FIRST LOOK: Demavoths

Ever wondered what one of these so-called Demavoths looks like? Here is the very first partially released illustration of one of the key Demavoths in the Legend of the Twelve Gems. Although all Demavoths are pure spirit and are genderless, this one appears in the form of an attractive Seer who goes by the name of Tashfateen or "Tash" as she nicknames herself. In this partial illustration, she is depicted in the early stages of her transformation from her alluring appearance to a beastly demon. Already claws are sprouting and her long braid with a living serpent's head at the end is lashing back and forth.

Things you did not know about Tash and the Demavoths-

• Tash has a gemstone in the shape of an upside-down triangle embedded in her forehead. The downturned triangle has a double meaning for the Demavoths: first, it blatantly opposes the upturned triangle used within the triune symbol of the IAM; second, in some Eastern practices, the downturned triangle denotes knowledge. Demavoths possess a thorough knowledge of good and evil, so this downturned triangle is very appropriate.
• Demavoths prey on other mortals, including the Twelve Gems, by playing with and twisting their minds, emotions, and wills, and tempting their human appetites. Each mortal unknowingly has at least one of these Demavoths as a prime tormentor just as they have one Gem Lord to guard them and help protect them from such dangers. Tash is Turquoise's (a.k.a. Galvin's) prime Demavoth.
• As mentioned in an earlier post, all spirits have a specific function that helps to define their form. Tash's function is to seduce and destroy. Now in Nocristian tradition, the serpent is a symbol of power and seduction as are the colors red and green - a deadly combination. Tash wears a green blouse and has hypnotic green eyes when she first meets Turquoise in her physical form, and when she begins her transformation into her true Demavothic form, her long braid turns into a snake. Connecting the dots yet?
• Have you ever had those moments where you thought you saw something or someone out of the corner of your eye, and when you looked, nothing was there? It could have easily been a Gem Lord or a Demavoth. It's true! The Gem Lords and Demavoths are based on real angels and demons. Although they are usually invisible to the mortal eye, sometimes they want to make their presence known, so they might imitate a shadow or some kind of movement in a person's peripheral vision. A Demavoth might do this to tease the mortal and instill a fear in its prey which empowers it, while a Gem Lord might do this to reassure the mortal they he/she is being guarded against evil. Regardless of the type of spirit, the mortal could take this as a hint that they are always being watched by someone.

I hope this has helped you understand a little more about the Demavoths and Tashfateen. Any more questions? Don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below. Until next time, beware of the Demavoths!

Sneak Peak at One of the First Official Illustrations

The Legend of the Twelve Gems will be an illustrated series. I personally believe that illustrations engage the reader in a way that the written word cannot. In an essence, illustrations are a piece of writing in themselves because they can add a great deal of visual information to the story. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Here is the very first completed illustration, depicting one of the Gems (I'll leave her unnamed for the moment) being comforted by a Swarla, one of the beautiful, fantastical creatures that roam the world of Nocrist. They are seated on one of the balconies of the many livable trees in the Swarla community, those of which can be seen in the background. This illustration still lacks stars in the sky which will be added later digitally, so this is a very raw version.

I drew this illustration myself under a different name, using charcoal and ebony. The higher quality version will appear in the published book.
Hope you like it!

When Worlds Collide

Wow! It's been a long time since the last post. Anyway...school has been out for a few weeks for the college students, and that gives me more writing time. Since you all have been so patient, I've decided to let you in on a little more of the content of The Legend of the Twelve Gems: Zannophia.


Thus far, you should know that the twelve protagonists of the story are ordinary children from our world who have been transported to the exceedingly wealthy and beautiful world of Nocrist. Here they are dubbed as Gems (a state of being higher than a mortal but considerably lower than a Gem Lord) by the great Queen Crystal, the Guardian of Zannophia. Think of the Gem's state as that of a Gem-Lord-in-training or better yet, like a Medieval Page training for Knighthood (becoming a Gem Lord). It's a fairly simple parallel.


What sets the Gems apart from the rest of mortality, however, is that they are given the ability to see the coexistence of two worlds -- the mortal world and the spirit world. Gem Lords can see both worlds in perfect clarity since they themselves are 100% pure spirit, but Gems can only see pieces of the spirit world as they have an undeveloped sensitivity to the supernatural.


All spirits of Nocrist are referred to as "Gem Lords" because they all originated from the same place. However, the term "Demavoth" is used to identify a dark spirit while good spirits are simply called "Gem Lords." Each spirit has a specific function that helps to define their form (more on that in a future post). The various spirits, both good and bad, can choose make themselves invisible and undetectable to the untrained eye and mind of a Gem. At most (unless the spirit purposefully reveals itself), the Gems will only be able to detect the most basic form of the spirit and will only see it in a clarity that reflects their personal familiarity and understanding with that spirit's faculties and functions. Some spirits are harder to see than others due to the fact that some Gems have a harder time recognizing certain aspects of good and evil than others. For instance, if a Gem is struggling with pride, they will not be able to fully recognize Demavoths associated with pride so long as he/she is willing to let him/herself be consumed by it. However, when a Gem has learned to fully discern a certain good or evil, they will be able to see it in the same detailed clarity as a Gem Lord. This is the core journey to becoming a Gem Lord.


