So y’all might remember, if you have been keeping up, that the last four years or so have been something of a writing desert for me – what with losing my husband and the desperate grieving over that, and then my mother’s rapid decline and my increasingly 24/7 role as the sole caregiver there, and then her death, and then that grief on top of the other, older one… one way or another I was in no shape to write, there was no room in my head for stories, there were only the things that needed doing, that needed all of my attention all of the time, that needed me to erase myself so that I could leave room enough to be there for the people whom I loved and who needed me.
The voices in my head, so much a fundamental part of me, fell starkly silent, and told me no new tales. I moved through that silence like a ghost, just trying to remember how to breathe, trying to hold myself together in the familiar shape that I had worn all of these years and not let myself dissipate and dissolve into the thin cold air that surrounded me… that blew against me like… like a wind…
And then there it was, the New Thing. I wrote down four short pieces, each defining a wind from a Cardinal Quarter of the Compass Rose.
And then… I wrote a story to go with each wind (actually still writing them as of the time of posting this – I have the first drafts of stories 1 through 3 in hand and am just launching into #4 as we speak…) (There is also going to be a surprise addition to the end of this little collection, that announced itself to me last night.) What it is, if you want a definition, is one of two things – a collection of four related and interweaving stories that make for a jewel-cut whole tale. like four gemstones set into a ring, or else a novella-length whole tale with four distinct parts impaled on the sharp points of a compass rose like, yes, the four quarters of the wind.
The keyword here is “novella” which is a length hard to find a market for – and I will try, once I am done, but there is a limited array of possibilities to choose from. If one of those pans out, then great, all good, and I WILL make a stab at making that happen first, but if, after I have given it a good go, it doesn’t pan out… then I will probably publish the whole entire thing as the novella that it is at some point (maybe end of this year, maybe start of the next, depending on timing.) Might I just add that when I do that the cover for that book is going to be rather epic because I have LITERALLY embroidred a compass rose to go on that cover. Well, two possible versions, anyway. These two – and I am STILL trying to decide which one to choose as a final version for the cover.
In the meantime, I am trying something new. If you want to read these things, these stories, the first thing I have written as I was trying to step onto solid ground again after flailing for so long in the muds and quicksands of the swamp of grief – if you have read other things I have written and want to read more things and are willing to support me while I am creating them – this work, this compass rose of stories, lends itself to a subscription model. So I am going to offer one. Here’s a couple of ways you can do this.
1) you can use paypal. You have options here. You can pay four installments of – oh – can we say $15 a story? Or you can pre-pay – which amounts to a generous pre-order, if you will – the entire amount, $15×4. Or, you know, if you are feeling generous… This link should work well for that: go to https://paypal.me/adeckert, insert your chosen $$ value, and remember to choose “friends and family” option if you can,that way we avoid nibbles of fees and the like) (if you have any issues let me know) If possible add a message telling me that this is what you are purchasing (just “compass rose” will do) – or email me at AlmaAlexander @ AlmaAlexander.org and let me know you’ve done it, so that I have it for my records. Remember to let me have a good email address to which things should be sent. I will respond by email with schedules and details and in due time (after this thing has been through its beta readers and completely signed off on by me as a final version) your stories, wind by wind, until you have been to all the four quarters of the compass rose.
2) you can go to my Patreon right there at that link and you can subscribe as a $4/level (the Writing School) supporter (or higher, if, again, you are feeling generous), pledging to stay there at that level of support for at least one calendar year from the date that you sign up. When I have collated this into its eventual ebook, you will, in addition to receiving each story in its turn as a subsciption service, receive that eventual ebook for free when it finally gets published, and probably well ahead of other readers, too. (PS if any CURRENT $4-and-up subscribers reading this wish to get in on this gig, let me know and I will put you on the list.) Again, do send me a message telling me you have done this, so I can start creating the list.
I am working on story 4 right now, and there is going to be an additional little thing, as I said, to complete after that, and then it all goes to the beta readers, and as soon as they’re done with it and I smooth down all the rough edges they may have pointed out to me I will start with Installment #1 to the subscribers.
There you go. If you have ever loved anything I’ve written and you’re happy to hear that I am writing again… let me know and support this, if you are able and willing to do so. It would… really mean the world to me. All the compass rose corners of it.
Thank you.