Jon Sparks

@jonsparksauthor

After more than 30 years, and 60 books, as an outdoor writer and photographer, I’m now fully focused on fiction with the Shattered Moon series. AI-free (and I mean free).

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Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· 25d

#WIPSnips 18/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are 43 instances of ‘next’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"He said, 'I'm not going to make headway with Lady Torvyn if I keep threatening her with lawyers. But if she thinks she's won me over, that I accept her claim to the title, that I respect what he father had done, all they're doing now… then there's every chance she'll agree to marry me.' And I rather think… Your being here, the very next day… why would you do that if you weren't at least half convinced?"
Torvyn gripped her hands more tightly together; a little pain to draw the anger and the fear, to help maintain the carapace. "And if all that's true, why is he not here now?"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· 26d

#WIPSnips 15/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘acquire’. Four of ‘buy’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

He might not know all the details, and he’d never read the biography of Jerya—though he’d had the notion to buy a copy if only to leave it lying around so he might see his mother’s reaction. But since that reaction could conceivably reach as far as apoplexy, he had, so far, thought better of it.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· 27d

#WIPSnips 15/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are five instances of ‘coach’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

An impulsive decision, a prime romantic destination; yes, one could very well construe that in a highly promising light. Certainly one might feel justified in booking a seat on the early express the next morning. And when he had not quite managed to catch up with the coach he’d calculated must be carrying her from Mearslet to Lakes-town, what could be more reasonable for a young(ish) man of good fortune than to hire a private gig and driver? That, he reckoned, might very well impress a young lady as a romantic gesture.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· 29d

#WIPSnips 14/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘phase’. Just four of ‘stage’, only three of them in the appropriate sense . #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

He entered at her call, and saw at once where she stood, and that there was no brush in her hand. He knew by now that the easel faced away from the door for a reason, and that Tor did not invite anyone to see a work until it was in its final stages. When she beckoned him to her side, he brightened.
He had also worked out, or intuited, very early on, that few things irritated her more than false or ill-considered praise. Of course, the penalty for this was suspense, as he stood considering for what might have been a full minute.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 13

#WIPSnips 13/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are 87 instances of ‘almost’. Which is almost too many, but not quite. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

“I would have had to be blinkered indeed not to see that Torvyn, and her mother, were not as I had been brought up to believe. Well, my mother had little to say about Lady Torvyn, as she was, beyond occasional disdainful comments when her name appeared in the newspaper. Her appearance, her resolve to forge a career for herself—almost anything could be portrayed as unladylike…” A sharper, higher tone, in imitation of his mother. “Blood will tell, and that mother of hers has no ancestry whatsoever… Yes, her real vitriol was always reserved for Countess Jerya—not that she ever allowed her the title. Fortune-hunter, conniving—there was more, and worse, as you can doubtless imagine. And Hedric Pendeen never had the backbone to stand up to a woman like that…

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 12

#WIPSnips 12/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are five instances of ‘extra’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

And if anyone had forgotten the 'wretched hole' reference, Astrick had reminded them almost the moment they’d entered: word for word if Gaf’s memory were any guide; "'By thunder,' said Lady Telfrid, 'This is a wretched hole.'"
Gaf supposed it was, but she’d been able to point out that it was considerably improved since the time of Telfrid and Numikès’s Crossing—or, since that was fiction, Sumyra and Vireddi’s. It was a quarter of a century ago, and the Crossing carried significantly more traffic now. There was a whole extra room now, built out lean-to style, used for storing excess gear, cooking, and so on, and a sheltered passage to the latrine, meaning that the original cave was used solely for sleeping; and the original entrance had been enlarged; it was still low, but you only needed to stoop, not to crawl.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 11

#WIPSnips 11/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘attack’, but 23 of ‘challenge’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

He glanced down at a paper in his hand; the notes his daughter had taken during Gafeira’s opening. "Miss Wradden is perfectly correct that Mistress Tegwen’s daughter and Countess Torvyn are first cousins, while the Honourable Wandope is a second cousin. On this initial consideration, the only grounds on which I might anticipate any challenge are that Mistress Tegwen and the Dowager Countess are, strictly speaking, only half-sisters. There might, conceivably, be a dispute over whether what we might then call a half first cousin still represents closer consanguinity than a second cousin."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 10

#WIPSnips 10/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 (and final) of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘substitute’, just one of ‘replacement’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"Come to that," said Jerya, "Was there a reason you didn’t Sojourn when you graduated?"
"My father’s previous clerk had left rather abruptly, and he was trying to recruit a replacement. I could at least help with routine tasks; note-taking, filing, that sort of thing. And it wasn’t bad preparation for my degree." Gaf wasn’t sure, but she thought there was a hint of regret in her tone.
"So you probably would have…"
Wrayneth shrugged. "I suppose. Some of my best friends were going… I was still apprehensive; I’ve never been the most confident, physically, but I didn’t want to look feeble in front of everyone." A sheepish sort of shrug. "It was partly a relief, though, when I saw my father needed the help."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 9

