My journey from a fantasy reader to a fantasy book author was not as smooth as I hoped or as successful as I wished, but I am happy with Wrath of the Ancient Queen and the vision I am trying to project. I like the story, and reading it again as we went through the formal editing process reinforced my belief that this is a good story and I hope to share it with as many people as are willing to read it. Everyone I have shared the story with, from readers, friends, and family, seems to enjoy the tale, but this is a small sample size that I hope to grow. So, I hope more readers come out in support of my fantasy book and provide meaningful feedback that will help me with future stories.
I’m an IT professional by trade, managing data centers and network systems. During my personal time, I read fantasy novels by some of the best fantasy authors out there and play Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote Wrath of the Ancient Queen nearly 20 years ago, but I had this story in my head for many years before I decided to become a fantasy writer and just start typing. I couldn’t get this story out of my head. It was an obsession in my brain for several years of a story I wished another fantasy book author would have written because I really wanted to read it. But none of my favorite or other best fantasy authors came out with anything similar.
So, with no experience, no direction, no nothing, I just started typing out what was flowing in my head. I knew how I wanted it to start, but everything in the middle through the end just came to me as I wrote, and I wrote everywhere: on trains commuting to/from work, during lunch breaks, in the park and backyard watching my kids and long hours at my desk.
Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Every waking hour, my thoughts were consumed with the story and the story just kept flowing. It was like my brain was possessed by some unknown force, and the only way to rid myself of the possession was to finish.
Every time I thought I was getting close to finishing, a new twist would pop up in my head and more conversations had to be vetted out and written down on paper. Now, I worked some hard jobs and long hours, but nothing was as hard as writing a novel. You are basically having multiple conversations with yourself, as well as arguments and outright fights, and I thought I was close to insanity as I worked through my fantasy book.
If you’re interested in why I believe fantasy is the best genre, check out my blog about “Reasons Why Fantasy is the Best Genre of Books.”
And as I finished each chapter, my wife waited and encouraged me with her liking of the story. My wife is not a fantasy reader. Her genre of choice is horror in the Stephen King style, and I was surprised by her reaction to my writing. Seeing her enjoy this story as I wrote it gave me the motivation to keep writing and pursue self-publishing. I tried the traditional way to get a book published by submitting outlines to publishing houses and contacting agents, but unless you’re a big name in the industry, they had no interest. Maybe that’s why ghostwriting for the big author names is so popular today.
Original authors are having a tough go of it. A little advice I found somewhat useful from personal experience, whether you are a fantasy book author or write in any other genre: Illegitimate ghostwriters will camp the Library of Congress for new ideas and sell them to other authors who have a name in the writing world. Some may call me out on this, but I had it happen with my story.
The unfortunate reality is you can’t do much about it. Copyright infringement cases are very hard to prove, and If you lose a copyright infringement case, the winner can force you to pay all their legal fees. When a big-name author inadvertently purchases your story through a nefarious ghostwriter, the trail gets blurry, and, in most cases, the no-name author doesn’t have the financial means to legally take on big names in the industry. I was given a 50/50 shot of winning by my lawyers, but the person I was taking on would have buried me and my family financially if I lost. I could not take that risk.
So, be careful with your stories and make sure you properly protect them. I consider it an honor that a big-name author found my story worthy to place their name on it, but man, some of the recognition would have been nice too… Now, back to my story:
I believe our Earth is a magical place. A place we know very little about, and as more and more discoveries have occurred over these past 20 years, new discoveries of unknown civilizations, I wanted to bring this story back to life. It just may be true…
The story that flowed through my younger self at the time was imagined on biblical passages that struck me as cataclysmic for humanity, but I kept thinking, how would it play out for us humans? There had to be a lead-up, a trigger, warnings, or something besides us humans one day being alive and the next day we’re dead. There had to be more to the story, and this is my version of that imagination.
In the context of the Book of Revelation, these verses are part of a series of visions and prophecies that depict the end times and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. I used these passages to create the story I wrote and, using my imagination, filled in the rest. I hope you like it.
{Matthew 24:36 “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
Revelation: [7] The [Horde] looked like Beasts prepared for battle. On their heads, they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human [children]. [8] Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. [9] They had armor like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their passage was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. [10] They had staves and stings like scorpions, and in their staves, they had the power to [annihilate] people. [11] They had as [Queen] over them an angel, whose name is [LinaLinas], and in the [old tongue], The [Mother]. [20] They trampled humans in the winepress outside the cities, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles.}
Imagine sitting in your living room in today’s world. Maybe you’re streaming your favorite show or catching up on your social media and work communications, however you’re receiving them. Or you’re at work, the park with the kids, driving or flying to whatever destination, or any number of things we humans participate in daily. It’s a lazy winter day, not too cold but enough where most northern cultures are bundled up when outside and comfortably warm when indoors. Then it hits! A power outage disrupts your day.
Most cultures are familiar with these events and know how to get inside, keep warm and wait it out. People know the professionals will have it fixed soon. However, this outage is odd as it seems to be affecting all forms of electrical usage, from lights, cell phones, TV’s, computers, so-on-and-so-forth. Every electronic thing on the planet is shut down in an instant. And everything we use in society today is electronically controlled to some extent, so imagine the confusion when planes, trains and automobiles stop in their tracks, fall from the sky, or drift aimlessly in the open seas. And as people and societies try to understand what is happening, a freezing cold front descends upon all the lands of the earth. People rush to the nearest shelter to wait for the professionals to sort it out, not knowing that the entire earth is in the same predicament.
Hour’s pass, yet no information is forthcoming. Hours turn into days then into weeks, and then months. People panic after a day or two, who knows how humanity will respond when weeks and months pass without our necessities, but I’m pretty sure our societal structure will crumble.
There will certainly be riots and looting as people who aren’t accustomed to hunting for their food fight each other for survival. How long will people show up to work when they have no convenient way to get there and are no longer getting paid if they do? And as humanity grapples with our new way of life, trying to survive and stay warm while we do it, hoping someone fixes whatever it is that is broken, an army of massive proportions is marching across the lands. Humanity is their prey, and the disorganized and chaotic society we’ve become is easy pickings for the ravenous invaders.
When most inhabitants of the earth are struggling to survive, huddling inside their homes for warmth as best they can, and keeping their distance from other humans for fear of violence, what chance do they have against an army?
Ancient arcane forces have been inadvertently awakened, and humanity is unprepared. Woe to mankind, the ancient Queen comes to reclaim her lands, and this time, sorcery cannot stop her.
