1,000 Followers—and a Special Story Announcement! · 10:19pm May 6th, 2018
First of all, a big shout out to all one thousand of you who were awesome enough to add me to your following list and gracious enough to keep me there all this time, despite my "sporadic at best" story releases. Thanks also go out to Desert Sun, who ended up being number 1,000!
As with many authors on this site, I'm going to do something special to commemorate the occasion, but not in the way you might think.
Now, the announcement. Well, perhaps it's better to consider this an "announcement of an announcement." Several years ago, I had an idea for a story, but never followed through with it due to how massive of a project it would be, and that I felt compelled to work on original fiction instead. Eight and a half months ago, work began.
Some placeholder "artwork."
Before I go ahead and spill the beans, I need to make a disclaimer: Anyone familiar with my work knows I don't post multi-chapter stories until I finish a complete first draft and post rewritten and revised material. Due to the length of this project, it will be a year at minimum before publication. While I fully intend to finish the project, nothing in life is guaranteed, so I can only say I'm going to see this through with 99% certainty.
Secondary disclaimer: Everything you're about to read is subject to change, including the title. The work this material represents is still in a very early stage.
Saga of the Great Winter
Winter’s white winds whistle across the western sea where an armada of reindeer longships crest upon the stormy waves. Ancient screams of a town struck down by the flames of tragedy echo through the millennia, reaching the ears of Viking King and pony Princess alike. As the sun sets on Equestria and the days grow short and frigid, Twilight Sparkle is the one mare who must calm the approaching storm. But the mighty reindeer King Eldrhefnd has not forgotten nor forgiven the pain that had befallen the kingdom of Norden two thousand years ago.
The longest and most dreadful winter Equestria has ever seen approaches, and an insatiable thirst for revenge darkens the skies; a unicorn's desperate gambit launches ships across a treacherous sea; destiny rekindles a long lost love; a ruler places a kingdom's fate in the most ancient and cruellest of customs; and a young alicorn's tenacity takes her and her friends on perilous journeys spanning the length and breadth of Equestria and beyond, to a fabled hall of gods and gold high above the clouds. But who will be left to sing the song of the Saga of the Great Winter—the Equestrian bards or the skalds of Norden?
Those of you who've kept up with my blogs might remember the photograph I posted of several books, including Beowulf and the Eddas. Since then, I've gone through all of them and have done additional research (while still doing on-the-fly research as needed). So, where's the project now? As of this moment, I'm roughly 84,500 words in, and I have a very long way to go, as I've only now just begun the book's second act. If the 1/4-1/2-1/4 act length distribution (as is standard in film) holds any water with this story, then the projected length as of this moment is around 300,000 words, making this by far the longest and most ambitious project I've ever attempted. I'm also pushing my limits as a writer in that I'm working very hard on improving my overall prose quality as well as conducting many writerly experiments.
Beyond what's in the description I posted, you can expect an epic-scope story that is dark in nature (as more epics inherently are) with a large cast spanning several POVs (mostly the Mane 6, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike), with Twilight as the main character. The story is pretty violent and won't mince words when it comes to any blood resulting from said violence, but I'm quite certain it will bear a T-rating. So far, the tentative tags are [Adventure] [Dark] [Violence]. I may need to add a [Death] tag, since the story contains several battles, and people tend to die in those, though death isn't a primary theme. Depending on how drafts go and what the Fimfic mods say, there may also be need for a [Gore] tag as well. I don't go out of my way to talk about blood and guts, but again, battles involving swords, spears, and the like. You know how it is.
As for the content, I've taken a great deal of influence from Norse Mythology and blur the lines between myth and reality. For instance, reindeer have a form of magic derived from ancient runes, but don't wield magic as unicorns do. The names of the gods are invoked, but you won't actually see the likes of Odin and Thor as characters, such as you'd see with the Greek gods in Homer's epics. Another example is that the Einherjar are the King's elite fighting force, similar to the Persian Immortals, rather than the purely mythical army of Valhalla.
On top of this, there will be some historical influence from the actual Vikings as well as character names. For example, one of the Viking leaders in the story is named Thane Bloodaxe, after the actual Viking king Eric Bloodaxe. I should also note that I'm ignoring the canon of season 7, the movie, and beyond, as the new elements introduced starting from the pillars simply add too many variables, factors, and fill in too many corners of the map for me to work with. I figure choosing to ignore the canon is a better choice than letting it more or less cause the story to fall apart at the seams.
Needless to say, I'm very excited about this story. I've never done so much research for a writing project before, and it's paid dividends. Due to how incredible the benefits have been, I actually pitched a research writing panel for Bronycon this year, but it ended up getting wait listed (along with almost all of the submissions that I know of—RIP writing track?). Anyway, that's neither here nor there. I've had difficulty being able to think of or talk about little else—my editor Horse Voice can attest to this—for the past few months; the novel has reached that "black hole" phase where it just consumes everything else until you finish the draft. Assuming I don't waste too much of my life on the Battle for Azeroth beta (so far, so good), I hope to hit the 200,000 word mark by Bronycon, and perhaps come close to finishing the draft by the new year.
For those curious about prereading, I'm keeping the "alpha" reader list very small and focused, as the only relevant feedback at this stage is the major, "broad stroke" type of stuff, like logic problems, continuity errors, scene relevance/pacing, overall character design, and so on. I probably won't be looking for beta readers until next spring, and that's assuming I can maintain a strong pace.
Anyway, thank you very much for reading this and sticking with me for all these years, many of which have been lacking in production from my end. For those who recently followed me, welcome. It may be a year or two before this story goes up, but now you know that I've got something waiting in the wings. For now, I leave you with one of the many mood-setting songs I'm using for this story:
Although Thor himself isn't directly involved, this song is quite fitting.
You can expect a lot more teaser-type stuff once I reach the later stages of production. Until next time!
Welcome to to the 1k clubi.imgur.com/qJgUULM.gif
4855290
Thanks! Is there a secret clubhouse I get the keys to?
Congrats! You've earned it!
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4855377
Thanks!
That's pretty awesome, on both counts! Congrats!
Hit us with some teasers for the story as you close in on a final draft. :)
4855701
Thanks very much! I definitely plan on that, especially once I get cover art figured out. My non-clop stories don't seem to gain much traction, so I'm going to work especially hard to generate anticipation and get this thing off the ground when the time finally comes. I'll probably also need to shop a polished/revised draft of the descriptions and first chapter quite a lot to make sure I've got a killer hook, as I'm not sure if this story's premise is all that unique, and I don't think it fills or creates a new niche.