iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 23/06/2026

Sure, seems legit … Apparently they love my *second* book in the series (which, fair, it is superior to book one, but still …) Stay wary, fellow writers.

Email from "Hachette Book Group" apparently, with the email address being "hachette_bookgroup1 at aol dot com". Something tells me that Hachette don't email from aol dot com email addresses.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/06/2026

#WIPSnips 10th June: Clip Editing makes it still count as a WIP, yeah? Because I haven't used clip in my baby WIP. But it turns up a few times in Magician's Touch. #WriteSky #Romantasy #FantasyBook 🇳🇿📚

“Llew needs you alive. Whatever else you gotta think or do to be okay with bein’ here, start with bein’ here for her. That’s all she needs from you.”
“Yes. I get it,” she clipped the words. “But I made a stupid mistake, and I’m supposed to just walk away as if I didn’t just forfeit my own life with my own idiocy?”
Jonas met her contemptuous glare deadpan. “We all make mistakes.”
“Yeah, but—”
“You’re not supposed to?”

061

Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 09/06/2026

#WIPSnips for 9th June: Warmth Well, go on then. Let's go for the opening paragraph for the whole book. And, yes, I have chosen to have a Prologue *gasp*. #FantasyBooks #Romantasy #AmWriting

Ekon sauntered along the dusty track between forest and sand dunes, thumbs hooked behind belt, lips curved in a satisfied grin, sandals scuffing the occasional stone, and kilt swinging softly about his thighs while his mind replayed sensations of skin-on-skin and exploratory kisses. The sun’s warmth and the cloudless sky cemented his mood. Life was good.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 08/06/2026

#WIPSnips 8th June: Smell A nice easy one for a baby WIP with a werewolf in it, so I had a couple of options to choose from. #FantasyBooks #Romantasy #AmWriting

Ekon kept pace beside the human, or beacon, as he sensed her to be. A beacon of power. In his wolf’s body, he was aware of the faint perpetual whine and ever so slight glow above the human, as of the sun’s energy being drawn to her, as he had been. It was an immense amount of power. He could smell her straining against it; something he wasn’t sure she was aware of. Certainly, she lacked an odour of panic that his human mind would have empathised with given her situation. Then again, he was vaguely aware of his human mind questioning his own lack of self-preservation in his willingness to be by her side. But the draw – the purpose – was inescapable.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 07/06/2026

Jumping in "early" with #WIPSnips "Guide" since it's already nearly 4pm in NZ, & my evening will be full. It's easy to find "Guide" in my WIP series titled "Guardians & Guides" 😁 Zane turns up again, and Anaïs has a brief internal conversation (italics) with her protective amulet, Damita (~~).

“Zane?”

But like the others, the prince pressed his fingertips to the amulet and thanked Anaïs before walking off as if he hadn’t otherwise seen her.

Guardian or Guide?

~Guardian. Of the Seas.~

I wonder if he’ll like that. He’s always lived at the castle.

~He will flourish, as all do who find their calling.~

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 06/06/2026

Since I *happen* to have popped in, and I have a paragraph with "happen" twice, so that's a little bit fun, I guess … #WIPSnips for 6th June: Happen. Meet Zane.

“Oh. That’s a shame. Especially at our age. You know.” He hooked a shoulder up, about as awkward a move as one could expect from totally-self-assured-life-will-always-work-out Zane. “Did you see Aaryn and Jazmeetha have hooked up? And Brem and Edwald.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You should dance with someone. Me, for instance. I mean, you don’t have to, but I happen to be free at the moment, which, as you know, is not a condition likely to continue for long, and I would accept your request.” He lifted his chin, rested a hand on a hip and let the other hang almost casually in a I-can-easily-deny-it, showing-off-my-wares splay, then relaxed into an I-haven’t-really-given-up sag. “If you happen to ask, that is.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 22/05/2026

#TFIF #WIPSnips for 21st May (22nd, NZST): Thought. From "The Wolf & The Source (Guardians & Guides 1)". This book/series is going to be super fun to write when I can get back to carving out time to do so. Back to work, for now …

“What’s that, dear?” Anaïs’s mummeh asked. She was crouched before Theas, trying to coax more words and giggles from him with a glass bauble on a string.

“Oh, nothing.” Anaïs sighed. Could there be anything worse than never having a moment alone ever again?

