Cameron Montague Taylor

Fantasy Author & Fiction Editor

News

The Writing Prompt Journal is Here

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Ever since I started posting flash fiction in 2021, I’ve had a hankering to make my own prompt journal, and I am absolutely thrilled that my time has finally come.

I’m the kind of writer who has a notebook for absolutely everything. There’s something special about picking up a favorite pen and getting to unleash my brain on a contained blank spot in a guided journal. Maybe it’s a holdover from childhood; I used to love guided journaling activities when I was a kid. Whatever the reason, this is the Fantasy-writer version of all the books I filled out with sparkly gel pens when I was twelve: a 220-page prompt journal with fifty prompts and a whoooole lotta blank space.

If that’s the sort of thing that appeals to you, here are some more details about the prompt journal:

First off, it comes in both soft and hardcover, and looks like this:

Aaaaand here’s a quick description:

Short fiction writing prompts for fantasy writers—or anyone who wants to polish their craft while having fun.

Fifty Fantasy Prompts is a go-to, no-stress, no-pressure writing exercise to keep in your toolbox. Flash and short fiction writers can use the prompt journal for inspiration; novelists and epic writers can use it for warmups, character studies, a way to try out new styles . . . or a reason to set the big WIP aside for an afternoon while still working on craft.

The prompt journal is a fun way to get words flowing, and when it comes to using it, there are no rules.

Set a timer and stream-of-consciousness write. Use each prompt to craft a series of drabbles, or a little gem of flash fiction. Insert your own characters to work on their narrative voices or play with POV. Write fanfic. Try out any voice or style you like; the only thing you ‘must’ do is write.

You’ll find three types of prompts in this book:

  • Plain ol’ written prompts that state a premise or ask a question
  • “Quote” prompts in which one or more characters engage in dialogue
  • Word-based prompts, which challenge you to incorporate two or three specific words into whatever you write

The prompts have a general Fantasy flavor to them, though some are more specific than others. Several blank pages follow each prompt, hopefully giving you enough space to explore it in a brief (flash) piece.

(If you need more than that, great—the prompt did its job inspiring you, and now you have a short story on your hands!)

Feel free to jump around, cherry-pick, work backwards, or approach the prompts in any way or any order you see fit. Remember: the only goal is to flex that writing muscle and get words on the page. So grab a pen, pour a cup of your favorite beverage, and let’s get started.

Interested in the prompt journal? You can get a copy right here.

Manuscript Wishlist

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MANUSCRIPT
Wishlist

As a freelance editor, I don’t have a manuscript wishlist in the traditional sense, so in order to give you a better idea of what stories I love (and what stories aren’t a hit for me), I’ve filled out a little bookish survey below. Hopefully, that’ll help you gauge whether I’m the right editor for you and your story.

First, a little intro:

Genres:

  • Fantasy and Science Fiction
    • Most subgenres
  • Horror (cosmic/atmospheric)
    • Note: I don’t love vampires, so if they’re your MC or LI, I might not be a good fit
  • Cozy Mystery
  • Historical Fiction
    • (Note: I’m not as interested in 20-21st century settings unless they have speculative elements)
  • Dual-genre Romance
    • (SFF, Historical, Paranormal, etc.)

Not a Good Fit For:

  • Middle-grade or Lower-YA
  • Nonfiction, Screenplays, Short Stories, Poetry
  • Literary Fiction, Religious Fiction, Procedural/Slasher/Serial Killer
  • Erotica or very spicy erotic romance
  • On-page sexual assault, dubiously consensual sex, or extreme domestic violence
  • Any writing created or modified by an AI reinforcement learning or natural language processing system, such as Chat-GPT.

There are a few areas I specialize in:

Specialties:

  • Novels, novellas, series
  • Give me your chonky epics!
  • Adult and Upper-YA
  • LGBTQIA+ characters and themes
    • Can sensitivity read for bi and ace rep
  • Nautical themes
    • Can fact-check for sailboats and scuba diving

Now, onward to the fun part!

The book I’ll recommend to anyone who will listen:

  • Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Phenomenal epic fantasy. I’m auto-buying the sequels as they come out, but waiting until I have them all to binge-read the rest of the series.

A book I struggled to get through:

  • ACOTAR & ACOMAF by Sarah J. Maas

I pushed through the first book for a buddy-read with a friend, then threw in the towel after ACOMAF. It’s not for me!

A book I still think about years after I read it:

  • Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

The ending. THE ENDING. This book lives rent-free in my head for a hundred thousand reasons, but omg the ending.

A book that let me down in the end:

  • The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The structure of the last third of this book took it from a 4.5 star read to a 3 star read. I was so immersed in the world and excited for the final battle, but the ending felt rushed/too easy to me — particularly from a fantasy-politics standpoint. That said, I’m still planning to check out A Day of Fallen Night; landing the plane on something so chonky is hard as heck, and I enjoyed the first half of the book enough that I’d absolutely read more Shannon.

