Wind Riders

Peace Garden Drift

/ RG Newhouse / Leave a comment
Illustration of a young Wind Rider in flight gear sitting on a wooden mooring platform beside a large, red and teal-feathered creature. They overlook a vast sky filled with pink-orange clouds and floating spired structures, under a twilight sky dotted with stars.
Konnor and Telvan at the edge of memory… where grief, sky, and purpose meet.

🪁 Wind Rider Wednesday

“Peace Garden Drift Wasn’t Much. But It Was Ours.”

Konnor Chapman has always hated speeches. So when the Drift elders asked him to speak at the Remembrance Ceremony during the last Eddy, he froze. The request brought it all rushing back… the Scourwind, the screams, the silence that followed. Even after all these years, the wound hadn’t fully closed. But later that night, while sitting on the edge of the sky mooring rails with Telvan’s tail draped over his boots, he said something better.

Something true.

“Peace Garden Drift wasn’t much. But it was ours. You ask me what was worth fighting for? It wasn’t banners or sky medals. It was hearing our neighbor’s forge fire spark up at dawn. It was that sour plum tree by the orchard fence. It was the kid who built a glider out of garden shears and nearly crashed it into the grain tower twice. That’s what mattered. That’s why I ride.”

Drifts may look like scattered islands on a map, but to their people, they’re home. Floating gardens. Broken foundations made whole again. And no two are the same.

Peace Garden Drift isn’t Konnor’s home anymore, but it lives in his memory like sunlight through orchard leaves. After the Scourwind tore through it, taking nearly all of the thousand souls who once lived there, its absence became a presence in his life. No matter how much sky passes beneath his boots, that Drift still shapes his steps.

It was a midsize farming Drift that hugged the northern Mistral’s calmer bends. Its mooring lines would creak in the wind. The orchard was always half wild. There was a tiny stone clinic that doubled as a schoolhouse. The older kids painted murals on the walls every time the Eddy came around.

The Riders stationed there were long-serving. They knew every face, every roof tile, every knot in the bridge planks. They weren’t just defenders. They were family.

And for all his jokes, Konnor became a Wind Rider so no other Drift kid would have to go through what he did.

🔹 Curious about the skybound world Konnor came from?
Next week’s lore deep-dive will explore what Drifts are, how they float, and why they matter. Don’t miss it!

Fixing Plot Holes in Fantasy Writing (with Help From the Next Generation)

/ RG Newhouse / Leave a comment

I was elbows deep in Wind Riders fantasy worldbuilding, notes everywhere, cats prowling, tea long forgotten, when my daughter wandered in and casually asked, “What are you working on?”

A cluttered writer’s desk filled with open notebooks, fantasy maps marked with red string, scribbled notes, scattered books, and a cup of tea under a warm lamp. The scene evokes cozy chaos and deep worldbuilding focus.
Where the chaos begins… notes, tea, and the occasional cat. (Image created by Midjourney)

What followed was a two-hour lore-dump-turned-interrogation that felt like a surprise writing sprint disguised as a conversation. Nyx the cat was displaced so she could take a seat (and gave us both the look of betrayal only a black cat can muster, complete with a drawn out whine of protest. Poor baby.), but the moment she sat down and started asking questions, something clicked… and kept clicking.

We talked through the Cataclysm, the rise of the Riders, the floating islands, and the process of fixing plot holes and developing stronger character arcs, bringing life to story ideas that had been gathering dust. The next thing we knew, two hours had passed. By the time we looked up, we’d unraveled the antagonist arc, reshaped a love interest dynamic, and, somehow, figured out how the first book ends.

I’m not going to tell you that part. Not yet. But I will say that somewhere between her raised eyebrow and my rambling, I realized something big: this isn’t a standalone story.

It’s a trilogy.

What started as a standalone suddenly stretched its wings. There were too many threads, too much heart, to wrap in one book. And somehow, that made it all feel more real.

You know that feeling when a puzzle piece slots in and suddenly the whole picture shifts into focus? That. It reminded me how powerful it is to talk things out with someone who isn’t inside your head. I’ve always been a worldbuilding-first kind of writer (you can read more about that here), but getting outside input shook loose some things I didn’t even realize were stuck. Bouncing ideas off someone who isn’t emotionally attached to that one scene you refuse to cut, or the backstory you secretly wrote five pages for? Invaluable.

A whimsical sky town perched on a large floating island above the clouds. Wooden bridges, windmills, lanterns, and rustic buildings glow in soft golden light as birds soar across the sky.
The kind of place my Wind Riders would call home… lanterns, walkways, and just enough altitude to make things interesting. (Image created by Midjourney)

And when that someone gets into it too? Starts pitching scenes back at you like a pro? It’s like biting into a story filled bonbon, surprising, rich, and just the right kind of sweet.

So yes, I got grilled today. Lovingly. And the result is a better story, a clearer arc, and a brain that’s buzzing with the kind of excitement that only comes from brainstorming a fantasy trilogy that finally works.

(Nyx remains unimpressed. I owe her a treat. Worth it.)

Worldbuilding: A Cautionary Tale in Too Many Tabs

/ RG Newhouse / Leave a comment

Worldbuilding starts innocently enough. You name a kingdom. Maybe draw a map. Maybe throw in a couple of gods, a weird storm, a family tree with just enough trauma to be narratively satisfying.