~Oh, great. Thanks. I’ve just been born in this form and immediately made to feel a burden? What about me? I’m never going to know what it’s like to be alone. Is it good? Tell me. What am I missing out on? What great aloneness am I keeping you from?~

Hearing my own thoughts, for a start.

~Well, they’re nothing to write home about. I can filter them for you. Make sure you only get the worthwhile ones.~

No, thanks. Feel free to filter them for your own benefit, though. I’m quite happy for you to keep out of my thoughts.

~Then don’t think so loud.~

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 15/05/2026

Honestly didn't think I'd find one (I'm still working my way into this WIP (around work, etc as well); mostly world-building at the moment. TITLE, in The Wolf & The Source, a WIP. #WIPSnips #FantasyBooks #AmWriting

“Please.” Zane’s voice filled with desperation as he shuffled behind Ekon, though Ekon dared not spare a glance further than the guards at the extremities. He was about to lose sight of them and imagined Zane was repositioning himself because of that.

“A prince of Rhekemis pleading for the life of this monstrosity?” The word ‘prince’ dripped with how little she believed Zane deserved the title. “Epmahia is the envy of the world because Rhekemis, god of beauty and perfection, favours us for our absolute piety to Him. You would risk it for this malfeasance?”

“Uh—” Zane’s conviction waned. Ekon growled.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 13/04/2026

Nominate someone you think has done great Service to grow the Speculative Fiction genres in recent years. tepaetawhitiawards.nz/award-for-ou... 🇳🇿📚

Te Pae Tawhiti Awards. Outstanding Service to Speculative Fiction in New Zealand and the greater Pasifika region. Nominate!

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/04/2026

Haven't played #WIPsnips for a while. I don't have 'milk' in my WIP. Going with some magical water for the vibe. Ekon has got himself in a spot of bother with the one farmer with access to a magic reserve …

“Well, boy. Tell us the truth.”

As soon as the words left the man's mouth, Ekon knew he would do just that. Water dripped from his hair into his eye. He shook his head and blinked hard.

“Do you love Theresa?” The man started pulling on the rope.

“No.”

Theresa gasped, sobbed. Her father glanced her way, regret drawing his lips thin for a moment before he turned back to Ekon.

“Because dogs don't know that kind of love, do they?” —Pull —pull.

“I'm not a dog,” Ekon growled, though he seemed unable to fill his words with the wolf like his uncle could. He struggled against his captors. “And it's not like that.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 09/02/2026

#WIPSnips & we're well into the 9th here, so here's my entry for Select. Written a couple of years ago, now, but feels weirdly relevant today. Sorry for spoilers for earlier books, but I figure you've read them or won't, so all good, eh? www.royalroad.com/fiction/42601 #Booksky #Romantasy 🇳🇿📚

Llew placed a palm to a tree and stood a few moments in silence before moving to the next. Jonas accepted that the trees spoke to her, though he doubted he would ever fully comprehend it. They certainly didn’t talk to him, even the one planted over his children was silent to him. Something in the Aenuk-Ajnai bond. Something Quaver, under Aris’s urging, had tried to destroy. So many lives lost – Ajnai trees, Aenuks, and the countless people that could have been saved by such a pairing – all for Aris to preserve his own. And what had Aris done with that costly
extended life? Retained control over a select few individuals with Syakaran power. To achieve what? To live and live and maybe one day regain his powers? And then what? Destroy all Aenuks and Ajnais simply so he could maintain his immortality? It seemed the old man had so feared his own death he’d rather have watched the rest of the world burn than face it.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 14/01/2026

#WIPSnips 14th January '26: Current #BookSky #FantasyBooks #RoyalRoad www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

“There’s more,” he said as she released it, allowing him to open up an internal page. “Your brother—”
“Half-brother,” Llew and Jonas corrected in unison.
Rowan paused. “Oh. Kay. Uhm.” He looked back down at the page, giving it a shake, as if that would make it fill in such omissions. “The Magician, Braph, seems to be developing a close bond with our current president. It says here, he’s handed over his nephew, a Syakaran child—”
“Joelin.” Jonas’s voice sounded breathless.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 13/01/2026

#WIPSnips 13th Jan: Reflex I didn't have "tentacle", unless I'd gone for 'arm', I guess. So going full dramatic today. #BookSky #PukaPuka #RoyalRoad #Fantasy

