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.

Here’s the short version:

Where do you go when there’s nothing left?

Bron and Calea are on the road to the only place Calea firmly believes still has magic: the megalopolis of Thyrion. Along the way, though, they need to do some patching up. In the small town of Averieom, they find assistance—and more than they bargained for.

Young Nyasha Cormorin has been assisting doctors in Averieom for years. But after the Cataclysm, she no longer feels any ties to the community, and she’s determined to leave. She’s going where she wants to go, and no one can stop her.

I have had a blast working with this group of creative and ingenious people on this shared world. At first, when Nick approached me about working on this project, I wasn’t sure I would be able to offer much. I had been in a dry spell as a writer for over a year, seemingly unable to find anything I wanted to write about. But I truly enjoy proofreading, and I have an eye for detail and subtle nuance, so I was happy to offer my services in that capacity.

After reading through The Select’s Bodyguard for Nick a couple of times, searching for mistakes (don’t worry, Nick, there really weren’t that many), I found myself falling in love with the characters and the world he had created. Bron and Calea stole my heart, and suddenly I was spending a lot of time thinking about what would happen to them next. I couldn’t wait for someone to write the next book so I could read that one, too.

Then I remembered, like a bolt of revelation, “Oh, hey, I’m a writer! I could write the next book myself!”

And, many months later, here we are. I’m happy to say that working on this wonderful project has completely broken my dry spell. Water from the well, you might say. While finishing the manuscript for The Doctor’s Assistant, I started another one (a personal project), and now I’m working on a third (an original novel).

Throughout my creative life, I’ve found it more fun to edit and proofread than write a rough draft–it’s pleasurable to re-read what I’ve already written and bring it to perfection, reveling in past accomplishments rather than facing the uncertainty ahead. Lately, though, I’ve found it much more difficult to drag myself away from my rough draft writing to edit what I’ve already done! I had planned to self-publish that second manuscript on my birthday, June 28, but it’s going to be a few days late, because I’ve been so busy writing. A complete reversal, and I’m loving every minute of it.

So thank you, most sincerely, to Nick, Natasha, Tim, and everyone else involved in this world. I very much look forward to continuing to work with you. And thanks, too, to all our readers. Have fun storming the castle.