The book that made me want to write:

  • The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams

I’ll admit there’s nothing particularly out of this world about the trilogy, but it happened to be my very first exposure to adult epic fantasy, and ten-year-old me was mind-blown. (Ten-year-old me also wrote the world’s worst fantasy novel immediately afterward, and I’m still obsessed with the genre decades later).

A book I DNF’d:

  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Anything that sits in the Maas-Yarros Venn Diagram is probably a DNF for me based on premise, tropes, worldbuilding, and execution. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about folks who enjoy those books — they’re just not for me, and if your writing comps them, I might not be the best fit for your work.

A series I DNF’d after finishing book one:

  • The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

I’m a Kuang fan, but her first trilogy didn’t do it for me, even though I mostly enjoyed (and found a lot of good morsels in) book one.

Three auto-buy authors I haven’t mentioned yet:

  • N.K. Jemisin, C.L. Polk, and Fonda Lee

They are all incredible. Need I say more?

If I could experience any story again for the first time:

  • The Lord of the Rings

This is a very basic Fantasy-lover answer, and I know adult-me would struggle with the prose, but hooboy what I’d give to experience that feeling of wonder again.

My go-to reads outside the SFF genres:

  • Anything by Tal Bauer, Casey McQuiston, or Fredrik Backman

More fun facts:

Other media I love: Good Omens, Star Trek, Our Flag Means Death, Stargate, Supernatural, Dungeons & Dragons (yes, Baldur’s Gate 3), Master and Commander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Zorro, Black Sails, Dr. Who, Marvel Movies (can’t help myself), Firefly, I could go on for days but will restrain myself.

Favorite tropes: forbidden romance, friends/teammates-to-lovers, slow-burns, found family, forbidden magic, magic that comes with a price, political machinations, the only things scarier than the Dark Lord are his human minions, misinterpreted prophesies. This isn’t an exhaustive list of things I enjoy (ie: I love me a good forced proximity or fish-out-of-water story, too), but the aforementioned tropes are my personal crack.

Least favorite tropes: I’m not interested in fated mates*, instalove, instattraction, orphan-is-the-chosen-one, love triangles, omegaverse, and evil without motive / evil for evil’s sake.

*One notable exception: if you’re writing LGBTQ+ fated mates in a queer-inclusive world, I’m down.

A non-exhaustive list of stuff I LOVE to read: Queer-normative worlds, SFF narratives that deconstruct colonialism, epic love stories, diverse casts, interesting magic systems, competent characters being badasses, epic friendships (we love platonic love in this house), dystopias with incisive commentary on the world we live in, cozies, cosmic horror, fairytale retellings, magical quests, historical fantasy, epic SFF with sweeping worldbuilding, space opera, cyberpunk/steampunk/all the punks, portal fantasies with a twist, pirate and nautical stories, all the cool fantasy creatures (will never get tired of dragons and sea monsters), anything that makes me feel like I’m crew on the Enterprise. Again, this is a non-exhaustive list, but I hope this gives you an idea of the *vibes* I love most.

Stuff I just don’t want to read: Fridging, bury-your-gays, on-page sexual assault, gratuitous domestic violence, sexual assault or the threat of sexual assault used as a plot device, romanticized abuse (I’m looking at you, Edward Cullen), romanticized toxic relationship dynamics (I’m looking at you, possessive alpha love interests), white savior narratives, worlds with baked-in misogyny that never gets explored or unpacked, queerphobia.

Something you should know: If you have written a story in which sexual assault is a present or persistent theme, I will put it under the highest-power narrative microscope I’m capable of wielding. I am very, very, very tired of sexual assault being used as a plot device, being used to characterize antagonists and love interests, or being used for dramatic effect without any story- or character-level repercussions. I won’t give even a smidgen of grace or creative license on this point. If reading this makes you nervous, it could be that I’m not the right editor for you.

Want a look at some of the books I’ve recently worked on to gauge whether we’re a fit?

New Patreon Tier for Writers!

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Starting February 2024, I’m opening a new tier on Patreon just for writers:

The AuthorShip tier is designed for writers looking for craft resources, support, and a (small but growing) chat community on discord. Patrons at this tier will get a clean, craft-only feed, with access to all writing-related posts (but none of my own fiction).

(If you are interested in my writing, you can find it and all the benefits of AuthorShip membership at the Schooner, Brigantine, and Galleon tiers where I post drafts of my novels, flash fic, and other extras.)

