Hi, everyone!
I am pleased to participate in the SSP Anthology Extravaganza hosted by Tomorrow Comes Media for The End Was Not the End.
Editor Bio:
Joshua H. Leet is a native of Lexington, KY. He absconded with a degree in English Literature from Transylvania University and has co-authored 3 non-fiction books, including Civil War Lexington, Kentucky: Bluegrass Breeding Ground of Power (The History Press). He currently works as a contract scopist, and he edits novels for Seventh Star Press, working with authors like Jackie Gamber and Steven Shrewsbury. He enjoys reading, watching sports, television and movies, and playing Frisbee. When he dies, he hopes to leave the world the same way he came in, screaming with a clenched fist.
About the Book:
EDITOR: Joshua H. Leet
PUBLISHER: Seventh Star Press
PUBLICATION DATE: March 26, 2013
PUBLICATION DATE: March 26, 2013
FORMAT: Paperback, 306 pages
GENRE: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781937929077
ISBN: 9781937929077
Heroes prevail… usually. You sit close to a campfire, depending on its faint, flickering light to ward off the darkness. Yet the fire cannot hold back dark memories, thoughts of your fallen kingdom, of monsters across the land, of magic gone awry. Around fires like yours are seated other travelers, refugees from catastrophes none dare mention. Kings and queens huddle shoulder to shoulder with peasants, wizards share scraps with slaves, and each wishes only to be saved.
Some will be lucky, for heroes yet remain in their lands. For others, hope was not among the provisions stuffed into a pack when fleeing home. Eventually the silence of the night grows too heavy, and someone speaks. They tell a tale of loss, of foolish pride and tragic mistake. With bravery stoked by company, others speak up, each sharing their own sorrows. Before long, there are enough tales to fill a volume.
The conversations continue through the night, and by the time dawn has filtered through the gnarled tree limbs, journeys must continue, and one by one, the strangers trudge away. Their worlds may have ended, but they have survived another night. They will continue on, seeking to rebuild upon the ruins of great dreams. Their stories linger upon the air, drifting into time like the smoke from their extinguished fires, fed only by faint embers.
This book contains eleven stories set in worlds where an apocalypse has already come, but the characters you’ll read about aren’t quite ready for the end.
Buy Links:
Amazon Kindle / Amazon Paperback
CONNECT ONLINE WITH SEVENTH STAR PRESS:
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog
CONNECT ONLINE WITH SEVENTH STAR PRESS:
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog
Featured Stories and Authors in The End Was Not the End:
Deedee Davies – “The Halls of War”
Desmond Reddick – “Blood and Fire”
Scott Sandridge – “Make Way for Utopia”
Jay Wilburn – “Twenty Year Plan”
Mandi M. Lynch – “Nightmares and Dragonscapes”
Magda Knight – ”The Stone-Sword”
William Ransom – “In the Hills Beyond Twilight”
Steven S. Long – “Blade of Fire”
Bill Blume – “Waist Deep”
Darra L. Hofman – “Ben”
Nathen Gallagher – “Story’s End”
Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Deedee!
Deedee has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her!
The Halls of Warby Deedee Davies
This story started out as a comic strip about eight years ago. I had a drawing that I did back when I was about 15 of a woman in impractical armour, and, about 15 years later, I dug out the drawing, decided to give her a bit of an upgrade, and design her a boyfriend. As I was doodling away, a story started to materialise for the both of them, and I quickly got it down into a (rather badly-drawn) comic strip.
I got about 9 pages into it when the scenes in my head got a bit challenging for my limited comic-strip drawing skills, and around the same time, I found that the dialogue and story text I was writing for it was becoming increasingly verbose. So I decided to start turning it into a proper story. I hit a brick wall. I had started writing it in the first person, present tense (i.e. Vronn's point of view), talking directly to the second person (poor old dead Achoris), which made a lot of the scenes quite difficult to write.
