Have you ever dreamed of visiting a world you’ve read about in someone else’s book?
I have. I would love to sip ale in The Shire or fly aboard the Enterprise. In my own manuscripts, I’ve tried to create a world that I hope people would want to visit (though, in my case, avoid the guys carrying swords because they’re pretty good with them).
I recently learned that it is possible to play…TO WRITE…in a favorite author’s world.
In October, I received an e-mail from Amazon, asking if I wanted to participate in a Kindle Worlds launch for an author whose work I’ve been reading for years.
My reaction was …huh? I nearly tossed it as spam, but instead e-mailed the author who confirmed it was legit. From there, I asked myself the following:
What the blazes is Kindle Worlds?
I discovered that Kindle Worlds is a fan fiction offering run by Amazon. Authors license their creations, allowing fans to create their own works based on characters created by the author. Those authors set rules on what’s allowable. Amazon reviews submissions to make sure rules are met. From there, the fan fiction stories are sold as e-books, with the fan fiction writer earning money from his/her story.
There are currently 31 worlds to choose from. Anyone can submit. (Click here) And though all the worlds are secular, Amazon does have its own rules, most of which center on keeping submissions relatively clean.
As I mentioned, I was asked to participate in a launch. When Amazon launches a new world, some authors are contacted in advance and asked to write stories to be available for the launch or soon afterwards. For me, I joined the most recent launch: Body Movers by Stephanie Bond. When it comes to hilarity, Stephanie occupies the same rarefied air as Mary Connealy. Her funniest work is likely her Body Movers series.
Body Movers is the story of Carlotta Wren, a young woman growing up rich, until her father, under criminal indictment, skipped town with Carlotta’s mother, leaving then 17-year old Carlotta to raise her nine-year old brother, Wesley. The series begins ten years after Carlotta’s parents left town. The parents are still missing, the police are still looking, and Carlotta’s life is still upside down. (Click here to see the books.)
I have two items out related to this launch.
The first is a short story titled Revenge Is A Body Best Served Cold. It takes place in an interval between two books in the series and is told primarily from the POV of the now college-age Wesley Wren, Carlotta’s younger brother.
The second one is a novella titled Even Bodies Fall From Trees. Assuming everything is on schedule, it should be out this morning. This story is a prequel that occurs at the time of the initial arrest of the father. However, to indulge my fascination with Japanese history, I set the prequel in the Yokohama foreign settlement of 19th century Japan.
A number of published authors have also written wonderful books for this launch. Please click here to see them.
So, in the comments, let’s try anyone of several topics.
- If you could enter the favorite world of any author, what world would it be and where would you take the story?
- Pick a favorite Seekerville story and move it somewhere else. What would you do?
To celebrate, I’m giving away five copies of Even Bodies Fall From Trees. Please note that current Kindle Words’ works can’t be purchased/sent outside the U.S., but they’re working on it. Also note this is obviously not inspirational romance. In the meantime, since this is Seekerville, virtual food is a necessity. The virtual food of the day is red velvet cake and Baroida coffee. (This coffee is so good, you’ll drink it black.)
Walt Mussell primarily writes historical fiction with inspirational and romantic elements. His favorite setting is medieval Japan and he refers to his writing as “Like ‘Shogun,’ but the heroine survives.” His Kindle Worlds Body Movers novella, Even Bodies Fall From Trees, debuts today. He also has a Body Movers short story, Revenge is a Body Best Served Cold. Walt also writes Biblical fiction and is working on a manuscript with a 19th century American setting. He has one published novella in the Christmas anthology, Hot Cocoa for the Heart.
