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A. W. Slack | Epic Fantasy Author

@wordsandash

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WIP: Epic political fantasy about prophecy, power, & people who question both.
📖 Book I: 101k words drafted
⤵️ Explore Pnereth

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I’ve always believed that the best fantasy isn’t really about magic. It’s about people. People trying to do the right thing when every choice costs something. People who question the stories they were raised to believe. People who discover that courage is often quieter than glory.

That’s the story I’m trying to tell with The White Feather Saga.

It’s a world inspired by Ancient Greece instead of medieval Europe, where prophecy collides with politics, faith is something to wrestle with rather than blindly follow, and history is filled with secrets waiting to be uncovered.

There are heroes who’d rather open a book than draw a sword. Villains who genuinely believe they’re saving the world. A slow-burn romance that takes its time. And one question that echoes through every page: Who deserves to decide the future?

⁉️ QOTD: What’s one thing that instantly convinces you to pick up a fantasy novel: an intriguing premise, unforgettable characters, rich worldbuilding, political intrigue, a great romance, or something else? by @wordsandash

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3 months ago

Fantasy has always been more than an escape for me.

It’s a place to ask impossible questions, explore forgotten histories, wrestle with faith and power, and imagine what ordinary people might do when the world asks extraordinary things of them.

That’s why I created Missives from Vireth. It’s not just a newsletter; it’s a doorway into the world I’m building long before The White Feather Saga reaches bookshelves.

Every other week, I share:

📜 exclusive stories set in Vireth
🏛️ behind-the-scenes worldbuilding
🖋️ writing updates from my drafting desk
🎨 artwork, inspirations, and hidden lore
📚 the books, history, and mythology shaping the series

If you’ve ever wished your favorite fantasy worlds came with extra maps, forgotten archives, side stories, and letters from the people who actually lived there… that’s exactly what I’m trying to create.

⁉️QOTD: If your favorite fantasy world had its own weekly newsletter, what would you most want to read (worldbuilding, exclusive short stories, character letters, history, maps, something else)? by @wordsandash

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3 months ago

👋🏻 Meet the author… or, more accurately, meet the woman who accidentally turned “I have an idea for a fantasy novel” into an entire fictional world. Hi! I’m Ashley, also known as A. W. Slack and the writer behind the White Feather Saga.

By day, I analyze data. By night (and any free minute I can find), I’m usually somewhere in Pnereth, the fictional realm of my debut novel. There, I am untangling political conspiracies, chasing plot threads, and asking my characters uncomfortable moral questions.

I write epic political fantasy inspired by Ancient Greek mythology, early Church history, and the belief that ordinary courage matters more than extraordinary power.

When I’m not writing, you’ll usually find me:

☕ drinking coffee (with just a dash of chocolate milk)
📖 reading way too many fantasy books
🏋️ lifting weights while accidentally solving plot holes
👦 chasing two tiny boys who firmly believe every story needs more dragons

If you’re here because you love immersive worlds, slow-burn romance, political intrigue, hopeful heroes, and stories that leave you thinking long after the final page, I think we’re going to get along just fine. Thanks for stopping by. I’m really glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to share more of Pnereth with you. by @wordsandash

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3 months ago

Currently Reading: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by @sangumandanna

📖 Book Synopsis:
Mika Moon is one of the few witches in Britain, and she knows the rules: hide her magic, keep her distance, and never get too close to anyone. But when she’s unexpectedly invited to Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their powers, her carefully guarded life begins to unravel.

✍🏻Author Bio:
Sangu Mandanna is a British-Indian author known for writing heartfelt fantasy stories that blend magic, mythology, romance, and themes of belonging. Born in India and raised in England, she draws inspiration from her love of folklore, fairy tales, and imaginative storytelling. Her stories often celebrate unconventional families, self-discovery, and finding magic in unexpected places. by @wordsandash

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a day ago

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞.📚💕

These pink books represent the many unique, layered journeys of breast cancer patients, survivors, and thrivers. The fight isn’t just one blanket experience—it is a spectrum of deep courage, quiet resilience, and fierce community support.

✨ 🌸 💖 📖 🩷 📖 💖 🌸 ✨

For this collab, I wanted to share something a little more personal… What began as volunteering for a breast cancer fundraiser in 2015 became years of friendships, invaluable mentorship, heartbreaking goodbyes, and a lifelong commitment to serving others.

Some people are only in our stories for a few chapters, but they change the entire book. This one’s for them.

✨ 🌸 💖 📖 🩷 📖 💖 🌸 ✨

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 💕 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

To see all of our pink bookstacks for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, check out the hashtag #novelideabreastcancerawareness

⁉️QOTD: Has someone ever entered your life unexpectedly and changed your story forever?

💗 This collab is brought to you by @novelidea_collabs — come join us if you’d like to be a part of this Challenge! 💗 by @wordsandash

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4 days ago

What happens when women refuse to be written out of the story? They take the lead.

Today is for the boss babes. The women who lead, speak their minds, take up space, and make sure other women are heard along the way. Here’s to stories that remind us how powerful our voices can be.

👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢

Boss babes don’t all wear blazers. Some wear pajamas, drink questionable amounts of caffeine, and manage entire fictional civilizations from their laptops.

Whether you’re a disciplined drafting diva or a feral little word goblin, there’s no single way to build your literary empire.

👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢

Don’t let anyone stand in your way or push you down. We’re all here to lift each other up and work together to get to the top.

See how my other boss babes are empowering their pages today:
@thiccbooksandthiccthighs
@chapterfiftywithanne
@dejasbookreads
@cozyreadsandwarmtea
@heylalareads
@dinosbookishreviews
@twinsandtropes

👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢

⁉️QOTD: Which drafting habit called you out? Not a writer, share if you’re running a well-oiled empire or a one-woman circus?

👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢👠💪🏻💋📢

This collab is presented by #ThiccBookCollabs

To join in on future collabs or for more info, follow @ThiccBooksCommunity or reach out to one of our admins listed below:
@Thiccbooksandthiccthighs
@Nikki_loves_to_read
@Stephs_bookery

Special shoutout to our Member of the Month: @nikimavsbooks by @wordsandash

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2 days ago

THIS IS CHAPTER 35.
As someone whose professional life revolves around numbers, it only feels appropriate to celebrate the last 365 days with a few of my favorites:

🍅 Approximately 1,000,000 cherry tomatoes harvested from our garden. *Not scientifically verified.
✍️ 100,000+ words written in my debut epic fantasy novel (equivalent to over 304 pages so far.)
🏋️‍♀️ 70+ pounds lost through consistency, lifting heavier, and walking longer.
📚 49 books read across multiple genres.
💸 2 major debts paid off.
👩‍👦‍👦 Countless precious moments spent with my favorite little humans… the kind of memories that can’t be measured but matter more than anything else.

Chapter 34 was about growth. Not just in the measurable ways, but in the quiet ones, too. The confidence gained, the habits built, the dreams pursued, and the memories made.

Here’s to Chapter 35, where there are more words to write, more books to read, more strength to build, and more life to live. by @wordsandash

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5 days ago

🎂 It’s my birthday, so I’m taking a little trip down literary memory lane with a bookish birthday challenge…

Feel free to steal these prompts for your own birthday!

⁉️QOTD: What book or fictional character had teenage you in a CHOKEHOLD? And do they still?

Bookstagram | Bookish Birthday | 35 Going on Fictional | Then vs Now | Millennial Reader | Reading Nostalgia | Fantasy Books | Romantasy | Book Recommendations | Fictional Crushes | Reader Life | Bookish Challenge by @wordsandash

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5 days ago

There’s something surreal about watching a character who has lived in your head for YEARS finally come to life.

I had the absolute pleasure of working with the incredibly talented @splitrain to bring my FMC Vayda Vaelor from Project Feather to life, and I couldn’t be happier with both the experience and the final result! From the initial concepts to the finishing touches, this was such a wonderful creative partnership. And I already cannot wait to work together again to bring a certain MMC, Tybris Ostrelle, to life next.

For now, enjoy a little behind-the-scenes magic of how Vayda went from imagination to illustration!

⁉️QOTD: If you could commission character art of ONE fictional character, who would it be?

[author life, character art, fantasy character design, indie author, writing community, epic fantasy, original characters, Project Feather, Vayda Vaelor, artist collaboration] by @wordsandash

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6 days ago

Oh, Bartholomew.

Prophecies, questionable gods, political manipulation, and women who are really starting to question the whole divine authority thing. If you loved The Stonewater Kingdom Duology by Rachel Gillig, you might find a few familiar themes in my adult epic fantasy WIP, Project Feather.

Same delicious religious skepticism. Different flavor of institutional corruption. And men who make everything more complicated.

⁉️QOTD: What’s a book you’ve read that made you question EVERYTHING you thought you knew about its world?

Adult Epic Fantasy | Stonewater Kingdom | Rachel Gillig | Fantasy Book Recommendations | Political Fantasy | Prophecy vs Free Will | Divine Magic | Slow Burn Romance | Fantasy WIP | Indie Author | Bookstagram by @wordsandash

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8 days ago

Currently Reading: Where the Darkness Stands Still by @abporanek

📖Book Synopsis
Liska Radost has spent her life believing that magic is monstrous, especially the dangerous power lurking within herself. Desperate to rid herself of it, she ventures into a forbidden, demon-haunted forest in search of a mythical fern flower capable of granting a single wish. Instead, she encounters the Leszy, the mysterious demon warden of the woods, who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for the flower.

Confined to his crumbling manor, Liska discovers that others have made the same bargain, only to disappear without a trace. As she unravels the secrets of the forest and its enigmatic guardian, she must confront a growing darkness and the possibility that the very magic she fears may be her only salvation.

✍🏻Author Bio
A. B. Poranek is a New York Times bestselling fantasy author who grew up dividing her time between Ontario, Canada, and rural Poland. She earned a veterinary degree from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences before pursuing her passion for storytelling. Drawing inspiration from mythology, history, and European folklore, Poranek creates richly atmospheric fantasy worlds filled with magic, mystery, and romance. by @wordsandash

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9 days ago

@novelidea_collabs presents to you: 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 & 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘 👻

It’s officially October, which means it is time to turn down the lights and pretend that creaking sound in the hallway was just the house settling. 🔦🫣

Whether you are unravelling a dark historical mystery, getting lost in a paranormal world, reading a banned book, or just trying to survive a truly terrifying thriller, there is nothing quite like a book that makes you look twice at the shadows in the room.

🗞️🕸️🕯️📰🕷️⏳🕷️📰🕯️🕸️🗞️

October is for spooky stories, questionable morals, and fictional men who are walking red flags.

So I conducted an entirely unbiased evaluation of fantasy’s favorite shadow daddies. Some passed with flying colors. Others need therapy, a restraining order, or both. 🚩

🗞️🕸️🕯️📰🕷️⏳🕷️📰🕯️🕸️🗞️

Don’t get left in the dark—see what hauntingly good books my friends are sharing today:
👻 @pawsandpagesonthecoast
👻 @shannons_bookcase
👻 @elizabooksandstitches
👻 @montavilla.lfl
👻 @jnj_turning_pages

⁉️QOTD: Who’s your ultimate YES, DADDY… and which fictional man belongs in the DADDY, NO category? by @wordsandash

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10 days ago