Starship Blunder: A Shareverse Coming Soon!

My life has been absolute chaos. The kind of chaos where, as soon as you think maybe it's dying down a bit... WHAM! You get hit with something else.

Between moving to a new state, weddings, a trip to Alaska,  and starting a new full time job (!), as if that weren't enough, we have also been building up our collection of rescue critters and I got sick—starting with Influenza A which turned into pneumonia which turned into bronchitis. 

I'm finally breathing properly again, just in time for the launch of a new anthology called Starship Blunder! I'm super excited about this. It's the first anthology I've been part of in quite a few years, and it's a fun one!

I am one of twelve authors who were selected to publish a short story as part of this book. It's a different experience for me too, because it's a shareverse, meaning that every story is set in the same universe, on the same starship, with crossover characters. I had a ton of fun with it and it made me interested in potentially participating in another shareverse anthology at some point in the future. 

The book launches on October 1 and we are having a virtual launch party on October 5th. Please consider attending! It will be one of the only virtual events I'll be doing this year, and I'd love to have you there.

To sign up, just click here and fill out the form and you will receive a link to join a day or two ahead of the event. 

I'll send out a reminder next week after the book goes live, in case you want to grab a copy. But in the meantime, you can always click here to preorder!

I hope you’ll join us for this fun new story coming October 1st! And stay tuned for more details and maybe even a sneak preview!

Badger Camp Short Story: Digging Up Trouble Part 1

Sharpen your claws and get ready to dig!

Badger Camp: October is almost here!

Our theme this time around is suspense, and to help spark creative juices, our favorite camp counselor, Spark, has written a suspenseful film noir tale, featuring Detective Clawson, known for digging up trouble.

I’ll be posting each section on my blog.

Without further ado, here is part 1!

Part 1: Trouble In Fur

The rain came down in sheets, battering the city with a relentless rhythm that echoed like a badger's heartbeat in an empty tunnel. I was nursing my last cup of coffee in my office—a cramped hole-in-the-wall that smelled like damp earth and bad decisions—when she walked in.

Her fur was slick with rain, stripes sharp as daggers, and eyes that could cut through fog thicker than a badger’s burrow in midwinter.

“Detective Clawson,” she purred, her voice smooth but with an edge, like talons sheathed in velvet. “I hear you’re the kind of badger who can handle... delicate situations.”

I leaned back in my chair, claws tapping the desk, sizing her up. “Depends on the situation, honey. What’s your trouble?”

She glanced out the rain-streaked window as if expecting someone—or something. “It’s about a house. The old Barrow estate on the hill.”

My tail twitched. The Barrow estate was a dilapidated ruin, left to rot after its last owner vanished without a trace. The kind of place where shadows whispered secrets you didn’t want to hear. What could a whisker like her want with a place like that?

“What’s your angle?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“My uncle was the last to live there,” she said, her gaze darting around like she was scared of her own words. “There’s something buried in that house. Something valuable. I need someone who can dig it up.”

I wasn’t born yesterday. This dame was trouble wrapped in a velvet pelt. “Why not dig it up yourself?”

She sighed, running a claw through her damp fur. “Because someone else wants it too. Someone dangerous.”

I was about to tell her to find another badger when she leaned in close, a hint of desperation in those cold eyes. “Meet me at the old train station on Mudpaw Lane tonight. Midnight. We can discuss the details there.”

As she turned to leave, I reached out a paw and grabbed her arm. "You got a name?"

"Melinae," she answered, a small smile playing around her lips as if she knew she'd won. "Melinae Brock. But you can call me Millie." Then she vanished through the door with a flick of her tail.

It looked like I had plans later. At midnight.

I should’ve known better, but sometimes a badger’s curiosity gets the best of him, and this case was already digging its claws into me.

Click here for Part 2: Burrowed Clues!

Giant Mice & Lava Ice: Designing Unique Fantasy Settings

When I think about fantasy settings, I often notice that a lot of stories tend to stick to a few familiar environments: lush, forested areas filled with magical mushroom rings, castles, and cascading waterfalls; or barren, arid landscapes, like fields of volcanic slate and dusty deserts.

A mysterious stone building or castle amid a green deciduous forest with thick ferns and straight-trunked white pines.

And don’t get me wrong—I’m guilty of it too. I love trees, so naturally, a lot of my fantasy scenes unfold in expansive forests and arboreal cities. But there’s so much more possibility out there, and I often find myself dreaming of other ways to build settings that feel fresh, engaging, and utterly different.

I remember visiting the Baltimore Conservatory and being captivated by the wide range of plants there. Some of them looked almost alien—twisting, angular, bizarre shapes that seemed more at home on another planet than here on Earth. I couldn’t help but imagine that they were sentient, whispering secrets to each other when no one was looking.

I walked around that conservatory with potential stories spinning in my head about these plants as alien species, capable of thought and communication. But even outside of sci-fi, these plants could easily be the foundation for a unique fantasy landscape, something that’s different from what we typically see.

