WIP Wednesday – Tricksters & Heroes of the Heart

Well hello there, Story Quester. It’s Wednesday, which means I’ve got something new to share with you!

Work in Progress

Boys Love Collections

I’ve been moving full steam ahead on polishing up all of the short stories for the 3 collections. 

Collection 1 will be focused on short stories involving deities and the supernatural. And the working title for it will be, The Little Shrine at the Edge of the Road. I have a fairly good idea of which stories I’ll be including in this collection.

For the special collection of Fantasy and Dark Fantasy stories I’m basing on the 12 Days of Christmas, I’m thinking of maybe 12 Days of Kisses for the title. It might change, but that’s the title at the moment. I’ve outlined all the stories that will be included in this one and written some large chunks for some of them.

The final short story collection is basically stories that didn’t fit in the first 2. And the current title is Walk Me Home.

Well, that’s what I’ve got for you this week. I’m still waiting to hear whether my short story, A Ballad for the Granter of Impossible Wishes, will be appearing in the contest anthology or in my own collection.

Project Word Count

Word Count 12 Days of Kisses 13,942

Word Count Walk Me Home 22,156

Word Count The Little Shrine at the Edge of the Road 23,78

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My Weekly Book Recommendations

In honor of the Olympics, I’m featuring all sports books this week!

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1) Skater Boy

by Anthony Nerada

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all…until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.

Features: gay male main character
Genres & Tropes: Contemporary Fiction, Achillean Romance, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, based on a song
Sport: Ballet, Skateboarding 

FUN FACTS: It’s true that many don’t consider dance a sport, though it 100% is! In fact, several types of dance are included in the Olympics. That being said, ballet isn’t one of them. However, many of the techniques in ballet are used in other sports like gymnastics. Also skateboarding made its Olympic debut in the 2024 Summer Olympics! 

READ IT

2) The Foxhole Court

by Nora Sakavic

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

Features: demisexual male main character & other queer supporting characters
Genres & Tropes: Contemporary Fiction, Action, New Adult, Achillean Romance, college story, organized crime, slow burn romance, sports story, dark pasts
Sport: Exy (lacrosse) 

FUN FACT: Despite being played in Olympic exhibition matches lacrosse has never been an official Olympic sport. This is due to the rule requiring a sport to be played in at least 70 countries at a certain level to be nominated for entry into the Games. 

READ IT

This book series is in my Top 5 for sure hands down. It’s a Best of BookTok (though I read them years ago then reread them during the pandemic), and she just released the new book set in the same story universe this spring. 

3) Fence (vol 1)

by C.S. Pacat (Author) & Johanna the Mad (Illustrator)

Nicholas Cox is determined to prove himself in the world of competitive fencing, and earn his place alongside fencing legends like the dad he never knew, but things get more complicated when he’s up against his golden-boy half-brother, as well as sullen fencing prodigy, Seiji Katayama.

Nicholas, the illegitimate son of a retired fencing champion, is a scrappy fencing wunderkind, and dreams of getting the chance and the training to actually compete. After getting accepted to the prodigious Kings Row private school, Nicholas is thrust into a cut-throat world, and finds himself facing not only his golden-boy half-brother, but the unbeatable, mysterious Seiji Katayama…

Through clashes, rivalries, and romance between teammates, Nicholas and the boys of Kings Row will discover there’s much more to fencing than just foils and lunges.

Features: features a cast of queer characters 
Genres & Tropes: Contemporary Fiction, Achillean Romance, School Romance, Coming-of age, Young Adult, sports story, slow burn romance
Sport: Fencing (specifically èpèe)

FUN FACT: Fencing has 3 different styles and events for the Olympics: foil épée sabre/saber. Each uses a different style of fencing sword, has different rules for a valid strike. Fencing was also one of the original sports included in the modern Olympic Games.

READ IT

Well, I better get back to working on these short story collections, Story Quester. Until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat signing off.