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HikerAngel's Corner
eBooks:
Amazon
Gumroad
Smashwords (coming soon)
Audio Books:
Gumroad
Audible (coming soon)
I also write on commission . Frequently. Most of the stories that are credited "story concept by" someone else and "written by" me are commissioned stories. That said, I'm a little swamped at the moment with a backlog of story commission requests. But I'll be able to deliver new commissions probably by Januaryish after I work my way through what I already have cooking.
I'll also post new releases and other content to this thread from time to time... when I'm taking a break from writing.
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me on superwomenmania either by buying a copy of one of my stories, commissioning a story, or simply by leaving a kind or constructive note about one of my stories. Everyone here has been so welcoming. It really is a wonderful community, and I really enjoy writing for this audience!
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- HikerAngel
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I’ll start with Shadowgirl .
Some stories I outline in advance; some stories I just begin to write and ideas come along the way. Shadowgirl was of the latter variety. I wanted to write a story that revolved around a lesser superhero in a team of far more powerful/important superheroes. Basically, I was looking to write about the unimportant extra in a Justice League story.
I’m nowhere near as familiar with comic characters, though, as are others on the site. Having watched a couple of movies and having only read one such comic, I’m a little intimidated to try to do fan fictiony stuff. So I decided to simply use original characters, based on Justice League archetypes.
I wanted to use Wonder Woman, so she became Sapphire Valkyrie, a nordic version of the Greek amazon hero. Nordic mythology is one of the few that rivals Greek mythology, so it seemed a good substitute. She was the “invincible” superhero that I needed to be soundly beaten in the intro to establish just how impossibly powerful the villains of the story were. She was also there to show what Sam, the protagonist, longed to be. (I originally called her “Valkyrie” until I realized that was already a superhero name, so I simply added Sapphire in front. Sounded cool.
I also wanted to use Batman, so he became Raven. I probably should have disguised him a bit more, but he’s so original that I couldn’t think of a good surrogate that called on the same archetypes. I wanted Batman as a contrast to Sam. He wasn’t any more powerful than she was, but was respected in a way that she wasn’t because he did so much with what little he had. Subconsciously, that’s what drew Sam’s attraction to him.
Using pre-existing characters that built upon pre-established audience expectations really helped me understand why comics, which use so few words, tend to revolve around the same central characters for sustained lengths of time. It’s a very efficient way to bring depth to a character without needing many words. Just rely on all the development that has come before.
Stylistically, I wanted to go for a more minimalist writing style to more closely resemble the language in a comic book. I closed the powerthesaurus.org window that I normally leave open at all times, and forced myself to use simple, straightforward language. I also attempted to include more short sentences despite my natural tendency to write in a more flowery style. I’m not sure I was entirely successful in going for a very different narrative style, but I was able to at least lean in that direction, I think.
When I started, all I had in mind was taking the dramatic end of a story and turning it into the opening scene. The most powerful superhero in the world was beaten easily, and earth was forced to surrender. I had vague ideas for the protagonist to become more powerful, but that’s all.
Originally, I had the alien emperor as a woman because I thought that having a super powerful woman would be more popular with the audience for whom I was writing. But I changed her to a man because a hulking man felt more physically dangerous to me. I also didn’t have a lieutenant for him initially, but I added Xymon for two reasons. First, it made the emperor seem that much more powerful when even his subordinate could subdue Sapphire Valkyrie with ease. Second, it allowed me to draw Sam’s transformation out and let her level up to an intermediate level in the middle of the story and have fun with how that affected her relationships with Raven and Sapphire Valkyrie.
After I finished part 1, I realized where I wanted to go with the rest of the story. I wanted Sam to become more powerful, but to realize that there was a price to be paid for that power. I also wanted her to question who she was and be pushed to the brink of joining the enemy before seeing who they truly were and rejecting them. I wanted a sexy scene with her enemy because, well, sleeping with the wrong guy is just always a great way to throw a protagonist into complete turmoil. The fact that it also helped to turn her into the person she always wanted to become simply added to the inner conflict.
I went with first person because I felt the story would work best when told through Sam’s eyes. The conflict was largely internal, and the arc of the story centered around Sam.
Sapphire Valkyrie reacting poorly to being outclassed by Sam was only natural, and it helped to drive Sam closer to joining the aliens. I waited until nearly the end of the story to insert the exposition and explain why Sam was changing in order to keep things mysterious along the way, and to heighten the drama when Sam’s sister died. Andrea’s death was there for Sam to know what the enemy stood for and to know that the right thing to do was reject them.
In the final chapter, I knew that I wanted an epic battle scene. I’m not very good at writing action scenes, because they don’t particularly interest me. But I knew I needed something less one-sided than the usual lopsided, quick battles I normally write. It needed to be the climactic moment of the story. It also needed to show Sam just how powerful Raven actually was—despite the fact that he barely had any powers at all. His ability to bring about the emperor’s defeat using nothing but his wits attracted her to him still more.
Sapphire Valkyrie saving her life made Sam realize that even the most powerful heroes need help sometimes. And Sam needing her invisibility power, which she previously saw as useless, to defeat the emperor helped her to appreciate the gift she had initially. Sam’s arc was to come full circle and realize that even as the most powerful person imaginable, she still needed to rely on her team and their comparatively minor skills to defeat their enemy. It helped her realize why even the lesser heroes on the team (those like herself, initially) were important after all.
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- HikerAngel
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I've been writing a couple stories of my own for the past 2 years that I've struggled to finish, and a bunch of ideas as well. I think I'll bother you with some requests next year. For now, thank you for being one of the writers to look for to in this site.
Cheers.
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- HikerAngel
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- wf711022
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gum.co/Synergy1
Lunaris and Engineered Sorcery did such a wonderful job with it. I hope you enjoy it...
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- HikerAngel
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- HikerAngel
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- wf711022
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For any of my stories, I can provide you the text for translation (as I have for you in the past, wf ), but I don’t have the text for the stories that others wrote for that anthology. You may want to skip that one. Sorry!wf711022 wrote: I can't speak English. Can you provide the text version of this article after purchase?
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- HikerAngel
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- wf711022
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- Rjjt456
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Gorgeous Camilla, better known to the rest of the world as Hypergirl starts attending a new school, one which Violet rules with an iron fist. When Hypergirl puts Violet down on her first day, she thinks that she's put an end to the bully's reign. However, Camilla couldn't be farther from the truth. Violet discovers a secret that will make her more powerful--and more beautiful--than Hypergirl ever anticipated...
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- HikerAngel
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But that middle finger? Something off on the scale.
Shadar
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- shadar
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- koopa
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gum.co/Bully
I hope you enjoy it!
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- HikerAngel
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- wf711022
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The book is now live on Amazon Kindle as well.
www.amazon.com/dp/B08Q7QPQ32/
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- HikerAngel
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Awesome...
Just awesome.
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- Glaazius
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Glaazius wrote: Read it.
Awesome...
Just awesome.
same here!
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- smoki07
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- HikerAngel
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- malanchort
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- HikerAngel
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- HikerAngel
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HikerAngel wrote: In a Class of Her Own audio will be coming soon. Any other stories you’d like to see voiced?
Do you just want me to give you my credit card info in advance or will we continue this song and dance?
Give me it voiced:
Ashley's Envy
Corruption Parts 1-4
In a Class of Her Own - Part 2-3
The Sister Part 1-2
The Sister (Revised Edition)
Little Sister
Superstarter
Plus a continuation of:
In a Class of Her Own - Part 4 and beyond
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- static2097
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