working together and trying their best while using the tools at their disposal, then perhaps the situation isn’t worth fixing.

In The Demon King, a novel I put on hold to focus on writing An Unfound Door, the main character finds himself in a situation that’s somewhat similar to what Fhiad’s going through. This character is going to succeed by virtue of being ten years older and completely unhinged, and his success will destroy him. Fhiad is going to fail, though. His failure isn’t without sadness, but accepting himself and the reality of his circumstances is going to be the best thing that ever happened to him.

The same goes for Agnes, who needs to understand that she can simply walk away from Faloren. The arc of her character development is longer and more complicated; but, from this point forward, it’s going to be Fhiad’s job to support her.

This chapter is relatively quiet, especially after the action in the previous chapter, but it’s the emotional turning point of the novel. So this chapter is about grief, but it’s also about two tired adults taking a much-needed break to have a nice date with delicious tea in a handsome ruined castle overgrown with beautiful bioluminescent flowers.

The illustration of Fhiad in this chapter’s preview graphic was created by the bold and brilliant fantasy illustrator Armd39, who posts dynamic and creatively textured artwork on Bluesky (here) and on Instagram (here). You can also find her commission info pinned on Twitter (here) if you’re interested. Arma was wonderful to work with, and the process of creating this illustration was a fantastic experience that easily added a few months to my life.

An Unfound Door, Chapter 15

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Now that Fhiad has taken the form of a demon boar, Agnes rides him through the mountain forest on the way to Erdbhein. They make quick progress, stopping only for Agnes to rest. As they approach Erdbhein Castle, Fhiad leads Agnes to an overlook from which she can see the overgrown ruins of the city in the valley.

At the cliffside castle’s back entrance, severely decayed husks emerge from what used to be a village that housed the castle staff. Fhiad is frightened, so Agnes dismounts and comforts him as she leads him across a bridge and into the castle’s rear courtyard. More husks emerge, and Fhiad is paralyzed with fear. Agnes forcibly reverts him to his human form, and they escape into the castle keep.

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Based on the synopsis, you might think there’s fighting in this chapter, but the truth is that I dislike writing action. As much as I enjoy the choreography of cinematic fight scenes, I find prose descriptions of battles to be tedious. I always skim through action sequences as a reader. Why subject myself to this sort of thing as a writer?

In my defense, neither Fhiad nor Agnes is an action hero. Fhiad is an extremely cowardly demon, and Agnes wields a sword the way I imagine most people would, which is to panic and swing it around wildly. When she actually hits something, she’s horrified and disgusted.

Instead of a thrilling adventure, this chapter is more of an extended meditation on death and decay. In particular, I really enjoyed writing about the slow creep of the husks. My personal take on zombies is that they’re scariest when they take the “persistence predator” aspects of human physicality to an extreme. Fast zombies are a lot of fun! But slow zombies that just keep coming? That’s what really creeps me out.

On a more serious note, zombies are an indirect way to think through the indignity of certain types of death. An Unfound Door isn’t a political novel by any means, but I can’t deny that I wrote this story while watching a genocide unfold. It’s important to bear witness, I think. Still, I’m disturbed by the media spectacle of destruction, in which the victims of war are reduced to nothing more than their blunt physicality in order to sell an enticing narrative to a public that passively consumes death on television or online. As my academic work has (hopefully) demonstrated, I care deeply about these issues, and fiction is another way to explore the complications and consequences of an empire lashing out at imagined enemies as it crumbles from the inside. Let it suffice to say that I have a great deal of sympathy for zombies.

In any case, Agnes isn’t particularly afraid of husks, which she sees as pathetic but harmless. There are a whole lot of husks in this ruined castle, however, and Agnes has a difficult time shepherding Fhiad inside the keep while doing her best to keep both of them safe. Consequently, the main narrative breakthrough that occurs in this chapter is a demonstration that Agnes has become much more sensitive to Fhiad’s emotional state. I guess riding a man through the forest like a horse will do that.

The illustration of Agnes in the chapter preview graphic was created by Loustica Lucia, a bright and shining fantasy artist who posts colorful battle scenes and character portraits on Instagram (here), on Tumblr (here), and on Bluesky (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter 14

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Agnes and Fhiad have a brief conversation with Galien and Caelif before departing from Faloren Castle. Fhiad’s personality becomes warmer and more open as they travel across the countryside. He’s friendly to travelers, and he shares his memories of the university in Cretia with Agnes. In the evenings, Agnes stretches and practices the sword forms that she learned from her mentor Mylah, who left the castle shortly after Fhiad’s arrival and hasn’t returned since.