A cozy, cluttered writer’s desk bathed in soft light. A black cat lounges across hand-drawn fantasy maps and scattered notes. A pink teacup sits nearby, surrounded by vintage books, wildflowers, and the charming chaos of worldbuilding.
Nyx, in her natural habitat: guarding the map she will never let you finish. Somewhere under that paw is a vital plot point. We’ll never know. Image created by Midjourney.

Then one day you blink and realize you’ve written a 3,000 word document on sky island crop rotation. You can’t remember your own birthday, but you know which fictional provinces export fermented windfruit and why their trade alliance fell apart in Cycle 617.

This post? It’s a love letter. And a warning.

People think you have to know everything before you start, but if you did, we’d all be frozen in “research” mode until the sun exploded. It doesn’t need to be logical either, it just needs to feel true to your world. And no, it’s not just for fantasy authors. If you made up a cozy town with suspiciously nosy neighbors and a bakery that mysteriously never runs out of raspberry scones… congratulations, you’re one of us.

Worldbuilding is part chaos magic, part archaeology. You’re not building a world, you’re excavating one you barely understand, with a pen instead of a shovel and caffeine instead of common sense.

It’s balancing six cultural systems, a magic rule you regret inventing, and a civil war you vaguely alluded to in chapter two that now demands three pages of backstory and a hand drawn battle map.

It’s naming things like a drunk linguist. It’s opening your notebook and realizing you’ve contradicted your own timeline in three different places and somehow invented a holiday that happens every thirteen days.
It’s divine, maddening, and wildly inefficient.

And sometimes… it’s dangerous.

A cozy cottagecore writing desk in warm, natural light. A long orange cat sprawls across open notebooks filled with fictional alphabets and scribbled translations. A tipped pink teacup stains scattered parchment, while quills, ink smudges, and wildflowers complete the scene of whimsical worldbuilding chaos.
Finnegan, master of stretching, spilling tea, and rewriting your language system with one well-timed flop. Chaos is his comfort zone. Image created by Midjourney.


Because once the worldbuilding black hole opens up, it sucks you in. Suddenly it’s 2 a.m., your eyes are dry, your tea is cold, and the story you meant to write has been sitting untouched like a gentleman caller you stood up on the porch, in the rain, with flowers. And bless it, the poor thing’s still waiting for you.

But despite all that, there’s this moment, if you’re lucky, when you zoom out and realize it all fits together. Like the world was waiting for you to stumble onto it. When a reader points out a connection between two pieces of lore and you’re like, Yes, I did that on purpose absolutely I am a genius.

Or when a character walks into a room and you know what’s on the walls, what year it was built, who buried a secret in the floorboards, and why the ceiling still leaks. I may not use everything I know in that moment, but in the future, who knows?

It’s tea-stained madness with a side of purpose.

Maybe it’s punishment. Maybe it’s passion.

Probably both.

Because let’s be honest, I don’t worldbuild because I have to. I worldbuild because I can’t not. I’m already asking “what if” a hundred times a day. I might as well write it down and charge my protagonists emotional interest.

A cozy writer’s desk in warm ambient light. A tortoiseshell cat sits curled atop an open laptop beside a pink teacup, gazing thoughtfully out the window. Scattered notes, wildflowers in a vase, and a container of pens and quills complete the soft, creative chaos.
Carmen, as she exists in spirit and judgment. Image created with Midjourney.

Also? It’s fun. Fungi-powered cities? Sentient storms? An economy based on literal hot air? I’m not just building a world, I’m raising it like a feral child I fully intend to unleash on readers.

What’s the weirdest rabbit hole you’ve fallen into while worldbuilding? Calendar math? Magical sewage systems? A military hierarchy based on fish?

Tell me in the comments. Validate me. Share the pain. Maybe bring snacks.

And stay tuned, I’ll be opening the doors to some of my multiversal chaos soon in a section called My Worlds, where you can marvel (or panic) at the sheer number of universes I’m juggling like a gremlin with a tea addiction.

Because why write one world… when you can write twelve?

Behind the Fog: Writing, Wind Riders, and Eye Strain

/ RG Newhouse / Leave a comment

Hey everyone! Welcome to my cozy little corner of the internet where I’ll be sharing my writing adventures, musings, and maybe enjoying a few virtual chai lattes along the way.

A cozy, softly lit writing desk covered in open fantasy maps, aged notebooks, and a pink teacup steaming gently. A dark pawprint marks one of the map pages, hinting at feline interference in the midst of worldbuilding.

Lately, I’ve been happily hiding away from the chaos of the world by immersing myself in the Wind Riders universe. There’s something magical about escaping into a world of sky islands, Wind Riders, and airborne adventures that makes reality feel a little less daunting. One of the best parts of world building is when you stumble on those hidden gems beneath the clouds that make you blink and think, “Why didn’t I think of that before?” It’s all part of the fun and games of creating new worlds.

In the process of dreaming up new things for the Wind Riders, I’ve somehow managed to give myself a bit of eyestrain. A thousand words later, I find myself with a headache and the will to go on, but my body is definitely not on the same page.

I’ve got a bunch of short stories in mind for the Wind Riders series, and I’m also outlining two novels: one exploring the origins of the Wind Riders and another set in their future, full of new adventures and discoveries. So, there’s plenty of excitement on the horizon!

I’ll dive back into it once the aches and pains subside and I can wrap my brain around all these ideas again. Until then, I’ll be resting up and dreaming of sky islands and adventures to come!