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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 03/10/2026

#LitHodgepodge | 3 Here's my most popular #Ellamir character, Maqine, as penned by the awesome @nushdeco.bsky.social! She's already pretty accomplished, but her life circumstances just got rather... rural. What do you reckon her new hobby could be?

A cute hells-touched woman with red skin and a tail, wearing dungarees and posing with a sledgehammer

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 02/10/2026

#LitHodgepodge | 2 Well, many of the MCs in #Ellamir are heavily based on #JaneAusten characters, and the book is already a crossover, so I'd love them to get sucked into the 1996 TV adaptation of Emma. What would Emma make of Maqine? Would Mr Knightley take to Commander Merely? So many questions!!

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 01/10/2026

A Hodgepodge?! Hoff we go then... I'm Cameron, and I'm writing a high fantasy x regency romance crossover titled #Ellamir!

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 07/09/2026

Hi hi, #WIPSnips, it's been a while! It's got to be ✨vibes✨ today - no elevators in my Regency x High Fantasy crossover novel #Ellamir (and if there were, they'd be lifts!) so instead, we find Ella just about to go where an elevator might take you: upstairs. But things are about to get weird...

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“Oh, damn Keaning to the hells,” Ella muttered, intended only for herself but, in fact, audible enough to bring the footman around the corner.
“May I light a room for you, Miss Ellamir?” he asked, too professional to appear surprised to find her in the darkened passageway.
“No,” said Ella, pushing aside her churning thoughts for a moment, “thank you, Thomson, but I shall go upstairs. Please ask Mary to attend me in a moment.” She was turning away from the footman’s acquiescent bow when something cut through the silence of the somnolent house, a sound that froze her to the spot, cocking her head sharply. “Do you hear that?” she asked.
“I hear nothing, ma’am,” said Thomson after a moment.
“Nothing at all?”
“No, ma’am.”
It was clearly audible to her, however; an odd note, high and clear, carried in through an open window from the garden beyond. Ella took a step along the passage, following as if called, and heard the voices - for a shifting cadence and joining harmony made it suddenly apparent that she was hearing a growing choir of united voices - with a sudden, shocking jolt of recognition. It was a sound she knew, unheard for many years but unmistakably familiar, a distant sound from her childhood, calling to her again from far across the intervening years: the stars were singing.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 07/08/2026

✨Vibes✨ for #WIPSnips today - Ella finds it hard to handle a strange experience and sudden shock in the garden This sequence has given me much trouble, but I think I might finally be nearing the end! This is oven fresh and VERY first drafty 🙂 From my Regency X Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
But the sound that escaped her was not a beautiful note wreathed into the harmonies of the multitude, but a terrified shriek, for just as she had readied herself to sing, her own name had rung out, clear and unmistakable, three long strains that formed it: Ell-a-mir!
The realisation struck her in the heart with a frozen shard of terror, and her nascent song became a scream, painfully loud in the darkness, cutting into the night so sharply that even the joined voices vanished instantly. She staggered, her eyes still fixed on the heavens which clouded instantly into darkness, the vivid expanse veiled, the vision torn away. She cried out again, this time in anguished grief for immeasurable loss as she fell back into the bleak ordinarity of the now-silent summer night, and folded to the ground, stricken with sorrow, drained and gasping for air that scorched her lungs. She heard her name again, but this time it was “Miss Ella!” in the unmistakably earthly voice of the footman, dashing across the lawn to her.
“Never mind it,” she heard herself saying, “I merely tripped. It was just the shock. Never mind it,” and then she was on her feet, unsteady but standing. Her first steps towards the house were weak and ill-directioned, but spurred by the certainty that she must appear quite untroubled, she summoned her strength and soon she was walking over the grass as she might on any afternoon, while the curtain of night concealed the tears that fell upon her chest and would not stop.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 28/07/2026

Hi hi, #WIPSnips! Today's post revisits the loathsome Brother Nicholls as he is suddenly regretting his decision to add a roadside kebab to the excessive amount of gin pressed upon him by his lady patroness. From my Regency X Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #BookSky #IndieAuthors #AmWriting

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
"Oh, oh," he moaned to himself, "curse that halfling - his pork must be criminally unfit for consumption, and he should have advised me more persuasively to treat that pepper with the utmost caution. No doubt his ale was also on the turn. I shall ensure the magistrate hears of this, and revokes his certificate."
Legal recourse was, though, neither here nor there at that moment: it was becoming apparent that not another mile could he go before some unfortunate gastric event must disrupt his journey - nay, not another moment might be spared! Uttering a strangled cry to once again halt the coach, Brother Nicholls was already halfway out of the door before the horses were sharply reined in, the shock of which sent him sprawling for a second time. One of the coachment leapt down to aid him, only to recoil at the sight of the Brother's bulging eyes in his grimacing green face; a moment later, the pork, the bread, the onions, the leaves of lettuce, the tomatoes, the garlic sauce, the culpable pepper and the ale were all violently returned to the earth from which they ultimately came.
Brother Nicholls was incomoded for some minutes, whimpering pitifully between the convulsive regurgitations which afflicted him so forcefully and unpredictably that, when he was finally able to stagger to his feet, it was found that his best surplice and shoes were both liberally coated with the effluent of his indisposition. Abandoning the explanation he had been forming to deliver to the coachmen at the sight of their disgusted expressions, and noting that neither of them had chosen to assist him in regaining the carriage, he hauled himself back up to its interior where the lingering aroma of roasted meat and onions was no longer nearly so appealing, and consoled himself with private muttered reflections upon the inhumanity of the serving classes and the duplicity of halfling caterers, all of them fit only for the gaol, if not for the gibbet.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 22/07/2026

Hey, #WIPSnips! Surprisingly I only have one instance of "grand" readily to hand, considering all the great houses in my Regency X Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir Hannah sees the grandeur of Keaning Abbey up close for the first time when she visits Maqine for tea #IndieAuthors #AmWriting #BookSky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
There had once been a footway leading from the boundary path down the side of the valley to the dam, where one could cross the river and so come to the abbey buildings, and though the grass had returned abundantly in the intervening years, Hannah could have still made it out even if there were not now a new sign, right where she had met Maqine yesterday, reading "Keaning Abbey: Enqs. to Estate Office". The way down was a little steep, but presently she came to the dam and crossed over it, and there she was, where no resident of Upthorpe had been for almost two decades: the inner grounds of the august old abbey itself.
The fences of the sheep-pen were, she had seen from above, on the far side of the house and its outbuildings. Not far beyond the dam began a more established road set with ancient paving; she passed the mill-house and forge with its tall chimney, made her way along a pretty block of four terraced worker's cottages somewhat overgrown with ivy, and so came to the stable-gate. Beyond this lay the handsome stable block, of a harmonious design with that of the residence some way behind it, a very grand and rather imposing house, with its imitation battlements giving the impression of a well-ordered castle in which elegance was much favoured over defensibility. Higher even than the house with its three principal stories, though, rose the walls of the ancient abbey, its nave running the whole length of the residing-wings to which it had been attached, its dull leaden roof pitched sharply, and its two western towers which, though tall, were only smaller echoes of the great bell tower that soared over all.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 21/07/2026

I'm delighted to have my very own piece of @nushdeco.bsky.social artwork, depicting... who else?! Thanks Nush, she's wonderful! 😍😊

Many a decent young lady might be forgiven for shrieking or even fainting away; as it was, Hannah could only stand and stare, quite taken aback by how strikingly unusual she looked, and how fiercely, terrifyingly, ravishingly beautiful she was.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 17/07/2026

Happy Friday, WIPperSnippers! Today's #WIPSnips sees our outspoken heroine #Ellamir Oakhall attending a gathering at Lady Lamont's and daring to challenge her ladyship's opinions on the recent purchase of nearby Keaning Abbey #AmWriting #BookSky #IndieAuthors #Fantasy #Romance #Bookish