On the first night after they enter the northern forest, Fhiad watches Agnes practice and confesses that his magic won’t be useful against the dangers they’ll face in Erdbhein. He asks that Agnes remember him as human before transforming himself into a boar.

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This chapter is the transition stage between narrative acts that Jessica Brody (of Save the Cat Writes a Novel fame) calls “the eye in the calm of the storm.” It’s a seemingly extraneous but actually extremely important part of the story in which the characters take stock of their situation, their relationships, and their goals.

Even before I read Save the Cat, this in-between chapter was always one of my favorite parts of any longer story I wrote. This is especially the case with romances, where this scene is almost always the first intimate moment the characters spend together. If An Unfound Door were a different type of novel, things would have gotten spicy before Fhiad decided to transform himself, but he just kisses her hand. Which is plenty romantic enough, I think.

I end this chapter with the suggestion that Fhiad is going to be reckless and violent as a demonic boar, but this is misdirection. Even in the form of a powerful monster, he isn’t emotionally equipped to handle action, and Agnes is going to have to forcibly transform him back into a human in order to drag him forward in the next chapter.

Even to me, as someone who ostensibly knows how this story ends, it’s been interesting to see how Fhiad has developed as a character. He initially seems strong and dangerous, but his personality becomes more complicated and neurotic as the reality of his trauma sets in. He slowly unravels as he goes from one set of bad behaviors to another, which is always fun to watch. In this chapter, however, Fhiad is a completely normal person, which I think is the key to the story. As long as Fhiad isn’t subjected to the pressure of being involved in history-changing events, he’s fine.

The goal is to get both Fhiad and Agnes to the point where they’re able to accept that they can just leave these ruined kingdoms behind them and start a new life elsewhere. I therefore used this chapter to create foreshadowing that strongly suggests that this is the best possible outcome for them both. Although their respective homelands are beyond redemption, Agnes and Fhiad can still save each other.

The illustration of Agnes for this week’s preview graphic was created by Anta ARF, who posts brilliant and shining fantasy art on Cara (here), on Tumblr (here), and on Twitter (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter Seven

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Fhiad leaves the court and walks through the halls of the castle as he reflects on the circumstances that brought him to Faloren. Guerig, the king’s secretary and acting regent, has granted Fhiad permission to live in the castle while supposedly doing research on the building’s architecture. Fhiad curses himself for being drawn back to the kingdom, but he has few resources and fewer choices.

As he wanders, Fhiad reflects on how he was originally sent to Faloren as a replacement for a retired diplomat during what he intended to be a temporary break from his studies. He reflects on how the kingdom has declined during the past hundred years, and he wonders why Agnes seems to be a ghost of the person he met in the northern forest. 

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An Unfound Door is written in limited third-person perspective, and this is the first chapter that focuses on Fhiad. As the representative of the novel’s “B Story,” Fhiad represents the upside-down world of Act Two, which begins when the “A Story” character’s status quo is disrupted. Fhiad is the catalyst for this disruption, but his arc is also a mirror of Agnes’s character development. Fhiad and Agnes ultimately want the same thing – the power to choose the direction of their lives – but their initial motivations and goals are drastically different.

Fhiad may have told Agnes that he intends to destroy her kingdom, but what he truly wants is to understand what happened to him. He’s suffering from severe trauma that he hasn’t been able to process, and he alternates between distraction and intense anger. He attempts to distract himself from his grief by tasking himself with a quest. Meanwhile, his frustration has no outlet save for Agnes, who became his target simply because she’s the only living person he knows. Fhiad is doing his best to survive, but he’s a hot mess.

More than anything, this chapter establishes how and why Fhiad has come to Faloren Castle. It also provides a second perspective on the setting.

What the reader is able to see through Fhiad’s eyes are two things that Agnes takes for granted. First, Agnes is subtly shunned by the members of her court; and second, Faloren Castle is impossibly large and labyrinthine. These two observations help justify the “fun and games” portion of Act Two, which will involve Agnes and Fhiad hunting for a hidden relic. In other words, Fhiad’s observations hint that Agnes is free to search the castle precisely because she doesn’t have many social obligations, and that her search is going to be interesting because it isn’t going to be easy.

Something else Fhiad has noticed is that there’s something suspicious about Agnes’s cousin Galien. This is fair, as Galien is hiding a number of unpleasant secrets. Still, Galien is no more a villain than Fhiad. I like to think of An Unfound Door as a “gothic fantasy mystery,” which means that everyone has secrets. This is why, at this point in the story, the main task of the characters is to learn how to communicate with each other. If they’re going to figure out who the actual villains are, they’ll need to be able to trust each other.