“Tell them to get the knife out of Llew,” Jonas said to Rowan, who relayed the message in a loud, clear voice.
Gaemil had donned leather gloves and was trying to wrench Llew’s fingers from Anya. He shifted focus long enough to pull the knife free and toss it aside, then returned to his earlier task.
“It’s the Aenuk reflex. You can’t break that hold. Only Karlani might.” Jonas looked to Karlani.
Karlani screwed up her face. “I’m not touching a dead Aenuk.”
Anya tried to peel Llew’s fingers back and let go an involuntary moan. “It stings. It’s burning,” she whimpered.
“Do it!” Gaemil yelled at Karlani.
“No.” Karlani folded her arms.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/01/2026

Playing #WIPSnips for 11th January 2026: Climb Jonas having a bit of a crisis … #PukaPuka #BookSky

For that, he did walk, with only a light weight on his crutch, to the steps up to the porch, then used the house wall to help steady his balance as he climbed. He leaned the crutch against the wall, untucked his singlet, pulled it over his head, and placed it beside a stack of small towels. He poured from the ewer freshly refilled at the end of the previous night, dug his hands into the water, and splashed it on his face, gasping at the cold. He rubbed his hands up and down his cheeks and peered at himself in the pockmarked mirror on the wall.
“Who are you?” he asked.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 22/12/2025

#WIPSnips 21st December: Silver Oh, go on, then, let's return to Guardians & Guides because we can, even if it barely exists as a WIP. Next year … You can lock this one away as a character description, @vimesart.bsky.social 😜 Though he's minor (shh, don't let him hear me say that). 🇳🇿📚 #SpecFicNZ

“I haven't seen you in weeks.” Zane turned to face her full-on, filling her small dancing space with his
hulking presence.
“Of course not. I don't get invited to your fancy palace parties.” Anaïs rolled her shoulders as a shiver
ran down her spine. Zane was a fine specimen, for certain, with defined muscles, a lavender kilt
adorned with a broad, decorative belt playing host to a variety of purely ornamental weapons, including
a silver stiletto that was meant to suggest he expected to win in a fight with a werewolf, and several
strands of glass and carnelian around his neck, but she wasn't quite certain a spine tingle was in order.
For one thing, werewolves either no longer existed or never existed at all. Besides, she was tired, and
annoyed her solitary dance had been interrupted.
“Oh, they're not— Well, yes, they are rather fancy. But I've been coming here. You haven't.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 21/12/2025

#WIPSnips December 20th: Default. I haven't used 'default', so I've gone it vibe in terms what what's 'normal'.

The viewing aperture at the barracks entrance slid open, revealing feminine eyes. Braph didn’t usually enter through the front, so he didn’t know if the haunted, fearful look was normal for a guard at that gate, neither did he much care.

“Open the gate, or I will do it for you.”

The slider began to shut as the guard yelled, “It’s him!”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 19/12/2025

#WIPSnips for December 19th is: High Been waiting for this one. And I'm going to stick with my Guardians & Guides WIP (Bk 1:The Wolf & The Source) for this one, because it is fun. #BookSky #FantasySeries #IndieWriter 🇳🇿📚

“What is it?” A voice on the edge of Ekon's hearing intruded his dreams. Or maybe he was still
dreaming. Highly likely, as a shiver ran through him, failing to dislodge a shimmering chill settled in his
bones.
“W— woo— Wulf. Ruff ruff. Wolf!”
“You're making that up.”
“N— Well, yes. Yes, I am. It just came to me.”
“That's how it works, innit? Things just come out of your mouth. And mine. It just is.”
“It is Magic.”
“Blessed be the work of Magic.”
Three voices. Very close.
Ekon cracked an eyelid. Three tiny lizards with wings flitted about his nose. That was how big they
were, too. About the same as the tip of his nose.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 18/12/2025

#WIPSnips 18th December: Request I felt like switching things up be sharing a snippet from my next series, Guardians & Guides, of which I have only written 4.5 chapters & won't write more until I complete the Deadly Touch series. #FantasyBooks 🇳🇿📚 #Fantasy #Booksky #GuardiansAndGuides

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 17/12/2025

#WIPSnips 17th December: I didn't have "Clay", so I just went with "Dirt". #FantasySeries #RoyalRoad www.royalroad.com/fiction/42601

“But you would agree it had to be done.”

