With the arrival this month of our fourth installment – “Negotiation, or, The Various and Sundry Businesses of Mister Jonathan Guess” – we introduce a new character and a new tone to the stories. Unlike Palm, Timriel, See, and Gelgarth, there’s nothing heroic about Jonathan Guess, unless you choose to describe his tolerance for drugs and booze that way (and you really shouldn’t.) He’s a deeply untrustworthy man, filled with dark habits and even darker regrets. That’s all reflected brilliantly in the cover portrait by Bella Bergolts, and the stunningly creepy interior illustration by Dean Calusdian. While the pivot away from the romantic cover art of Chapter 3 may be unexpected, dark and horrific elements are certainly nothing new to the genre. Michael Moorcock’s “Elric” books, R. Scott Baker’s “Prince of Nothing” series, and Fritz Leiber’s “Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser” stories regularly delved into darkness, and even Tolkein’s Smeagol / Gollum jonesing for the One Ring can be seen as a portrait of addiction not too dissimilar to Jonathan Guess’ quest for the strongest psychedelic mushrooms he can find. In that grand tradition, we add this pitch black streak to the palette of ‘The Elect Stories.” We hope you dig it.
The Underside of Fantasy
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The End of the Beginning
John Crye, , Announcement, Designing The Characters, Story, 0
A friendly reader recently commented that this month’s chapter – “Argument, or, The Raising of the Elect” – could...
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I finally joined GoodReads!
John Crye, , Announcement, BTS, News, 0
I recently joined GoodReads and according to them, I have hundreds of Facebooks friends over there. Stop in and sit...
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Parallel Lines: Past and Present
John Crye, , BTS, Developing The Story, Story, 0
Some readers expressed surprise when “The Elect Stories” made a leap of twenty years from chapter one to chapter...
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Writers Read
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The World, Story, Thoughts, 0
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and...
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Jessy = Purpose – But What Does That Even Mean?
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The Characters, Designing The World, Developing The Story, 0
In chapter one, Father Saren tells Cassian about the concept of “jessy,” which is the sylued word for “purpose.”...
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Why is it so hot in the valley?
Todd Sharp, , BTS, The Circle, 0
We spent the afternoon at AJS Costumes, picking out wardrobe for an upcoming photo shoot for The Elect Stories....
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Ever Get That Sync-ing Feeling? (Ch. 2 Gets An X-Ray)
John Crye, , BTS, Exploring The World, News, 0
One of the cool benefits of publishing via Amazon Kindle is that the work can be revised or corrected...