In the end, self-mastery will permit the Gems to see the entire spirit world and enable a clear understanding of how to defeat the Demavoths.


That's all I'm sharing for now.
What I'd like to do for the summer is post something new every week just to keep you updated on my writings (and hype you up of course!) I'm going to try my best. Thanks for your patience and keep up the fabulous support.

A Few Scene Revelations...and Possible Trailer?

Hello all!

I know, it's been awhile. A very long while. I've been so busy with school, it has not been easy keeping up with the writing. Thankfully, this four-week break from school has given me the opportunity to write more and complete more chapters.

Speaking of which, I just completed two more chapters along with a few important scenes throughout LTG: Zannophia. I don't write from beginning to end as many young writers might do. I write as things come into my mind. I will say that it is imperative that a writer should have a basic structure to their plot as well as plenty of back story, which I have found makes for a really good mystery element.

For your patience I am going to reveal a handful of scenes I've written over the past couple of weeks. These scenes will include:

• A Gem Lord's grand mansion surrounded by a lavish water garden
• The revelation of a Gem Lord in disguise
• A battle between a Gem and a Demavoth
• An explanation of Veniale and Mortale, two types of "peccatum" or transgressions, as well as the grim visuals of Veniale. You probably won't want to know what Mortale looks like...at least not yet.
• An introduction of the beautiful white, winged creatures called Swarlas (which some might say look like a cross between a swan, a dragon, and fantastical elements).

That is all I'm going to reveal about LTG: Zannophia at the moment. I'm working hard on it right now, so please be patient. But please don't stop bugging me about it. The more you ask about it, the more motivation I will have to write.

As a final thought, I was thinking about constructing and releasing a possible teaser trailer for the book. How does everyone feel about that?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments below or post your thoughts on my facebook page, which is now up and running >> http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Xena-Quill/125446854210649?sk=info
Thank you, as always, for your loyalty and support. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Character Profiles Complete

Good news everyone: I finally completed the digital, full-color cartoon renderings of the Twelve Gems and they are now ready for viewing. You can find them all on my website (http://www.xenaquill.com/) under the character profiles, or by following this link: http://xenaquill.com/index.php?p=2_20

I also made the navigation on the profiles a little easier, so please be sure to visit my site.

Another thing is that I've added the Twelve Gems to the Galleries tab on the Xena Quill website. You can view all the characters there too. Enjoy!

Please note that I am still working on my website, so not everything will be available. Thank you for your loyalty and patience.

Book Bites: Ballroom Dances and Car Chases

My first "Book Bite"...a series of posts in which you recieve behind-the-scene insights on the building of the story.

So, I just finished writing two very important scenes in Legend of the Twelve Gems: Zannophia. One is a ballroom scene (which I think many girls will be interested in reading), and the other is an epic car chase which is guaranteed to be unique from all others in existence.

From writing these two scenes, I have been oh-so appreciative of the value of research. If there's one thing I love other than art or writing, it's research. If I ever find myself wondering about something, or if I have a question that no one has the answer to, I will run on down to the library or pull up the Internet search engines and buckle down on some serious research.

For the ballroom scene, I had to research dances from the Regency Era (the times in which Jane Austen lived). I watched the dances from the Pride and Prejudice movies, and even picked up a little from the choreographed dancing sequences in Taylor Swift's music video for "Love Story." I then did online research on the style of the Regency dances, some of the basic steps, the stances and mannerisms of the dancers, etc. When the research was done, I was able to confidently (and as accurately as possible) write the scene, listening to Classical Baroque music for additional audiotory inspiration. I think it came out well.

Then came the car chase! I personally love cars and wanted to include them in my book. I visited to the library and borrowed many movies that included car chases. These included the three Bourne films, The Fast and the Furious, The French Connection, The Italian Job (the 1969 Michael Caine film), and Bullitt. I even went through my personal movie collection and watched the car chasing scenes from Transformers (2007) and Vantage Point, and watched Pixar's Cars 2 in theaters. I did not have time to watch all of these movies (excluding Cars 2), and not all of them were necessarily the most appropriate kinds of films to watch (e.g. Fast and the Furious), so I skipped straight to the car chases and repeated them a few times, studying them very carefully, sometimes even frame by frame, and taking notes on the driving stunts and styles.

Following the film watching, I borrowed a few books about cars from the library, studying about the vehicles' innards and their functions. I even discussed at length with my father and brother about the physics of driving and car crashes. To them, I am most grateful for their help in the design of the chase. I then sketched out (with a little assistance from my brother) a rough map of the chase that was to take place in the book. When it was finished, I transferred that data into the story, listening to intense music from the Tron: Legacy Soundtrack, Transformers Score and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Score for additional inspiration, and BINGO! I had written, designed, and choreographed my own car chase.

I am really excited about the completion of these two big chapters in LTG: Zannophia. I am becoming more and more anxious to have this book finished and published. Keep your eyes peeled for more Book Bites.

Welcome to the official Xena Quill Blog!

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