“Probably. Maybe. I don’t know.” Jonas scowled. “But not like that. You should’ve done it yourself.”

Braph smirked. “I couldn’t have done that in front of his mother. She‘d kill me.” He shifted his balance, looking far too comfortable in Llew’s opinion. “Truth be told, I thought Llew could drain his powers. You said she knew how.”

Llew stood and brushed dirt from her trouser seat. “Yeah, I know. But I don’t know if I would survive it.”

Jonas glared at her. “You never said—”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 16/12/2025

#WIPSnips Dec 16th: Moist. I've used to twice in this WIP, so far. It's not spoilery (for those who've read Warrior's Touch) to know that Jonas isn't at his best in the earliest chapters of Magician's Touch … novelizing.com/f/healer-s-t... #FantasyBooks #SpecFicNZ 🇳🇿📚 #FreeBookSky #BookSky

Having had little food or water over the previous days, Jonas was soon dry retching until his body seemed too tired to try anymore. He rolled back, his eyes gaunt and streaming, his skin pale and moist, and his hands trembling, his breath shallow and fast.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 15/12/2025

#WIPSnips 15th December: Blanket. It's a long snip, but it's a bit fun. #FantasyBooks #FantasySeries #RomanticFantasy #IndieWriter 🇳🇿📚 #SpecFicNZ novelizing.com/f/healer-s-t...

he’d been out of sorts since that day at the farm when he’d admitted his failing strength. Where was his head at right now? Squeak, thud. Tormented, was he?
“I’m still a man, Llew.”
“I know,” she scoffed. She’d never said any different. And why would she think otherwise? No matter what he thought, he was still Jonas, even without his Syakaran power, even without his leg. Oh … Now even that kiss made some sense.
“Is that what this is about? You needing to prove you’re still a man? You don’t need to prove it to me. Do you need to make some sort of show of proof to yourself?”
She continued to swing her legs, though no longer aggressive enough to hit the wall. And Jonas continued to look at her out the corner of his eye.
“Go on, then.” Llew hitched the blanket, showing a little more leg, even as she pulled the edge across her body, ensuring she was covered.
He half turned again, eyebrow raised.
“Show me what a man you are.”
Any hint of humor left his face though and he turned away.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 15/12/2025

#WIPSnips: 14th December: Line #FantasySeries 🇳🇿📚 #RomanticFantasy #FantasyBooks www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

Truth be told, Jonas would prefer to never see his brother again, but … “Braph won’t permit me to live without provin’ himself against me. I don’t plan to seek him out, but I can’t guarantee he won’t come lookin’ for me.”
Rowan glanced at his sister. “Kind of funny how your advantages seem to have driven a wedge through your family. No one has it all together, I guess.” Rowan closed his notebook and slipped it and the prosthetic leg into the tote bag. “I mean, here the world has the gifts of Karan strength and Aenuk healing and all we can do is line them up and tell them to kill each other. Sure, the Aenuk healing is dangerous, but I feel like if it was harnessed the right way … Never thought it was right, them being locked up, conscripted to the army before they’re even born. They are people after all.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 25/11/2025

"I knew I was in for a wild ride." Book Review: The Outsiders of Orkland by Kenneth Feller (SpecFicNZ member) specfic.nz/2025/10/17/r... #pukapuka

Cover for Kennth Feller's The Outsiders Orkland. A n ork looks directly at the viewer. In the foreground is a valley carved by an ancient river. Trees line each side. Two figures stand in the centre, one pointing off to the side.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 23/11/2025

#WIPSnips 22nd November: Crystal Utterly spoilt for choice with this one, given my magic system. #FantasyBook #FantasyStories 🇳🇿📚

Rowan picked up a leg and flicked it with a finger to make it swing on the joint. “Smooth. I’d have no idea how to create something so perfect so small.”
The light glinted off something dark and round, and Llew’s revulsion was overpowered by her need to look closer. Almost of its own accord, her hand reached out and picked up the tiny crystal; such a deep purple it was black except under direct light.
Her mother’s blood had created red crystals. Llew’s own blood had generated deep red, and later purple crystals, when she’d become pregnant.
“His son must be letting him bleed him,” she said. “This must be from Immortal blood.”
“He’s more powerful than ever,” Jonas murmured.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 17/11/2025

