Adventuring with a toddler
Nov 12, 2021 11:01 pm
Children give penalties for saving throws
It's funny that Lewis and Clark get credit for being such grand adventurers when Sacajawea did the same thing they did but with a baby strapped to her back. Wyvern's Curse, Kit Melbourne's tenth book, brings out how much children cramp your style when you're caring for small, fragile humans. (No, Wyvern's Curse isn't done yet, but I'm past 100K words so I'm closer.)
My daughter has a close friend who's expecting, and she talks about this friend like you talk about someone who moved to another country. Like, well, we lost her because she's entering the realm of parenthood now. I think a lot of us have experienced this, either from the parent side or the side of someone who lost a friend because they had a baby and got sucked into the orbit of its gravitational pull.
I think storytellers eschew having heroines with children for the same way that aliens on other planets all speak comprehensible English--it just simplifies things. But life is messy, and a lot of us do procreate. Even if you never have kids, the burden of parenthood will effect you. Pour one out for our dear friends, who can't have fun anymore because they have small people to watch.
Shapeshifter's Turf is the first book in which Kit has a baby to care for. If you've had a baby, you know that it is often quite literally like having one hand tied. It's harder to fight vampires if you took your heart out of your body and put it into a tiny child. But the point of stories isn't that heroines have it easy. And if you're a real badass, you'll enter the great unknown with a baby strapped on your back and show those boys how it's done.
Kit's first book as a new mother. Fighting evil werewolves is harder with a baby, but no one ever said Kit had it easy.
I’m Billie Stonewall, and people want me dead. How I ended up as the only witch in a high school full of witch hunters is my fault. But Shadowhurst Academy isn’t so bad… if I ignore the rising number of students who’ve turned up dead. (Amazon, Kobo)
Darius Luca Lazarescu, a local mortician and owner of the Balmont Funeral Home and Cemetery Properties, is a vampire. Life was somewhat calm for everyone until Darius' vices got the better of him and then he fell in love with the daughter of the local rich socialite. (Amazon)
A determined demon struggles against the lure of an angel as they work together to save Los Angeles, and hopefully their own souls too.
Gratuitous Cat Photo
Zinko got up there all by himself.
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