We’ve made it to the last story in the collection at last! My hope with these author commentaries is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Resurrectionists

It took awhile to get here but we have finally arrived at the largest story in Tales from Portents.

The idea behind the collection of short stories was always to put one out ahead of the release and offer it to readers for free. Generating interest and gauging the audience with no strings attached is, in my opinion, the best way to see what clicks with readers.

There are challenges with such a release. Some readers want more. The full story. The answer to every question asked. Or, because of the narrative structure, they are put off by the short story.

I am always conscious of this last fact. Every worry I carry for my work is that there isn’t enough meat to the story. Telling a rollicking tale with blockbuster-esque explosions and battles is nice, but the emotional core has to be there as well.

Resurrectionists was my attempt to do both. Offer a shorter work, a more straightforward plot, but really dig into the characters. Without scenes like Soriya in the Bypass Chamber with Mentor or Loren talking things out with Ruiz I think all the heart in the telling would have been lost.

But it would have been a helluva zombie story, wouldn’t it?

Why did it come first?

This is something I continually come back to, especially with the recent release of The Greystone Saga Volume One box set.

Every other story in the collection is in chronological order. Why the hell would I screw that up and put Resurrectionists first?

In typical fashion, I argued the point with the only other person involved in the process. Myself. (Very awkward…)

I wanted to keep things simple. Do things that made sense from a story perspective and have Resurrectionists take its rightful place after View from Above.

That would leave The Great Divide as the frontrunner for the collection and as the preview readers could download for free on Amazon and other retailer sites.

A Ruiz/Mentor story.

Now there is a time and place to showcase supporting cast members. Having them take the lead on the book and possibly be the first experience for new readers to discover the series is not one of them though.

Greystone centers around Loren and Soriya. Always has and always will. (maybe…) For a true experience, to really showcase the series for new potential readers I wanted to put my leads in the forefront.

Spoilers…

This might seem like a cheat to some but I also didn’t want an entire story spoiled by the Look Inside feature on Amazon and other sites. If The Great Divide led the pack then the entire story could be read (and hopefully enjoyed) for free in the preview of the collection.

Not the worst thing ever, but coupled with the idea that neither lead character was present in the tale, I felt the shift of Resurrectionists made the most sense in the long run.

Another benefit.

My other thought (SO MANY THOUGHTS) was that if a reader took advantage of the freebie version of Resurrectionists and then bought Tales, they could then skip right over the first story and dive right into the other five.

Convenient, right?

I could be wrong though. What do you think? Did I botch the experience by putting Resurrectionists first? Was it upsetting to see Resurrectionists in the collection when it is available separately for free?

Talking to myself about it over and over again only goes so far, so you tell me.

Next time:

More on Resurrectionists including pulling threads from Signs and the face of the Founder.

Thanks for reading.