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
Lady Lamont paused, teacup and saucer poised beneath her imperiously pursed lips, and dutifully her audience widened their eyes and leant forwards: whatever was liable to inspire great fear in their venerable patroness was indeed a matter of significant concern and undeniable interest, or at the very least, it was their duty to appear as if it was. Certainly it was known to all that some odd stories had been circulating among the lesser residents and servants: a tale of a peculiarly large wolf killed at a farmstead not fifteen miles hence; a sighting of a party of dwarves on the High Road, armed to the teeth and bemoaning, as usual, some injustice or other; a swarthy fellow passing through the village who was rumoured by the patrons of the tavern he frequented to be a rogue; and worst of all, reports of elvish activity not far north of the parish boundary. It seemed that suddenly, threats to civilised life were being spoken of everywhere. What new horror had now been brought to Lady Lamont’s attention?
"Yes, I greatly fear," she repeated, "that the abbey and its lands have been purchased with new money!”
The effect of her words were a little less than Lady L had hoped for, with never a gasp and only some muted tutting, and she was even less pleased when Miss Oakhall may have been seen to roll her eyes.
“Really, Lady Lamont,” said Miss Oakhall, whose family’s own fortune had been acquired a mere four or five generations ago, “one cannot expect every gentleman coming upon the neighbourhood to trace their ancestry to the Great Lords of Langton. There are many fine young men whose connexions and consequence are relatively newly-found, yet want for nothing in charisma, wit and gentility. My father was apparently such a man, in his day.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 16/07/2026

#SummerOfStories | 16 Hrm... I'm compelled to say the 1996 TV version of Jane Austen's "Emma" as it's my favourite adaptation of the book, which #Ellamir borrows heavily from: it's those actors I had in my mind when initially developing my characters. I still watch this every two months or so! 😍💖

Actors Samantha Morton and Kate Beckinsale as Harriet Smith and Emma Woodhouse in the 1996 TV film adaptation of Jane Austen's "Emma" - wearing period gowns and bonnets/hats in front of a gothic building

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 16/07/2026

✨Vibes✨ for today's #WIPSnips! Ella's maid Mary is sent rushing round to Commander Merely's to find out what he makes of the astonishing news of an extraordinary incident between Brother Nicholls and Hannah From my #JaneAusten style Regency x Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #AmWriting #Bookish

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
“Why, they say he was violently in love with Miss Wright, ma’am - had gone to declare himself and ask her consent - and the devil was sent from the hells to tempt him away, only she took a fancy to Miss Wright instead and made off with her. Our Nancy saw him after - said he was sobbing fit to burst to see his sweetheart stolen away, and spoiled his fine pantaloons with fright.”
“Brother Nicholls in love with Hannah? I cannot give such a notion a moment’s credit, but clearly, I must get to the bottom of this,” said Ella to herself, and then, thinking that perhaps the imagination of the servants might be getting a little out of hand and seeking to restore order, “but first things first: this nightgown will have to go in the wash as soon as can be, and… Mary, did that uncouth sound come from you?”
“Forgive me, Miss,” said Mary meekly, blushing for the powerful gurgle that had escaped her abdomen, “but I ain’t had nothing yet to break the fast, as it were.”
“Well, you had better take this,” said Ella, passing her a muffin-half, “and get along: tell Cook you may have a mug of strong coffee, for I need you well awakened and at your best, and she had better toast you a crumpet or two for fortification. And then hurry back here, but not before you have sent one of the young lads to Alder Manor, running all the way, to request of Commander Merely his attendance as soon as he can spare it. If we have not yet had the time to dress, you are not to mind it, and he is to be shown up to my sitting room to be received as best we can.”
“Certainly ma’am,” said the astonished Mary, hesitating for only a moment before flying to her feet and making quickly for the door, urgently devouring her muffin as she went.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 15/07/2026

She does her best! 🙂 The entire novel is about Ella being out of her comfort zone, and learning to expand it. Taluniel understands her confusion, and tries to allay it somewhat. Here's a snippet of their conversation...

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
“Once again, I am honoured and gratified,” said Ella, and once again she found herself at a loss to find the correct form of polite address, for Taluniel seemed sometimes womanly, at other times not at all, and neither their figure nor dress showed any distinction of their sex whatsoever. Her sentence ended awkwardly, and Taluniel's amusement seemed greater still.
"I am sorry indeed to so confuse you; sorrier still that your language cannot describe or define me. You wonder if I am male or female; the forming of speech, the conferring of courtesy, demands such distinction in your tongue. Yet I cannot satisfy that, in speech at least; for I am neither. I am neither, and I am both, perhaps you might say; I myself would say 'I am none, and I am all'. It is difficult for you, I see that clearly; but know me better, and mayhap the value of such distinction will diminish."
It was difficult, for none of her usual facilities seemed appropriate: no inconsequential morsel of small-talk that could be brought out to fill the silence, no carefully weighed element of flattery or ironic disdain to adjust the balance of superiority. For the first time in her adult life, there was no question of superiority, no hope of authority; in the presence of this ancient, ageless being with their supernatural aura of near-omniscience, human notions of rank and reserve, of affected courtesy and civility seemed entirely absurd.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 15/07/2026

Another day, another #WIPSnips! 😊 Ella and Commander Merely are setting forth in Mr Oakhall's fine open carriage to formally call on their new neighbour at Keaning Abbey. Ella is enjoying herself, but Merely is a little out of sorts... From my Regency X Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #AmWriting

Stately they certainly appeared, for not only was the coach of a particularly elegant marque, and the horses very fine specimens beautifully turned out, but Merely was technically required by the King's laws to dress according to his rank on such an occasion, that is, as a commissioned officer of His Majesty's Naval Reserve. It would, of course, be absurdly pompous to visit a neighbour in the full dress splendour of a naval commander, so he wore instead his 'undress' uniform, far more restrained in the matter of gold lace and brass buttons, but still a most impressive affair with the ribbons of several distinguished medals upon his breast, the epaulettes of his rank. At his side hung a presentation sword, part of a reward from the grateful nation for a noteworthy piece of service during his active duty days.
It was something of an odd tradition to be so dressed upon such an occasion, reportedly no longer rigidly adhered to further south in the Kingdom, and Merely had himself suggested that they might ignore what must be a tolerably archaic and unenforced law, but Ella would not hear of it: she had, she said, good reason to believe that their visit was the first of any of their neighbours, and as such they must convey the impression that their society, though provincial, was not lacking in decorum or respect for the old ways. It was true, as Merely had ruefully considered, that this degree of rectitude was somewhat at odds with Miss Oakhall's reputation for disparaging antiquated tradition, and Ella could not be expected to admit even to herself that it might have more to do with a private penchant for the splendid uniform of an officer of the King than any particular respect for the observance of naval regulations.
"I hope your assertion that I am not overdressed proves to be correct, Miss Oakhall," said Merely in a dissatisfied tone, having seen what he suspected to be a smirk on the face of a local gentleman as they passed him, "I feel somewhat conspicuous."

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 14/07/2026

Swapping out "phase" for "period" for today's #WIPSnips Ella meets with Commander Merely to take care of some estate business, and spots an opportunity to be charitable towards some of their less fortunate tenants From my #JaneAusten inspired Regency x #Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
"Good day to you, Commander," said Ella, shaking his hand as she always did. "Will you take a glass of wine?"
"I thank you, ma'am, and I will with pleasure," said Merely, and as it was placed in his hand by the footman, "I trust Mr Oakhall is well? Will he be joining our meeting?"
Waiting until the footman had removed, and the doors were closed behind him, Ella said "He is well, thank you, but alas he will not be joining us. He is otherwise occupied at present, but of course I shall relay all the substance to him later this evening."
The office was a pleasant room with excellent furnishings, and they sat each on their own sofa facing across an elegant coffee table. There were the usual reports to receive: the receipt of provisions from the farm, and the payment of rents on their properties both within the Penmere estate and without.
"The tenants' remittances are all in order, ma'am, with one exception, "said Merely, reading from his papers. "Oxley of Grange Farm begs your patience until after next market-day: their circumstances are complicated by the illness of their youngest boy and they have spent much at the apothecary this period."
"We will be patient," said Ella, after a moment of consideration, "but do not let it go on too long."
"As you wish, ma'am," said Merely gravely. "As for the home farm, Mr Holland informs you that five goslings of the latest clutch have hatched, and four turkey poults. He plans to put the bull among the cows again a sennight hence, but there is no shortage of milk - in fact, there is a small surplus when the dairy has accounted for the usual amounts of butter, cheese and cream."
"Very good," said Ella, who was fond of both cheese and cream. "I shall take something from the dairy when I call upon the Oxleys, as being good for the poorly child's bones."

