Short Changed: Stories from Ethereal Earth, Part One by Josh Erikson

Author:Josh Erikson [Erikson, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Ethereal Earth, Hero Forged, Josh Erikson
Publisher: Josh Erikson
Published: 2021-12-29T06:00:00+00:00

Commentary

If you were on my mailing list, you might have read this next story already. But I really like it, so I didn’t want it to slip by anyone else. James (the pishtaco criminal kingpin and Lincoln city Baron who also goes by Jacob Jimenez) is much more complex than he gets credit for in the books up to this point, and Late Names was a way to explore that while setting up a better introduction to Blight Marked. But it was also a great place for me to dig into some different themes with a character who doesn’t have to constantly diffuse the tension with jokes. James approaches things more directly, which makes it easier to explore ideas that might otherwise feel diminished by being made light of.

I’ll be honest though, I almost didn’t include this one in the collection. Because frankly, I’m nervous about it. This is the oldest of the short stories, written and recorded two years before any of the rest of them. And after going back through it, I feel like there are a few things I’ve learned since then. There are changes I would make now. Maybe big ones. But the thing that stops me from cutting this up and putting it back together in a new way, is that I don’t think the heart of it would survive intact. It would be something else, something forced, maybe. By the time I was done messing around with it to fit my current knowledge and headspace and sensibilities, it would no longer be the story that played out for me like I was watching it happen in an alternate universe. It would be a new creature made from the corpse of this story, and I suspect it wouldn’t be any better. Just...safer. My little mistakes would vanish, sure, but so too would all the life. And I feel like these characters deserve to have their time in the light. So I didn’t mess with it.

I hope you like it, one way or another.

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