Potions, potions! Five gold only! Ever needed a quick gift for that friend or special somebody who just really looks like they could use a quick hit of HP? Know someone who could definitely chug some mana for an energy recharge? These potion bottles are a great, fast craft for those gaming or fantasy geeks in your life. This is a slightly improved version of an old craft I did a few years back. I was at the grocery store looking for some white wine vinegar for a recipe, and the moment my eyes rested upon these bottles, my mind instantly said ‘potions!’ Easy and cheap to make, you could customise these potions in so many ways. You could choose whatever colour you liked, add labels, accessories or even lights. Supplies: Here’s a list of the items you will need for this quick craft: Round vinegar bottle (Find in your local grocery store) Wine cork Food colouring Craft knife or similar Hot glue gun Twine, leather strip or other decoration of your choosing Prep work: The first step is to remove the lid, nozzle and thoroughly clean off the label (including the leftover glue!) Now, unless you get lucky in
Character Spotlight – Evan Broussard
We’ve had a bit of a break over the last few weeks with travel being the main culprit. Back this week though, with our third character profile for The Parnassus Initiative: Evan Broussard. Evan Broussard Age: 27 Physical Appearance: Broad and muscular with deep brown skin, mirthful dark eyes, and short, black hair. Personality: Easy-going and quick to smile, Evan is a joker at heart, always throwing in a quip or two, regardless of the situation. Interests: An avid gamer, Evan enjoys playing the latest and greatest in action holo-games with Ryder, and their work colleague, Ellie. When he’s not working or gaming, Evan can be found relaxing at their local bar, the Thirsty Turtle. Background: Evan grew up in Wallace, Idaho and attended high school and college with his best friend Ryder Wells. He moved to Seattle with Ryder after college to join the booming pyrrhasite technology industry, both being hired by the same company. Always adventurous himself, Evan encourages Ryder to take chances and shake up his life a little, inadvertently setting his best friend down a dangerous path. When Ryder disappears without a word, Evan can’t help but worry he’s made a horrible mistake. But when his
Character Spotlight – Mya Malinsky
Introducing the second character from our upcoming novel, The Parnassus Initiative – Mya Malinsky. Mya Malinsky Age: 25 Physical Appearance: Tall and slender with long, sleek raven hair and green eyes. Personality: Mya prides herself on her independence, preferring to handle stressful situations on her own. Forming close personal bonds with only a select few, she keeps everyone else at arm’s length. Interests: When not engrossed with work, Mya enjoys reading and collecting rare volumes of classic literature. Background: After a troubling home life, Mya ran away from home as a teen and spent a brief time living on the streets of Seattle. With some help, she turned her life around and now works at VistaTech – the same leading pyrrhasite technology company as Ryder – as personal assistant to a department head. Aware of Ryder’s awkward and distant admiration of her, when he one day takes a chance and follows her outside, she faces a difficult choice – leave him at the mercy of powerful forces, or risk exposing the dangerous secret she harbors.
Character Spotlight – Ryder Wells
Over the next few weeks, we will be featuring character spotlights for some of the major players in our upcoming novel, The Parnassus Initiative. To start, we have our lead character, Ryder: Ryder Wells Age: 27 Physical Appearance: Average height and build with unruly brown hair and gold-flecked brown eyes. Personality: Uncomfortable in social settings and prone to babbling – especially around the opposite sex. Ryder can be goofy, particularly when placed under the pressure of unexpected or stressful situations. Interests: A space and science fiction geek, he spends his spare time gaming with a small group of friends. Background: Growing up as a Boy Scout in the small mining town of Wallace, Idaho, Ryder Wells was always fascinated with space. At age 12, when the meteor storm of 2019 hit, his first instinct was to gaze in wonder at the fiery skies rather than rush for cover. When the lack of necessary grades to become an astronaut forced him to abandon his childhood dream, Ryder fell naturally into the technology industry. Now working in Seattle for the leading company in research on pyrrhasite energy and progress, he has become disillusioned with the career path he ended up in. But
Cover Reveal – The Parnassus Initiative
Even though we still have some way to go before we can officially say we’re done with our first novel, we’re close enough that a full cover reveal seems appropriate.
So, without further ado, here is the final cover for The Parnassus Initiative:
Please pay a visit to and like my co-author on Facebook! – Ashley Holloway – Author
Editing woes
As we go through beta-edits of The Parnassus Initiative, I find myself bogged down, struggling to push past the writer’s block I seem to find myself burdened with. Being so close to the end of what has been a long journey, finding we need to go back and make some fairly significant edits is somewhat demoralising, even if they are things that make complete sense to change. Regardless of the pain, it shows the importance of having someone other than yourself read over the story. Small things that had bothered us slightly since the start, but which we had no fixes for, have come back to the forefront. Except now we have someone else’s thoughts and opinions, giving us valuable comments and suggestions as to how we might fix the issues. Throughout the editing process, I keep wanting to push forward onto new things. With my second novel, Incident at Arcturus, beginning to take shape and thoughts bouncing around for several other novels (including a sequel to The Parnassus Initiative), I do find myself exciting to keep writing. Now to get back to editing this one!
Enchanted Rose
I made a customised Enchanted Rose from the Disney animated film ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
It comprises of a large doll display dome, a synthetic rose, acrylic rod, synthetic rose petals, floral tape and a small, battery operated string of pink LED lights.