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 13/07/2026

YAYAYAY! Pretty excited about this! Thanks @nushdeco.bsky.social - can't wait 💖 @sayaashrah.bsky.social guess who's getting her likeness drawn... 👀 #HellstouchedOfBluesky #YouFuckingBet

A screenshot from an email that reads:

IT'S TIME!!!
Nushdeco just marked your commission as WIP - AKA they've started working on your project! What this means for you:

Please DO NOT bother them for updates...
but DO keep an eye out for updates soon~

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 13/07/2026

Hope it's not too late to jump into this lovely #SummerOfStories prompt right in the middle!! (What a gorgeous graphic!) Surely the unluckiest character, must be Brother Nicholls... who TOTALLY deserves it! Just look what happens when he tries to force someone to marry him... From my WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
In the ruined portal, amid swirls of sunlit sawdust, stood the towering figure of Maqine: in her left hand were the burning remnants of a Spell of Force; in her right, a gigantic crossbow taut with a loaded bolt; and on her face, a look of contempt and purpose and hatred that Brother Nicholls could not hope to withstand. As he perceived her through the cloud of dust, he let out a strangled cry and staggered backwards.
“Demon!” he screamed, his face contorted with terror, “Hellspawn!!”
“You fucking bet,” said Maqine. She strode through the remains of the window, knocking away dangling lathe and plaster, and in a few steps, levelled the point of her arrow squarely between Brother Nicholl’s madly staring eyes. He immediately collapsed to the floor; Maqine’s aim followed him and never faltered as she stooped to pick up the scroll.
“A Charm Spell,” she said. “This shithead was going to enchant you into marrying him. And then, of course, into his bed, while you were mindless. There’s an ugly word for that, good Brother.”
Hannah shuffled forward on trembling legs, an aghast expression upon a face paler even than usual and minutely etched with red scratches from the flying glass. The weight of this appalling eventuality was only now dawning upon her, that a Brother of an Order she once thought unimpeachable would, without a second thought, enslave her mind and then… it was too horrible a thought, and she quickly shut it out.
“I should… I should never have thought he could…” she eventually stammered, almost overcome.
“I should pin his head to this very fetching rug,” said Maqine.
“No,” implored Hannah weakly, “please. Let’s just leave.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 13/07/2026

Hullo #WIPSnips! Today's snippet from my #JaneAusten style #Regency X #Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir sees Hannah and Maqine on what will turn out to be their first date - and being treated to a spectacular performance by the night sky and their Elvish neighbours. #WritingCommunity #RomanceReads

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
"Everyone is afraid of them," Hannah explained, when Maqine seemed unconcerned, "they say they are dangerous."
"Well, I suppose they can be," said Maqine, "but there's elves and elves, if you know what I mean. Most of them are quite harmless, unless you get too close to their settlements. It wouldn't do at all to wander into their world, but out here we're quite safe. Listen… isn't it beautiful?"
The distant voices were swelling now in number and volume, some high, almost impossibly high, some deep and resonant. It was most unlike the singing of the congregation at the Lady's temple, far superior even to the choirs that sometimes accompanied Her Sunday devotions. It seemed of the landscape, evoking the trees and the river and the grass, and of the sky, carrying upon the light evening airs and welcoming the vast blue cloak of night that followed in the golden wake of the setting sun. The wind was dying away, and it seemed as if all the countryside had ceased its whispering to listen to the song of the elves: even the sheep had fallen quiet.
"They were at it last week, too," said Maqine in a low voice, "but that was well after sunset, near to midnight. Probably singing to the stars: they love trees and stars most, you see. Come on, let's get a bit closer."
Without Maqine's reassuring presence, Hannah would certainly have gone no further, but her new friend's authority on the matter of Elves was reassuring - she promised it was most unlikely that they would see one - so they left the silent sheep and set off slowly in the direction of the singing, which seemed to emanate from up where the deep green curtain of forest was draped over the northern slope of the valley. Hannah walked as if in a dream; she hardly dared breathe.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 25/06/2026

I just know that anything Nick Cave writes about his wife is going to be to sublimely and achingly beautiful that I'm compelled to own it. Just look - even Susie's signature is a work of art!! #NickCave #SusieCave #DominiqueIssermann

A copy of "Susie" by Nick Cave (words) and Dominique Issermann (images) and signed by Susie Cave, Nick and Dominique

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 25/06/2026

No pyramids in the quaint, pseudo-English village of Upthorpe Thoroughborne, so I've gone with vibes around another ancient stone creation. Despite having lived next door all her life, Ella has never been onto the Keaning Abbey estate and is in for a surprise. From my WIP #Ellamir.

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“It was approaching from this direction that the architect and landscaper were thinking of, of course,” observed Ella with approval, “for it appears to far better advantage from here, and the main aspect is much finer than that which we see from the boundary path.”
“Quite so,” said Merely, who had seen it often before but wished to oblige and so turned in his seat to look. As the coachman took them carefully down the winding drive which perched on the valley side, the ancient building, its newer residential wings and the cluster of workshops and farm cottages came and went behind the great trees, some of which were as old as the abbey itself. Eventually they reached the bottom and approached the house between twin formal lawns set with sculpture, some in the familiar classical style favoured by the temples of the Lady of Purity though somewhat less prudent, others of darker stone and stranger form. They passed beneath the gaze of one of them, and casting her eye over its heavily weathered features, Ella made out its sharp slanting eye and pointed ear.
“Merely!” she exclaimed, “It is an elf! A statue of an elf! How extraordinary - why should anyone wish to adorn their garden so?”
Merely gave the statue a very fleeting glance and did not reply at first; when he did, it was to comment on the condition of some rose-bushes that stood by the house, for they had now entered the circular sweep that led to the doors, and Ella could say no more before her attention was required by the man coming out to meet them without waiting for the door-bell, a man who was clearly not a servant and was therefore most likely the new master of Keaning himself.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 11/06/2026

Hello #WIPSnips, it's been a while! I actually have today's word, surprisingly, for "griping of the guts" was a common expression for stomach-related illness in Regency times - in this case, Brother Nicholls has only himself to blame, but that's not quite his style... From my WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin
"Hi there," called Nicholls, "stop the coach!"
Climbing down - "perfectly steady upon my feet, I assure you - anyone might take a slight tumble from as high and noble a carriage as the Barouche, and I suffered no hurt from it" - he had ordered the largest available of all the halfling's meat-and-bread offerings, and urged him to add to it every type of good thing he had upon the stall in abundance: fried onions, leaves of lettuce, wedges of tomato, a generous helping of Mingo's 'famous' garlic sauce, and to top it all, a long, lurid-coloured pepper. Thus furnished with much-needed sustenance, and a large paper flagon of pale ale to help it go down, he had returned to the Barouche extremely pleased.
It was henceforth that good fortune began to fail him. The halfling, it transpired, had been exceedingly remiss in the arrangement of the filling of his parcel, and Lady Lamont's coachmen made a very poor job of finding the smoothest stretches of road along which to drive, so that before long, a good portion of his meal had been shaken onto the carriage floor. Worse still, the coach was being allowed to sway to such an extent that the motion began to affect poor Brother Nicholls quite adversely, and to add to his sorrows, the large pepper which had seemed such an innocent and wholesome vegetable had, upon his consuming it expeditiously and entirely, proved to be hellsfire hot. The whole mug of ale, rapidly drained, did almost nothing to assauge the fire in his throat, but worked very ill upon what was already within, so that before long, his cheerful demeanour began to give way to melancholy and self-pity as the contentment of his full belly turned suddenly to misery, in consequence of a most persistent griping of the guts.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 20/05/2026

