The Journey Is Long, but I’m Patient Enough to Make It

Why do I—as an author—write my long-running story?

The answer to that question is simple.

I want to fill this world with light and tell stories to make someone’s day better. Make someone feel something in their bones.

I want Stanzielle Quintette’s story to bring the gift of light to others that I share this world with.

My current author photo encapsulates this notion well, with my hands offering the world light from the darkness (though it was hard to get the darkness right without stretching the photo, and I would have preferred doing the photo in HDR instead of SDR).

I write stories to give the world the first light from the Creator. He gave me a gift to write, and I honor Him by doing my best with the tools He has given me.

My magnum opus project is the Orchestrylus Odyssey, and I’m experimenting with doing distinct art styles for my panels (the post header panel is not final) to bring things to a certain aesthetic. I want them to feel like they were drawn in something impermanent, something that will fade with time like a worn cloth. Clever use of screen tones and semitones helps with doing this, but I still haven’t decided upon an aesthetic.

The goal of this series is to show young people and old alike that there is never a time when light does not break through.

I want to show the horrors of war in a way that keeps it from being romanticized, even if poetry can be free and gorgeous during battles when each attack happens.

I think I’ve struck something that can truly be called my own with this series.

There isn’t elemental magic, even if some songs affect the elements in some way.

The magic system is based on color, light, and music, tied to what eye color someone has and the emotions we all experience. This series is heavy on psychological themes as well and will see deconstructions of the soul at pivotal moments.

Of course, there are Christian allegory elements here, but the series will touch on philosophy, reason, faith, and many other subjects.

This is the first time in my writing life that I’ve needed a series bible, which I’ve written about in a past post.

The world will be complex, with even side characters alive and flourishing after major events.

When I’m talking complex, I want to know every detail of every character.

What they had for lunch with their girlfriend last Tuesday—that sort of depth.

My gag character Sparstrum will have a series-spanning arc about his quest to find the perfect story to walk a path that his crippled brother never could. He might be used for comic relief, but his brother’s disease and the effects will drive Sparstrum forward.

Eventually, I want this series adapted into other mediums, and I won’t give up until I’m skilled enough to make that happen.

This story is the love of my life (well, my creative life) and I won’t let it go so easily.

I must succeed at this. Whether I take two years or twenty years.

I have other novels I write (I’m quite fond of the Occultus Ecclesia Saga, for instance) but I feel like this is the series I was made to write.

But that’s that.

I want Stanzielle’s story to fill this world with ever-needed light.

She won’t stop until she becomes an official symphonist, and I won’t stop until I become the man who told this story in the best way it could be.