Origin Stories and Foundations
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Welcome to the first edition of Starkly Noted! If you found me through my social media, then you most likely know what to expect. If you wound up here via recommendation or have never come across my work before, this post is for you!
Who is Logan Stark?
I’m an author in my early thirties with two self-published books to my name and a fantasy-romance duology titled Starborn (more on that below) in the works.
Prior to focusing full-time on my writing, I worked as a sportswriter, a political speechwriter, and a marketing specialist. I also put myself through graduate school while working as an executive assistant. I know, I want a nap too after reading that list.
I hold both a BA and MA in English literature with a specialization in critical theory and medieval poetry. I’ve been obsessed with Arthurian myth and literature ever since I was a little girl, so it was a no-brainer that my graduate thesis was a queer critical theory analysis of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (I highly encourage you to read the entire 80-page poem. It is a wild ride from start to finish and the not-so-subtle destabilizing of the heteronormative patriarchy by a 14th century poet is genius.)
When I’m not glued to my desk, you can find me curled up with a good book or crocheting while watching hockey, baseball, or black-and-white movies. I live in the gorgeous, rainy Pacific Northwest with my partner and our cat, Charlie. All typos henceforth will be attributed to Charlie (sorry, fuzz).
What is Starborn?
Starborn is the working title for a fantasy-romance duology that I began drafting in June 2023. I’ve had the initial idea for the series since 2012, but all the previous attempts at telling this story fizzled out after a few chapters. The plot for Starborn finally crystallized in May 2023 when I was forced off my feet for a month thanks to a broken foot bone. My poor partner, bless him, came home from a camping trip to find me sitting on the floor and surrounded by a whopping total of 76 notecards as I laid out the plot. I completed Book I in less than six months and Book II is currently in the works.
Starborn is what is known as a “low-level” fantasy-romance. Low-level merely means that while there are fantasy elements within the story, it’s still our world and everything else is the same. (A handy guide for the difference between low and high fantasy is this: Would you stick out if you were dropped into the middle of the story? For popular fantasy-romance such as A Discovery of Witches, you wouldn’t stick out. For works like The Lord of the Rings, you absolutely would stick out.)
The fantasy mechanics in the world of Starborn are relatively simple. Magick and magickal beings exist in our world but we’re unaware of their existence. There are three classes of magickal being — Weres, Wanderers, and Witches — and a ruling body that oversees justice and protection of the magickal community. You’ll read more about all of them in subsequent posts.
Starborn follows Bryony Miles, who was born into one of the few remaining powerful families within the magickal world. However, she has no power of her own, despite being the subject of a prophecy that she would be the key to restore the balance. Magick has been on the decline for several centuries, and as if that weren’t concerning enough, someone has been poisoning the source of all magick in the world. Bryony, unaffected by the decline and poisoning of magick, is the last hope for finding an answer and a possible cure. And she isn’t going to stop until she has some answers, especially as to why the gods heralded her birth with literal starfire and then never granted her any magick at all. (And you thought you were having a bad day, eh?)
Bryony’s search will take her back in time to Renaissance Florence, across Europe during the Second World War, and to the very limits of her endurance.
Factor in a fated soulmate lost in time and a villain with an unhealthy obsession about Bryony, and you get a fast-paced, dazzling duology about a woman who will stop at nothing to save those she loves. Even when it appears that heaven and earth may be against her.
You can expect regular updates about the writing and editing process, interesting thoughts about the construction and themes at play in the story, and historical research I do for the sections of the story based in 1943.
Have you written anything else?
Yep! I have a multi-part queer sports romance series available on Kindle. You can read more about the series on my website and you can buy the first book here.
Book three in the series should be out in early 2025 and book four will be published in late spring/early summer 2025.
Where can I find you on social?
You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky!
That’s all for now, folks! I’ll see you back here with a Starborn-centered update soon!
Yours,
Logan