I posted this on #WIPSnips quite recently, I think, but delighted to do it again as it's a crucial plot twist Hannah has just come out to Ella, revealing that she never wanted to marry a gentleman as Ella hoped, and is sorry to have disappointed her From my Regency x High Fantasy WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
Ella rose quickly, and was astonished to find that, just as quickly, panic was rising within her. Her conscience could not be calm, she knew, were she to stand by while her friend walked away, perhaps forever, but she was still so shocked that she grappled vainly to find the words to express the feelings she barely understood. But then, quite suddenly, the confusion of her thoughts was eclipsed by a certainty that stabbed from her heart: to abandon Hannah, merely to preserve her own social standing, would be a hypocrisy too dreadful, unthinkable, entirely unsupportable. she knew what she must feel, and what she must try to say.
“Hannah, wait,” she cried, and then, as Hannah turned uneasily back toward her, she gathered her wits as best she could;
“I confess I am disappointed,” she said. “I am disappointed by all those in the village who would see the humiliation of a worthless Brother and the destruction of a window as a more awful consequence than your being pressed by force into a marriage you so firmly rejected; I am disappointed in Nicholls, if disappointment can ever be a word used to temper the disgust I feel when I think of what he would have inflicted upon you; and I am disappointed, sorely disappointed, in myself for having behaved in such a way that you should think that, through such a choice, you must be a stranger to me. I have condescended to invite you to call me ‘friend’, yet what sort of friend can I be to have heard you speak thus, with such fortitude and honesty, and then cast you forever from my home? What kind of condescension can be bestowed upon you, who has found the courage to risk everything for your happiness, were I to be so weak as prefer the approval of those that have wronged you? I am certain that is not the character of Ellamir Oakhall, no indeed, even though she has often been so conceited as to appear so.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 19/05/2026

Oh, so many options, as those of you familiar with the loathsome Brother Nicholls will know! Today's #WIPSnips finds him regretting drinking too much of his lady patroness's gin then eating a kebab in her best carriage. CW: Violent vomiting From my Regency X High Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 15/05/2026

Hullo, #WIPSnips! Today I get to post the very first paragraphs of my #JaneAusten inspired #Regency romance x high #fantasy crossover novel #Ellamir, where the prompt word is used twice!! #WritingCommunity #WriterSky #BookSky #IAmWriting #ReadingCommunity #WritersOfInstagram #Fiction #Bookish

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
There can be few occasions in the communal life of a respectable village more likely to excite comment than that of the imminent arrival of a new and as yet unknown neighbour. A newcomer, by virtue of their wealth, circumstance, or infamy, may have so considerable an effect upon the fortunes of the community that it cannot but be expected that they should be the subject of much speculation, in proportion to their supposed consequence. So it was, then, that rumour of a gentleman of such substance as to be able to purchase the Keaning estate had the capacity for great speculation, so many speculations, indeed, that a single sitting of an eminent lady’s morning gathering in the neighbouring village of Upthorpe Thoroughbourne could scarcely be sufficient to entertain them all.
“A very good fortune, no doubt,” said Lady Lamont, who held a certain authority but had little reputation for accuracy, “yet, I am persuaded, not possessed of a title; for were an ennobled gentleman in search of a seat in these parts, I should certainly have heard of it.”
To this assertion, her ladyship’s assembled friends and those neighbours whom she condescended to invite were all ready to agree: undoubtedly, they said, nodding to each other, it must be so. And privately, a few of them understood that any person of noble blood coming into the neighbourhood that might implicitly challenge Lady L’s primacy of societal rank could not but be the object of her most determined resentment.
"Possessed not of a title, perhaps," said Miss Minton slyly, "but might he be possessed of a wife?" This was more to the point for most of the younger ladies, who would be prepared to overlook any deficiency in noble blood where ample means and good character were present, for Upthorpe was a parish lamentably little populated with single gentlemen of good fortune, and many were in want of a husband.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 10/05/2026

Swapping out 'fate' for 'future' in today's #WIPSnips Hannah and Maqine's tea-drinking first date has become a little personal, and a little warmer... From my Regency romance X high fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky #FantasyBookSky #RomanceBooks #SelfPub

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
"What you are," said Maqine, suddenly and rather warmly, "is a very pretty and sweet young woman who any worthless fellow from the village should be glad to dance with. Why should they care where your parents are, or where you grew up? What's that got to do with anything?"
"I…" whispered Hannah, "you see…"
"And while we're at it, what's it got to do with some Brothers at the Temple to tell a woman how to be pure and perfect? I bet you anything you like they're just as sinful as the rest of us. It seems to me like everybody spends all their time trying to tell you you aren't good enough for them, unless you do just what they tell you to do!"
With this, Maqine stopped to take a breath to prevent herself from becoming angrier, and it was as well that she did because Hannah looked as if she might be about to cry: she was very good at putting on a brave face almost all of the time, but she wasn't used to such forthright opinions, forcibly expressed, and undeniably just. It so happened that she had recently been feeling the weight of her misfortune particularly acutely, and even though she surely had much to be thankful for, and even though it must be abominably ungrateful to The Lady of Purity whose blessings, she was told, had been most generously poured upon her, she could not help sometimes being unconvinced that her future happiness was by no means assured.
This must have been clearly evident to Maqine: adopting a kinder expression, she reached across the table and to Hannah's astonishment, took her hand and gave it a tender, comforting squeeze.
"There, there," she said, "don't mind me. I'm liable to get a bit hot under the collar sometimes - it's in my nature. All I'm saying is, people like us, we mustn't listen to them that want to keep us in our place or tell us we're not good enough. We can do whatever we like, be whatever we want…"

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 09/05/2026

Okay, you spurred me into action as I need a solution too sooner or later. I'm now trying Textra to see if I miss RCS features (I suspect I won't)

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 09/05/2026

✨Vibes✨ for today's #WIPSnips At last, we find out the reason for the antipathy between Ella and Brother Nicholls, an odious fellow many of us would like to *smack* right in the chops... From my Regency romance X high fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky #IAmWriting

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
He had been charmed, quite enchanted in spite of the clear evidence that the young woman was not so observant a disciple of The Lady of Purity as to follow Her instructions upon the importance of a modest appearance. Miss Oakhall was extraordinarily beautiful, and her perfections were not all as well concealed as The Lady might wish within the gardens of Her House, dressed as she was in a gown which unashamedly showed her delicate lower arms, much of her pale shoulders and, most distracting of all, a certain amount of the upper curvature of her bust.
The conversation had been pleasant enough at first, sure as he was that she must take pleasure from the elegant little compliments which he conceived himself peculiarly bound to pay to ladies, but before long, the wickedness of that gown and the beguiling rise and fall of Miss Oakhall's exquisite chest had begun to quite unreasonably draw his attention and, in the course of one unguardedly over-long glance, he had been detected. Their polite discourse was then suddenly cut very short, her countenance had turned exceedingly cool, and to his lasting chagrin, he had been quietly but firmly rebuked and reminded of his position before the dreadful temptress abruptly turned her back on him and moved away.
Poor Brother Nicholls had found himself pulled swiftly through many cruel emotions, first to be most appallingly aroused against his will, and then to be humiliated and spoken to like a common lecher by the very strumpet who had drawn him in. Nor had his torment ended there: for many days to follow he had been tortured by the memory of this ignominy, requiring regular supplications at the altar of The Lady, and worst of all, he had been subjected to a number of ribald comments from those of his brethren who had seen the mortifying exchange, they having also been gazing longingly upon Miss Oakhall but from a safe distance.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 08/05/2026