#WIPSnips 9/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are 30 instances of ‘keep’, two in this excerpt. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Wandope considered what he’d seen; how he’d recount it if reporting back to his mother.
The estate, first. The approach was just as his father had described it to him years ago; the mile-long drive, initially through fine woods, gradually opening into parkland; the place where riders and carriages were expected—prompted—to stop at a widening to admire the set-piece view. There had been an engraving of just that view on the wall of his father’s study. He wondered, now, at the impulse that had led him to keep such a reminder of what he had expected to gain, and had lost. A reminder he’d see every day.
If you wanted to keep a grudge alive, he supposed, that would serve very well.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 8

#WIPSnips 8/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘humid’. I’ve stretched a point and gone with ‘drizzle’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

First Court, Second Court…; the names were all familiar, and the geography, the way the flagstones shone slick in the drizzle. But it was only on the stairs that it really came home to her exactly where they were going.
Then she was in the room, and her vision blurred. There were hands at her elbows, soft enquiring voices, concerned faces: Gafeira and Wrayneth. They guided her to a chair, and she said, “I need a few moments,” and put her face in her hands.
She was distantly aware of movement, others entering, but it was all she could do to settle herself, collect her thoughts, sit up. A deep breath, another. “I’m sorry. It just… Fifty years ago—fifty years and a couple of months; I stood in this room and Perriad changed my life.”

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 7

#WIPSnips 7/7: #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are 14 instances of ‘quarter’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"But not for this Fulmer fellow?"
"No, and he is senior enough to throw his weight around."
Wandope drank meditatively for a moment. "It strikes me that if he’s using that argument, it must potentially affect all the Velyadero graduates, not just the women."
"Yes, of course." G cast a regretful eye on a glass now no more than a quarter full. "And that’s why he’s incensed so many, not just the particular supporters of the females. But it also means there’s another point of leverage—and, believe me, Wand, there are plenty who want to lean on it."
"So what’s likely to happen?"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 5

#WIPSnips 5/7: Starting this week, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are five instances of ‘bench’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Instead of visiting the stables, where she’d thought an encounter between Wandope and Vireddi might have proved enlightening—not least because Vireddi was as acute a judge of character as anyone she knew—she drew him aside, into the walled garden, though she avoided Papa’s favourite bench amid the herbs and found another under an espaliered peach tree. "There’s something you want to say," she said bluntly.
He gave one slow but emphatic nod. "Yes. Doubtless I should have mentioned it yesterday… but the conversation took another turn."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 4

#WIPSnips 4/7: Starting this week, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are 12 instances of ‘round’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

“No… but look, G, there is something I wanted to ask you. And I don’t know… your wife did say not to keep you too late.”
“No, but I think… for a special occasion, I think we might stretch to a third. So say… whatever it is… and then we’ll have another round and see where it all takes us."
"Very good… well, I won’t go into all the detail about how I came to take an interest in this. But one piece of the jigsaw is… as you may know, Dowager Countess Jerya—whom I may call my aunt—is Master of the Ladies’ College of the University of Velyadero."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 3

#WIPSnips 3/7: Starting this week, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are 128 instances of ‘out’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"Well, sir, yow know it’s more’n forty years since, but I remember this almost like yesterday. He—yowr father—got so’s he’d had enough and out he came with, 'Speak clearly, you old fool!’"
"His exact words?"
"I’d swear to it. And I’d swear to what the Earl said back to him. He was clear enough then. One word at a time, but everyone in the room, four of us besides him, heard it. First it was, ’Get. Out.’ Yowr father tried to 'pologise then, but the Earl wasn’t havin' none of it. Told him, 'Shut… Up… Leave,' and then…" Again a gentle warmth suffused her face. "The last thing he said to him was… 'Fuck… Off.'"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jul 2

#WIPSnips 2/7: Starting this week, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are three instances of ‘knock/knocking’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

She found her, unsurprisingly, in the Bursar’s office, head bent over a sheaf of what looked like invoices. Choobaz glanced up abstractedly, but her demeanour changed as she saw Torvyn. She sprang up, almost knocking her chair over, and in three quick strides was grasping her by both hands. But that was not enough; and if she asked permission it was only with her eyes before wrapping her strong arms around her.
"I’m so sorry about your father, m’lady." Their settled custom; Choobaz would address her formally just once, and that would be it, as long as they were in private. It had been that way a long time, since the weeks—months, really—that they had worked together, often just the two of them, getting the building ready for occupation. Tor hoped that nothing would change, just on the trivial grounds that she was now the Countess.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 30

