Welcome to Avenir Eclectia!
As described on the website, Avenir Eclectia is "a multi-author microfiction project, based in a world with flavors of science fiction, fantasy and supernatural genres."
My first entry in this massive epic, "Bedtime Stories", went live today!
I'm a huge fan of "shared universes" and excited to be a part of the team at Avenir Eclectia. Each writer is bringing something new to the table, crafting a sort of "mythology within a mythology", with our own little corners of the universe touching upon the others. It's an interesting project--like a big author jam session, where we work to create this mammoth thing. Right now, you can subscribe to the blog and entries will be sent straight to your inbox upon posting. Each one is under a thousand words, which makes it a perfect snack break. Best of all, you never know what you're going to get. You might read of a bug hunter on a barren world. Or maybe a hi-tech wizard on the space station. With mine, you will journey underwater where folks say devils dwell. Sometimes sci-fi, sometimes fantasy, sometimes horror--but always entertaining.
Avenir Eclectia is the brainchild of Splashdown Books publisher Grace Bridges. As part of my announcement, I sat down with Grace to talk the origins of this unique endeavor.
Greg: Grace, so great to have you here and happy to be a part of Avenir Eclectia! Tell us about the project.
Grace: Avenir Eclectia is a genre-bending adventure in microfiction for readers and writers. Based in an established but ever-growing world, it has a space station, undersea cities, beetle hunters, ore mines, wizards, supernatural sea monsters, and more! Something for everyone in speculative fiction - whether your thing is sci-fi, fantasy or paranormal, you will find an aspect you like. The idea is to put together a mosaic style story with many very short pieces of writing - the sweet spot is around 200 words.
Greg: Fantastic! How did this project come about?
Grace: I was talking to Kristine Pratt of Written World Communications (a fellow indie publisher) and she told me about a non-fiction project she was considering where 100 authors would each write a one-page article on a common theme. I got to thinking the same could be done in fiction, and the rest is history.
Greg: It's funny, I actually attempted something a lot like this with a homeschool creative writing class I taught years ago. The idea was to have each student create a character, I created a scenario that brought them all together, and then we would sit back and watch how the stories unfolded. Well...that lasted for about one day, but it was a fun try. I hope for better things with Avenir Eclectia :p What's your hope for this project--where would you like it to lead?
Grace: I'd love for lots of authors and readers to be involved - to be able to provide regular installments for a very long time to come, and to grow to a great number of subscribers. Eventually, when we have enough material, we'll publish a print anthology from Splashdown Books. It's also been murmured that some people might like to take the characters and settings and write full-length novels based there.
Already it's a world that's pure fun for authors to play in. Wouldn't it be great if Avenir Eclectia was the first thing everyone wants to click on when they open up their blog reader or email! I want it to have that kind of magnetic attraction.
Greg: I can attest to it being "pure fun". I'm having a great time creating my little story and hope to take readers to some interesting places. I know things are still new, but how has reaction been to the project so far?
Grace: Great so far! There's a steady stream of new stories and curious punters. The awesome thing about this is that every contributing author is going to make a noise about this in their own circles, which multiplies the buzz again and again. I like the way the momentum is building even after only a short time!
Greg: Indeed!
I encourage everyone to stop by Avenir Eclectia and read "Bedtime Stories"! While you're there, look around--Grace has posted a lot of background information about the world to get you in the spirit, and be sure to read the other entries. As Grace said, this is a place for speculative fiction of all flavors to be celebrated. There's bound to be something there that you like. Who knows? You may be so moved as to start your own story! At Avenir Eclectia, there's always room for one more :)
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