JP Talon’s Personal Projects

When I joined my writing group with a bunch of Americans, I certainly did not expect to be making a podcast with them a few months later. Essentially, we decided that it would be fun to interview emerging authors about their experiences with publishing, either traditional or self, giving us (and other aspiring authors) insight into the writing and publishing process.

We officially launched on March 31, 2022, so you can check out all our novel pitches and author interviews on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Status: Current WIP

Rubie wrote the book on parallel worlds, but she never expected to be pulled into one. With sixty days to return home or lose her career, Rubie forges a dangerous alliance with Sephren the Godslayer that will force her to confront the truth of her past—including that her career was built on work stolen from Sephren himself.

Transcendent is an adult high fantasy novel with elements of dark fantasy and plenty of queer representation. With a sapphic romance and a cast of predominantly queer characters, Transcendent marks my first completed novel after coming out as queer myself.

Status: Exploring Publication Options

Cut from a prophecy she was born to fulfil, Andra finds herself alone as her twin brother goes to complete their shared destiny alone. When Andra discovers that her brother is in danger, she will fight her way to save him, wielding a forbidden, emotion-stealing magic and destroying anything in her path.

I can honestly say that I have never put more effort into something than I have with this book, the first in what I am currently calling the Speculite Trilogy. Over four drafts, the world and characters of A Fate Entwined have developed in ways I never would have imagined when I pantsed my way through the first draft. Thank you to everyone who took the time out of their busy lives to read this book and give me invaluable feedback. It wouldn’t be the book it is today without you.

I’m currently exploring options to get A Fate Entwined published, in whatever form seems most suitable. It will get out there one way or another, particularly because I am quite proud of the asexual representation Andra offers, especially since asexual books are quite difficult to come by. Andra’s asexuality is far from the focus of the book, but you can read more about that on my dedicated page for this project.

If you would like to read some short stories set in the world of A Fate Entwined, click the left button below. To learn more about the novel, click the right button.

Status: Paused

I can’t say too much about this one since that would spoil A Fate Entwined, but this is the sequel, the second book in the Speculite Trilogy. I was initially holding off on this one because I wanted to know the fate of the first book in terms of publishing, but when my writing group started writing their sequels, I couldn’t really help myself. I’m having fun writing it and that’s all that matters.

Status: Complete

Maphira and Rylee have been at odds ever since Rylee left the police force to become a vigilante – the sisters haven’t spoken in years – but a shared interest in bringing down a secret society of evil mechanics will bring them back together. To save the world from the dark reign of mechanics and robots, they will have to put aside their differences and do things Rylee’s way – outside of the law.

Mechanist Rising is not a novel that will ever be read, for a wide variety of reasons. The first is that I technically don’t own it – the marketing agency I work at does. It’s not something I can go into too much detail regarding, but suffice it to say that part of my job involves writing stories of around 300 words each for… ahem… internet marketing reasons.

Since I spend pretty much all day writing these stories, I figured why not have some fun with it and try writing a novel comprised entirely of 300-word scenes? I write 10,000-20,000 words of this every month, so the progress is pretty steady. It’s a completely nonsensical and whacky story about a society ruled by mechanics and robots, but I love it anyway. There’s also a nice little subplot about a kobold and goblin wreaking havoc in the Tasmanian Wastes, in the aftermath of the island state being struck by a nuke.

In May 2022, I officially finished the first and only draft of this book, making it my third completed manuscript.

Status: Paused

Only one person in Musis can save the life of Kai’s mother: the Concertmaster. Joining a travelling circus headed for the capital, Kai hopes to petition the Concertmaster for aid in person. Unfortunately, that same circus plans to use their influence to start a revolution and bring down the Concertmaster’s negligent reign for good. Now Kai must choose: his mother’s life, or a better world for society’s lowest caste?

This book all comes from a single moment: I’m sitting on the train listening to my podcasts when a TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) comes on. In it, Gilbert talks about the elusive creative genius. Suddenly, I’m considering the idea of the genius being an actual entity that helps artists create their work. From that spawned a whole system where magic is created through art. Musicians have healing magic, writers create illusions, visual artists conjure, and so on.

