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Distinctive fantasy fiction stories that delight the mind and stir the soul.

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Writing a Story for the Love of Story

July 25, 2018 By Author John Leave a Comment

For Love of Story

Writing for the Love of Story

A Developing Love of Story

God blessed me with the gift of an active imagination, and as a result, my mind has been filled with stories since as far back as I can remember. I was acting out stories on a home-built rickety raft down at the creek or laying out rocks in the shape of a boat…no a pirate ship! And I would stick a tree branch in the ground with an old sheet or blanket stretched out as a sail, take up my wooden sword and bandana wrapped around my head I would rule the seven seas! But what gave me the impetus to write a story?

Writing a StoryI was one of five kids—the only boy dropped right in the middle point of four girls—and we loved games. Along with Monopoly and Old Maids we often played a card game called Authors. Robert Lewis Stevenson—Treasure Island—got me wondering if I could write a story like that. In high school I put my pen to paper to write story. I did not get far before I realized that writing a story was beyond my present abilities. I wrote some short stuff, but it wasn’t very good. I wrote simply for the love of story.

For the love of story I also read many of the books whose titles were from the Author cards. Along with Treasure Island I read Kidnapped, Ivanhoe, Last of the Mohicans, The Deer Slayer and many others-all classics. I read for the love of story, and because of my love of story writing a story was in my blood. As a result I enjoyed many frustrated efforts and many failures. Such is the reality of story writing. But all of those failures were steps toward future accomplishment—and many more failures.

I write for the Love of Story

Accidental HeroesIt must have been around 1980, when I was thirty-four and had two young boys that I got serious about writing stories. I reasoned that my love of story would provide a good means of teaching the boys godly life principles. As I wrote The Helot (helot means servant) I would read it to them instilling truth and engendering discussion. As the boys grew I continued to write stories and read them to them. Those stories later developed into my Accidental Heroes series: The Helot; Dark Danger, Terminus, Primal Blade and Labyrinth (they had other names back then).

Once my boys grew up and left home I continued to write. Why? Because God had given me a love of story. So my next effort was classic fairytale, Wanzalara’s Cottage. It was also the first of my books to be published. It was accepted by a Canadian publishing house that promised to market it in the U.S. as well as Canada. They never followed through on the marketing and less than a thousand books were sold. But I was published! I was not writing to make money. I was writing for the love of story and I simply wanted to have people reading my stories.

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Filed Under: Author Blog Tagged With: author cards, biblical worldview, classics, Quick Read Books, Robert Lewis Stevenson, writing stories

Fantasy Fiction with a Folkish-Legend Flare

July 17, 2017 By Author John Leave a Comment

Folkish-Legend Flare
Fantasy Fiction in the Tradition of JRR Tolkien

Folkish-Legend and JRR Tolkien

That which is folkish relates to stories of common people. Legends are non-historical or unverifiable stories relating to individuals and/or people groups. We’re talking common folk fiction!

JRR Tolkien’s fiction has a flavor of folkish-legend to it, from the main stories to the stories within the stories and the stories from which stories grew. The backstory for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is the Silmarillion—a bit tedious to read, but worth the effort. Many of the stories found within the folds of Tolkien’s various books (I would include the entire book of The Hobbit) have a folkish-legend flavor to them. (Link to his biography)

A number of my fantasy fiction books have that folkish-legend flavor as well, ordinary people enveloped in extraordinary stories.

Unlikely Heroes – a Quick Read Book

Fantasy Fiction StoryIn Unlikely Heroes, four ordinary young people, rejected and harassed, rise above the trials of life to become the most improbable of heroes. Denaar, Alayna, Weetin, and Owlie are mocked and mistreated because they are challenged by impediments that make them different from others. In the midst of their struggles, they come to the aid of an old man, assist a reluctant dragon, and defy the people of the realm. Their adventures take them from social castoffs to being unlikely heroes. You may find this to be your tale, as I have found it to be mine.

The Princess and the Orc – a Quick Read Book

The Princess and the Orc is a tale of courage with consequences that challenge how we think about those who are different from us. Kamela is a princess, while Drawf is a common orc, a despised common orc.

Tradition of JRR TolkienPrincess Kamela looks out on the Wilds of Avith and wonders what might live out there. She grimaces knowing that there is probably nothing out there but vile creatures called orcs. In the midst of her contemplations orcs from the Wilds swarm from hiding and take her captive. Imprisoned, she discovers that the orcs worship Nafash, an evil god that binds his people in fear. Drawf, a lowly but sensitive orc, is chosen to look after Kamela. And as he goes about what he must, he finds himself liking Kamela. Conflict moils within, but he must do what he must do! Kamela casts aside prejudice and reaches out to Drawf. However, since orcs hate her people and her people hate orcs, for him to respond in kind would be perilous. Death haunts both of Kamela and Drawf in this electrifying adventure in the Wilds of Aviith.

The Myth – a Fantasy Novel

Folk FixtionGabral, an ordinary girl, is thrust into an extraordinary story, as is Chance, her baby brother. Gabral saves her brother from death by fleeing into the arms of a feared forest with him held tight to her chest, while tears laced with fear fall from her eyes to wet his deformed hand and twisted leg. They, along with Arawk, a woodsman who takes them in, rise from common roots to heroic deeds.

Here is a scene from the story: The moon rose and the executioner climbed to the top of the altar followed by the man clad in black and two torchbearers. The man in black stopped just beyond the stairs and turned to face the throng below, while those to be sacrificed stood trembling at the foot of the altar.

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Filed Under: Author Blog Tagged With: Author John Edgell, extraordinary stories, JRR Tolkien, Kindle ebooks, Quick Read Books

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John Edgell, Author

John has experience as a school teacher, a pastor, and has been a writer of stories since his two sons were knee high to a gnome.

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