inspiration

Lessons from Looking Out a Window

By Gregory Meyer
November 25, 2016

My wife and I are in Lexington to visit her brother and his family, which includes three energetic nephews. I had the opportunity to go to the eldest nephew’s school yesterday for a Thanksgiving party.

I hadn’t been back inside the halls of a public school in more than fifteen years, so walking down those halls yesterday felt strange, like a long forgotten memory returning to my mind. There was my nephew, sitting at his desk surrounded by other kids just as I was at his age. He has his whole school life ahead of him. Would they be good years for him? Would he look back at them fondly?

Sitting there as my nephew performed his poem with his class, my mind went back to many years ago when I first went to kindergarten and grade school. There were some good memories, but for many years it was a miserable time for me. I wasn’t the best student, and from how things were heading it’s perhaps surprising that I’m even writing this to you. (more…)

November 25, 2016 - Tags: childhood, creative process, Greg Meyer, imagination, inspiration Posted in: Blogs

Inspiration in Edinburgh

By Greg Meyer
November 6, 2014

Last week, I had the great fortune to travel to Ireland and Scotland. Having never left the United States before, it was an eye-opening experience for me, even if the culture-shock is lessened when visiting countries where English is the predominant language.

While exploring Edinburgh, I had the chance to go to a little coffee shop called The Elephant House, nestled in the heart of the city. What makes this seemingly ordinary coffee shop special is that it’s where author J. K. Rowling penned an obscure tale known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Well, I’m a fan of the series, so I found it an interesting experience seeing where “the boy who lived” was born on paper. (more…)

November 6, 2014 - Tags: Greg Meyer, humor, inspiration Posted in: Blogs

My Influences for The Fall of the House of Kyzer

By Nathan Marchand
October 23,

As Nick and Tim discussed in a recent episode of their podcast, writers are influenced by most, if not all, of the stories they’ve read and/or seen. Some they’re conscious of, some they’re not.

So, in light of this, I’ve decided to talk about the stories that influenced my writing of The Fall of the House of Kyzer, my first Children of the Wells novella. You might be surprised by what I mention. Or maybe you’re astute enough to have noticed these already.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order… (more…)

October 23, 2014 - Tags: creative process, inspiration, Nathan Marchand, The Fall of the House of Kyzer Posted in: Blogs

Creating Jaysynn’s Merry Men (And Women)

by Timothy Deal
September 25, 2014

I am pleased to announce that the third book of the Jaysynn series, New Wells Rising, is now available! After the many delays this novella has experienced, it’s quite a relief for me as the author and for all of us as a team to finally get it published in ebook format for everyone to enjoy.

Believe it or not, the latest installment in Jaysynn’s story began about a year ago as work on The Rules Change was wrapping up. I still half-jokingly blame Nick for getting me involved with Jaysynn #3. He and I were talking about what the next Jaysynn novella should look like and I mentioned that it would be good for Jaysynn to begin attracting some followers, to build the base for his own small army to one day perhaps challenge series villain General Dracon. Nick agreed and commented that Jaysynn needed a core group of warriors to lead and inspire, much like the Biblical leader David had his band of “mighty men” or Robin Hood had his standout figures among his Merry Men.

That comparison fired my imagination since I’m a big fan of Robin Hood stories, especially the classic novel adaptation by Howard Pyle. There’s a series of chapters in that book where Robin first encounters such memorable characters as Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Midge the Miller’s Son (okay, not as many people remember that guy). Several of these encounters have a rocky start given Robin’s penchant of teasing and antagonizing strangers in Sherwood, but each end with the new character becoming a sworn friend and member of the Merry Men. (more…)

September 25, 2014 - Tags: announcements, characters, inspiration, New Wells Rising, Timothy Deal Posted in: Blogs

What Jaysynn Kyzer and Captain America Have in Common

By Nathan Marchand
April 25, 2014

Not Jaysnn Kyzer.
From imdb.com

In the writing world, people like it when you compare your work to something else. It helps publishers figure out how to market a book. We here at Children of the Wells would’ve driven them crazy. We honestly weren’t sure how to describe this saga, let alone compare it to anything. We were different from the start. Serialized webfiction written by multiple authors instead of by one. Stories written as complete novellas instead of one chapter at a time.

At first, the only comparison we could make was to comic books, which are serialized stories in a shared universe, but that certainly won’t apply once we implement our new publishing plan.

Then while working on a special project celebrating our first anniversary, I finally figured it out.

Children of the Wells is like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). (more…)

April 25, 2014 - Tags: comics, Destinies Entwined, inspiration, Nathan Marchand, storylines Posted in: Blogs

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…)

February 7, 2014 - Tags: characters, inspiration, Nick Hayden, The Well's Orphan Posted in: Blogs

Remembering C.S. Lewis

By Nathan Marchand
November 22, 2013

This blog was also posted on the author’s website.

I realized the other day that this is a week of noteworthy anniversaries. November 19 was the 150^th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Today, November 22, is a day loaded with significance. Fifty years ago today several events, both joyous and tragic, occurred. On the bright side, the British science fiction TV show Doctor Who first aired. But today is also remembered for the deaths of three great men: President John F. Kennedy, author Aldous Huxley, and theologian C.S. Lewis. (more…)

November 22, 2013 - Tags: christianity, inspiration, Nathan Marchand Posted in: Blogs

Ideas on the Wind

By Natasha Hayden
October 4, 2013

This summer, I could barely keep up with my responsibilities on CotW between extra editing duty and busy real-life plans. But September swooped in and, suddenly, I had nothing to do. No stories were waiting in the queue (though, not to worry, we are all queued up again). My personal life also returned to normal. So I actually had time to read a few good books and post a new blog on my site, reviewing the sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. (more…)

October 4, 2013 - Tags: inspiration, Natasha Hayden, personal Posted in: Blogs

Now What?

So, The Select’s Bodyguard is over. Now what?

First, let me assure you we have a lot planned, and we’re scurrying behind the scenes to get it all ready.

Second, let me take a moment to explain a bit more of our conception of Children of the Wells.

We conceived Children of the Wells not as a series, but as a world, and we envisioned our stories, such as The Select’s Bodyguard, not as complete novels, but as episodes. We were inspired by shared universes such as the Star Wars novels and Marvel comics to create a space where characters can have separate storylines that still affect one another. And we were inspired by serialized TV (for examples, see my last blog) to craft our stories as novellas that act in many ways as episodes. Each has a complete emotional arc but clearly transitions into the next novel. (more…)