The Heartsword Family & The Xiphis World

If you've come across this post/page, you are in for a treat! The information shared here is not anywhere else on the internet. I thought about sharing it to the Writing Cave, or Wattpad, or to social media in general, but it felt appropriate to create a post here.

Disclaimer: This post was written and created on June 19th, 2023.

All of the covers you see in this here are the final artwork for every book in the Xiphis world I've been building. Additionally, this page is full of SPOILERS for the Xiphis world. If you do not mind being spoiled, continue reading.

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The Xiphis Saga was short-lived. And while I know this series has something to prove, I have to change gears and rethink how I can bring the story to life. Even with the amazing start, putting the rest of the story on paper has been a struggle.

I tried writing the saga into 3 books, then I condensed into 2. Now, I'm struggling to just write one. I also have the planned sequel series, the prequel, and 2 spin-off planned. I still hope to write all of the stories, I just need to figure out my "how".

Developing Regina's character and her story, the first third of it anyway, was so simple and I thought I had struck gold. I mean, every author goes through the "shiny new toy" phase when writing a new story. And working on the Xiphis fantasy world while the real world was in complete chaos, the escapism this story brought me was so amazing. I still go through my outline and all of my notes, all the time, and I still have hope. Hope that there will be a completed story for readers to enjoy.

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The sequel series might only be one book now, but I think I still make it work as a trilogy of shorter books then smash them together. And fun fact, this is the first time I've shared the covers with people other than my bestie, Andrea, to whom this series is dedicated.

Disa (Dee-zah) is Regina's son and heir to the Heartsword throne. He is blind in one eye and was born with what people think is the "Reaper's Mark". It's just a birthmark; he's not "destined to become a Reaper". 

The Heir of Xiphis is a coming of age story about family and friendship, and discovering/accepting oneself. Readers are going to LOVE Xanathael, Xana [Zay-nah] for short (a play on the name Nathanial, with an angelic flare). And yes, tissues will be required when you read the second part of the story. I know this because I was sobbing when I wrote out a very surprising, unplanned chapter. Sometimes the actual plan needs to be changed around.

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The Reaper of Xiphis is about events leading Regina's grandfather to help her in the main story. He knows and sees all. It's not your typical "grim reaper" tale, because reapers in the Xiphis world are tasked with much more than collecting souls.

This book also touches historical facts about the Xiphis "founding families"; Heartsword, Frostdust, Axewolf. If you've read the book I titled "The Bridge Between Worlds" when it was on Wattpad, you might have seen the easter-egg about certain family secrets. This book reveals those secrets.

The Reaper's story is dark and sad. There is a lot of death and heartache. And it unintentionally will end on a cliffhanger because it really does lead up to events in the main Xiphis story and contains spoilers for Regina's rise to rule.

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The Xiphis Tales are short stories/novellas following important secondary characters: Hazel (Disa's twin sister), Victoria (Regina's half-sister), and the Frostdust Guardians (Kalib's family)

Because these Tales are much short than your typical novel, they would be bundled into a collection for back-to-back enjoyment.

Not shown here is another novella following Regina's grandmother and the Reaper's first love, explaining certain decisions that lead to Regina's mother, Bridgette. I think I was still working on that cover when I made these series graphics.

I think the reason I even took the leap of faith with this series is because Elise Kova is a huge inspiration for me and her Air Awakens world has a bit of an influence for why this series is so big.

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How do I hope to reach inside of me and bring out all of these stories? Short answer: I am going to just do my best and see what happens.

Long answer: I am going to set aside time to pull out all of my notes about the Xiphis world and retrace my steps to the basics. I am going to outline the crap out of this story, watch all the videos I can on outlining a a series of this size, and I am going to write it.

There are a few things I need to do before I can get into that headspace first, and its getting a new notebook with all of the Xiphis artwork on it. I'm going to carry it everywhere and each time I have an idea for the Xiphis stories, I'm going to write it down. Its worked in the past, and I am hopeful it will help me again.

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E. S. Eliias

E. S. Elias is an author of romantic scifi and fantasy adventures. She loves the color blue, spends way too much time in her fictional worlds, and has a MASSIVE crush on Dominic Sherwood. Esther currently lives in Puerto Rico with her family and her three dogs & three cats, where she spends her time writing and reading. She can be found on Wattpad, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!​ @AuthorESElias