Ai milaza! I just finished @professoremily.bsky.social's The Gods of Atalantis #1 and it is an absolute triumph! Stop scrolling and go buy it! Published by @hookandquillpress.com #BookSky

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 04/05/2026

What else to watch on May Day bank holiday than the incomparable Wicker Man (1973)

A television showing a scene from the 1973 British horror classic The Wicker Man (Sgt Howie and Alder McGregor)

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 26/04/2026

Happy birthday to Emma, Lady Hamilton, my historical hero: tho most famous for being somebody's mistress, she was in fact a huge diplomatic asset and deserved so much better from the nation she served, which left her to rot, penniless, after Nelson's death. #EmmaHamilton #British #History

Emma as a Bacchante, by George Romney. A painting of her with auburn hair beset with dark flowers and dressed in a simple robe

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 25/04/2026

Welcome to the weekend, #WIPSnips! 😊 Spring has properly sprung in Upthorpe Thoroughborne, and Ella is trying to put some weirdness behind her and get back to gossipping about the new arrivals at Keaning Abbey From my #JaneAusten style #Regency #romance X high #fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
Two weeks had passed since that most strange and difficult of days, and Ella had almost succeeded in forgetting the series of upsetting events which, for threehree days following, had inclined her to keep her bed, professing to be stricken with a severe headache. Such a state of seclusion could not be maintained, though, as her father’s distress at her apparent ill-health must soon be allayed, and as Commander Merely seemed to have returned to his usual cheerful and well-informed self, going out of his way to be particularly useful and amiable, Ella chose not to dwell on those former circumstances; she likewise did not permit herself to wonder at her peculiar experiences in the garden, but rather relegated the memory as far as possible from present reflection, and kept any strange voices out of the house beyond sash and shutter.
Signs of new life also began to appear at Keaning Abbey, as if the estate were slowly waking from long hibernation. Smoke was seen above the chimney of a cottage, and from the boundary path, daily alterations could be noticed by the observant - a paddock or meadow mown here, an overgrown path cleared there - and on one day, a lofty barge had coasted upriver, its topsail gliding along above the treetops, to moor at the quay and unload a great number of crates and other items. This occurrence was communicated to Miss Oakhall by the commander, who was apparently moved beyond his usual laconism by the sight and wrote her a detailed report using a good deal of unintelligible nautical terms such as ‘tack’ and ‘leeboard’. Though dispassionate about the vessel herself, Ella found the tidings of such activity to be of significant interest, and was privately pleased by the opportunity to begin a correspondence with him on the subject.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 24/04/2026

✨Vibes✨ for #WIPSnips today: Ella is consuming her breakfast *and* the outrée rumours that are spreading around the village, while her maid Mary hasn't yet had a chance for a bite... From my #JaneAusten style Regency #romance X high #fantasy crossover #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“Why, they say he was violently in love with Miss Wright, ma’am - had gone to declare himself and ask her consent - and the devil was sent from the hells to tempt him away, only she took a fancy to Miss Wright instead and made off with her. Our Nancy saw him after - said he was sobbing fit to burst to see his sweetheart stolen away, and spoiled his fine pantaloons with fright.”
“Brother Nicholls in love with Hannah? I cannot give such a notion a moment’s credit, but clearly, I must get to the bottom of this,” said Ella to herself, and then, thinking that perhaps the imagination of the servants might be getting a little out of hand and seeking to restore order, “but first things first: this nightgown will have to go in the wash as soon as can be, and… Mary, did that uncouth sound come from you?”
“Forgive me, Miss,” said Mary meekly, blushing for the powerful gurgle that had escaped her abdomen, “but I ain’t had nothing yet to break the fast, as it were.”
“Well, you had better take this,” said Ella, passing her a muffin-half, “and get along: tell Cook you may have a mug of strong coffee, for I need you well awakened and at your best, and she had better toast you a crumpet or two for fortification. And then hurry back here, but not before you have sent one of the young lads to Alder Manor, running all the way, to request of Commander Merely his attendance as soon as he can spare it. If we have not yet had the time to dress, you are not to mind it, and he is to be shown up to my sitting room to be received as best we can.”
“Certainly ma’am,” said the astonished Mary, hesitating for only a moment before flying to her feet and making quickly for the door, urgently devouring her muffin as she went.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 23/04/2026

Hullo #WIPSnips, it's been a while! Hannah has been just a little devious, and is now on her way to make a social call that Miss Oakhall might not - if she had not been mildly diverted - entirely approve of... From my #Regency romance X high #fantasy crossover #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #Booksky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
Hannah in fact did not go directly to Keaning after bidding farewell to Miss Oakhall, but first walked into town. At the grocer's shop, she spent almost half an hour trying to decide which of the many fine tea-blends she should purchase, eventually settling on taking three different kinds after much consultation with Mr Green the grocer, whose boundless patience was finally beginning to wear a little thin. She also bought some of his excellent biscuits, most highly thought of by the entire parish.
She then found she could not walk past the window of Morris's, the haberdashers, without going inside and browsing for something that might add a little elegance to her muslin. She had not liked to ornament herself too much when Mary was dressing her at Penmere, in case Miss Oakhall should wonder at her, but now she was alone she could not resist some small adornment or other.
Mrs Morris was delighted to oblige - being a woman of experience and penetration, she assumed that Miss Wright must be expecting the company of a significant person, and did her best to recommend something the gentleman must approve of. Hannah left Morris's with a new pink ribbon around her straw bonnet, and as she passed the limits of the village and began along the boundary path, she was happily inspired to pick a beautiful purple bloom from the roadside and add it to the ensemble. Thus arrayed, she made her way with increasing anxiety but determined courage onto the Keaning estate.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 15/04/2026

Using the synonym "subject" for today's #WIPSnips Ella and Hannah chat as they sew after dinner - Ella sees an opportunity to gather valuable gossip intelligence, while Hannah has an opportunity of her own... From my Regency romance x high fantasy crossover #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #Booksky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“And a woman with aspirations to a good home would do well to consider not only her own manner of dress, but” - and here Ella looked pointedly at her friend - “also that of the people whose society she engages. She must do nothing that might prejudice a suitor against her, lest she lessen her chances of securing a husband.”
“But, dear Miss Oakhall,” said Hannah, “you yourself have said you are not in want of a husband, although I am sure it would be the easiest thing in the world should you wish to engage one, being so charming as you are; might another woman, though her circumstance be far less than your own, still be entitled to choose her own path, if being subject to a husband does not suit?”
“There is something in what you say,” conceded Ella, returning thoughtfully to her sewing, “but do be sensible, Hannah. You must have something to live on. Where there is practical want, some concessions must be made; it is the plain truth of the circumstance of a woman with little fortune.”
“Oh! no, I speak not for myself,” said Hannah quickly, “though it is true… that is to say… no, I am thinking of Maqine: she declares she has no use for a husband, on account of his inconveniencing her, seeming to care instead for sheep. We talked a little of her flock, and she was so kind as to suggest I might visit and help to feed them.”
“She invited you?” said Ella, her needlework forgotten again. “Invited you to the abbey?”
“Why, yes. She said we might take tea, also. And I thought,” added Hannah, with sudden private inspiration, “that seeing as you were so curious as to what sort of man the Abbey’s new owner might be, perhaps I might learn something of interest to you were I to go; with your approval, of course.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 14/04/2026

