A Land of Ash

Note from the Author:

Anyone who has read anything by me knows this collection is a rather large departure from what I normally write. Usually I’m in a world of elves, orcs, and magic. Yet with Land of Ash, I wanted to test myself, see if I could honestly write beyond my comfort zone. I’d recently read much of Ray Bradbury, and there was a story in there in which the whole world is told in their dreams that life would end that night, yet no one rioted. No one panicked. It was hopeful, calm, and beautiful. With such ideals in mind, I wrote what became the first story, One Last Dinner Party.

OLDP enjoyed a bit of popularity in a fellow indie author’s collection, The Lake and 17 Other Stories, so much so that I wanted to see if I could delve deeper into this potential devastation. Borrowing from Bradbury yet again, I went for a Martian Chronicles feel, with various characters, places, and times instead of a single narrative. Might as well follow what you know works, eh?

I should probably mention the whole science aspect of this. By no means am I pretending to be an authority figure on the Yellowstone Caldera’s eruption. I had little to go on, and much of it from the internet (and we know how trusty that is, right?). Everyone agrees the eruption would be catastrophic, but just how and in what ways is a bit iffy. I went with what would let me write the best stories. Story trumps science, at least for me. I hope I kept things realistic, but let’s be honest here, this collection isn’t about the ash. It’s about the characters, their choices, their trials, as they try to endure a fate that would shock many to their core.

I hope you enjoyed yourself. I want to say thanks to Ron Hearn, for the inspiration for this whole eruption. Thanks also to David, Daniel, John, Rob, and Mike for working with me to add some new voices to this collection. Fingers crossed that you had fun reading their contributions as well.

Again, thank you. Your time is precious, dear reader, and I’m glad you spent it with me.