Charlie Collins Portrait
Charles A. Collins

The Faery Queen's Apprentice

What, no pictures?!

Sorry - this project is so new that I don't really have much to show, yet. It came to me very recently - I won't mention a time frame, because things move so quickly on the web - and I have been hopping around between scenes ever since. One scene comes, and it belongs at the end, then another comes, and it belongs at the beginning . . . What is going to happen, I think, is that I will wind up with a set of scenes, then will spend most of my time and energy making sure the connections are good and enjoyable.

The Jubilee Massacre
Here is a quick excerpt from Chapter 8. This provides a bit of backstory - but it is not too much of a spoiler, because it comes so early in the book. If you took the trouble to visit this web site, you deserve a reward, right? Anyway, this is a flashback scene, a story related by one of the characters in the book. It describes why the group of rebels is in such a terrible predicament.

The Jubilee Massacre

The story follows a group of rebels who are trapped within an oppressive regime of mages - the Magisterium. They must remain in hiding while they gather their strength - and prepare to break the chains with which the Magisterium is oppressing the country.

To lend flavor and atmosphere, I am drawing upon Irish myth and the Irish language - not perfectly, of course, but with some faithfulness. Something which is important to point out, as part of that character, is that I am using the term `faery' in that sense. In popular culture, a fairy is like Tinkerbell - a small creature with wings like a butterfly or a dragonfly. In older times, though, the term `fae' meant something different - it was otherwordly, magical, and very dangerous. The `fae' were not necessarily hostile to humans - but they were not automatically friendly, either. The greatest sorceress in Arthurian legend was Morgan le Fae (or Fay or Fey) - and it is in that sense that this story uses the word.

One of the things I like about this story is that the meaning of the title carries throughout the book - in the early stages it seems clear who is the Queen and who is the Apprentice - but that changes and evolves as the characters do. That makes for a fun twist in the writing.

All right - this is going well. Often the burst of energy which starts a project fades, so it becomes a bit of a slog to get it finished. I am not there, yet, though - about four weeks in and still making progress. Keep your fingers crossed!