A. Medlin

Hello friends! Welcome to my newest blog hop, enjoy! And don't forget to read the other short stories linked at the bottom <3 . . . . . All her life, Princess Dulcinea had been told to take her position seriously. She was to learn the way of the courts, study enough to be a good conversationalist for her future husband, and act as a dignified and grateful queen when the time came. Learning to fight like a knight was not on the agenda, and yet, Dulcinea found herself more at home with a bow and arrow and the armory than flirting behind a pretty fan at the castle. Unfortunately, the princess had been taken quite off guard during her afternoon ride that day and, caught without a weapon, was quickly whisked off to who-knew-where by a dragon. She screamed the whole way, thrashing and kicking to try and loose herself from the dragon’s grasp. But the creature barely acknowledged her, and after about an hour, Dulcinea’s voice was raw, and she went limp in the dragon’s claws. Event...

Please enjoy another excerpt from my current novel project, Dog Down ! CW: mentions of death, mentions of zombies, mentions of sickness . . . . . “How did you two end up together?” Indigo broke the silence shortly after as she looked towards Sir Squibbles and Milton. Milton looked annoyed, his eyes half-squinted at her, but Sir Squibbles stood up on all fours, tongue lolling from his mouth as he began to speak. “Funny story, chica,” he started. “Milton’s actually been out here on his own since before the Loud Night . When it all started, I was hurt. Got out of my yard back home, but the dead walkers were on me like flies on shit,” he shook his head. “I got bit, thought I was a goner. But Milton found me. He had a different safe spot at the time. I just sorta… stuck around after that,” he finished, looking over at Milton who had an unreadable expression on his face. Indigo thought hard about that. She glanced at Zephyr, who had a similar expression on his face. “You got… bit?” Sir Squib...

I want to premise this by saying that world building if one of the hardest fucking things to do – how much is too much? How little is too little? Where’s the sweet spot between story and exposition? These are questions I consider frequently, regardless of the genre I’m writing in – yes, some genres take more world-building like fantasy and science fiction, but that doesn’t mean there’s no world-building in romance, historical, horror, mystery, etc. The settings may be familiar, may take place in our world, but that doesn’t absolve a writer or author from IMMERSING us, the audience, in that story. So, how is this accomplished? How does one begin to world build? There’sa million techniques, questions, workshops, theories, etc about how to world-build appropriately. And at the end of the day, you should be using at least one or two of these tactics to flesh out the world you’re writing about. But at the end of the day, only YOU as the author or creator will know what’s enough and what isn...

H i folks! Please enjoy this excerpt from my newest short story ✨️ if you'd like to read an even longer excerpt, click here ✨️✨️ CW: religion, Catholicism, demons, the bible . . . . . It was raining the Sunday we came back to church. I trailed up the glossy, wet marble steps that led to the multi-doored entrance, my parents walking just ahead of me with their heads bowed as we ushered past other churchgoers who had also arrived. On the ride over, I’d been expecting laughter, music to be playing from the organ upstairs as people took their seats and greeted one another after nearly five months away. But I was met by a wall of silent parishioners, each curled into their heavy raincoats as something dark and dim now coiled within the high rafters of the church. We went through the motions, kneeling, singing, repeating “Amen” and mouthing through I confess. The psalms felt hollow and no one looked at one another the entire mass. But more than anything else, I watched the sunken cheekb...

Hi friends! Welcome to another blog hop post, please do read the other authors who have contributed at the bottom of this post! ----- Val figured winning the county fair’s gardening exhibition for the third year in a row meant the most drama she would ever face would be her and Margaret Johnson’s courteous and not-so-friendly debates about the amount of water a Chinese marigold needed. After all, Val had always presented herself as a skilled botanist, and so none of the other gardeners in her club had any idea she was also a skilled necromancer. Val liked to keep this to herself. Toting the label of necromancer, let alone a necrobotanist, carried a certain kind of stigma. However, when Val suspected a faery was eating her petunias, she figured a bit of black magic might help. Val set her trap and hoped it would be enough to scare the faery away. Unfortunately, when she returned to her garden in the morning, and found a very chubby, dead faery lying among her trimmed and manicured...