It's this scene again!! I'm so sorry, everyone, but this is the best instance of 'heat' in the story so far. I am writing more every day at the moment, so more oven-fresh material soon! #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #Booksky #Writesky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
"Oh! Good… good afternoon," stammered Hannah, as the warmth of her own intense blush joined the heat of the day. She was squinting against the glare, and struggling to find something civil to say although her legs were shaking like a blancmange and her mind seemed to have turned into a useless vapour.
"Bright, isn't it?" said the stranger. "You should probably use your brolly thing."
"Oh! goodness! yes, I quite forgot. Forgive me," whispered Hannah, quickly opening her parasol and whisking it up to hover over her; with it shielding her eyes, she was able - or rather, she was unable not - to look more closely at the stranger; and so very much of her was visible! She appeared at once powerful and lithe, her legs being shapely yet lightly muscled, her arms strong and capable; but at the same time, she had an unmistakable femininity, particularly emphasised by her breasts, which were constrained but barely concealed by that odd piece of clothing: above and around it, almost every contour and curve could be made out. Hannah tried her level best to keep from staring, but in this she was largely unsuccessful, struggling as she was to maintain her composure while she had such an odd feeling in her tummy and while her head was so strangely light.
"My name's Maqine," said the creature, stepping forward to shake hands. Hannah did not often shake hands, particularly not upon a first meeting - a curtsey was far more usual - but to her credit, she gathered her wits enough to gamely thrust out her arm to meet the firm grip and did her best to smile as it was oscillated a few times.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 13/04/2026

So happy to have received a signed copy of @mycelialwriter.bsky.social's wonderful "Star of Shalik" in the mail! I sort the paperbacks on my "most treasured" shelf by size, and this one fits in amongst some pretty illustrious fantasy company!! 🥰 Thanks so much Laken! 💖 #Tolkien #CSLewis #Narnia

"Star of Shalik" by Laken Honeycutt in paperback, among other titles such as "Planet Narnia", "The Lord of the Rings" in three paperback volume form, "The Letters of J R R Tolkien", Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Tom Shippey's (EXCELLENT) "Tolkien: Author of the Century"

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 13/04/2026

Today's #WIPSnips finds Ella delivering yet another lecture to her friend Hannah, this time taking aim at organised religion and invoking some of the Lady or Purity's parables to prove her point. From my Regency #romance meets high #fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“All talents requiring the dedication of time and effort, Hannah - how can it be wrong to use, in addition to such improvements, those advantages naturally bestowed upon us? After all, we are told we are made in the Lady’s image. You and I are, we may flatter ourselves, quite blessed in that respect; we may not blame ourselves for taking advantage of such blessings, nor rebuke ourselves if they should provoke improprietous behaviour in the ungentlemanly, on account of what the Brothers are pleased to call lust.”
"Brother Nicholls said the wages of lust are the Lady's most extreme disfavour, and can lead only to the ruination of character and the debasement of the blessed order," chanted Hannah, as if reading by rote.
"Brother Nicholls," replied Ella wryly, "knows a great deal about lust, I am sure." This was said with a certain emphasis, it having been her experience that the Brother in question, for all his high words and expectations, did not expend much effort to attain the degree of purity he insisted was essential in ladies.
“Certainly he does,” said Hannah, as if she had not detected the sarcasm, “but I am sure you are right: surely, if there were no attraction between two persons, upon meeting, then there could be no love, nor marriage in due course, nor, I believe, any children.” Hannah had, in fact, a rather imperfect understanding of the whole process by which children were brought forth into the world, but her material point was a good one, and Ella rejoined with great good will.
“Ah well, Hannah,” she said with a knowing air, “where would religion be without its contradictions? They are all too common, I find. Think of the parable of the Crone and the Prince; think of the story of the Leper and the Harlot! It seems to me there is little justice or advantage for a woman, whatever her circumstance, whether she adheres most strictly to the Lady’s instructions or not.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 11/04/2026

More oven-warm goods from the first draft of my WIP #Ellamir for today's #WIPSnips Hannah comes out to Ella, explaining that she loves Maqine and chooses to be with her, even though - she thinks - this must mean the end of all society with the Oakhalls See yesterday's entry for what comes next...

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“So now you know it all. I cannot fulfil your wish of seeing me happily established with a respectable gentleman; I cannot imagine what could be make me more miserable. Instead, I choose to embrace the life that Maqine has offered me, to live with her, tending the crops, milking the goats and raising the lambs, for I am now certain that it is there that my true happiness lies. I understand, of course, that in making that choice, I must be severed from your society, and I hope you will believe that it grieves me extremely, but it…” She paused to draw breath, then with closed eyes and closed fists, went on “…but it cannot be helped. I can only tell you how truly I am sorry to have disappointed you.”
Soft sobs choked Hannah’s final words, as she summoned every last ounce of resolution to deliver them, and now she stood up and turned away, looking for her basket. Ella rose quickly, and was astonished to find that, just as quickly, panic was rising within her. Her conscience could not be calm, she knew, were she to stand by while her friend walked away from her, perhaps forever, but she was still so shocked that she grappled vainly to find the words to express the feelings which at present she barely understood. But then, quite suddenly, the confusion of her thoughts was quite eclipsed by a certainty that stabbed from her heart: she knew what she must feel, and what she must try to say.
“Hannah, wait,” she cried, and then, as Hannah turned uneasily back toward her, she gathered her wits as best she could and spoke sincerely from her heart.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 10/04/2026

A big moment in my WIP #Ellamir for today's #WIPSnips Hannah reveals to Ella the truth about her and Maqine, telling her she realises it means that Ella can never see her again, and that she is sorry to have disappointed her. Ella may struggle to process this, but her heart steers her right...

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
“Hannah, wait,” she cried, and then, as Hannah turned uneasily back toward her, she gathered her wits as best she could and spoke sincerely from her heart.
“I confess I am disappointed,” she said. “I am disappointed by all those in the village who would see the humiliation of a worthless Brother and the destruction of a window as a more awful consequence than your being pressed by force into a marriage you so firmly rejected; I am disappointed in Nicholls, if disappointment can ever be a word used to temper the disgust I feel when I think of what he would have inflicted upon you; and I am disappointed, sorely disappointed, in myself for having behaved in such a way that you should think that, through such a choice, you must be a stranger to me. I have condescended to invite you to call me ‘friend’, yet what sort of friend can I be to have heard you speak thus, with such fortitude and honesty, and then cast you forever from my home? What kind of condescension can be bestowed upon you, who has found the courage to risk everything for your happiness, were I to prefer the approval of those that have wronged you? I am certain that is not the character of Ellamir Oakhall, no indeed, even though she has often been so conceited as to appear so.”
She moved towards Hannah, her own eyes brimming and spilling with fast-flowing tears, and took the shaking girl into an embrace closer than any she had known since childhood, and then drawing back to look her in the face, told her: “It seems that once again, Maqine and I feel similarly: I too believe in you, Hannah. I believe you will become that person that she wishes you to be - I believe she is right to have faith that you shall. I will not suffer you to be a stranger to me or my home, if you will suffer me to support your choice, though little do I understand it at present. For I do not need to understand, I need only stand by your side.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 10/04/2026

My entire summer wardrobe needs ironing, and this £5 charity shop find is what's gonna get me through it... (No shade on Denzel or Queen Latifa, but I like my vigilantes to be elderly and improbable) #GenerationX #GenX #80sTV #TVClassics #RetroTV #ClassicTV #Nostalgia

A DVD box set of Season One of the original "The Equalizer" TV series from the 1980s

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 09/04/2026

No "stuff" for today's #WIPSnips, so going with the synonym "things" Hannah gets a shock on the boundary path of Keaning Abbey, a moment that will change her life in a way she could never have imagined. From my Regency romance meets high fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #BookSky #WritingCommunity

As she emerged from the copse, she was surprised to see a figure upon the verge, indistinct in the bright sunlight. They seemed to be working, driving a post into the ground with a sledge-hammer: a labourer, almost certainly, but their attire was most unlike that of any of the estate workers she had ever met. Upon coming closer, Hannah stopped suddenly, frozen with shock.
Only that morning, Brother Nicholls, an under-cleric at the temple, had delivered a most useful reminder during his sermon on the appropriate dress for a woman of propriety, as laid down by the Lady of Purity herself: put briefly, she must wear delicate muslins, cut and sewn so as to modestly conceal her figure and thus not provoke carnal thoughts in the good gentlemen of their acquaintance. Hannah was not at all sure what a carnal thought was, but there was no uncertainty from the tone of the good brother's address that it must be a very bad thing indeed, and there was unquestionably nothing modest at all about this woman's clothing, if indeed a woman they were.
Certainly they appeared to be female: long thick hair fell in unruly waves almost as far as her lower back, and her figure was curved, but between those curves and on her arms and legs were smooth planes of muscle that shifted and flexed as she rocked from one foot to another and raised her hammer - this Hannah could clearly see because, apart from a pair of working boots, she was wearing only what appeared to be something between a dress and a pair of short trousers, made of a tough-looking blue fabric; it showed all of her legs and barely restrained her considerable bosom behind its wide shoulder straps. Yet more startling even than this was the long slender tendril that emerged from beneath her waist-cloth and rose up into the air, swaying this way and that to help steady her as she poised the hammer above her shoulder and brought it accurately down upon the pole: could that be, of all things, a tail?!

