First of all, if you haven’t heard (likely because you don’t follow me on Twitter — yet somehow are reading this) I have once again been making my presence known on the Trading Post Inn blog. As you may know, I contributed there as a young (and eventually not-so-young) writer for many years, but broke away due to the combined effect of the pandemic and launching this site and eventually the new phase of my writing career.
For many years, if I had any sort of idea at all it would be filtered through the lens of the Trading Post, which had the benefit of a built-in dedicated readership and a lot of history. It remains a great and versatile idea, but it behooved me to try things that didn’t fit that medium.
Then this spring I got an idea that I really liked specifically for the Trading Post. I was knocking myself out trying to come up with my follow-up to The Princess Awakening and I wasn’t having much fun with it, so I thought to blow off some steam and get the creative juices flowing, I would pursue it.
So right now I’m telling the story of Marc, who visited the Inn with his wife Laura, both in their 30’s. Marc and Laura were at something of a crossroads after years of marriage. Marc had had something of a personal crisis, quitting his job as a corporate lawyer to become a rideshare driver, and the two began to wonder if their marriage was going to last, with the trip seeming to be the last fling before it all came crashing down to divorce.
The magic of the Inn transformed Marc into Chantelle, a young woman who happens to be working in law — real estate law — while Laura becomes Damon, a male colleague who is married.
So far, Marc has had some very interesting observations about the differences between his “new” life and his previous one, as well as some misgivings about the state of his relationship with Laura, who is seemingly keeping him at arm’s length. If Chantelle and Damon were having an affair, does that make it right to continue to do so? Either way, is it wrong for Laura to play the dutiful husband and ignore her own husband? (I can hear it now, “…They argued all night/over who had the right/to do what and with which and to whom…”)
I have to admit, as a married person in his 30’s, I do seem to be generating a lot of stories about married people in their 30’s.
The next bit of news is that I recently set up a few pages for myself and my works at the Transfiction Wiki. There aren’t many resources there about me at this time that you wouldn’t know from this site and my Twitter account, but hopefully it will somehow cross paths with some folks who don’t know my work, who are intrigued by my personal brand.
With that, I hope to still get some new works out in the near future. It can be so hard to find a project that really inspires and that you really think will connect with people, but I still feel I have more to say.
Thanks for supporting me, and be kind
-Liam