Wings of the Raven
Actually these quite plainly aren't tales from the City of Night, however it being the best story I've written, and somewhat concerned with stories itself, it's not a bad name for this page.
These stories are listed in chronological order. The first two were written some three years before all the others, and before I started writing on computer. The difference shows.
The plot for this particular story was largely taken from a Cthulhu RPG I played in once, which
formed the character for Karl and the basic structure of the first two encounters with the
woman. The end, however, is entirely my own.
The mystery of the story is, of course, the identity of Morgwen, and to a lesser extent that of
the robed man. The clues are in there for those with the background knowledge to put them
together.
It's a touch clichéd, but not at all bad.
A complete change of pace from Wings. And a fine example of how
editing can make a story look planned, even if you only thought of the
plot near the end.
Yes, the narrator is based on myself. But that's in the
past.
I thought about the plot for this one for a long time before
actually writing it. It's a rather simpler style than I usually use,
but I think it fits the subject matter rather better.
In my original thoughts Eadgytha conformed to current ideas of beauty,
but as I was writing the piece I decided that was silly. It seems
rather more realistic this way round.
A throwaway line in a book I was reading combined with a day of
tedious temping work to create this fantasy story.
The entire thing sprang from the title, and I considered and discarded
several plots before I came up with this one.
This is another one where the ending came to me only after I'd got part way through. Which just goes to show that just because you've no idea what you're doing with a concept is no reason not to start writing with it.
This is a myth, or perhaps a dark fairytale. It was very difficult to write - I realised halfway through that the 'imagery' was on the very edge of my ability. I'm... exceptionally pleased with the way it turned out.
You can write about anything if you really try...
This is a gentle little story, entirely different from
City of Night. Unfortunately my knowledge of Chinese culture
is pretty much non-existent, as is no doubt glaringly apparent
from the story. I'll be happy to correct any particularly cringeworthy errors which are pointed out
to me.
This is slight departure from my usual style, and the structure is experimental to say the least. I'd appreciate knowing if it works.