New Wells Rising |

In Search of a Soundtrack (Part 2)

By Nick Hayden
June 18, 2015

In honor of the summer movie season, we at Children of the Wells have dubbed June “sequel month,” and so we’re writing sequels to last month’s blogs. Nathan already cast even more characters for a CotW movie, and now I’m back to fill out the soundtrack for that movie.

Last time I tackled mainly Bron & Calea-related themes, so now I’ll add my picks for Jaysynn and his band of merry men (and women). As before, I’ve limited myself to music found at OCRemix.org.

Jaysynn’s Theme:

With a title like “Anthem of Exile,” based on the theme of two princes, this was a no-brainer. I prefer the first half for Jaysynn, with its lonely but noble sound. I’m not sold on the jazz organ, but beggars can’t be choosers. (more…)

June 18, 2015 - Tags: Call of the Watchman, creative process, media, New Wells Rising, Nick Hayden Posted in: Blogs

“Their Last Night” – An Amira Flash Fiction

By Timothy Deal
February 14, 2015

For the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing flash fiction stories that examine small, emotional moments in our characters’ lives that don’t fit in the normal narratives. We hope you enjoy!

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Their Last Night

Read more about Amira in our first collection!

Amira drew herself up and took a deep breath. Her fingers tightened on the nocked arrow, pulling the bow string back just a touch. She shifted her stance, readying herself to move at an instant while keeping her back close to the concrete wall. She kept her breathing low and steady as she waited for the signal.

A whistle pierced the silence of the room next door. Amira whipped around the corner, drawing back her bow. Her eyes swept through a sea of faces, searching with deadly intensity until they locked in on her target. Amira released the arrow. Her firing hand immediately pulled another arrow out of her back quiver as her eyes sought a new target. The sound of the first arrow’s impact echoed off the walls as Amira locked eyes with another woman with a glare of ice. Amira sent her next arrow into the woman’s right eye.

Draw, locate target, fire. Draw, locate, fire. The archer repeated the sequence smoothly and efficiently, barely noticing the results of her shots before moving on to the next. Finally, Amira released her tenth and final arrow and called, “Time!” (more…)

February 14, 2015 - Tags: flash fiction, Jaysynn Volume 1, New Wells Rising, Timothy Deal 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

The Noble, Burdensome Trek

By Timothy Deal
July 3, 2014

photo credit: c@rljones via photopin cc

It’s been several months since we last heard about Jaysynn Kyzer, the outcast emperor of Thyrion. Unfortunately, the blame for the delay rests mostly on myself. I’ve actually been working on the next book in the Jaysynn series since last fall, temporarily trading my behind-the-scenes role to write one of our premier novellas for reasons I’ll go into in a future blog. Even though my book is about the average size of a CotW novella, it’s still easily the longest piece of fiction I’ve ever written. That is part of the reason for the delay. (more…)

July 3, 2014 - Tags: creative process, New Wells Rising, Timothy Deal Posted in: Blogs