It’s been one year since I published the last chapter of Patina, the webnovel that covered almost half of the challenge to write and publish 1000 words or more for 365 days. What did it do to me, and what could it do to you?

The adventure of the young wolf-girl lost in an post-apocalyptic world explored themes of freedom, friendship, and our relationship with our pasts. How even if we manage to get over our misunderstanding, there’s those among us who just can’t move on.

At 238 thousand words total, Patina is the longest single narrative I have ever written, and there’s a good chance it’s going to hold this record for a long, long while.

It’s also the story that made me decide to focus all my energies to writing. It’s the story that made me believe in the Muse.

When you come back home at 22:30 and have little more than one hour to write and publish 1000 words of your next chapter, which you have no safety net for, you start to understand that you are not alone at the writing table.

When I finished the story I felt a deep sense of peace, and a deep sense of loss. I tried to deal with the world and the characters, but I needed to complete the challenge and at the same time had to complete other novels and stories in order to keep the lights on.

Right now the story sits here on the site. I am currently reading it again, and I will decide what to do. A publication in self is highly-likely, but I have to decide the kind of publication style. I am strongly tempted to publish it for free, even though it would still need a deep and thorough rewriting.

But what’s even more important to say, right now, is that this story represented a watershed moment for what I aimed to do, and a deep spiritual connection. The story is complete, the characters all work and have defined arcs, there is clear sense of progression and conflict thorough the story and the conclusion reinforces the themes of the story for each of the characters.

I do not claim any merit for this. I was not alone in writing this story, and it’s by completing Patina that I experienced some other presence next to me – I call it the Muse, but you may call her by any other name.

We used to fight every day: I couldn’t give her the space she needed and she kept pestering me, to the point I felt choked, bothered and anxious.

By starting to write Patina, which began as a dream in 2020, and completing it and publishing it, I managed to lay that nagging voice to rest. Better: I feel like we now can have a dialogue.

If there is something you should take from this post: do what you feel like doing. Once you start, and keep at it, deep and unseen forces will help you.

So, one year later… and waiting for the revision to set these character free, thank you.

Thank you Hunter, haunted by your mistake. Thank you Sadja, girl who bleeds silver. Thank you Cloria, who failed in everything but letting go. Thank you Valeriana, inheritor to a poisoned tradition. Thank you Verna, foolish saviour wannabe. Thank you Arguta, who tried to befriend the wrong girl. Thank you Elissa, who could See everything and to everything was blind.

Thank you, Queen of Thorns.

And thank you who read the story.

Read Patina here.