Nicole "Ashrah" Hidalgo

#WordWeavers 14. Is selling your work for money important to you when you write?

Honestly, if I had a stable job that paid well, I might put my books out there for free, or put them all on Ko-fi and let people donate some coins to their bard if they wanted. Right now, I sell them because it gives me some money while I don't find that job, but no, I don't write my stories with a seller's mentality.

And that's even more obvious with Chronicles of the Realms, huh? 🤷🏽‍♀️

#PennedPossibilities 955 — Is your MC keeping any secrets? Can you reveal them to us?

For part of Book 1, Ashrah keeps a secret that Datusha—her sword—is sapient. She also doesn't tell it to most creatures she meets after the Netherrealm.

Sareena hides... a few secrets in Book 1. She'd kill me if I revealed them to you, so 🤐

"It is I, Ashrah, the Indomitable Blade, with nine thousand deaths engraved on my sword, who will send you to the Abyss you so admire."

Artwork by Sunny (@inorheona.bsky.social) after I was lucky to win an art raffle 🥰🔥💪🏽

#MastoArt #DigitalArt #FantasyArt

#PennedPossibilities 950. Can your MC swim? If not, why not? If so, how did they learn?

Fun fact: for all the badass that Ashrah is, she *cannot* swim, at least not at first.

That's because most of the "water" in the Netherrealm is either cursed or houses some nasty fiend. "Swimming" is something that demons born in the waters do, not something she even considers being able to learn.

That changes once she leaves the Netherrealm and falls in love with the beach!

#WordWeavers 6: If you have several stories, which one should a new reader start with?

The dark fantasy, slow-burn lesbian romance rooted in Greek mythology that is World Without Love starts with This Is How Immortals Die.

https://linktr.ee/NicoleHidalgoAuthor

If you want the epic blend of dark fantasy and wuxia that is Chronicles of the Realms, a few short stories are available on Ao3, and you can start with any: https://archiveofourown.org/series/4547401.

I also have my two-part New Mutant fluffy short story on Ao3 :3

"Why do you fight, Kung Lao?"

#MastoArt #FantasyArt #DigitalArt

#PennedPossibilities 940. Do you regret anything about the creation of your WIP?

Not having created it sooner and instead having wasted time with something that didn't deserve my emotions.

RE: @Ink_Soul@writing.exchange

#ScribesAndMakers 23. Reveal the answer to yesterday's poll

For a time there, y'all got the right answer. But, in the end, the wrong one won by a 6% difference.

"But you know what’s worse than suffering? Not suffering, because you’re not even alive to feel it" is a great quote, but not one of mine. That's from She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.

The A line is from ShadowBane by Cal Logan, which I'm currently reading.

So yes, B is mine, one from Eternal Flame.

#ScribesAndMakers 22. Poll: One line from a book I wrote, two from other books. Which one is mine?

A: "She leapt aside and felt the drag of steel through flesh, the pull of the sword's hilt in her hands, and a sudden release as the blade came free."
B: "But now you escaped, and the whole world lies before you. A world you were denied. And this vastness is terrifying."
C: "But you know what’s worse than suffering? Not suffering, because you’re not even alive to feel it."

"All the battles she had fought, all the odds she had defied, all the fears she had conquered. This was just another victory waiting to be claimed."

A wee drawing of Kitana, who clamoured for chapters of her own and thus became a POV in Eternal Flame 💙

#MastoArt #FantasyArt

Red hair to honour her wife? Sure, why not!

#WhereWindsMeet #VirtualPhotography #Gaming

#ScribesAndMakers 19. Our featured creator is an avid gamer. Does gaming affect your creativity?

Very much so! I'm a narrative designer (aka game writer), too, and I imagine my stories as video games.

Many of my ideas come from picturing how the character would move, the skills they'd have, how they could traverse certain areas, environmental storytelling, etc.

And, well, Chronicles of the Realms is directly based on a game, even though the two have little in common.

Light and Darkness. Perfect Harmony 💜🥰

#WhereWindsMeet #VirtualPhotography