A New Story

Happy spring! Well, at least according to the calendar, it’s spring ─ but the weather’s trying! We’ve had a couple of warm days, and I’ll admit that going outside and feeling that warm air was a little mind blowing. It’s amazing how every year we almost forget what it feels like. We’ve got the little green shoots of crocuses and daffodils poking up through the derelict garden mulch, assuring us that the earth hasn’t frozen to death, and we’ve also been doing sap over here on the farm for the past couple of weeks, boiling that sweet tree water into sweeter maple syrup . . . ah, it makes the house smell so good! It also cures the winter dryness. We haven’t been assaulted by static electricity in several weeks now because of all the moisture.

But these are not the only things budding and flowing this spring! Do you remember a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned a writing project I was doing for my local writers group? Well, as it happens I fell in love with the story so much that I decided it was worth publishing! There is still some editing I want to do to flesh out the characters and story a little more, and by then I’m estimating it’ll be about a 10k novella. I’m super pumped about it, because writing ‘short’ stories has always been a challenge for me ─ Falconsbane, anyone? Yeah.

So here it is! I’ve spent a couple of days working on the cover for it (after wracking my brain for days trying to come up with a design!)

What do you think? I’ll admit with unashamed enthusiasm that I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, myself! I particularly enjoy how the motif looks textured and raised from the background, which is something that I’ve always thought looked really cool on covers.

And here’s a little more of what you’ll find inside:

For as long as the people of Kelphaven can remember, life has always been pretty peaceful. But then one morning all the fishermen mysteriously disappear ─ well, all but one. Skeer Umpee is the only fisherman left, but everyone agrees that he’s rather peculiar. And terribly ugly to look at.

Then rumors begin to spread about a great sea dragon haunting the waters, and when the lovely Lady Everen from the Merchants Guild comes to investigate, she chooses the most unlikely person to help her: Skeer, who is delighted by the idea of spending time with the beautiful lady. However, they aren’t long into the investigation before the sea dragon appears, and it doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving, either.

A search through the town’s historical records reveals that this isn’t the first time the dragon has come to Kelphaven. Or the second, even. Each time it was driven off by a hero who alone had the courage to face it, but why has the dragon kept coming back to this place? And without a gallant hero in sight, who could possibly save the town this time?

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I am stoked to share this story with all of you! It was a real exercise in two genres I’ve never worked with before ─ but I’m going to be sneaky and not tell you which ones just yet. Can you guess which two genres they are?

(*hint, it may or may not be mentioned in an earlier post . . .)

Let me know what your guesses are, and keep your ears open for more about the story within the next couple of weeks!