While my own fantasy writing isn’t always breaking new ground in this regard, I’ve started to collect ideas for creating settings that are more unexpected. Here are a few things I consider when crafting new and unique fantasy locations.

1. Make Things Big or Small

One way to immediately create a sense of wonder is by playing with scale.

Those giant desert plants at the conservatory—what if they were the size of a house? Or grew on stalks like trees, reaching toward the sky?

Or think of Gulliver in Lilliput!

What if my character encounters a tiny fairy who leads them to a vast ocean, only for it to turn out to be nothing more than a medium-sized cow pond?

.Shifting size and perspective can transform ordinary landscapes into something extraordinary.

2. Pull From the Real World

There’s no shortage of bizarre and stunning geography in our own world. Sometimes I look at photos of real places and think, “How is this not already in a fantasy novel?” Here are some real-world phenomena that could inspire amazing settings:

Rio Tinto, Spain: A river with bright red water due to its high acidity and iron content.

The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia: A surreal landscape of sulfur springs, lava lakes, and salt flats.

The Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland: Thousands of interlocking basalt columns that look like stepping stones built by giants.

Socotra Island, Yemen: Home to dragon’s blood trees that look like giant umbrellas, with bright red sap that seems otherworldly.

The Fly Geyser, Nevada, USA: A multi-colored, constantly evolving geothermal geyser that looks like something out of a dream.

These places are proof that you don’t have to stretch too far to find inspiration. The real world is packed with strange, beautiful, and outright bizarre places that can be the jumping-off point for an incredible fantasy setting.

3. Flip Stuff Upside Down

One of my favorite tricks is to turn things upside down—both literally and figuratively.

Imagine if trees grew with their crowns on the ground and trunks in the sky, drawing water not from roots in the earth but from clouds above. Or what if the ocean floated overhead instead of lying on the ground, with fish swimming in the sky and ships sailing on air? You can take this concept and twist it in countless ways:

What if mountains hung down from the sky like stalactites?

Picture a city where people walk on the ceiling and gravity doesn’t pull the way we expect it to.

A waterfall that flows upward into the sky instead of down.

These shifts can disorient and excite the reader, giving them a world that’s truly unlike anything they’ve seen before.

4. Use Sensory Details in New Ways

When building fantasy settings, I always remind myself that sensory details don’t have to match our expectations.

Maybe the ocean smells like fresh-baked donuts instead of salty brine.

Flowers could smell like burnt rubber, water might always be warm, or rocks might feel like squishy stress balls underfoot.

These small tweaks can make the world feel vivid and alive, sparking the reader’s imagination in unexpected ways.

5. Connect Your Features

For me, creating unique settings is also about ensuring that each element of the landscape feels interconnected. A lava river might link a mountain to a lake, with strange plants growing along its molten banks.

A transport ship sitting in the Baltimore harbor with rays of sun cascading down from the clouds above.

I like to think about how people might navigate these extreme environments—maybe they’ve developed special boats to sail the lava, or suits to protect them from sulfuric steam. Maybe their species has evolved differently from a human, so they can bear the extremes in with a different level of tolerance.

It’s not just about the landscape itself but about how the terrain shapes the lives, cultures, and technologies of the people who inhabit it.

6. Keep Some Familiarity

Even when I’m creating something wild and new, I think it’s crucial to balance the strange with the familiar. Not everything needs to be unique; sometimes, a few touches of normalcy—a blue sky, ordinary rocks, or just plain grass—can help anchor the reader, allowing the truly imaginative aspects to stand out.

I want them to feel immersed in the world, not drowning in it.

It’s a balancing act, ensuring that the world feels immersive without becoming overwhelming.

7. Consider the Purpose of The Setting

Finally, I always keep in mind that not every scene needs to have a jaw-droppingly unique setting.

Sometimes, the plot, characters, or theme need to take center stage, and in those moments, a simple, relatable environment can be the best choice.

save the more elaborate settings for moments when I really want the reader to stop and savor the world.

So, whether I’m writing in a forest, a lava river, or an upside-down city, I’m always thinking about how to create a setting that’s not just a backdrop but an integral, exciting part of the story.

Fantasy worlds can be anything we want them to be, and I love exploring every strange, beautiful possibility.

Off the coast of Alaska, a single boat on a calm ocean with layers and layers of massive mountain ranges stretching into the distance. The sky is orange the landscape is dark gray, black, and blues.

Magic System Development the Ariele Way

Something you might not know about me is that, despite having written more science fiction novels than fantasy, I’ve always been a bigger fantasy reader at heart.

Map of Vantera, the kingdom in the Sablewood series by Ariele Sieling.

Fantasy worlds, with their epic quests and magical creatures, have always captured my imagination. But when it came to writing my own stories, I was hesitant, particularly when it came to developing a unique magic system.