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 08/04/2026

Today's snippet finds #Ellamir Oakhall and her friend Hannah Wright sitting in the windowseat, sewing and discussing the Lady of Purity's teachings, for which it seems Ella has little patience. From #Ellamir, a #JaneAusten style #Regency meets #Fantasy WIP #WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky

A snippet from Ellamir by Cameron A Malin:
"So, would you think, then, that if a person had never heard of the Lady, and did not know her teachings, then it could not be so very bad if they did not dress according to her instructions?"
"Certainly not!" said Ella with surprising vehemence, "and even those who have heard of her, and are acquainted with her teachings, might feel that…" She was about to say might feel that the Lady can mind her own business but after a moment's pause, went on "…that a woman of sense and good breeding may quite adequately judge such things for herself."
"Why, I'm sure you are right, dear Miss Oakhall," said Hannah quickly, "You are quite the most beautifully dressed person I know, and I am certain you should never provoke a carnal thought in anyone! I believe…" but here she stopped short, because her dear Miss Oakhall had given her a very arch look.
"A carnal thought, Hannah?! What a very peculiar turn of phrase." And glancing toward her father to be sure he was still dozing peacefully, she said in a lower tone "I believe I may flatter myself that I am tolerably capable of appearing attractive to the other sex, and should not wish to be otherwise, so long as they are well bred enough to behave with respect and restraint. Where might we be, without attraction? Why should a woman not wish, whether by dress or demeanour, to increase the interest of a suitor? Or anyone else, for that matter? I certainly do not despise myself for having worn a particular gown, or set my hair in a particular way, when I have had need to be certain of the cooperation or good will of a man? I should hardly call that trifling in the business of lust, rather it is merely making the most of the talents we are given, which I have heard it said that the Lady most heartily recommends."

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 01/04/2026

It's ✨vibes✨ for today's #WIPSnips: I had fun writing the foolish Brother Nicholls as, having consumed too much of Lady Lamont's gin, he decides to eat a kebab in her ladyship's best carriage, and of course the consequences are everyone else's fault! From my Regency Romance X Fantasy #WIP Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
"Hi there," called Nicholls, "stop the coach!"
Climbing down, he had ordered the largest available of all the halfling's meat-and-bread offerings, and urged him to add to it every type of good thing he had upon the stall in abundance: fried onions, leaves of lettuce, wedges of tomato, a generous helping of Mingo's 'famous' garlic sauce, and to top it all, a long, lurid-coloured pepper. Thus furnished with much-needed sustenance, and a large paper flagon of pale ale to help it go down, he had returned to the Barouche extremely pleased.
It was henceforth that good fortune began to fail him. The halfling, it transpired, had been exceedingly remiss in the arrangement of the filling of his parcel, and Lady Lamont's coachmen made a very poor job of finding the smoothest stretches of road along which to drive, so that before long, a good portion of his meal had been shaken onto the carriage floor. Worse still, the coach was being allowed to sway to such an extent that the motion began to affect poor Brother Nicholls quite adversely, and to add to his sorrows, the large pepper which had seemed such an innocent and wholesome vegetable had, upon his consuming it expeditiously and entirely, proved to be hellsfire hot. The whole mug of ale, rapidly drained, did almost nothing to assauge the fire in his throat, but worked very ill upon what was already within, so that before long, his cheerful demeanour began to give way to melancholy and self-pity as the contentment of his full belly turned suddenly to misery, in consequence of a most persistent griping of the guts.
"Oh, oh," he moaned to himself, "curse that halfling - his pork must be criminally unfit for consumption, and he should have advised me more persuasively to treat that pepper with the utmost caution. No doubt his ale was also on the turn. I shall ensure the magistrate hears of this, and revokes his certificate."

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 31/03/2026

Hi hi, #WIPSnips! Today's snippet from #Ellamir sees the odious Brother Nicholls showing his true toxic colours upon making Hannah the worst marriage proposal ever, and being refused, which it seems he finds difficult to believe... #WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
It seemed to take Brother Nicholls a minute to fully comprehend Hannah’s statement. During this awkward silence, she stood up in readiness to make her parting civilities, but Nicholls took a quick step between her and the door and said, with a clear change in his tone, “Please keep your seat.” It was with more than a little alarm that Hannah, her eyes widened, slowly regained her place on the settle. Nicholls put his fingers together, and seemed to be collecting his thoughts.
“It must be admitted,” he said at last, “that Our Lady is rarely so benevolent as to bequeath Her daughters every gift within Her power. It is more evident to me now than it has been before, that whilst She has been most excessively generous in bestowing upon you many aesthetic delights - so pleasing a countenance, so delightful a smile, and so enticing a figure - it regrettably did not please her to bless you with any great powers of understanding. You cannot know what you are about, not only to refuse so eligible an offer as mine, but to speak of rejecting my entire sex; to turn your face away from not only an offer of great consequence for your comfort and your reputation, but of any offer at all. Are you not sensible of the grave disadvantages that will surely prevent any future offer being forthcoming, if I should see fit to withdraw mine? Do you not know that, without the condescension of a man willing to take you his own in spite of your dire prospects, you can have no viable future whatsoever? When your youth and beauty have abandoned you, and you can no longer enjoy the amenity of residence here at the school, will you then be prepared to starve in the streets?!”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 25/03/2026

Welcome to the Midweek, WIPperSnippers! 😊 Unsurprisingly for a Regency-style story, today's #WIPSnips word appears incredibly frequently as part of the words "gentleman" or "gentlewoman" but I've chosen this passage introducing our MC #Ellamir Oakhall #WritingCommunity #BookSky #IndieAuthors

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
It was indeed most unlikely that Hannah Wright should not agree with Miss Oakhall, one of the principal rationalities for their unequal acquaintance being an unmistakable and never-forgotten distinction of rank. Miss Wright, as the natural daughter of nobody knew who, was fortunate to even be considered somewhat respectable and did not much value her own opinion, while Ellamir Oakhall was the mistress of a considerable estate and an eminent person about the village.
Eminent thought she may be, Ella was not ignorant of the good fortune and privilege of her birth. The only child of a most affectionate and indulgent father, all the more indulgent for the loss of her mother at too early an age to be remembered, she had grown up with the habit of doing just as she wished and ordering her father's household just as she liked. His gentle, anxious and uncertain nature left an absence of authority into which Ella's strong-willed influence had naturally extruded, so that not long after her sixteenth birthday she had begun to assume many household responsibilities, and was now, at one and twenty, quite established as the principal person in the management of Penmere, their comfortable estate. She understood perfectly well that providence had been kind to her, yet nonetheless she was pleased with her own achievements and, having been doted on by her surviving parent and the subject of much flattery by her contemporaries - some of it sincere - she had become inclined to think rather too well of herself.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 24/03/2026

An excellent #WIPSnips for me today, with lots to choose from, considering how often, in #Regency romances, someone is made an offer of matrimony. We return today to Hannah & Maqine's "first date" - taking tea in Maqine's cute cottage From my #JaneAusten meets High Fantasy WIP #Ellamir

