Laura Fischer |

Children of the Wells Round Table!

By Nick Hayden
July 17, 2014

At our last Children of the Wells meeting, we decided to record a special round-table discussion. It’s not very often we have so many of the writers, editors, and idea people behind Children of the Wells in one place, and we had a lot of fun discussing storytelling pet peeves, what kind of stories we gravitate toward, and our own views of the CotW characters.

Also, if you like what you hear, Timothy and Nick produce a monthly podcast on storytelling that you can find at derailedtrainsofthought.blogspot.com or on iTunes,

Listen in to Nick, Tim, Aaron, Nathan, Laura, and Greg below:

Children of the Wells Round Table Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

July 17, 2014 - Tags: Aaron Brosman, audio, Greg Meyer, Laura Fischer, Nathan Marchand, Nick Hayden, Timothy Deal Posted in: Blogs

No Great Master

by Laura Fischer
April 22, 2014

Thomas Hawk via Compfight

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…)

April 22, 2014 - Tags: christianity, Laura Fischer, philosophy Posted in: Blogs

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…)

March 21, 2014 - Tags: creative process, Destinies Entwined, Laura Fischer, The Rules Change Posted in: Blogs

A Moment of Closure

By Laura Fischer
December 28, 2013

My grandparents’ house has been in the family for generations. Every Christmas that I’ve been alive, we’ve gone back there to Roanoke, Illinois, where my parents grew up, met, and were married, to celebrate the holidays with my mom’s side of the family. We also visit frequently on other occasions, and when I was a kid I got to travel out there for summer visits for two weeks at a time. It’s a rambling old farmhouse, not without its problems, but roomy and comfortable and saturated with memories of fun and family.

Not long ago, my grandparents sold that house. They’re moving into a condo in the town, where they won’t have to deal with all the issues of owning a country property with a huge yard and the remnants of old outbuildings. It’s a good move for them, and I know they’ll be comfortable and happy in their new home. I look forward to visiting them there, just like I’ve always looked forward to visiting them.

But I’ll miss the old house. This last weekend, my family went out to Illinois for one more visit. Many items had already been moved out of the house, but it still felt the same as always, warm and welcoming and home. (more…)

December 27, 2013 - Tags: Laura Fischer, personal Posted in: Blogs

Characterization in a Shared World: Behind the Scenes of The Doctor’s Assistant

by Laura Fischer
October 11, 2013

The Doctor’s Assistant is almost finished being posted as I write. Perhaps when you read this, it will be done. That will be the final marker of a long journey from conception, to outline, to rough draft, to editing and proofing, to final publication.

I very much enjoyed the journey of writing that book. As I said in my last blog here, this project succeeded in breaking a long dry spell in my writing. As of today, I have written more than 150,000 words this year, not all of them fiction and not all them worth reading, but certainly all of them worth writing. So here I’ll take a break from my other projects to reflect a bit on the journey behind me, just as Nyasha and Calea and Bron are now forced to do. (more…)

October 11, 2013 - Tags: characters, creative process, Laura Fischer, The Doctor's Assistant Posted in: Blogs

Water from the Well

by Laura Fischer
July 12, 2013

Nick’s Note: Next week we’ll be debuting the next novel in the Bron & Calea series, The Doctor’s Assistant, written by Laura Fischer. Here’s her preview of the novel.

First of all, I must apologize to all the Doctor Who fans out there. I know this title makes you think that David Tennant or Matt Smith is going to show up with one of their delightful companions to run around the world of Children of Wells getting lost, making humorous observations, screwing things up, and eventually saving the day. Every time I talked about this project with my family, my sisters would perk up at the title, then deflate when I reminded them that sadly, no, there will be no wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey shenanigans in this book.

The title actually refers to a new character who is introduced in this book, a young citizen of Averieom (a small town right outside Jalseion). Her name is Nyasha, and I do hope that you will come to love her as much as I do. (more…)

July 12, 2013 - Tags: announcements, creative process, Laura Fischer, The Doctor's Assistant, The Select's Bodyguard Posted in: Blogs