Will-o'-the-Wisp

Will-o'-the-Wisp is my latest story, with the first chapter ready to read! The artwork above is a commission by MoonlightAlchemist. Be sure to check our her website "Ameiga Art" in the Linkage lists to the right! I get got the sketch and original in the mail today. Man, it puts this scan above to shame. Now I really know what they mean when they say their scanner rapes colors. I will be buying frames for it and the Erwin R. Morgenstern commissions this week.

So, since this is a writing blog, Will-o'-the-Wisp started as "Plight of the Faerie". Originally a very short tale that was edited down to a summery of less than 500 words, this sparked three more short summaries. The series stopped when I changed jobs. More recently, another deviation inspired me to do another; but this time it was a "full story" with dialogue and expanded plot. This helped me to begin expanding the summaries into chapters; and thus an adventure was born. Still, something was missing, drive and motivation. This is where this commission come in. It really was the key that got me where I am now with this story. The fire two chapters are comprised on two summaries each, with the third chapter comprised on the fifth installment plus new material. There are links to the original parts in the chapter descriptions.

The story revolves around Arthur Geoffrey, a young man of the Crown who is on holiday on the western shores of England hiking the coastline. There he encounters many fantastic and mythical creatures. While surprised to find them, he is not shocked at their existence. The time frame for this story is modern set in a world much like ours, where such myths are thought of a just fiction. Arthur is a kind man with a big heart and smile who is always willing to lend a hand, which gets him into the adventure of his life. What is it about this young man who can befriend faeries that draws Fate near? Read the story and find out!

It was inspired by a deviation (this is the term given to art postings on devantART) of a bound faerie, which you can find linked in the story description (use the link above!). This is how Gloriana, the nude faerie in the commission, got her start. For the fifth installment, the inspiration this time was another deviation of a sad Gothic faerie with a wish curse. This is where Morgan la Fay comes into play. Arthur gives them nicknames due to his in ability to sing their true names, which are in fact songs. I thought this to be a unique take (though I doubt original) and allows me to better fit names. Arthur is just a product of my brain. As you can tell, these names have connections to each other. While this will be a continuing trend in most all character names for this story, the names are more symbolic than descriptive. Still, the old tales will have an influence.

Biggest concern here is that Gloriana and Morgan are based on other's designs. This is why I had MoonlightAlchemist be sure to take the descriptions I originally gave and run with them. She did this that while keeping to whom they are. I have since modified their descriptions to better match what they look like in the commission. Same goes for the plight to which Morgan is first found. It is a fine line I do not want to cross, that of copyright infringement. However, I am taking an idea and making it my own, not stealing another's work and calling it my own. This is one key factor in my favor. Plus I will likely give credit to the original pieces as inspiration for this work; though this will not be enough should I have to defend myself. In my defense, what I have here is pieced from many sources combined into something more. I have never once taken credit for another's work in this matter so I doubt there is little to fear. Still, I need to delve into this more.