Congratulations, Nathan!
Folklore & Fiction subscriber Nathan Waddell reached out to me today to tell me that he had sold a story with the help of F&F materials. I'm over the moon for him and can't wait to read it. Meanwhile, he wrote a lovely testimonial. Here it is:
It sometimes feels like the best days of the web are behind us. Not to get into a long list of woes and complaints about the good old days, and anyway there were always trolls.
But they used to hide under bridges.
Folklore & Fiction hearkens back to those more collegial days of the internet, while also recalling the even earlier days when trolls and ogres and other ravenous beasts might emerge from under that bridge or above those clouds. If you were clever enough, perhaps you might come away from such an encounter with a golden goose or a pot of gold or even perhaps a guarantee that trolls would never bother you ever again. Sadly, this last secret seems to have been lost forever… but there are other secrets in F&F, worth the time spent delving for them.
Folklore & Fiction reminds me a little of spending time in a quiet, dusty campus library, the kind with multiple levels all made of brick and marble and ancient woods. Where you might have to venture down into the basement, steps grooved by generations of students’ feet, to crawl around in slightly spooky stacks, only to emerge with an armful of forgotten treasures. Your job as a writer is to find the paydirt, you must discover how to reanimate these gleanings.
This description may sound unflattering to some, but I think, to writers at least, it sounds a little like paradise.
I did just such a thing quite recently, using learnings and resources (like what an ATU is!) obtained from Folklore & Fiction to write something new, and indeed, even to sell that piece. I have F&F to thank for that, and Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran. Thank you for this fantastic resource.
- Nathan Waddell
You'll find Nathan online here, and his Twitter handle is @NathanWaddell1.