The portrait of Fhiad in the chapter preview was created by the heroic Silverpeel, a fantasy artist with a gothic flair. You can see more of Peel’s illustrations of knights and forests and gods and legends on Instagram (here), on Bluesky (here), and on Tumblr (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter Six

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

The summer court opens with a celebration attended by the wealthy families and nobility of Faloren. After the ailing king retires for the evening, Agnes is introduced to Fhiad, who claims to be a university student from Cretia studying architecture. Later, when Agnes escapes to a shadowy corner for a moment of quiet, Fhiad approaches her and quickly becomes cruel and insulting. He tells Agnes that his homeland of Erdbhein has been destroyed, and he declares his intention to take revenge by visiting the same ruin on Faloren by finding Soreiya’s Tear, the legendary relic he was once accused of stealing.

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This chapter is the transition between Act One and Act Two. Fhiad has returned, and he establishes himself as an antagonist. He states his goal to uncover a magical artifact with the intention of destroying Agnes’s kingdom. Fhiad’s anger is not the real problem, however, and it will Agnes’s goal to find a means of addressing the atrocity he survived.

It’s always bothered me when a villain is angry about something legitimately upsetting, but then the writer has this character kick a puppy to show that their anger is bad. What I mean by “kicking a puppy” is that the villain will do something excessively violent or disturbing that is either entirely out of character or framed in such a way as to make their actions seem irrational and done solely for the sake of being evil.

A villain typically represents a challenge to an established order, especially an order built on arbitrary divisions that inform a hierarchy. In the case of fantasy, there is often a class of “monsters” who are sentient yet still positioned as being okay to kill. When a villain wants to establish an alternate power structure in which “monsters” are not killed, it’s only natural to wonder if they might indeed be justified in doing so. The villain must therefore be shown kicking a proverbial puppy so that we do not begin to feel sympathy for them. Based on my observations of various fandom discourse wars, a surprising number of people take this puppy kicking very seriously as an indication that a villain is irredeemably evil.

It’s important to me that Fhiad is portrayed as a legitimate antagonist, at least at first. In this chapter, he proves himself to be two-faced, manipulative, and more than a little creepy. He invades Agnes’s personal space, physically threatens her, and mocks and insults her. He verbally attacks her at a vulnerable moment, and he says horrible things that are all the more hurtful because they’re true. Even worse, he’s cruel to Agnes precisely because he knows she can do nothing to stop him. In addition, it’s implied that he may no longer be entirely human.

Regardless, the root cause of Agnes’s problem – the decline of her kingdom – is not Fhiad, nor is it anything he’s said or done in the past or the present. Rather, this problem is a direct result of a horrible atrocity committed in the past by Agnes’s ancestor. I therefore had to make sure that what Fhiad does at the beginning of Act Two is upsetting but doesn’t fall to the level of puppy kicking. In other words, I attempted to create tension by means of the antagonist’s bad behavior while still being fair to the complexity of his character and his experience of justified anger.

Meanwhile, surrounding both of these characters is the opening of the summer court, a lavish gathering that offers a possibility of what Faloren could be if the kingdom weren’t in decline. Despite the good cheer of the party, Agnes is acutely uncomfortable in her role as a princess. Her keen displeasure in being made an object of display is a window into her essential character, as well as foreshadowing for the development of her story.

The illustration that accompanies the chapter preview was created by Arte072, a fantasy artist inspired by medieval fashion and illuminated manuscripts. You can find their work on Instagram (here) and on Tumblr (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter Five

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Agnes rises early the next morning in order to attend to the correspondence that has accumulated in her absence. As she dresses, she reflects on how her mother’s charm and social grace slowed her kingdom’s decline. Unfortunately, her father has done nothing to alleviate the grim atmosphere pervading the castle since the queen’s death.

Agnes proceeds to her study, a dilapidated yet still handsome room where she secludes herself to work. She is interrupted by her cousin Galien, who encourages her to open the summer court. Agnes agrees, believing that a large and lively celebration will be an appropriate symbolic marker of her vow to rejuvenate the kingdom.   

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This chapter is about Agnes’s comfortable existence in the status-quo world. It is indeed a very comfortable and cozy chapter, and I enjoyed writing it.

Aside from establishing the scene of the next chapter, which will be the opening of the summer court, not much happens here. As I wrote in my notes for the previous chapter, it’s important for the reader to understand why Agnes is willing to remain content with the status quo.

It seems as though Agnes is doing useful work and making actionable plans for the future, but none of this actually means anything. An astute reader should be asking the questions that Agnes is aggressively ignoring: How did she find herself out in the woods on the border of her kingdom? Where did the demon come from? Who kidnapped her? Was it someone in the castle? Are they still there?

Agnes needs to start asking herself these questions soon, because Fhiad is going to come back and cause trouble. For the time being, though, it’s nice to have a small interlude of peace.  

I recently read a Tumblr post (here) regarding how the Gothic genre is all about taking four pages to describe a staircase, and there’s a bit of that in this chapter. I want the reader to see how shabby and decrepit Agnes’s castle is, and I want there to be an opportunity to enjoy the comfortable aspects of this state of decay.

All of the chapters in An Unfound Door have titles, by the way. I’m not sure if I’ll end up using them, but I especially like the title for this chapter, “A Slow and Silent Decay.”

The illustration of Agnes that accompanies the chapter preview was created by the fantasy artist and gentle wizard Madeline Hale, whose colorful and whimsical character designs can be found on Instagram (here) and on on Bluesky (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter Four

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Agnes returns to Faloren Castle under the escort of her secretary Myla, who has been searching for her. She immediately goes to see her father, who is bedridden from a lingering illness. Her cousin Galien meets her at the door. After sending his friend, a courier and skilled warrior named Caelif, to track Agnes’s whereabouts, Galien conspired with Myla to hide the princess’s abduction. He informs Agnes that Caelif has already reported back to him, but he doesn’t ask about the demonic boar. As she looks in on the sleeping king, Agnes reflects on the decrepit state of Faloren Castle while mentally preparing herself to resume her normal duties in the morning.   

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This chapter presents the bleakness of the status-quo world to the reader. There are no people on the roads. The castle town has seen better days. The castle itself is falling apart. The king is dying.

Fhiad parted ways with Agnes at some point before the start of the chapter, and she seems to take it for granted that he won’t find anyone in his home kingdom of Erdbhein. This presents a mystery: What happened there? In a later chapter, Agnes will explain what she understands about Erdbhein, but the truth is worse than she fears. Erdbhein has gone full Dark Souls, and it’s filled with ruin and blight and zombies.

In terms of the “Save The Cat” story structure, this chapter establishes the internal debate of the main character. Agnes wants to leave the kingdom of Faloren, but she feels that she can’t. In the next chapter, the reader will see that she takes comfort in routines, especially when these routines make her feel smart, powerful, and in control. She ends her debate with herself in this chapter by saying that she needs to concentrate on “work,” which she’s obviously using as an excuse for not allowing herself to imagine an alternative to her current situation.

This internal debate makes a lot of sense to me personally, as I can definitely relate to Agnes. I was driven by a need to be productive, and I was always busy. My work routines made me happy at the time, but they weren’t sustainable. This is all the more true because the constant activity distracted me from more important issues, namely, that there was something deeply wrong with my work environment.

I had to go through the cycle of blaming myself for poor working conditions a few times – and I got very, very good at it – before I realized what it was. I thought I could somehow fix things by working harder, and damn did I work hard. The realization that the cycle itself was the problem was extremely liberating.

I’m not saying that we should all quit our jobs to live our best lives or whatever. Nobody has the money for that. Rather, I think it can be useful to consider a shift in mindset, and it’s important to take time to allow room for new ideas and new perspectives.

I also think it’s worth considering that some things aren’t salvageable. You can try to keep the lights on, but any effort you expend will only yield diminishing returns. Sometimes it’s better to acknowledge that something is rotten and then simply allow it to decay.

An Unfound Door, Chapter Three

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Early the next morning, Agnes tries to light the campfire with an intonation used by Fhiad the night before. She reflects on how the kingdom of Faloren was once renowned for its sorcery, and how the suppression of magic following a war with Erdbhein a hundred years ago led to the king punishing her for her childhood gift of spellcraft. Fhiad wakes up during her attempt to kindle the bonfire and mocks her lack of success. Agnes acknowledges that his disdain is not undeserved, and her sincerity convinces him to share more of his story.

Fhiad says he was unsuited to be a diplomat and left of his duties to his cousin Lukhara while he studied Faloren legends in the castle library. His interest in a magical relic called Soreiya’s Tear was encouraged by the princess of his era, Agatha, whom he accuses of manipulating him. He was imprisoned shortly after uncovering the location of a door leading to a hidden temple under the castle, and he claims that he is unable to remember anything that happened since then. He tells Agnes that he wants nothing more than to leave Faloren, and she makes the decision to free him from the silver bridle. They agree to part ways as soon as they leave the forest and separate on friendly terms.

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This is the chapter that states the theme of the character development: Agnes needs to break the chains binding her to the past and move forward in a new and different direction.

This theme is suggested by the story catalyst: Agnes breaks the magical silver chain binding Fhiad. She decides to trust what she sees for herself instead of believing what she’s read in books. By doing so, she nurtures the seeds of doubt regarding her kingdom’s history. This act serves as a catalyst because, unfortunately for Agnes, Fhiad is going to come back and cause a lot of trouble in the near future. In addition, Agnes will never be able to return to her former worldview – although she’ll certainly try.

I tried to keep the initial chapters of this novel short and punchy instead of dumping exposition on the reader’s head, but this final chapter in the opening trio contains an abbreviated version of the basic setup of the world of the story. As Agnes makes accusations and Fhiad corrects her, the reader begins to understand Faloren’s history, as well as Fhiad’s place in this history. This chapter also presents a bit of mythology, as well as the first hint of what happened in the past to make the present so terrible.

Fhiad’s testimony suggests that the main villain of the story is the princess of the era he comes from. He is correct. This woman is indeed responsible for the region’s general state of decay. With any luck, Agnes will be able to make a different set of decisions when faced with the same horrible choices.

The illustration of Agnes that accompanies the chapter preview graphic was created by Myrthena, whose gentle and lovely Disney-inspired illustrations can be found on Instagram (here), on Twitter (here), and on Patreon (here).

An Unfound Door, Chapter Two

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Agnes wakes to find that the boar demon has transformed into a man who identifies himself as Fhiad of Erdbhein, a notorious criminal who was accused of high treason after attacking Faloren a hundred years in the past. He is cultured and well-spoken, but he doesn’t hide his frustration with Agnes, who refuses to free him from the silver chain that bound him as a demon. Fhiad tells Agnes that he never had any intention of attacking Faloren, and he claims to have had no interest in her kingdom at all. Rather, he was only serving as an emissary because he was called back from his studies and ordered to do so. Agnes doesn’t know what to make of this, but she’s exhausted and decides to stop for the night.

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The second chapter of An Unfound Door is about two tired people snapping at each other. Nothing much happens aside from the reveal that the demon Agnes encountered in the first chapter is a person suffering from a curse, but I do my best to establish the geography of the world and a bit of its history without dumping exposition on the reader.

This is what I want the reader to take away from this conversation: Agnes is from a kingdom called Faloren, Fhiad is from a neighboring kingdom called Erdbhein, and there is someplace called Cretia far to the south. Fhiad, who has no concept of how much time has passed since he was cursed, is under the impression that he only recently called back from his studies at a university in Cretia. This establishes him as being in his late twenties while introducing the idea of Cretia being a center of culture in contrast to the forest, which is all we’ve seen of Faloren. According to Agnes, Erdbhein attacked Faloren roughly a hundred years ago, and Fhiad supposedly instigated this attack. Fhiad denies this, but he won’t be forthcoming with more details until the next chapter, as he hasn’t yet had an opportunity to process what Agnes is telling him.

In other words, this chapter establishes the broader conflict of the story through the smaller immediate conflict between Agnes and Fhiad. This conversation sets up a dynamic of Agnes as a character who’s pragmatic and grounded, while Fhiad is well-spoken but emotionally unstable. These two characters have trouble communicating, but each of them gets a “save the cat” moment during this chapter. Despite their petty bickering, their first instinct is to be kind to one another when it counts.

“Petty bickering” may seem like an inappropriate response to the gravity of the situation, and it is. In the next chapter, Fhiad will finally have an opportunity to reflect on his circumstances, and he and Agnes will discuss how they plan to move forward in a more appropriate tone.

As an aside, there are a lot of regrettable aspects of being in your twenties, but it’s nice to be physically fit by default and walk for miles without thinking too much about it. For me in my thirties, I can only walk through the woods for so long before I need to sit down. I wouldn’t turn down an adventure of my own, of course, but it’s so much more pleasant to experience this sort of thing vicariously through fictional characters.

The illustration that accompanies the chapter preview was created by the bold and brilliant Samijen, who paints fantastic character illustrations that practically jump from the screen with life. You can follow their work on Instagram (here), on Twitter (here), and on Bluesky (here).