I've Written a Book

And I think I'm brave enough to share it with you now...

Aug 12, 2024

On 5th August 2024, I completed the first draft of my manuscript. That's right everyone, I've completed my first novel.

I use the term completed loosely as I know I still have a lot of work to do before my novel becomes an actual physical book to hold.

But to come this far and not celebrate it would be like finding a dinosaur bone on a dig-site and not rejoicing at the beautiful, raw, dusty sight of it. It still needs to be fully excavated, catalogued, studied, prepped (and other things people have to do with dinosaur bones) before it is museum worthy. But it's still a discovery that creates awe and wonder and magic. Just like a book.

Thanks for reading Of Muses and Musings! This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Book of Khem

So, what is my book about exactly? How long has it taken me to write the first draft? What obstacles did I face? Why am I talking about the book now and not after it's been polished and perfected?

Let's dive into these questions by letting me take you by the hand and journey into my fantasy land called Kalzara…

Welcome to my World

Kalzara is the fantasy world that I have built. It consists of five mortal realms and two immortal realms.

The mortal realms and their key skills/crafts are:

Tyana: The Land of the Wise - Alchemists
Morgana: The Land of the Plains - Healers
Lochana: The Land of the Lakes - Shape-shifters
Gwynfana: The Realm of the High Winds - Spell-casters
Harusana: The Realm of Sight - Seers

The two immortal realms are:

The Realm of the Above - The Throne of Grace
The Realm of the Below - The Halls of the Hidden

The Book of Khem is mostly set in Tyana but ventures into Morgana (ready for book 2).

The Plot and Main Character

Khem is a female alchemist (the only one) that resides in the Palace of Thoth, the home of the alchemists of Tyana. She has spent most of her life trying to achieve the Great Work - turning common metals into gold.

One day, whilst infuriated with the work, Khem discovers she has magical fire powers, and manages to produce gold between the cracks in her chamber walls.

Scared, excited, confused as to why she can make fire with her hands, Khem embarks on a quest to discover the source of her powers and find out more about her hidden past.

Unfortunately, Khem is not the only one who is searching for the source… a darkness is spreading over Kalzara, and it wants Khem and the Realm of the Above to crumble and fall.

There's magic, romance, an epic quest across lands, and a sassy salamander god called Khepri.

The Book of Khem is a book about adventure, heart and finding home.

The Great Work

This book idea began when I was doing my creative writing degree back in 2012. I wrote a poem in which the zodiac signs were all gods. My poem concentrated on Sagittarius and Capricorn and the stars dancing across the sky.

For many years, this poem was packed away and forgotten about.

Then 2020 came, the pandemic hit, and we were all trapped inside our homes.

In 2017, my husband and I had moved into our first home, and due to us doing major work on the house and having our wedding in 2019, we were still unpacking boxes.

In one such box, were all my notebooks, poems and books on magic. I picked up The Book of Alchemy by Francis Melville. I had read it before as a teenager but I couldn't fully grasp the concept of alchemy. As a young woman in my twenties, I suddenly got it.

As I began to read the book, I was reminded of my poem, I was reminded of all the things I had learned on my journey through spirituality and Paganism. It all seemed to click and lock together.

And my mind exploded in a world of magic, realms, alchemy, mortals and gods.

I've been writing my book since March 2020. It's taken just over four years to complete the first draft. I won't lie, there's a part of me that's disappointed I didn't get it done sooner.

But then I stop myself and think about everything that has happened since 2020: we survived a pandemic, I worked full-time as a teacher (now working part-time), in August 2020 we adopted a rescue dog, we decorated a house, I got job promotions, we got pregnant and had our son in 2022, we moved into our second home, we've been decorating our new home and raising a toddler…

That's a whole lot of life.

Not only did life get in the way of my writing sometimes, I went through a huge period of writer's block and imposter syndrome. I thought to myself “who are you? You can't write a book! You're not smart enough! Talented enough! Good enough…” the usual vicious thoughts.

In August 2023, I took part in

E.B. Golden's desk

and

Rachel May

's Reclaim Your Magic course, and it was the best decision I ever made. I took the chance and it ended up being truly life-changing. Not only for my actual writing, but also my relationship with writing and myself.

I've now discovered a writing routine that suits me and my hectic life, and it feels incredible.

So, what next?

As I said, I have a long way to go, but right now I am editing the first draft of The Book of Khem and I intend on starting book 2 (The Book of Danu).

Once I've completed the second draft, I was going to ask my lovely subscribers to potentially be beta readers for me. I'm thinking of releasing some chapters (the ones I really need some help on) and get feedback via comments by you lovely lot ♥️ Do say if you think that's a good idea or if there's a better way of receiving some feedback. I'm also getting a few of my teacher/writer/reader friends to beta read my book 😋 But the more the merrier!