About Me

   

    Well-met, fellow travellers, and thank you for coming to check out my humble little corner! I’m Astrya—actually, I should clarify and allow that that’s actually not my real name, but it’s the pen name I use should I ever publish a book. But let me back up a moment. You’re probably wondering, who is this person and why do I need to know all this? Well, you don’t, but I’m going to tell you anyhow, in hopes that it may possibly make your sojourn here more pleasant. 

    So, where were we? Ah yes, book-publishing. Well, I haven’t gotten there quite yet, but hopefully someday! Meanwhile, my life is pretty much divided up into three categories: music, literature, and faith. 

    Music: I’m a classical violinist, and intend to study to be a professional. What form that will take I’m not quite sure yet, but I absolutely love music and it will always be part of my life. At the moment I’m participating in multiple ensembles, as well as spending quite a bit of time with my solo repertoire. For fellow classical music-lovers out there, here’s a Short List of pieces for your enjoyment: 

Sergei Rachmaninoff—Cello Sonata in G Minor

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov—Scheherazade

Sergei Rachmaninoff—Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Sergei Rachmaninoff—Piano Trio Élégiaque in G Minor

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—Sérénade mélancolique in B Minor

Felix Mendelssohn—Violin Concerto in E Minor

Alright, that was a little longer than short, but I do love these pieces and would Absolutely Recommend checking them out! (As you can see I rather like Rachmaninoff!)

Literature: in addition to my music life, I also love reading and writing. Whenever I have a spare moment (of which there are few) I can usually be found doing one of those two things. I particularly love J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, and practically anything by C.S. Lewis. You’ll notice they come up quite frequently in—well, in anything I do. As for writing, I’ve been scribbling works of various quality since age eleven, and usually tend to wander about the realms of fantasy and science fiction most frequently. A couple of my current projects are listed below. 

Taleweaver

 

Status: Just beginning the first draft

 

Genre: Fantasy

 

Synopsis: The Creator endows each of the people of Llewelyn with a Gift, one beautiful and powerful in order to cultivate Creation and glorify Him. 

Sahera’s gift is Taleweaving. Ever since she was a wee child, she’s loved stories and worlds of imagination and spinning tales of wonder. The problem? Sahera is a Lynx, a slave trained as a deadly assassin in an order is trained to eliminate threats to the kingdom and to its king. And this time, her target is the king himself.

King Tyr of Llewelyn is dead. His son Aranthil has taken the throne, only he’s not the benevolent monarch his father was. He rules through fear, murder, and injustice—and the last straw comes not long after his coronation. He marries, and the next morning his wife is dead. Stabbed through the heart. That’s when the drawings are established. Every night, there is a new bride. Every morning, she disappears. Sahera’s new assignment is to eliminate this threat. She volunteers as his latest prize, giving him a truth serum, and then discovers not all is as it seems.

Aranthil isn’t the one killing the girls. 

He’s not even the one ruling the kingdom. 

But if Sahera doesn’t kill him, she’ll be the next target. 

So she tells stories. Every night, she weaves a tale of treachery and deceit, of love and loss, until she can decipher her own Story. 

Inspired by: Scheherazade by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsokov; Arabian Nights

    

Seller of Dreams

 

Status: Midway through the first draft

 

Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi

 

Synopsis: The unspoken rules are ingrained in the minds of all. Religion is forbidden. Love is out of the question. And most of all, never question the will of the Council.

The Council of Arinae has undertaken to create the perfect society. The cities are small and defensible. And the things that make anyone - be it an individual or a group - the most vulnerable are forbidden. Asking questions. Belief in God. Love. 

Their soldiers are trained from childhood to be the quickest, most brutal attackers. Once they come of age at eighteen, the boys (and only boys) become full citizens of the military. But only the most gifted are chosen for the most respected position - that of assassin. Boys ages twelve to fifteen are sent to each city as a spy, secretly watching for any sign of rebellion or questioning of any sort. 

Only, one of them is not a boy.

Eithryn Blair lives deep in the woods with her brother since the deaths of her parents. She has two identities the public sees - one as a beautiful but slightly dim seventeen-year-old, and the other as a fourteen-year-old boy assassin. Neither, of course, is who she really is. 

Before the deaths of her parents, Eithryn was enrolled in the training academy along with her twin brother Cerrus. While his attendance was legal, hers was not. A few years later they elected her the assassin for a particular town which in the past had been known for rebellion. What they don’t know is that she’s rebelling too.

Here’s a link if you’d like to preview the first chapter! 

    I do hope these intrigues you! Let me know :)

    And now, possibly the most important aspect in my life—as all these other things are subject to that—my Christian faith and devotion to God. 

    Of course I’m not perfect. Nobody is. But without Jesus I’d be completely and utterly lost. He has been my hope and stay for as long as I can remember—thanks to my wonderful family who has instructed me in the faith and supports me when I fall short—which, admittedly, is often. It is thanks to them that I am the way that I am, and for the glory of God that I pursue the things I love. 

"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." —Isaiah 40:31

——

Thanks be to God! 

Namarië,

Astrya