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
Maqine was busily making the tea, spooning a huge mound of the ground leaves into the pot and adding the boiling water; Hannah was once again surprised, as Maqine picked up the kettle with her bare hands as if it were cold. She peered into the pot, frowned, and stirred it vigourously, perhaps hoping to increase its strength; when this had little effect, she shrugged, and poured, and delighted Hannah by using her tail to hold the lid of the pot in place.
"Milk?" she offered. Hannah shook her head politely - "No, thank you" - privately observing that Miss Oakhall would be quite appalled at the idea of adding milk to such a delicate infusion as Lady Grey. Maqine perhaps did not think much of it either, looking suspiciously at the insipid-looking wash which would no doubt have tasted unpleasant, had she not added two large spoonfuls of sugar to make it positively horrid.
Hannah's tea, by contrast, was certainly to her taste - perhaps even a little better for being brewed so strong - and its comforting effects began at once, calming her nerves and restoring her to her social duty. First, she brought out Mr Green's famous biscuits and spread them on a plate - Maqine took one, sniffed it of course, broke it in half and dipped it deep into her tea before eating it in one mouthful, while Hannah took a few delicate nibbles out of hers.
"I see that you finished your work up at the top of the valley," she said, with something almost like confidence. "A most elegant sign, most elegant indeed."
"Do you like it?" said Maqine, quite pleased, "I painted it myself."
"Oh! you are so accomplished, it seems," said Hannah, always happy to give pleasure through a compliment, "painting the sign and putting it up."
"Oh, anyone can bang in a pole," said Maqine demurely. "But what a bit of luck that we chanced to meet up there yesterday. Just taking the air, were you?"

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 23/03/2026

Why, certainly, my dear! News-letters are very much the thing, and Lady Lamont and her late husband Sir Lewis took great care to maintain a good many subscriptions. If you'd like to follow their example, maybe you'd consider signing up to my author newsletter? 😊💖🙏 bit.ly/camalin-news...

“Dragons, Lady Lamont?!” chorused her audience, now thoroughly agog. Lady Lamont was warming to her subject and beginning to enjoy herself. Miss Oakhall, a sceptical sideways glance having caught Miss Wright's astonished open mouth, nudged her sharply to close it.
“Why, certainly!” her ladyship cried, “there were once a good many. Not here in Theangal, of course - that would be intolerable and his dear Majesty would not allow it - but beyond The Borders, certainly. Poor Sir Lewis himself maintained a subscription to a most informative news-letter on dragons, both past and present. He was much concerned with the defensibility of this house; he could not take greater care to be prepared for all eventualities, you see, and did not trust the militia with such things; and so I am sure I have heard more about dragons than anyone in the neighbourhood.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 23/03/2026

Why, hello #WIPSnips! I hope you have a great week in store! In today's snippet from my WIP #Ellamir, Hannah has her first experience of magic - the ethereal influence of the Elven goddess Aistra - and then feels magic of another kind...

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
"One of their deities," murmured Maqine, "the goddess Aistra, Silver Sister of Night. It's her time of year to visit, and they've been singing to welcome her."
"An actual goddess?" breathed the astonished Hannah, for whom goddesses had thus far been specious entities, unseen, not to be experienced by ordinary mortals. "I thought that was a star."
"Perhaps both," was Maqine's enigmatic answer. Certainly, it seemed to Hannah that no mere star could cast such light, enough to crown the trees of the forest before them with silvery radiance.
"What's happening to the trees?" whispered Hannah.
"Magic."
It did indeed look like magic, but then again, under Aistra's unearthly illumination, all felt magical: not the kind that Hannah had seen once or twice, small tricks or illusions of colour and light, but infinitely greater, elemental and universal. It was strange, certainly, but as her amazement receded, and the beauty of the song and the aura of the goddess touched her, so it came to seem that she was part of something transcendental, empowering all that was lovely, without and within, to flourish and flower. It was as if they were present at an ancient, ethereal evensong amidst the vast open cathedral of the landscape; they stood entranced, two solitary congregants surrounded by a perfect union of the wild and the arcane, the natural and the magical; and just as natural and even more magical it was when Hannah felt a light embrace about her waist: Maqine's tail slipping around her and drawing her gently closer.

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 19/03/2026

It's a ✨vibe✨ for today's #WIPSnips! Ella's maid, Mary, has what she thinks is a useful addition to the wild rumours about an incident at the school involving a devil From my #JaneAusten inspired #Regency romance X high #fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
“Certainly,” said Ella, although the distinction was, at this moment, very far from clear or relevant to her. “But surely this is a matter of great concern! How came this creature to be at the school, wreaking havoc?”
“That is, I feel, a matter for you and Miss Wright, if you seek an explanation,” said Merely with a degree of delicacy, “for of course I am not a party to her actions. But I have been able to glean some detail of what transpired, by the exercise of what little influence I exert, and had intended to impart this to you at the earliest opportunity.”
Ella was indeed eager to hear everything that Merely had intended to impart, but at that moment, Mary arrived with the trolley and patience was required. Willing her to make haste, Ella watched as the cups and pots were placed between them, but when at last the trolley was emptied, rather than making her exit, Mary sidled up and whispered “Pardon me, ma’am, but I just heard something I thought you should know.”
“Come, Mary,” said Ella quite loudly, “Commander Merely is acquainted with the whole affair; you need not feel shy about speaking of it in his presence.”
“Well, miss,” said Mary hesitantly, and then, turning bright pink, blurted out very fast “which Cook says that devils is known to throw a curse upon gentlemen that makes them diseased in the parts.”
“Thank you, Mary,” said Ella with a glare, “that will most certainly do. You will excuse us, and we are not to be disturbed.”
With the shamefaced Mary out of the room, Ella turned once again to Merely who seemed to be having difficulty keeping his composure. “As you see, Commander, our servants are capable of extreme, even indecent degrees of speculation.”

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 18/03/2026

Reading Update: I just finished @audconnelly.bsky.social's remarkable and highly original 'Wings in the Valley' and loved it! Now moving on to the much looked forward to ARC read of @professoremily.bsky.social's 'The Gods of Atalantis' and can't wait to get into it! #WritingCommunity #BookSky

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Cameron A Malin @camalin.net · 17/03/2026

Hi hi #WIPSnips! Appropriately for the spring months, here's a snippet from the turning of the season in Upthorpe Thoroughborne. From my Regency romance X High Fantasy crossover WIP #Ellamir #WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #IndieAuthors

A snippet from Ellamir by C A Malin:
The weather soon turned fine and remained fine, and accordingly, the households of Upthorpe began to shed their winter habits and look forward to the ripe days of early summer. Downstairs windows were opened before dawn, while those upstairs often stayed open throughout the night, screened against the moths; fireplaces were scrubbed and their grates replaced by arrangements of feathers or flowers, and heavy woollen bedclothes gave way to their lighter relations made of summery cottons or satins. Their gardens, too, were bursting with new life, green with fresh shoots and resplendent with blooms of yellow, pink and blue, while in the fields and meadows, the crops began to spread their leaves and the returning livestock filled the air with the sounds and smells of thriving countryside.
At Penmere, the summer changes had rippled through the house two or three days ago, refreshing each room and bringing seasonal variety to the daily menus prepared by the kitchen. Ella always delighted in this annual domestic ritual, while her father found the change, as he found all change, troubling in the extreme: in his parlour, a small fire burned still throughout the day, and at every meal he lamented the appearance of an unfamiliar dish, forgotten over the long winter. (In fact, Mr Oakhall would have been content to dine upon a single chop and a bowl of smooth, thin gruel every day of the year, but his daughter insisted on their setting a table in keeping with their status). Therefore, for his comfort, his own apartments above stairs and his parlour below them remained unchanged, their windows firmly closed except for a brief airing before Mr Oakhall descended, but in every other room the essence of spring had blossomed.

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