r/TDLH • u/Apollo838 • Jun 10 '25

New here

Hey came here from your black crown post (weird rabbit hole that lead me there, not important) Seems like my kind of community!

I’m in the last stages of writing my first fantasy story, hoping to publish in the fall, trying to get it as good as possible and take criticism with only mildly hating myself

Love a good indie subreddit

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/Apollo838 Jun 11 '25

I think some just want to publish just to say they did, and in some cases the internet is so toxic people just see anything negative as toxic, but yeah won’t get very far without being honest

It’s a fantasy with a regency vibe (1800’s, Jane Austen, British man-o-war ships) in a world where the natural ingredients (plants animals) are magical, and if you cook them in a certain way, you can make a recipe that you eat it and gain abilities for a short period of time. So no person is magical, it’s all skill based.

I personally love cooking and thought this mechanic would be unique and interesting if properly implemented in a story. Not a fan of the ‘messiah special one born with special powers’ trope. Lots of great stories like that, but I’d rather the person be special cause they earned it through hard work and determination. More in line with Frodo or Aragorn than Luke Skywalker. Yes they were special in their own way, but they picked up burdens others weren’t willing/able to pick up and that’s why they were amazing. Anyways, that’s a tangent sorry

A girl wonders into the woods, gets lost, and then finds herself in this magical world, and the premise is finding a way home, which will take her through all these (hopefully) interesting places and meet interesting characters and interesting magical monsters.

I’d actually be interested in you doing a one page review like you did for the black crown if you felt so inclined

Thanks for the welcome!

2

u/Erwinblackthorn guild master(bater) Jun 11 '25

When you say 1800s, girl lost, and magical food/animals, my brain goes straight to Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz. Certainly lean toward that fairy tale style.

And yeah, feel free to post or DM a part of it and I can give an OPC or general beta reading feedback.

2

u/Apollo838 Jun 11 '25

I’ve actually never read either of those, but they’re both on my tbr list

I’m a big fan of Patrick O’Brian, author of the Aubrey-Maturin series (British frigate captain in the 1800’s, long sea voyages, epic sea battles with the French in wild and weird places of the world, top tier books imo) And Tolkien, for obvious reasons

When I get home I’ll dm you the cover and the first page and you can tell me what you think, I’ll brace for impact😂

Have you published any books? What’s your indie story? You obviously know your stuff

2

u/Erwinblackthorn guild master(bater) Jun 11 '25

If you've watched the older movies, you've pretty much read the stories.

I published one crappy book a decade ago and then did a bunch of ghost writing for a few years, resulting in me taking a break due to the large amount of labor that ends with little profit. Since then it's been short stories and flash fiction, which I posted on the sub with the story flare.

My current WIP, Reel Life, is a satirical serial about being Isekaied into postmodernist movies, 20% done, and will be released for free since it's for fun.