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Morgan Givens 🏳️‍⚧️'s avatar

Really dig how you ended this. Will def keep an eye out for the next part!

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

I'm happy to hear that, Morgen! It's mutual.

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Evie's avatar

thanks for sharing! there was some nice prose throughout! as a mage lover i’m really interested in seeing how your magic system will develop.

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Thanks Evie! I loved making the magic. And there is a LOT of it in book 1....

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Gene Smith's avatar

Thank you for sharing your story with us, please keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

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Gene Smith's avatar

You’re welcome, is this your first story? When did you realize you wanted to write?

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

I've written hundreds of songs, a handful of scrapped plays, and a few short stories. But this is the first work of fiction I'm releasing.

It's been a wild journey, actually! My degree is in acting, and the best thing I ever learned during that program was how to be bored.

That's where the magic hides.

Are you a writer?

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Gene Smith's avatar

Ooh I see

My degree is in graphic design, which I ended up hating, lol.

I am a writer, technically, I mean, I’m working on my first novel and I’m hoping to finish it before the year ends

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

That's thrilling! May I ask what the premise is?

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Gene Smith's avatar

Yes, it’s about a young man who is bound by blood magic to work for a sorceress who wants even more power

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

That sounds right up my alley!

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Thanks Gene! I appreciate you reading/hearing it :)

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Gene Smith's avatar

Awesome!

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Modus B. Haregue's avatar

Reading along with the audio definitely creates a mental visual. Like I was in the boys mind, peering through as he hunts. And Nala? I’ve got to know what’s up with her. Fine work 👏🏽

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Eyyyyy big thanks, Haregue!! That's absolutely the feeling I was hoping to create in you.

^,^

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Alexis's avatar

ANTHONY this updated chapter is BREATHTAKING! Way to jump right into the action. The way you exlressed each detail, you are immediately thrown into the scene alongside Nala and Bakura. Incredibly written!!

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Yay thanks!!! I feel like this is the strongest this chapter has been!

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Andi Vega's avatar

Omg Anthony! I found some of your people! They are on Very Social Animal. Please check it out. I instantly thought of you!!! I think you’ll love it there! Let me know.

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Andi Vega's avatar

Did you check them out? I really believe they are speaking your language!

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Ashes Of Love Poetry 🔥's avatar

This was beautiful 😍 the way you seamlessly blended the poetry into the story in the form of her dreams. Describing confusing dreams is tricky but I think you pulled it off. You could feel her adolescents and eagerness to grow. The details about her tusks really threw the reader right into her mindset and current state.

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Ahhhh what a dream comment for me.

My whole game is IMMERSION, and I spent about a year experimenting with different styles, trying to see what actually made immersion happen, v. what was a cool idea but didn’t actually work…

When I started to experiment with poetry, I was like…

“I’m home.”

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MarQuese Liddle's avatar

I noticed the elements of poetry in this right away. Even without "prelude" many of the lines were naturally iambic. I also appreciated the rhymes throughout. I'm intrigued to see if this is your style generally or if we're about to take a hard turn into more conventional prose.

Thanks for sharing!

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

I'm glad you liked it!

Funny you bring up "iambic." Shakespeare is my biggest influence, BUT...

Can you spot the Homeric line? :)

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MarQuese Liddle's avatar

No, I missed it. My undergrad degree was exercise physiology, and my MFA had me reading Dostoyevsky and McCarthy, so I'm a bit behind in that regard. I'm working to make that up as I teach as an adjunct, which is helping quite a lot.

But yeah, the Shakespeare comes through for sure.

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Those both sound like pretty killer degrees! You're not behind. I'm just a nerd haha. I'll explain it below, if you're interesting.

Homeric Verse is just a different kind of rhythm. All you gotta know is: a "drop" is a weak syllable, and a "lift" is a stressed syllable.

An iamb is "drop LIFT."

A trochee is "LIFT drop." Shakespeare uses a remarkable amount of trochees to sort of JOLT the actor awake, to syncopate the rhythm of their speech in some way, to be like "HEY, HEY BUD, YOU'RE PLAYING MACBEEZIE, AND MACBEEZIE HASN'T SLEPT IN THREE MONTHS, SO GET READY FOR SOME STRANGE SOUNDING SENTENCES."

Both an iamb and a trochee are two syllable patterns, but Homer wrote in a different form called Dactylic Hexameter. Meaning there are 6 lifts in a line, and you do it in triplets. "BAH-duh-dah," instead of "To BE, or NOT..."

So a line of Homer has a very particular feel to it. It'll feel a little something like this...

"BAM, buh-buh BOOM yuggah-DUH! ...ba-doo BAM, but no, NO... MORE..."

Or in my case... "Careless, he turns far too fast. Slow… motion fall. There goes..."

[next line]

"...His footing. He seems to hang...

Suspended in the air, until the ground

Slams into him."

^.^

Did any of that make sense?

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MarQuese Liddle's avatar

Yes, it made perfect sense. I actually teach the basics of meter and metric feet in an intro lit course, but I was not familiar with Homeric verse. Dactylic Hexameter told me what to look for. Thank you for the full explanation.

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Roads Untraveled's avatar

Looking forward to reading the rest of these, or maybe just waiting to buy the book. I see you're at proof stage. Congrats!!!

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Well, I’m on the proof stage for the MYTHS!

That way there’s something to release right away.

Moonthread (and the rest of that trilogy) are going to be released August, September, and October 2026. Until then, Moonthread will live here, when (and if) you’re ready to read it.

^.^

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Roads Untraveled's avatar

Cool- then keep reading here I will!

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C. Lee McKenzie's avatar

An interesting fantasy world with great imagery you've got going here. I smiled at Nala's tusks hurting more than she'd expected.

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

Thanks C! That was from a very early draft, and it's never left since actually. Maybe year and a half ago or so?

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Bradley Ramsey's avatar

Anthony…

This cover image has no right to go this hard! 😮‍💨👏🏻

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Allura Shadley's avatar

“Nala had always wondered why they did things by hand when they could use magic.” - you

That reminds me of how I feel when I’m making a digital drawing. I often use a Fill tool to color my drawings (before adding details/textures), but sometimes I color by hand, and that’s more fun. It simply is.

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Anthony Lee Phillips's avatar

I was hoping someone would pick that passage out.

I love hearing about your process, too!

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