#WIPSnips 30/6: Starting today, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘tournament’ and just one of ‘competed’ #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

While Vireddi was busy at the stove, she talked with Mavrys, matters not inconsequential, but not heavy to her mind like the question she wanted to ask them. The welfare of the horses, especially her own favourites, and the prospects for approaching races. Mavrys was looking forward particularly to the debut of the new jockey, Coreth; as far as anyone knew it would be the first time a female had competed on level terms with men on an official track. Torvyn, who knew very well what Mavrys thought of the usual 'Ladies Chases' and the like, said, "I don't want to make promises I can't keep, and you know how it is at the moment… But I'll be there if I can."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 29

A Study in Starlight—Chapter Nineteen Continuing this serialised novel, in which Holmes and Watson find themselves very far indeed from Victorian/Edwardian London open.substack.com/pub/theshatt...

Iconic Sidney Paget image of Sherlock Holmes set against a starry background. Title A Study in Starlight and author’s name.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 29

#WIPSnips 29/6: Starting today, #WIPSnips are from The Skilthorn Inheritance, Book 9 of The Shattered Moon. There are ten instances of ‘water’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Remembering her advice to the Sojourners, she took a long draught of water. At eleven, twelve, ‘Tarry’ and Gaf might both have relished climbing trees, cared nothing about a scraped knee; but when they’d met, at sixteen, they both had a different outlook. For Gaf at that age, nothing was likely to surpass the excitement of being a bridesmaid at Kell’s wedding—the planning and anticipation almost more than the day itself. Picking out their matching dresses, and helping Ysutèni settle on her own choice (which, she rather suspected now, had pretty much amounted to making the choice for her).

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 28

#WIPSnips 28/6: For one final time, #WIPSnips are from Conversations and Crevasses, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. Tomorrow, Book 9, The Skilthorn Inheritance. There is just one instance of ‘sensational’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Vireddi took a moment to reply. Beyond the ill-fitting door, the general hubbub of the Buscoe went on. "I’ve been wary about it," she said. "Th’ publishers keep tellin’ me publicity is good, but seems like the people they suggested wanted to make too much of a… sensational story of it."
"You are remarkable," said Settram. "And isn’t there always an argument that if you don’t tell your own story, you leave the field open for people to supply their own versions?"
"I see that," said Vireddi. "And I read what Mester Kerriel said in his dissertation. And, if they agree, and if they pay, it’s helping yow out, isn’t it?"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 27

#WIPSnips 27/6: #WIPSnips are from Conversations and Crevasses, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon—for the final week. Moving to Book 9 on Monday. There are three instances of ‘root’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Minds might boggle at the thought of an Earl and a Countess getting involved in such work, covered in dust or paint-scrapings; but now he’d seen them both in their home setting, it wasn’t quite so hard to credit.
Torvyn returned to her theme. "Letters… I’d get two or three letters from Velyadero every week. I’d get envious, reading about the wonderful time they were having and thinking I’d be getting up again the next morning to go and root about in an attic full of junk and cobwebs, or whatever that day held… but still, those letters were one of the things that kept me going."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 26

#WIPSnips 26/6: #WIPSnips are from Conversations and Crevasses, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There is one instance of fox—well, ‘foxiest’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Torvyn laughed freely, a clear, ringing, peal—very like her mother, as Kell now knew. "I’ll forgive you that one. But tell me, Fedwyn—or may I call you Fed?"
He shrugged, "Be my guest." Yes, she’d done a fine job, in just a few minutes, of setting him at ease.
""Tell me, then, Fed… I’m guessing you’ve also done a dissertation over the summer?"
"I have, yes."
"And I hope you’ve had no tribulations over your marks like poor Kell?"
"No, Torvyn, but—" His foxiest grin. "I also haven’t ended up with a First. I’ve had to settle for an Upper Second."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 25

#WIPSnips 25/6: #WIPSnips are from Conversations and Crevasses, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. I knew there’d be no instances of ‘pyramid’. Among other words for ‘pointy thing’ there are three of ‘peak’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"Well," he said, "It’s almost a shame your hair isn’t longer on top, and we could sleek it back. Still… you make a surprisingly convincing young man."
"Not every girl would take that as a compliment," she said, but she grinned. "I suppose you wouldn’t know me if you passed me in the street…?"
"Ysu, I’d know you anywhere. Right across the glacier, on the next peak…"
"Kell, you’re a romantic fool…" She turned to the mirror again. "D’you really think I can carry this off? For a whole day?"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 24

