Ellen Starsmore

I’ve enjoyed working on a new novel this month — writing about new characters on a new adventure is refreshing (and hard!) after years focusing on BTHD.

Maybe it’s time to start talking about the new WIP a little bit. 🤭

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 28
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

And so much scope for new stories in a big world!

I'm exploring cultural interactions with a natural magic, too. ☺️

Readers have called the magic system in Beyond the Humming Downs interesting, fresh and unique — which is pretty cool! 😆

I love the fact it’s a rhythmic energy and involves manipulation of rhythms.

#Febchantment — 27
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Beyond the Humming Downs launched last year in paperback and ebook. I’m contemplating getting an audio happening.

I do have a WIP in the first-draft stage. It’s linked to BTHD, but I haven’t talked about it much, yet. It's still rough and raw.

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 27
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

The Twilight of Literacy…? I swear, I know what the word doomscrolling means. After all, it’s been around since the twenty-teens, and was added to dictionaries several years ago now. I’ve regularly used the term, even in ess…

"We aren’t just writers. We must be literary emissaries. Bookish ambassadors. Reading lifestyle advocates."

⬆️ This!

📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

writerunboxed.com/2026/02/25/t...

Ellir is in the fabric of the world. There’s a group of scholars researching its history and origins, along with how different cultures engage.

Historic events: cataclysmic destruction of ellir to form mysterious deadlands for no known reason (yet).

#Febchantment — 25
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

I’ve always loved fantasy, love stories (or romance — but I don’t consider them the same thing) and mysteries. Give me all those in one package, and I’m so excited to read that book.

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 25
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Beyond the Humming Downs is a book about who's allowed to wield magic.

Themes include:

equality 🌟 agency 🌟 self-discovery 🌟
worldview change 🌟 kindness

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 24
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Among the Fiugreh clans, all zehla (users of earth magic) must be trained by the Vuusah out on the grasslands.

But… what happens if they’re not?

It’s a big world with plenty of magic to go around… (it’s what the book’s about)

#Febchantment — 24
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

In Beyond the Humming Downs, with few exceptions, every significant character wields magic.

Or has had their magic previously stripped away.

Or is about to lose control of their magic.

It’s a book about who's allowed to wield magic.

#Febchantment — 22
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

In Beyond the Humming Downs, Adehl has lied about her background to gain admittance to the Order that trained her magic. She’s lived that lie for 10 years… before the house of cards comes falling down.

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 23
#indiefantasy 📚🪐 💙 🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Let’s see… magic is the whole point of the story. 😆

Beyond the Humming Downs is about ellir (an “earth” magic or energy) and who gets to wield it. Adehl has lied to be trained and now faces being stripped of her affinity because of genetics. Not fair!

#Febchantment — 22
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

This moment comes in the opening scene of Beyond the Humming Downs. It’s the prelude to the moment when the MCs meet…

I posted this earlier for a different challenge (theme of mundane magic) — so, apologies if you see it twice!

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 21
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

This moment comes in the opening scene of Beyond the Humming Downs.

It’s the prelude to the moment when the MCs meet and magic becomes very much NOT mundane…

#Febchantment — 21
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

I write fantasy ‘with love, hope and adventure’. 😆

My vibe is character-focused, immersive second world, personal stakes within a broader conflict. ☺️

How about you?

Thanks! The origins of the ‘greeting’ came right at the start: I have two characters whose energies meld spontaneously (forming a soulbond) and I needed an excuse for them touch. 🤣

“Magic” is subtle in my world, but the energy pervades everything. The MCs habitually read the vibes of others — among their kind, a simple greeting involves a feather-exchange of energy via touched palms.

#Febchantment — 20
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Let me brighten your day with photos of my writing companion. He seems to think my desk is his bed… But he does give good cuddle.

(Always chocolate before candies!)

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 20
#blueskycats #lovecats 💙🐈

🧵[3/3] Then, in the multinational city, the MCs meet some scholars who are learning about ellir across the world. Their knowledge is 🤯.

The scholars include some Vuusah who have left the narrow-minded order to sell their services / embrace enlightenment.

I could go on, but…

#Febchantment — 19

🧵[2/3] In Beyond the Humming Downs, the Vuusah believe they’re the custodians of ellir — and try to control who interacts with it. They live on grasslands in harmony with the land, training others on a selective basis.

(But they live in a tiny corner of the world…)

#Febchantment — 19

🧵 [1/3] Eeep! This question is a major underlying theme in Beyond the Humming Downs and books to come in this world.

Ellir (earth magic/energy) has shaped cultures in different ways — but of course every culture thinks theirs is the only way…

#Febchantment — 19
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

For those who can meld with ellir, it’s a soul-deep, almost divine experience. So, there’s that.

More practical benefits: learning the history of an object, finding lost things, discerning truth/lies, healing, manipulating people (immoral use)…

#Febchantment — 18
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Author beware: Book club scam targeting writers
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
jasonsanford.substack.com/p/g...

[2/2] In BTHD, the Vuusah regulate ellir; their precepts should prevent misuse (e.g. compulsion). But they rely on a moral code.

So, new methods of magical enforcement (using compulsion 🙄) are on the rise…

then the stupid rule: impure bloodlines get quelled, not trained.

#Febchantment — 17

[1/2] This is a big question!

Who decides what’s allowed when it comes to magic? How is it regulated? What about in neighbouring nations?

Then there’s “legal” versus moral and fair.

These are some of the themes explored in Beyond the Humming Downs. ➡️

#Febchantment — 17
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

I love romance in fiction — either as subplot or main story.

If it’s a romance novel, any level of spice is part of the experience. 🤭

If fantasy: I adore/prefer fantasy books with love stories. But I can take or leave the spice. 🤷‍♀️

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 17
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

Ellir is a soft earth magic (energy) with passive and active uses. I’m still exploring its possibilities.

So far, the most powerful active use: forcing someone to answer questions during an interrogation (using a circle of wielders).

#Febchantment — 16
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

There are three main ways to use ellir (earth magic):

Empathiser — read/influence the energy of living beings

Limnor — read/influence the energy of inanimate objects

Noumenor (less common) — exert permanent influence on a body’s innate energy/rhythm

#Febchantment — 15
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️

EPIC LOVE STORIES

Fantasy:
Captive Prince trilogy by CS Pacat 🌈
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Kushiel’s Legacy by Jacqueline Carey

Non fantasy:
The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon 🌈
The Will Darling Mysteries by KJ Charles 🌈

#FantasyIndiesFebruary — 15
#indiefantasy 📚🪐💙🩷🧙‍♂️⚔️