FOREWORD
In Which Writing Novels is Like Sewing
OR
Where Short Stories Come From
Now, what I'm about to tell you is true -- but, like so many things about and of writing, it's not the only truth. And it's certainly not a universal truth. It's a truth that's true for me, as a writer.
Sometimes.
Here it is in a nutshell -- I often find that, when I come to the "end" of a novel or series of novels, I'm likely to have bits and pieces of story or character "left over," sort of like the sequins and scraps of fabric left over from a sewing project.
For instance, I'll have in my head the story of a secondary character from the novel; a story that may connect, or even intersect, with the novel, but which by no means is essential to the story told, or the problem solved, within the novel. It may be a story that has no relation to the novel at all; stories that could have -- no, check that. Stories that did happen, only slightly to the left of the stage, in the corners and quiet places cast in the shadows of the novel's reality.
Sometimes those stories absolutely must be written; I have no say in the matter. If I come up stubborn, pleading press of other (paying) work, then the story will just sit there, clogging up my brain, until I knuckle under and write it down. Sometimes -- most often, I'd say -- the leftovers, the could-be stories fade, and melt down into the bedrock, where they add an extra layer of verisimilitude to the novel's worldbuilding.
What you have here, in Surfside, is a mixed bag of sparkly scraps; two stories that spun out of Carousel Tides, the first book in the Archers Beach trilogy, published by Baen Books.
Carousel Tides is a contemporary fantasy set in the fictional town of Archers Beach, Maine. That novel involved quite a bit of worldbuilding, especially regarding the hierarchy of magics available to the characters, and the rules by which each sort of magic operates. The most basic sort of magic is available to the trenvay, who are each responsible for a bit of land, or marsh, a tree, or a rock. The next level up is the land magic available to the Guardian of the land, a sort of uber-trenvay. All three Carousel books (Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas) are told in first-person by Kate Archer, the Guardian of Archers Beach.
In the course of working on Kate's story -- the story of a Guardian who deserted her duty, and returned to it years later -- it occurred to me to wonder how other Guardians might arise, and how they would view and dispatch their duties. How, in essence, someone would come to accept a bond and a responsibility that is magical, in this day of Android phones and cloud computing.
The first story in this chapbook, "Emacipated Child," offers. . .one. . .answer to that set of questions. It's set in the very tiny town of Surfside, right next to Archers Beach. Kate Archer makes a brief appearance, but this is Jason's story to tell.
The second story is in fact an outtake from Carousel Tides; a little bit of Kate Archer's family history.
#
Let me tell you just a little bit about Archers Beach, Maine, if I may.
Archers Beach is a town that's almost real. Magic works in Archers Beach -- to an extent -- and it is the site of the World Gate, which connects our own World with five other Worlds.
The history, coastline, and geography of Archers Beach were constructed -- cut, and paired, and pieced -- out of the whole cloth of the Maine coastal towns of Old Orchard Beach, Ocean Park, Kinney Shores, Camp Ellis, and also the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.
For more information about Archers Beach, please visit the Carousel Tides website (www.carouseltides.com), or The Archers Beach Photo-Diary on Pinterest (pinterest.com/rolanni/archers-beach-diary/)
The Archers Beach Trilogy consists of three novels:
Carousel Tides, Baen Books, November 2010
Carousel Sun, Baen Books, February 2014
Carousel Seas, Baen Books, January 2015
--Sharon Lee
Cat Farm and Confusion Factory
amended July 2016