Here’s what AuthorShippers get:

  • Monthly, Patreon-exclusive, intensive craft videos
  • Monthly craft-of-writing blog posts
  • ‘Writer Beware’ posts whenever I get wind of questionable behavior in indie publishing
  • Downloadable writing resources (no schedule for creation; made as needed)
  • eARCs of any craft of writing books released during your patronage
  • Ask Cee & jump the queue! Have a question about craft? Ask on Patreon or discord and get a written or video response*
  • Discord chat access to talk craft, chit-chat, or do writing sprints
  • Access to the Q&A log; I’ll post copies of questions and answers to Patreon. Many of these will be Patreon-exclusive, but I reserve the right to clip video answers for social media

*Which response format I choose will depend on how I can deliver a clear and efficient answer. If I can’t answer a question for whatever reason, I will let you know. How quickly I answer will depend on my pre-existing obligations; patrons jump ahead of questions asked by TikTok commenters and will be answered in order. Please note that I’m unable to look at excerpts as a general rule; if I decide I need an excerpt in order to answer your question, I will ask for one. Please note that responses will be available for others to see either on Patreon or social media (or both).

Interested? Click on the Patreon logo to check it out:

Click here to check out Cee's patreon!

Silverweaver Preorders are Up!

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Silverweaver – an Ilia Archives novella
Paranormal Gaslamp Fantasy | Sapphic Romance
Out October 19, 2023
Second-rate ghosthunter Anya Iteri comes from a family of metalweavers — powerful mages who can forge iron, shape steel, and even bend blood. Down on her luck and struggling for work, Anya bribes her little brother, a city guide, to let her drum up business on one of his tours.

The plan is simple. Summon a hibernating ghost to give the tour a good show, return it to its slumber, and collect a hefty tip. But the moment the tour begins, Anya encounters a ghost of a different kind: Eleira Soti, talented hunter and former love of her life, newly returned to the city after years away. El’s familiar face leaves Anya fighting distraction and attraction alike on her way into the city’s most haunted grounds.

The night goes from bad to worse when the wrong ghost gets summoned and fingers are pointed Anya’s way. A malignant spirit emerges from the veil, bent on destroying the tour and everyone on it. Racing against time, Anya must team up with El to trap the ghost, save her brother, and prove, once and for all, that her abilities aren’t as second-rate as others think.
Preorder Now!

The Digital Novel Planner is Here!

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The new, coloring book skin for the digital novel planner is here!

The WIP Novel Planner is a digital (and printable) planning guide for novelists. I’ve been working on different permutations of the planner since last last year, and am very happy with the outcome! So far, folks have really seemed to enjoy using it for the novel-planning process. I’m looking forward to creating new skins in the future, but for now, I intend to turn my focus to craft of writing booklets, so stay tuned for an announcement about that in the near future!

If you’re looking for the planner, you can learn more about it here in my shop. Otherwise, the planner is up for purchase on Etsy and Ko-fi:

Buy on Etsy
Buy on Ko-Fi

Deathmark is on Patreon

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Exciting news, everyone! Deathmark, the newest novella in the Ilia ‘verse series, has gone live on Patreon. For those of you who read Weaver, you’ll be excited to learn that Anya and El will appear in this story, too — plus many new faces. It will post in installments throughout the spring, for free! If you’re not yet a patron, now’s the time to start reading. Deathmark will eventually lock to patrons-only archives come the summertime.

Read Deathmark on Patreon

Tell me more about the story!

Deathmark is a standalone, Paranormal Gaslamp Fantasy & MM Romance novella. Although it follows Weaver in the Ilia ‘verse, they don’t need to be read in order. Here’s the blurb:

By day, Cyprian Cavish is a waterweaver — a powerful mage capable of bending water and turning liquid to ice with a snap of his fingers. By night, he’s a famed Ilian monster hunter, keeping the city safe by hunting demons and banishing evil spirits.

All his life, Cyprian has had one rule: no one dies on his watch. But hunters can’t work alone, and Cyprian’s teammate, the infuriating and fabulous Jael Soti, harbors a terrible curse — one that kills him repeatedly, but won’t let him stay dead.

To make matters worse, Cyprian is completely and irrevocably in love with him.

When the curse turns malignant without warning, threatening to kill Jael once and for all, Cyprian puts together a team of hunters to find the weaver who hexed Jael’s family. The search takes them to a dark corner of the city where the hunter becomes the hunted, and nothing is as it seems. With Jael fading and the clock ticking ever faster, Cyprian must fine a way to cure the curse and save his team…

Or he’ll watch Jael die for the last time.

Are you all about the tropes? Deathmark features found family, magic, friends-to-lovers, pining, and bloodline curses. Representation includes gay, bisexual, and sapphic characters. Trigger warnings for: depression, suicidal ideation, trauma from narcissistic abuse.

That sounds great. Take me to the story!

Read Deathmark on Patreon