Hi everyone! I'm once again a day late with the story time excerpt, but here is the latest sneak peek of Dog Down, specifically from chapter 15!! Please enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments <3 CW: animals in danger, fox traps, zombies . . . . . “I smelled water, I’m gonna go look,” Indigo said to the group, who were all preoccupied. But instead of waiting for an answer, Indigo went ahead and broke from the group to head down to where she was sure a small river or creek must run. Indigo was quiet as she went, padding one paw in front of the other as she threaded her way through the underbrush, the tall grass, and the trees. Within moments, she was out of earshot of the group, and while this did cause her to pause for a moment, she figured she’d be able to sniff her way back easily enough. After a few more moments, the unusually cold Dogstar starting to droop against the horizon, Indigo could hear the trickle of water close by. She began jogging the rest of the wa...

Hi everyone! Welcome to story excerpt night! Today's excerpt is from a flash fiction piece I'm working on called Florals . Let me know if you like it so far, and if I should continue the story!! CW: supernatural, supernatural death . . . . . Val figured winning the county fair’s gardening exhibition for the third year in a row meant the most drama she would ever face would be her and Margaret Johnson’s courteous and not-so-friendly debates about the amount of water a Chinese marigold needed. After all, Val had always presented herself as a skilled botanist, and so none of the other gardeners in her club had any idea she was also a skilled necromancer. Val liked to keep this to herself. Toting the label of necromancer, let alone a necrobotanist, carried a certain kind of stigma. However, when Val suspected a faery was eating her petunias, she figured a bit of black magic might help. Val set her trap and hoped that it would be enough to scare the faery away. Unfortunately, when s...

Hi everyone! Welcome to novel sneak peak night! I've posted a lot about Dog Down , but I figured tonight, I'd post a little bit about my second novel WIP, (working title) ASTRO . Please enjoy this excerpt from chapter 2 <3 CW: blood, mentions of guns . . . . . The walk along the riverbank was dreadful. Susana had her moist coat wrapped around her like it would do any good and had followed the creature about a block down. It would be another half a block or so before she found where she’d parked, though Susana did begin to wonder if maybe the creature knew that. How? She wasn’t sure, but most of her disbelief had gone out the window when she’d decided to follow this thing down the river and away from Colt. As she stared at it, she realized that the creature was limping. Actually, now that Susana really looked, the farther they walked down the riverbank, the more the creature seemed to falter in its step. It was still dark, though the rain had subsided for a bit, but she could...

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another Tuesday Novel Storytime, this time featuring an excerpt from chapter 6 of my novel Dog Down. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading! CW: animals in danger, talk of zombies . . . . . After a few seconds, Indigo was almost certain whatever it was had been a trick of the mind, but before long, she noticed something much smaller than a human moving through the hedges along the house closest to them. Indigo knew this was no strange human, the strange humans were much bigger than whatever this was, but she was confused as to why this creature was stalking its way towards them. The shape stopped just short of the edge of the hedge, a little too far away for Indigo to call out to, but she could see a pair of eyes staring at her through the foliage. A cat? Indigo voiced to herself, confused as to why a cat was interested in them. Indigo herself didn’t know much about them, only that they were often allowed to roam freely in a way her kind were no...

Hi lovelies! This is a new monthly segment on the page where I post a NEW short story every third Friday of the month! Hooray!! Please enjoy... MORGAN’S MEOW CW: animal d3ath, ghosts (IT HAS A POSITIVE ENDING, I PROMISE) . . . . . Morgan had been dead for one hundred years and never liked the tenants in her house. Then, one day, they brought home a small, black cat. The cat stopped at the foot of the stairs, sat down, and meowed right at Morgan. Morgan’s eyes widened when it walked towards her and looked directly at her. “Can you see me?” she asked. The cat meowed again. Morgan had never had a pet, and she didn’t consider this one hers. However, the more the cat unsuccessfully tried to rub against her leg, or climb onto her lap, the more Morgan grew fond of the cat. In fact, she liked the cat so much, she stopped trying to chase away the tenants. One day, the man left the front door open. The cat got out. Morgan could only watch in horror as the cat ran across the street, o...

Hi lovelies! Please enjoy an excerpt from chapter 9 of my novel DOG DOWN , and please let me know if you would like to read more! Please forgive me being scatterbrained and posting a day late as well! CW: mentions of death, mentions of zombies, animals in danger . . . . . Those three days after Korn’s death passed slowly. The dogs were bored, the kids were bored, and Mira was continuously curt with whatever human opened the door that day to bring food. She and the kids mostly contented themselves with talking lightly, playing games with small pieces of paper at the table, and twisting themselves into odd shapes on the floor, but they steered clear of the back corner where Benji and Indigo had had little choice but to relieve themselves. None of them were allowed outside, and Indigo took to staring out the window up at the sky almost the entire last day locked away. Three days later, the door was unlocked with a resounding click , and they were allowed out. The kids were whisked away ra...