#WIPSnips 24/6: #WIPSnips are from… we reviewed the title yesterday. Conversations and Crevasses, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. And there are no instances of ‘finale’, but 41 of ‘final/finally’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

And will I be grateful to Singer Zeilat when you—finally—tell me why you’re here?"
Tari took a deep breath, looking at the three women; Railu and Ysutèni seated either side of the bed, Dortis standing at the foot. What she needed to say, she had never said aloud before, not in any plain way. Avi had known, or guessed, something close to the truth. Her Ma—Avi’s Ma—too. She might have said, 'puttin’ on a skirt don’t make you a girl'—but she had given Tari the skirt. Dawnsinger Zeilat—well, she’d never been sure how much the Singer had understood. Who knew, with Dawnsingers? And Jemmish, in the inn at Kerrsands Bay; ever a woman of few words, Tari had always had a feeling she understood more than she let on.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 23

#WIPSnips 23/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. A happy world where football is unknown, and there are no instances of ‘penalty’. Two instances of ‘punish’ are as close as we get. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"Well…" There was the sense of a shrug in her tone. "I don’t have privileged information on the royal finances. It wasn’t discussed in front of young princesses; and lately I only have access to the same sources as you: textbooks, the Denvirran journals."
"Which all seem to imply that the strongrooms of the Palatine are all but bursting at the seams." He waited; the coach creaked and swayed; but she said nothing, and the thought that had been gathering inside him burst out. "Doesn’t it seem… vindictive? Like he’s punishing you—us?"

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 22

#WIPSnips 21/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There are 24 instances of ‘draw/drawing’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Torvyn cast her gaze around the small room. "Would I be right in thinking that, after Vireddi, I’m the only other one here who earns her own living?" She saw Fedwyn’s surprise, smiled. "I know what people think: Earl’s daughter, must be rolling in it. In fact, I haven’t drawn a penny from the estate since the first year in Denvirran—well, eighteen months, nearly. I get something from the Fellowship for my work there, but it’s only a day, day and a half, a week; just about covers room and board. The rest comes from my work, portraits and illustration."
"Like the illustrations for Tales From The Sung Lands," said Kell.
"One of my favourite projects."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 21

#WIPSnips 21/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There are seven instances of ‘jacket’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

He might have known he wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly. The prospect of a 'serious talk' was only marginally more reassuring than that of a full-on 'sarc-ripping' session. It made it easy to clean his pen, stopper the ink-bottle, and pull on his jacket in good time.
The Buscoe Arms was hardly ever quiet, but it was full of odd little corners where two or three friends could sit in confidence that no one else would hear them over the background bustle and hum. He found Fed waiting in one such nook, with, as promised, two pints on the table, his own lowered by no more than an inch.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 20

#WIPSnips 20/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There is just one instance of ‘lounge’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"That was Torvyn," she said. "Lady Torvyn, I should say." Her face brightened. "She’s here now… would you like to meet her?"
She didn’t wait for an answer, just led him out of the room, across the entrance-hall, and into the facing room. A lounge or salon, he supposed, with several groupings of sofas and armchairs distributed around, but ample floor-space between; it could host a fair gathering, probably forty or fifty, without becoming crowded like the reception hall of last night.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 19

#WIPSnips 19/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There are 12 instances of ‘group’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

It must have been two hours since Turren’s pained and outraged yell had abruptly shattered the orderly evolutions of the gavotte, brought half the assembly hastening back to the dining room. As initial confusion resolved into one group around Turren, another around Tarivel, he couldn’t help noticing that the former were all male, the latter all female, until Skelber, after briefly checking on the injured man, had moved across.
Well, it was hardly to be wondered at if Turren’s friends were the ones who gathered around him, and naturally they were his contemporaries from school. It was the same around Tarivel, the ones he saw were her friends, or at least people she was connected to; Railu, Lady Torvyn, Gafeira.
A little odd, though, to see across the gap both his sister and his… wife.

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 18

#WIPSnips 18/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There are five instances of ‘resume(d)’. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"What I’m trying to say," he resumed, "Is that… well, given my natural affection for my sisters—and my mother, of course—then I pay heed when they—well, like your sisters, I suppose; when they disdain education for females; when they call it unfeminine, even unnatural. And then at school, around my fellows, I hear the same kind of talk, from the other side. The natural destiny of women is marriage and motherhood, that sort of thing."

Jon Sparks@jonsparksauthor· Jun 17

#WIPSnips 17/6: #WIPSnips are from An Honourable Estate, Book 8 of The Shattered Moon. There are no instances of ‘platform’, and just one of ‘stage’ in a similar sense. #books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity