No Great Master

by Laura Fischer
April 22, 2014

At our last meeting for Children of the Wells, I volunteered to write the blog for Easter weekend. It seemed like a subject that would be rife with ideas, and I thought I might be able to write something about my involvement with the Easter program at my church or something. But once I actually started thinking about what to write for this blog, I was stymied. Nothing that occurred to me seemed at all interesting or unique. What can I say about Easter that hasn’t been said a million times before? (more…)

Updates: Orphan ebook, More The Wheel Is Broken

By Nick Hayden
April 12, 2014

All right, dear readers, it’s time for an update-filled post.

First, if you haven’t read, we’re undergoing some changes here at Children of the Wells. The biggest change is we’re going to start releasing books only when they’re completed, instead of serializing them. For some explanation of the reasons, check out Natasha’s blog from last week.

Second, we’re busy preparing a collection of short stories as an anniversary gift for you all. We’ve about all the stories in. You should see it sometime near the end of the month, if everything goes as planned.

Third, since The Well’s Orphan is finished, we’ve compiled it as an ebook. Download it as an epub, mobi, or PDF and read it at your convenience–or share it with others.

Fourth, and finally, since we have a bit of dead space as we finish up our short story collection, I thought it would be nice to release the rest of The Wheel Is Broken here on the site. (more…)

We’re One Year Old!

By Natasha Hayden
April 4, 2014

Yum. Cake.
Don via Compfight

One year ago, this week, I wrote a blog welcoming you all to Children of the Wells for the first time. It’s a little hard for me to believe a year has passed since we made this adventure public. Of course, we’d been working on it for at least a year before you first saw it.

Children of the Wells is something very special to us, the writers and crafters. Granted, it’s not perfect, as much as we’d like it to be. When you work with a group like ours, where only a third of us see each other on a regular basis, some of us meet once a month, and a few of us have ever only made it to a meeting once (and perhaps only on Skype), there are bound to be communications that slip through the cracks. But we are excited about the world we’ve created and about the story opportunities still before us. (more…)

Oh, That Depressing Thing

by Nick Hayden
March 28, 2014

Calea’s lost arm?
Ben Andreas Harding via Compfight

When we–the writing collective that is Children of the Wells–discuss The Well’s Orphan, it’s usually referenced as “that depressing thing,” or by some equivalent phrase. Fellow writer Nathan Marchand accused me of being “downright nihilistic” in the story.

What’s interesting about these (playful) insults is that in person I’m an optimistic, glass half-full sort of guy most of the time. I have my deep philosophical funks, certainly, but they’re over quickly. In my writing, however, I tend to probe the spiritual dimensions of man. That’s the center of conflict, to me–how a person understands his place in the world and his relationship with God. (more…)

By Your Powers Combined

By Laura Fischer
March 21, 2014

Kevin Dooley via Compfight
Absolutely nothing like our meetings.

We’re coming up on our one-year anniversary here at Children of the Wells. It’s amazing to look back and see how far we’ve come–and to look forward and see how far we have yet to go. Our plans are many, varied, and not exactly concrete, so look forward to lots of interesting twists and turns in the stories to come.

But there’s something to be said for taking reflection at a milestone, too. To celebrate our (mostly) successful passage through a year of writing and posting, we’ve decided to publish a short-story anthology. The idea is to have one short story connected to each of the published novellas. They could be missing scenes, scenes from different perspectives than the ones offered in the published novellas, or stories based around new characters only loosely connected to already-published events. I’ve read the story for The Doctor’s Assistant, by our story editor, Natasha Hayden, and it is excellent in every way. I can’t wait for you all to get to read it. (more…)

A Fresh Set of Eyes

By Aaron Brosman
March 8, 2014

Yaniv Golan via Compfight

I’ve known Nick Hayden since about three days after I started college. I don’t remember exactly how we met. It could have been through Dr. Hensley’s gathering for all the writing majors, or it could have been in one of my classes. What I do remember is that my first year of college Nick Hayden convinced me to come hang out with other writers. Those meetings were some of the most important things that ever happened in my life. We came to call ourselves Derailed Trains of Thought, after the fact that we tended to ramble profusely. More appropriately, I tend to ramble profusely.

That is where I met many of the authors and collaborators for Children of the Wells. Even before The Select’s Bodyguard was published I remember Nick doing what he had done many times before: he asked me to be part of the new story that they were all working on. Sadly, I had to turn him down. My life was too hectic to commit to a story project of this nature. (more…)

Making Up God

by Natasha Hayden
February 28, 2014

Trey Ratcliff via Compfight

This week in Children of the Wells, you were treated to a glimpse of the more zealous side of one of this world’s religions: the worship of the god Elthor. He is the god of Thyrion’s monotheistic state religion. The Emperor and his family believe their godlike power comes from Elthor. They believe their divine right to rule comes from him. In fact, they take their belief a step further: they believe they are gods themselves. Others, like the High Priest Pelag (from The Fall of the House of Kyzer) are fervent, more traditional believers, and still others believe only as far as Elthor suits their needs and whims. (more…)

The Rules Change Ebook Now Available!

As the headline so concisely states, The Rules Change is now available as a downloadable ebook in epub, mobi, and PDF formats. If you’ve been waiting to read it until you could tackle the novel as a completed unit, now’s your chance.

Also, all our books, once completed, are available in ebook format for your downloading pleasure. And they’re free! You can always find the link on the main page of each book, but for your convenience, here’s the list:

The Select’s Body – Bron & Calea #1

The Doctor’s Assistant – Bron & Calea #2

The Wheel is Broken – special, exclusive flash fiction collection

The Fall of the House of Kyzer – Jaysynn #1

The Rules Change – Jaysynn #2

Platonic Cuddling

Kristina Alexanderson via Compfight

By Nathan Marchand
February 14, 2014

Creative meetings for Children of the Wells are often—as in, always—strange. In a recent one, Laura brought up characters in a Band of Brothers fanfiction who cuddled to stay warm. I then coined the term “platonic cuddling” (I think it was me, at least), and it became a running joke for the rest of the night.

I bring it up because at this point our characters are more likely to engage in “platonic cuddling” than any sort of romance. (more…)

A Lament for the Arrogant

By Nick Hayden
February 7

Next week, we’ll be premiering our third Bron & Calea novella–The Well’s Orphan. The story so far has been largely personal, detailing how Bron, Calea, and their new companion Nyasha deal with the effects of the Cataclysm. The Well’s Orphan is no exception. In fact, it is the most personal story yet.

I wrote The Select’s Bodyguard and I had not planned to return so soon to write on the same storyline, but after Laura delivered Calea a crushing blow at the end of The Doctor’s Assistant, I felt compelled to return. Because, you see, I care about Calea. (more…)

After the Cataclysm took our magic,
how do we rebuild?