Hi lovelies! Please enjoy an excerpt from chapter 10 of my novel DOG DOWN , and please let me know if you would like to read more! CW: mentions of death, mentions of zombies, animals in danger, guns, blood, some gore and violence . . . . . Mira was playing with Indigo and Benji on one of the rare nights she wasn’t busy, the chill in the air a nice bite against the warm fur that covered the dogs’ bodies. Indigo especially had always enjoyed the cold, as she had a rather thick coat all year round, and she was content to be outside and active for once. All in all, it was a pleasant day, and things were quiet at the complex, other than talk of the supply party that was supposed to return later that day. And then the shouting began. Mira immediately dropped the ball she’d been tossing to Indigo and Benji, who both leapt for it before Indigo grabbed it. She did as she always did, trying to nuzzle it back into Mira’s hand, but the human was distracted, her attention turned towards the front e...

 Hello, and welcome to my newest blog hop contribution! Thanks for reading if you do <3 ----- “Will the first two Puppeteers please step forward!” The games began quickly, with the first two Puppeteers stepping up to their gaming screens so they could better watch their Puppets. The two Puppets then stepped out into the center ring. First round would be knives, second round would be guns, and the last round would be specialized. Whether all three rounds would be needed was anyone’s guess. Allen wasn’t first. In fact, he would be one of the last to go. But that gave him a lot of time to get the lay of the land and figure out the best strategies for playing this game. Hours of gaming at home would come in handy here, he knew that. But it didn’t hurt having an edge in this specific game, especially when his life was on the line. He’d never lost. Four rounds later, and it was his turn. Allen took a deep breath from behind the mask and stepped up to his screen. He could see his...

 Hi lovelies! I'm a day late, sorry about that! Here's the next novel excerpt from Dog Down!! CW: animals in danger . . . . . Indigo was about to say something about heading back when she heard scuffling coming from the top of the dumpster. All three animals seemed to hear it, as each of them jerked their head in that direction. The scuffling stopped then, for several long moments, and Indigo almost thought they’d all imagined it. But then there it was again, and Indigo took the initiative to tentatively step forward a few steps. “Hello?” she thought-voiced when she was close enough to the dumpster. “Gracias a dios!” a gruff voice came from the dumpster, followed by the appearance of the squarest dog head Indigo had ever seen, which caused her to jump back in surprise. “I thought you guys were those dead humans! Man, am I glad to see other animals,” the bulldog thought-voiced with a tilt of his head. “I’ve been in here for like three hours,” he huffed, looking down at the groun...

Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I posted, let alone posted an excerpt from my fantasy novel Fallon , but I figured it was time once more! This novel has undergone quite a few changes in the last few months. I've reworked quite a few chapters, have added new subplots, have taken away others. The excerpt below is the reworked beginning of chapter 1, so if you've been a beta reader for me before, or have been following along, you'll notice some immediate differences. In any case, read below for the excerpt, and let me know what you think! . . . . . For all intents and purposes, today was a bad day. Fallon had spent most of the morning packing for his unwanted trip to Waxam, and when no one was looking, had snuck away to the kitchen to grab some cheese and bread, the armory to grab his bow, some arrows, and armor, and then the stables to pick a horse. Fallon fully intended to be gone for the rest of the day, maybe two if he was lucky, before his life was essentially ove...

 Hello, and welcome to my fourth blog hop contribution! Thanks for reading if you do <3 ----- Oscar’s life was categorized by his million-dollar home, his fast car, and his beautiful wife and children. Doors flung themselves open to him, revealing lucrative opportunities, and Oscar quickly climbed the ranks. But when Oscar’s boss was caught embezzling millions, the company went bankrupt, and Oscar was left behind. In a matter of months, everything was gone. Oscar was left in a small, grungy apartment on the edge of town, with no job, no money, and no future. When Oscar walked into the woods that day, he didn’t intend to come out. He’d brought the rope, now to find sturdy tree. Instead, Oscar found a black dog, one who looked eerily like his childhood companion, sitting under the sturdiest tree. Before he could say anything, the dog was facing him, eyes piercing red. Oscar was suddenly scared. The dog stared at him for a moment before it growled, lips peeled back in a m...