Gargoyles


What makes a monster? It's a pretty age-old question, but one that never ceases to be fascinating to explore. It's also rooted in the world of Ilenima.  Nightshade Academy is located inside a hidden town called Nightshade located in northern Alaska. The town sits in the eye of a constant storm […]

The Hidden Monster Town – Nightshade Academy Extras


Who doesn't love dogs? Okay, some people don't. But they're wrong. Kidding. Or am I? Anyway. Kian is Nova's love interest in Nightshade Academy. He's also an aswang who turns into a big black dog that he likes to think of as a hellhound. Because it sounds cool. While Kian is […]

The Goodest Boy – Nightshade Academy Extras


I had an idea for how an aura reader might see people's "souls." It involved colors. Or Colors as Nova would call them.  Nova is the perspective character in Nightshade Academy. That story is hers. Nova perceives the world very differently from most people. You could argue she sees it in […]

The Pink-Haired Vampire – Nightshade Academy Extras



Romance. It's in everything. No, seriously. It's in everything.  Truthfully, I used to kind of begrudge that fact. In some ways, I still do.  What the hell, Kestra. Aren't you a fantasy/romance writer or whatever? I mean, yes. Totally. Let me explain. I never got it. It was never something I could […]

Different Flavors of Romance – Nightshade Academy Extras


One of the best things about writing, for me, is world-building. I could probably get stuck inside of world-building for days, weeks, months. Years... It's always a bit of a challenge to strike a balance between that and writing a story within that. Since writing stories is my thing, I probably go about […]

Ilenima: Writing in the Same World – Nightshade Academy Extras