#WIPSnips for 16th Nov: Run. Shorter one today. Hopefully punchy. If you can cope with my WIP prose, I have been sharing on Royal Road (because I've very slow, so I need chapter-by-chapter dopamine, or something): www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260... #Romantasy #FantasyRomance #RomanticFantasy

Turhmos may have been right to fight for the lives of Aenuks, but not so they could live in their cages. Cages Merrid and Ard had worked to free them from.
He had denied Llew the opportunity to run from Brurun to fight for her freedom with a full-strength Jonas at her side. He’d believed that no matter how strong he was, he couldn’t stand up to an entire nation. And here he was, broken and weak, planning to stand against two.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 16/11/2025

#WIPSnips Hopefully this one isn't too long, but it felt like the best out-of-context snip, even though there are a few series-specific terms … www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

Jonas searched the kitchen cabinets first. There were cooking oils and vinegars – malt, white, and cider – but nothing to dull the brain. Nothing in the wardrobe. The chest at the foot of the bed proved to be merely a repository for bed linen. He stood for a few moments, leaning into his crutch. Where else? Perhaps Ard had drunk in private, avoiding Merrid’s disapproval, and kept a stash in a shed.
Jonas opened the front door, coming face-to-face with the reality before him. Llew sat at the foot of a tree, blood seeping from her for him, bearing the violent messages coming from the Taither tree alone. The others were gathering around her as the day progressed toward evening, trying to lift the mood, engaging in chatter and adding wood to the bonfire, helping Elka and Lyneth with dinner preparation.
Llew sat alone with hands strung up, one pressed to the tree, the other held so the Gravinator could work, her eyes closed, her expressions rotating through bearing the pain with gritted teeth and suffering through sobs. And Jonas had been thinking of seeking oblivion, abandoning her entirely. What an ass … arse. Llew deserved better.
He allowed himself a moment of self-flagellation, then resolved to be the better man he’d promised he’d be. Maybe not quite what Llew deserved, but the best he could give her.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 23/09/2025

#WIPSnips This one is very fresh in the WIP. Note: MC heals by draining life when touching something (or someone) else living. From this ongoing tale I'm very slow at adding to: www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

The distraction cost her. A sword sunk through her side. Before the pain fully registered, she gripped the blade and yanked it further into her, slicing her own hands and pulling the soldier off balance, grabbed his wrist. He bellowed under her burning grasp and died before she could pull the blade free. Ripping the blade free from flesh healed around it hurt far more than the blade sinking in. She flung it aside and hurled herself at another soldier, finding more flesh, healed her wound and kept draining. She pulled a knife to defend against further attack, finding more flesh when she could. She wasn’t confident in her ability to deliver a killing blow with a blade. Draining life required no skill.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 17/07/2025

I helped with a thing! And it's now live! Awards for Aotearoan/Pasifika writers in the Speculative Fiction genres (Fantasy, SciFi, Horror, etc). Open to works published in 2025 (open till the end of the year). tepaetawhitiawards.nz 📚🇳🇿

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 07/06/2025

I have a Wrath snippet for #SFFChat! I'm never sure how much fun these are out of context.

$Realization dawned. He’d let slip to that officer last night that Orinia’s blood was a cure. A cold anxiety gripped him. A cure, for someone she loved. Not the cure. Damned his own hubris. He’d told them. But he hadn’t told them not to kill her. Imbeciles! He picked up an empty bucket and hurled it across the garden. Pointless. But he felt fractionally better. He checked the crystal on his wrist again. Too risky. He clicked it out and replaced it with one from his pocket. Glancing at the simmering sap, he surmised he would be back before it burned, and stalked from the garden. Let Quaver feel his wrath and never cross him again.$

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 07/06/2025

Some 16 yrs ago, I wanted to write a romantic couple with a bit of a Romeo & Juliet vibe, I guess we could call them enemies-to-lovers. Around children, work, & pets, I have finally nearly finished, & been sharing over at: www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260... Some people might find it enjoyable.

“So who are these unkillables?” She was imagining some sort of thick-skinned creature, with a hide so tough normal steel would sooner bend than pierce it. Or maybe...

“Aenuks.”

The word meant nothing to her and she frowned. He glanced over at her.

