This story began as a project I did for my writing group – the Herscher Project – the theme of which was Dark Futures. As a starting point, all interested parties were told to consult a short story by Mr. Chris Jackson, the title of which was as “A Flash In The Pan”. Mr. Jackson, it should be noted, is an established fantasy writer with many titles to his credit – including Zellohar, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, Weapon of Flesh, Scimitar Moon, and the sci-fi spoof Cheese Runners. In this particular short story, Jackson explored the possibility of humanity’s future, discerning twelve different scenarios, arranged from worst to best. Having already decided that I was going to do a post-apocalyptic story with an environmental message, I set about penning a relatively short story, appropriately named “Source” because it dealt with water.
Originally, the story consisted of only this first installment, which is now Part I of the expanded novel. Once I had finished with it, I had no doubt that I was pleased with the product, but I was surprised at the positive feedback it got. At the time, I had posted the short story to both my writing group and Elfwood-Lysator, a fantasy/sci-fi website for aspiring authors and artists. It earned a Moderator’s Choice Award and received several comments within a relatively short space of time. Most of them contained the suggestion that I should follow it up with a sequel. The story does end on an admittedly uncertain note, as it was intended to be a cliffhanger. However, taking these suggestions to heart, I soon began work on a sequel. This next short story, which I entitled “Shortfall”, is now Part II of the novel. Alas, I knew the story wasn’t finished, and began moving onto a third, fourth, and even fifth.
After completing the shorts named “Deliverance” and “Galilee” (parts III and IV) I moved on to the finale: “Reclamation”! However, as always, I found that the more I wrote, the longer the story had to go. By the time I wrote the five installments for “Reclamation”, each one as long as the other parts, I finally felt that I had written the story through to its completion. Each of these I posted to Elfwood-Lysator in addition to the Herscher Project, one of which managed to earn me another Mod’s Choice Award! All parts now appear in their entirety in this one novel as a single, ongoing story. I sincerely hope that people enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I also hope that its message – that the planet is our responsibility, and every action has consequences – will be well received. As for the rest – the action, aliens and adventure… well, I hope they prove entertaining! Enjoy!
Where to buy online: Amazon.com/Source- Matthew-S-Williams/