I abandoned the story for years, occasionally dipping back in to attempt to push it along, but failing. It was only when I saw the Seventh Star Press open submission post for post-apocalyptic fantasy tales that I finally got the motivation to hunker down and get the entire story roughed out. I'd never actually decided on the end for my comic strip, you see! I introduced Gerrard as a potential love-interest for Vronn, and made Felain an even nastier piece of work than she had been in the original. Once the outline was properly in place, the rest started to fall together quite nicely, although still in the 'first person, present tense, talking direct to the second person' format.
Once I'd got to the point where I couldn't actually read the story any more, I passed it along to a friend whose writing skills I admire greatly, who tactfully pointed out that they had no idea of the gender of the main character until half-way through the story... Ahem. My brain was still in comic book mode, you see, and I never thought anyone would need telling that my main character was female when she was wearing that boob-shaped breastplate!
So I went through and made a bunch of changes, making it clear that Vronn was in fact a lady, and clearing up a bunch of other anomalies. I also made the decision to overhaul the writing tense, changing it from present to past, and talking about Achoris in the third, rather than second person. I left one bit of the original tense in at the end, leaving it as Vronn's final dialogue with Achoris before she consigns him to the flames.
While I was re-editing, I also got the urge to do some more artwork of the two main characters, choosing the moment when they stand together and fight the horde of Summoned. So if anyone wants to know how I visualised Vronn and Achoris, there's a picture here.
The comic strip (such as it is!) is still available on my DeviantArt page here, and includes some variations on plot that weren't included in the final version of the story. Warning for really bad artwork!
As a final note, I'm really grateful to Seventh Star Press for giving me the kick in the pants I needed to get this story out of my head and onto paper (and into print!). I'm not sure what else would have done it!
Thanks so much for joining us today, Deedee!
CONNECT ONLINE WITH DEEDEE:
Writing Blog | My Art Page | EasyThereGenius (who sanity-checked my story for me)
Writing Blog | My Art Page | EasyThereGenius (who sanity-checked my story for me)
The End Was Not the End Tour Participants:
May 17 - The Dan O’Brien Project: Guest Post
May 18 - Ian’s Realm: Guest Post
May 19 - Strange Amusements: Review
May 22 - Bookishly Me: Guest Post
May 23 - Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews: Interview
May 24 - I Read a Book Once: Review
May 29 - Darlene’s Book Nook: Guest Post
June 1 - The Witchy Contessa: Review
June 3 - Spellbindings: Guest Post
June 5 - Once Upon a Time: Guest Post
June 6 - Beauty in Ruins: Review
June 12 - Library Girl Reads and Reviews: Guest Post
June 15 - Bee’s Knees Reviews: Review
June 19 - Come Selahway With Me: Guest Post
May 17 - The Dan O’Brien Project: Guest Post
May 18 - Ian’s Realm: Guest Post
May 19 - Strange Amusements: Review
May 22 - Bookishly Me: Guest Post
May 23 - Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews: Interview
May 24 - I Read a Book Once: Review
May 29 - Darlene’s Book Nook: Guest Post
June 1 - The Witchy Contessa: Review
June 3 - Spellbindings: Guest Post
June 5 - Once Upon a Time: Guest Post
June 6 - Beauty in Ruins: Review
June 12 - Library Girl Reads and Reviews: Guest Post
June 15 - Bee’s Knees Reviews: Review
June 19 - Come Selahway With Me: Guest Post
SSP Anthology Extravaganza Full Tour Schedule:
May 16 - Jay Wilburn Blog:
Guest Post (Southern Haunts)
May 16 - MikesFilmTalk:
Guest Post (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 16 - Armand Rosamilla, Horror Author:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 17 - Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews:
Interview (Southern Haunts)
May 17 - Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews:
Interview (Perfect Flaw)
May 17 - Come Selahway With Me:
Guest Post (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 17 - The Dan O’Brien Project:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
May 18 - The Dan O’Brien Project:
Promo-Spotlight (Southern Haunts)
May 18 - A Girl and Her Kindle:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 18 - Ian’s Realm:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
May 19 - Angela Meadon Blog:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 19 - Strange Amusements:
Review (The End Was Not the End)
May 20 - Book in the Bag:
Review (Southern Haunts)
May 20 - The FlipSide of Julianne:
Guest Post (Guest Post)
May 20 - Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews:
Interview (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 21 - Spellbound by Books:
Excerpt (Southern Haunts)