“The healers.”
Llew stared into the darkness of the forest and forced herself to start breathing again.

“Wh— who?” She looked back at him, her face a mask of innocent curiosity.

“Aenuks,” he repeated. “They’re a race of folk from Turhmos. I’m a Quaven soldier, and Turhmos and Quaver have been at war for centuries. Turhmos boosts their army using Aenuks. They can heal themselves from flesh wounds and as medics, well, a bunch of Aenuks can heal almost anythin’.”

“Almost anything?”

“Except this.” He twisted the knife, sending a flash of moonlight along its blade. “Wounds inflicted on an Aenuk with this blade heal at the same rate they would on any person. A fatal wound from this is a fatal wound for anyone.”

“Oh.” Until a couple of days ago, she had always assumed she could die like anyone else, despite her ability to heal. A day or two of thinking otherwise shouldn’t have made it so hard to accept once more. But it did. She wanted to get up and run away from the knife that could kill her and her body involuntarily withdrew from it. She wrapped her arms around her middle.

“You wanted to know about the knife. What did you expect I did with it? Use it to make daisy chains? It’s a knife. Its purpose is to kill. And the Aenuks I kill are bad folk.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 05/05/2025

Mwahaha. Gave me a giggle. #WIPsnips for May the 4th is: Force

Text from WIP Magician's Touch (Book 3 in the Deadly Touch series)

“What about my terms? Everyone seems to think I bleed for fun! It’s not fun. The needles hurt! Yes, I heal, but I still feel. I do it for you because you’re you. I can’t do it for everybody. I’m not a—” Hot tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Her body remembered being strapped in a chair, mechanical spiders crawling on her, extracting blood, while she was forced to drain the lives of children just like her. “I’m not some sack of blood you Kara can just … just …” She lost the words as her mind caught up with the rest of her.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 01/05/2025

#WipSnips for 30th April fits quite well with my next WIP, of which I've written a few chapters. It has a "talking" (inside the MC's head) amulet … I don't use "Explode", but I do use "Kaboom". I think that vibes (o: #pukapuka

~Kaboom.~

“Uhm.” Anaïs didn’t like the sound of that.

~I know. I didn’t like it, either. I wouldn’t recommend removing me, ever. You’re a conduit for power now. Your human body alone can’t handle it, so here I am to control and direct it for you. Isn’t that fortuitous? Just imagine if I hadn’t figured out how to call to you, or you’d been too dim to follow my summons.~

“What’s that, dear?” Anaïs’s mummeh asked. She was crouched before Theas, trying to coax more words and giggles from him with a glass bauble on a string.

“Oh, nothing.” Anaïs sighed. Could there be anything worse than never having a moment alone ever again?

~Oh, great. Thanks. I’ve just been born in this form and immediately made to feel a burden? What about me? I’m never going to know what it’s like to be alone. Is it good? Tell me. What am I missing out on? What great aloneness am I keeping you from?~

Hearing my own thoughts, for a start.

~Well, they’re nothing to write home about. I can filter them for you. Make sure you only get the worthwhile ones.~

No, thanks. Feel free to filter them for your own benefit, though. I’m quite happy for you to keep out of my thoughts.

~Then don’t think so loud.~

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 28/04/2025

#WIPSnips 28th April: Talk From the Deadly Touch fantasy series: www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

Braph placed the partial hand on the bench near his son, who snatched it up to attach the remaining fingers.
“You will be a god among men, and your mother and I your heralds,” Braph said. “We will show the world the gifts great power can bring to those who follow, and I see no reason why we couldn’t end the rift between Turhmos and Quaver once and for all.”
“Like heroes.” Two words and the glint of an eye reminded Braph he was talking to a child. How fleeting these moments of true camaraderie could be.
“Exactly like.” Braph flashed a shallow smile and turned back to his designs.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 27/04/2025

The school holidays have kept me busy, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share a snippet for this prompt (o: Better late than never? #WIPSnips: Wolf Looking forward to diving into this WIP in the next couple of months. I sense fun ahead.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 23/04/2025

Ream is a platform like Patreon but specifically for books. This week (at least) several books have been set as free reads, so it's a great tie to check out the platform & see if it's for you as a reader. readers.reamstories.com/raid #booksky #books #FreeBooks

