The Founding of Foxwick
by Cherie Reich
Gather
around, children, and let me tell you the tale of how the Kingdom of
Foxwick came into being.
Once
upon a time, a publisher put out a call for an anthology about
assassins. Ooo, assassins are pretty cool. They are usually pretty
badass, and it could be fun to write a story for the anthology. The
publisher had an interesting stipulation too. They only wanted the
first five hundred words of the story before they’d consider
reading the entire thing.
But
what should I write about? Who was my assassin and who would he/she
have to kill?
I
selected a female assassin. There are a lot of male ones, so I
thought a female would stand out. But who would she kill? Someone
royal/presidential/etc.? Perhaps someone close to her. No, no normal
human would do. I wanted something bigger. A story that would take
notice.
She
would assassinate Death himself.
Once
I figured out why she would have to kill Death, then I needed a
setting. This was a fantasy anthology, and they wanted a
Medieval-esque world. I had no readily available world to drop the
main character in. I searched some fantasy world naming generators to
figure out a name.
Foxwick
came up in the second or third search. Foxwick. I liked it. A lot.
Thus,
the Kingdom of Foxwick was born with badass Princess Umbria as this
particular short story’s main character. Umbria features in five
out of the seventeen short stories in People of Foxwick and Their
Neighbors, and she’s mentioned in a few others.
A
call for a short story inspired a whole new world. And although the
story “Lady Death” was short-listed yet not accepted into the
anthology, I couldn’t be more grateful for the founding of Foxwick.
The
kingdom hangs in the balance.
War
threatens Foxwick on all sides.
The
dreaded Shadowlands gains more souls. From the shrouded trees in
Greymist Forest to the arid Blackden Barrens, monsters roam in search
of their next victim. Sirens lure ships beneath Merrilea Sea. In cold
and snowy Wintermill, royals plot to claim Foxwick as their own, even
if they must use dragons and sorcery. Marriage between Foxwick’s
king and Lochhollow’s princess creates a perilous alliance.
Although brave Valdale will come to Foxwick’s aid, the cost may be
more than a true friend can stomach.
Set
over a hundred years, these seventeen fantasy short stories explore
the people, creatures, and lands in and around the Kingdom of
Foxwick.
Available
in print and e-formats!
Cherie
Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant
living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and
anthologies, and her books include the horror collection
Once upon
a Nightmare, a science fantasy collection titled
Fall of
Gravity, and the fantasy series
The Foxwick Chronicles and
The Fate Challenges.
Reborn is her debut novel. She is
the vice president of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia
Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please
visit her
website.
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