Candles as Portals, and Shadow Drops
What if you could travel between locations on Earth using only a candle, the moonlight, and a demonic cat named Mondspiegel? Such is the case for the blossoming college student Fferyn Perre when he stays late to help a student who says he’s gotten into a bit of trouble with one of the teachers on campus. I won’t spoil anything else, other than the concept.
Candles become mirrors into an alternate reality when the moon is half-full, as the light and darkness are in perfect balance with each other. This duality allows those with certain gifts to use the candle as a portal between hallowed points on the globe, specifically old gothic cathedrals.
This contemporary novel, called The Candle’s Edge: In Lunar Glass, is a dark fantasy set in non-contemporary times, during World War II in America. Nazi occultists will play a prime role in the book, because few people know Hitler’s troops were led by his occult impulses in certain cases.
The book will have a dark aesthetic, with each chapter set at night, and special chapters happening at the half-moon phase that take the main character into the Lunar Glass, the world between where long-distance travel means nothing at all.
I won’t spoil the plot, but it’s going to be a mind-bender and tackle some tough subjects. I’m using Germanic folklore crossed with a gothic aesthetic (architecturally and stylistically) to make a story that mixes genres in a gothic fantasy, magical realism, and pseudo-historical container mixed with actual historical events.
This book will shadow drop at some point this winter.
I’ve done some research into shadow dropping and marketing, realizing that books don’t generally do this. I think the arena of literature needs unorthodox ways of getting the word out, but sometimes, getting it out is the way, if that makes sense.
Artistic sensibilities and business acumen don’t need to be orthodox to get results.
I have found that writing stories and creating story arcs, characters, and plots fulfills me. I enjoy the work of others, of course, but I’ve found something that gives me drive and purpose.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a movie, show, game, or another author’s book. And heaven knows I will never give up music, as that is my favorite art form in this world.
But finding that spark of inspiration at the bottom of the creative well, that shining lost coin that had been tossed down by the Muses themselves, that’s the point of it all.
I suspect I’ll have seven more books by the end of 2025, six fiction, and one nonfiction.
If I take my sweet time with the process, put all my skills to use with a flair only I can do, I will make art worth remembering.
My books need to be distinctively mine, not like another author’s style. I’ve found my own voice in crafting fiction, which is the first step (I think) to making my own path in this field.
I look forward to releasing my next projects with much anticipation (murderous tv calibrators, a wacky chess book, Persephone in the modern age, the proper sequel to Auminous, and my favorite series continuing the story of The Symphonist).
If I can do what stories have done for me for others, I’m more than fine with that.