An advertising image showing a range of book covers. The main advertising message is: Free Books April 21-28 at reamraid.com

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 08/04/2025

#WIPsnips Apr 7th: Supply Braph making friends, as always. On #RoyalRoad at: www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

“What is the cure, Mister Vastergaard?”
Braph sat up, gave the officer a narrow-eyed smirk. Thought he could rattle Braph with little irritations, did he? He gave a lazy blink and set about explaining. “What you need to do is, within hours of infection, pair the Karan up with a willing Aenuk who will supply blood to inject into the Karan, and then the Karan can use the resulting magic to defeat the micro-organism themselves. It has to be within hours, though. After that, the infection is too far spread to be reversed.”
“So all our infected Kara are condemned?” The officer glanced Orinia’s way, his gaze pausing on Orin before returning to Braph.
Braph simply held that gaze. He had, after all, already stipulated the blood donor be willing. “Balance, Captain—?”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 05/04/2025

#WIPSnips 5th April: Count Llew's had a fun time and really loves the world building I did for her … #Fantasy #Romantasy #RoyalRoad www.royalroad.com/fiction/4260...

“It means she’s seen the other side, too many times,” said Jonas.
“You’ve … been dead?” Rowan asked.
“But how …?” Elka spoke quietly.
“Well, let’s see.” Llew brought up her hands to count off her fingers. “I’ve been cut by a bottle, hanged – which I think accounted for three times. I’ve been killed in a fight, had my heart filled with arrows—”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 04/04/2025

Sorry for spoilers … look away (quick!) if you actually read my stuff! #WIPsnips 4th April: Laugh #Writersky #Booksky 📚🇳🇿

“If that was a joke, it was the worst.” Llew pushed herself to stand as Alvaro crouched and gathered Karlani in his arms.
“I know. I’m so sorry. I mean, we knew you’d live.”
“And Jonas would be on the ground!” Llew’s anger heated her core and filled her with the urge to hit someone as a full accounting of the situation took shape, yet somehow Jonas found the situation funny as he hissed out a single laugh.
“We train for years to face the Aenuk reflex. If you get the chance, remind Karlani she’s just a pup. She ain’t got no business messin’ with Aenuks, especially Llew. She’s lucky she’s alive.”
Alvaro paled and swallowed. “We didn’t … I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 02/04/2025

As April 2nd wraps up here in Aotearoa, here's my #WIPsnips for today's prompt: scene. There's a little bit of #FoundFamily going on in #Magician'sTouch It's not all smooth sailing, though, of course.

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 01/04/2025

#WIPSnips April 1st: Trick Funnily enough, this snippet comes from the chapter that dropped on Royal Road today … www.royalroad.com/fiction/1067... #RoyalRoad

“That smells so good,” Orin leaned over the pot, then pulled back as the hot steam engulfed his face. “Ooh, hot. But it just smells so good. It’s making me hungry.”
“You’re always hungry,” Braph said, assessing the boil and dialing down the gas. He’d calculated he’d get a couple of pints of syrup from the full pot after several hours of boiling. He didn’t want syrup, though. More than likely, he was going to end up with something resembling hard toffee. He didn’t want that, either, despite what Orin might say. The final trick would be in attaining something the same size and shape as his blood crystals to fit his device. It wouldn’t be simple, he knew that. He’d spent years learning how blood behaved under various heat and pressure conditions. He had little doubt tree sap would behave quite differently. But what was the point in sticking with what he knew?

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 30/03/2025

#WIPSnips 30th: Lonely I've only used "lonely" once, and it's in a terribly spoilery scene, so I've gone with "Alone".

“I thought maybe you weren’t wantin’ to be, uh, alone alone,” Jonas said as he reached Llew.
“Depends how much talking you want me to do.”
Jonas shrugged. “You don’t gotta talk. Don’t even have to listen, if you don’t want to. I don’t have much to say. Just thought … Well, maybe you wanted to be alone … in company.”
Llew smiled. “That’d be nice.”

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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 30/03/2025

#WIPSnips 30th March: Touch A little exposition about a world-building rule established in book 1 … (MC) Llew is not my biggest fan.

Damn the Aenuk-Karan barrier. If he was almost anyone else, Llew could have healed him by now with a simple touch. It was stupid. The world needed Jonas to wade in and put the wrong things right. It needed Llew to be able to heal him.

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