May 21 - The Dan O’Brien Project:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 21 - Kentucky Geek Girl:
Interview (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 22 - Darlene’s Book Nook:
Guest Post (Southern Haunts)
May 22 - Strange Amusements:
Promo/Spotlight (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 22 - Bookishly Me:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
May 23 - Workaday Reads:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 23 - Book Den:
Guest Post (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 23 - Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews:
Interview (The End Was Not the End)
May 24 - Books, Owls and Tea:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 24 - Beagle Book Space:
Promo/Spotlight (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 24 - I Read a Book Once:
Review (The End Was Not the End)
May 26 - Kentucky Geek Girl:
Interview (Southern Haunts)
May 26 - Armand Rosamilla, Horror Author:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 27 - Bookishly Me:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 28 - Spellbindings:
Guest Post (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
May 29 - Darlene’s Book Nook:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
May 29 - Book in the Bag:
Interview (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
May 30 - Darlene’s Book Nook:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
May 30 - The Cabin Goddess:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 31 - WTF Are You Reading?:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
May 31 - Literary Meanderings:
Interview (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 1 - Babs Book Bistro:
Excerpt (Southern Haunts)
June 1 - Readings Sunshine:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 1 - The Witchy Contessa:
Review (The End Was Not the End)
June 1 - Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews:
Interview (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 2 - Beagle Book Space:
Promo-Spotlight (Southern Haunts)
June 2 - Kentucky Geek Girl:
Promo-Spotlight (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 3 - Reading Away the Days:
Review (Southern Haunts)
June 3 - Book in the Bag:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 3 - Spellbindings:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
June 3 - The Witchy Contessa:
Review (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 4 - Jess Resides Here:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
June 4 - The Dan O’Brien Project:
Guest Post (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 5 - Book Reviews and More:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 5 - Once Upon a Time:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
June 6 - A Book Vacation:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
June 6 - Beauty in Ruins:
Review (The End Was Not the End)
June 6 - Come Selahway With Me:
Interview (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 7 - Word to Dreams:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 7 - Bee’s Knees Reviews:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 7 - I Read a Book Once:
Review (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 8 - The Witchy Contessa:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 10 - Spellbindings:
Guest Post (Southern Haunts)
June 10 - WTF Are You Reading?:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 11 - Darlene’s Book Nook:
Guest Post (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 12 - Celticlady’s Reviews:
Promo-Spotlight (Southern Haunts)
June 12 - Bookishly Me:
Review (Perfect Flaw)
June 12 - Library Girl Reads and Reviews:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
June 13 - The Witchy Contessa:
Review (Southern Haunts)
June 13 - Book Den:
Guest Post (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 14 - Word to Dreams:
Guest Post (Southern Haunts)
June 14 - Sweet Southern Home:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
June 15 - Bee’s Knees Reviews:
Review (The End Was Not the End)
June 15 - The Dan O’Brien Project:
Promo-Spotlight (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 16 - I Smell Sheep:
Guest Post (Southern Haunts)
June 16 - SpecMusicMuse:
Review and Interview (Perfect Flaw)
June 16 - Jess Resides Here:
Top Ten’s List (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 16 - Once Upon a Time:
Promo-Spotlight (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 17 - Bookishly Me:
Review (Southern Haunts)
June 17 - Spellbindings:
Guest Post (Perfect Flaw)
June 17 - The Witchy Contessa:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 18 - Recent Reads:
Review (Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy)
June 19 - Recent Reads:
Review (Southern Haunts)
June 19 - My Seryniti:
Review (Vampires Don’t Sparkle)
June 19 - Come Selahway With Me:
Guest Post (The End Was Not the End)
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