Reading guides | About me
Come Explore My Work on Medium… and Beyond!
A guide to all of J. F. Danskin’s fiction, non-fiction and poetry
Hello! I’m J. F. Danskin, and I’m a creative writer and enthusiast for all things creativity-related.
I’ve written several novels (more on those below), and regularly share short fiction here on Medium, much of it in the fantasy genre.
A lot of my non-fiction is about the process of writing. In fact, I joined medium to share my ideas about the craft of creative writing, how to write stories, plotting, how to write fast, etc.
I’m also an editor at The Fiction Writer’s Den, a publication where you can find short stories, serial fiction, drabbles, writing prompts, and articles on the craft of creative writing.
So, if you want to know more, let’s dive in!
Let’s start with what I share the most: fiction.
- Most of all, I share flash fiction. You can find all of my fiction via this list of all my fiction (most are stand-alone stories, with a few first chapters of loner series, too). There’s over a hundred piece on the list so far!
- I’ve also shared serial fiction or web-novels. You can find a current one, Whispers of a Hidden Realm, via this list. It’s a portal fantasy connecting a near-future story with ancient Celtic Myths. Another series I have been working on is sci-fi, and begins with ‘Risks’. Series list here.
- For an older series, check out this reading guide and chapter list for Sorcerer, Level 1. It’s a complete gamelit/fantasy with humor elements.
- Here are two personal recommendations:
Drabbles
- One style of fiction that I share a lot are drabbles: stories of exactly one hundred words (no more, no less!).
- I find drabbles pretty fascinating, and have written here about why they are so good for our craft as authors: ‘What exactly is a drabble?’
- (You can find a drabble category at The Den to read loads of these stories).
- Sometimes I push things by writing a double drabble such as this one: ‘Before the Imperial Troops Arrive’. Or a treble drabble like this: ‘Rise of the Brains’.
- Here’s my top recommendation below:
Or… Choose Your Own!
- There’s a complete ‘choose your own adventure’ (CYOA) story here on Medium that you can read, and I wrote most of the chapters. It’s called The Castle of Shadows — find out more here.
- Another major ongoing story is Seek and Avenge… it’s mostly finished, and there is an ending, though it’s so vast and sprawling, there are a small number of loose ends as well. Click here for chapter 1, or find out more here.
- Other first chapters can be found here (murder mystery) and here (fantasy).
- Or to get even more interactive, you could try CYOA with a real, active roleplaying game element. Get those dice rolling in Primatria.
- Again, here’s a recommendation, this one coming just after the first chapter of another author’s starting story:
A Bit of Poetry
- Sometimes, I share a poem or two. This list has all of my poetry on Medium, including sonnets, free verse, and a few prose poems.
- A poetry recommendation:
Writing Prompts
- As I mentioned above, The Fiction Writer’s Den shares writing prompts, most recently a set of prompts each month. I’ve shared various other sets of prompts in my time on Medium. Find them all in this list. Incredibly, I have over 30 stories here.
- My recommendation here; these were my most popular set so far:
Various Non-Fiction
- As mentioned, my main focus is author tips and articles on creative writing.
- These articles are particularly about creativity, defined more broadly.
- I occasionally write an article on fandom or pop culture.
- I’ve shared a few pieces about blogging and about Medium (or my progress here), too.
- This is my recommendation here:
My Novels
- Finally… as promised, a bit if info about my novels! I have a complete 5-book novel series, The Druid Stones Saga. It’s a historical fantasy, set in Scotland during Viking times, with magic and mythical creatures. It’s not on Medium, but you can find it here.
- I’ve written a full-length LitRPG novel that you can read on Royal Road. It’s called The Tooth and Claw Guild… and there’s some major werewolf themes! I’ve shared tasters on Medium here and here.
- I’ve written the first two novels of a trilogy, Sparta Online. This is also LitRPG, and in a setting based on Ancient Greece. The third book is largely written — the header image for this article shows the cover art! You can read a bit about the series here.
- Finally, I have a futuristic LitRPG story with a ‘hunger games’ feel, titled Demon Hunters Online. It’s still a work in progress, but you can read (or listen to audio) via Fictionate.me here, or read the first chapter on Medium!
- And who knows, perhaps some of my Medium stories will grow into novels one day…
If all of that piqued your interest, you can read more about me here:
Many thanks to the various writers whose “Index to my writing” stories inspired this piece, including but not limited to Justiss Goode | MFR Club Coordinator (find hers here), Scarlet Ibis James 🦩 (here) and Jay C Wells (I couldn’t find it, but you definitely had a good one at some point, Jay!).
If you want to keep up with my work, please consider subscribing to get my stories by email via the link below.
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