There are so many parts of this story that I simply adore, from its setting inspired by the French Revolution to the limited time travel that essentially makes each instance of going back in time a puzzle. Earthbrand was my 2020 NaNoWriMo project, although it had been something I wanted to write even before A Fate Entwined existed conceptually. I will absolutely get back to this one, although A Fate Entwined draft four and Transcendent put it on the backburner.

Status: Paused Indefinitely

When Melanie discovers that she is the rightful heir to the throne, rather than her brother Martyn, she sets in motion a plan to claim her birthright, no matter how much of her family she has to destroy in the process. With their family shattered, it is up to Martyn’s daughters, Xandra and Kora, to bring peace to their island once more.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good fantasy novel, whether I’m reading or writing it, so naturally, my second novel was another fantasy. Akileez was my 2014 NaNoWriMo project, set in the same world as Incarnate. Seeing as I’ve shelved Incarnate, the first draft of this book is yet to be completed.

Set on a small island with Greek influences (hence Akileez, pronounced Achilles), this book was the result of me falling in love with Antigone, which we read in my Year 11 literature class that year. I wanted to write my own Greek tragedy, except as a novel rather than a play. Conceptually, I still adore this book and absolutely will finish it one day. Watching Disney’s Encanto actually reminded me of this story, mostly because it featured a villa similar to the Casa Madrigal and the conflict focused around family drama.

Status: Completed

Thief-turned-baker Dale long ago accepted that his father was dead, but after a mysterious old man whoops his ass in a strategy game and leaves behind some cryptic clues, Dale is not so sure anymore. Dale’s quest to find his father will take him to a kingdom long in ruins – except he’ll be there at the height of its power, hundreds of years before he was even born.

Ah, my first novel. It will forever hold a special place in my heart, even if I ultimately decided to shelve it (for now). I had plans for an epic series combining the stories of both Incarnate and Akileez which I think will be worth exploring again one day. However, an author’s first book is rarely publishable, and that was absolutely the case here. After several drafts and re-writes (probably more than five, if I’m being honest), it was time to write something else, so I moved on to A Fate Entwined.

The origins of Incarnate are actually kind of boring. I’d tried my hand at a few other novels before this but never got past a few chapters. Eventually, I decided that I just needed to write something without any pressure to get it right, so I threw a guy in a dungeon and wrote from there. The result was a novella called A Brother’s Curse, which eventually turned into Incarnate, with plans for an epic series using chiastic structure (inspired by the Star Wars Ring Theory).

Early in 2021, I realised that as the creator of an entire world, I can tell as many dang stories in that world as I want to. Thus, the Speculite short stories were conceptualised. Some of the stories link directly to A Fate Entwined and its characters. Others simply expand the worldbuilding (while telling their own interesting stories, of course).

I’ll be uploading a new short story set in the world of A Fate Entwined every once in a while, so keep a lookout and make sure to subscribe to my newsletter (bottom of the page) so that you get early access and never miss a new one. If you want to see the full list of stories, click the left button below. To read the first published story (at one point the prologue to A Fate Entwined), click the right button.

I wrote In Bloom a while back, after listening to a song by Neck Deep… which is also called In Bloom. I liked the apocalypse vibes and wanted to write a fantasy story about it, so I decided to use the song’s name as a homage.

My In Bloom is about a girl who can create nature and ages at three times the rate of a normal person, living in the world’s only village yet to be consumed by the flowing lava headed slowly toward them. It’s a tragic little story that I’m looking into getting published at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

American White was something I wrote in my final year of university, and I’m quite proud of it. The story satirises American gun culture and was a lot of fun to write as an outsider looking in on America’s gun violence issue. It’s not something I’ll likely ever publish, but I’m proud enough of the story to include it here.

Why Can’t I Talk About Fantasy? is an exegetical essay I wrote as the final university assignment for my Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing), exploring why I have always been so ashamed of my obsession with the fantasy genre. You can read it by clicking the button below, but I should note that I’ve had to make some minor edits, as the original does spoil moments from A Fate Entwined.

Turn Me Into a Girl! is a creative non-fiction essay I wrote a couple of weeks before starting HRT (hormone replacement therapy), exploring elements of my life that I consider most relevant to my decision to transition.

Turn Me Into a Girl! became my first published piece of personal writing in December 2022, featuring in HerStry’s Rebellious Bodies series.

Read Turn Me Into a Girl!