I found the idea of designing magic rules for fantasy intimidating. There’s so much out there already—systems based on elements like fire, water, earth, and air; those that rely on spell work or wands; or even magic that’s rooted in ancient languages and incantations. And don’t get me started on the magical creatures! It all felt a bit overwhelming, so I stuck to sci-fi for a long time.

I didn’t make a serious attempt at a fantasy novel until I had already written over twenty books. In hindsight, this was probably a good move because it gave me time to hone my basic writing skills before jumping into the deep end of magic world-building.

But when I finally dove into fantasy, I realized a few things: first, developing a magic system wasn’t as hard as I thought. Second, it wasn’t nearly as rigid as I had assumed. And third, I didn’t have to follow anyone else’s rules.

I could do it all my own way.

Starting Small with Magic System Development

The first thing I learned is that the easiest way to approach magic system development for me—especially because I’m a pantser and typically write by the seat of my pants—was to start with just one feature of the system.

Monstrous creature in a magical fantasy world.

Maybe a type of spell, a magical ability, or even a unique magical creature—but the key for me was to start small. Then, that single feature would become the seed the rest of the magic grew from.

I let it interact with my characters and the world naturally, observing how it influenced everything around it. True to pantser form.

As I wrote, I took notes, piecing together the rules and laws of the magic system as I went. I didn’t worry about getting it perfect from the start because, honestly, nothing kills creativity faster than overplanning.

I kept it loose, and whenever things seemed to go too far, I’d simply give the magic some limitations. And if it felt too limiting? I’d think of it like chemistry and add a “catalyst” to break my own rules.

And it didn’t take long for the shape of the magic system to develop in front of me.

Drawing Inspiration from Other Fantasy Works

Reading tons of fantasy also gave me a solid head start.

I was familiar with common magic system types: the elemental magic systems, spellcasting through wands, and more, because I’d spent my childhood, teenage, and adult years devouring fantasy literature.

I’ve read everything from classics like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, and Madeline l’Engle, to works more contemporary to my youth like Neil Gaiman, Cordelia Funke, Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine, Diana Wynne Jones, and yes the now-disgraced JK Rowling—just to name a few. I’ve continued to read as well, trying to broaden my scope to include historical literature, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (fantasy or history?), modern authors like N.K Jemison, Marissa Meyer, and Sarah J Maass. And I’ve read myriad indie authors who have written everything from fairytale retellings to high fantasy to fantasy romance to cozy fantasy to completely new and unique fantasy that’s completely different than anything I’d read before.

A fantasy scene with a woman gazing up at a looming castle deep in a dark forest.

Having this background knowledge made it easier for me to recognize when I was treading familiar ground and when I was exploring something new. I was constantly on the lookout for new angles and ways to develop magic that I hadn’t seen before—at least, not in the books I’d read.

At the same time, I was familiar with the patterns and the tropes within the genre, so I could attempt to both give my reader something new and interesting, while also blending in some of the tried and true storytelling elements that everyone loves so much.

Lessons Learned from Magic System Development

One thing that stood out to me during this process was how much character interactions with magic reveal about both the magic system and the world. How my characters reacted to, used, or felt about the magic told me a lot about its place in my story.

Another that starting small made it easier for me, yes, But it also had the added benefit of making my story stronger. Keeping the magic system simple at first and then expanding it naturally through the characters’ experiences created inherent conflict and tension that strengthened the narrative, offering layers and complexity I hadn’t even considered when I first started drafting the tale.

Overall, I have found writing fantasy and developing these magical systems incredibly rewarding.

I’ve never enjoyed writing a series as much as I have with my fantasy works like Aria's Song (future fantasy), Sablewood (high fantasy), and Ariele's Fairy Tales (a collection of original fairy tales). These stories have allowed me to explore magic in ways I never thought possible, and I can’t wait to continue delving into this genre.

My newest book, Wilt & Wane, is going to be released in hardcover shortly, and I’m deep into the edits for book 2, so stay tuned! There is more on the way and I’m loving every second of it.

Unified, All Of Me: A Poem

This poem is about The Zone, the state of being totally and utterly focused on your work. The whole world fades away and it’s just you and your writing (or art or music or whatever). They say the endorphin rush you get from a runner’s high is the same endorphin rush as being in the zone.

I love the zone. I don’t always get it. It requires the ability to concentrate for long enough to get in the zone, and there are plenty of things that can draw me out of that state—dogs, for example. Cats. Weather. Pain. The Spouse. Etc.

But, it’s great, regardless.

I wrote this poem when I wanted to get in the zone and couldn’t. It was a memory of what it was like being in the zone, with the hope that focusing on achieving that sensation would allow me to get to it again.

Unified, All of Me

It’s like being whole
for the first time again.
The perfect balance of
calm and tension.
The ache and relief
The pain and the peace
Like my true self has awakened
for the first time again.

Bird on the wing
Wind rushing free
A broken dance

It’s like being whole
for the firs time again.

Unified, all of me.