I am currently in the process of working on a new short story that is set in the world of The Sixteenth Kiss titled The First Princess. Both of which can be read on my Figment page. The First Princess is a retelling of sorts that has reimagined the popular German tale of Rumplestiltskin.  I won't go into too much detail so as not to spoil the twists I have taken on the tale. I decided to give the retelling a French Provincial feel to it since it is set in the "Kingdom of Dankert", an area that has become much more civilized than the Scandinavian inspired "Stalvart". "Stalvart" is set in the northern regions of Floryndal and is pretty isolated from the other kingdoms. I hope your eyes haven't glazed over my world-building ramblings. I really need to draw this all out on a map.

I'm pretty new to the whole world-building game as this is my first foray into fantasy. I've found that keeping a Pinterest board of inspiration helps as well as keeping a running list of all the different kingdoms I mention. I like to include what their forms of trade are and what makes the citizens visually distinct.  I'm not sure I'll ever use the vast amounts of background info I've written about Floryndal but it feels good to have it all written down. Like its an actual place with a system of trade and a logical geography to it.

I will be writing more of The First Princess this month but as soon as July hits I'll be using Camp Nanowrimo to FINISH The Sixteenth Kiss. You heard me! I said finish. That's the goal at least but I have a pretty poor track record of finishing Nanowrimo projects. Will I be a winner come August? I'll let you know.