Just what the heck am I doing?

Dramatic, I know, but I met large number of people over this past weekend, at ScareFest, and got to share what “Harmony” is actually about.

                It is better to explain the genre I use. To be fair I’m not strictly a horror author. Although I weave horrific elements into my stories, I *usually* identify my work as Dark Fantasy. There are no dragons, yet, in the world I’ve built with Harmony, but there are shades of gray reflected in all the primary actors and their actions. The Man Called Midget manipulates the energy of decay to fuel his magic and the results are sometimes, unpleasant.

                Great story material, but still, unpleasant.

                Influence wise, the setting of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k had a large influence on me, especially the grim-dark art of John Blanche. I remember an encounter describing a dwarf that had been sacrificed, arm and heart missing. Of course, it didn’t just stop with the description, no, there was a grimy black and white drawing of the dwarf in all his eviscerated glory. The imagery was a sharp departure from the clean, fantastical drawings of D&D. I was instantly hooked.

                There is fantasy in my books that takes the form of magic and supernatural creatures, but my settings are firmly grounded in the modern world and not a medieval forest or town. You are unlikely to find a tavern in my stories, perhaps a bar or two. Somehow, Emma always finds her way to the worse spots in any town.

                The Dark is the nature of my stories. Harmony is grounded in the visceral and physical and has a theme of transformation woven throughout it. The “gross” physical matter changes into something else. Is it a better state or does it putrefy and become mired in the degeneration of its own physical form and rote actions? Midget’s magic transforms. He literally shifts decay from one thing to another and what happens to the state of the thing that is Purified?

                Harmony and its sequels are the beginning of a mythic cycle that I hope you enjoy. This also leads me to the topic of names, which sounds like an excellent topic, for next week.

The artwork is from WeirdDarkness on DeviantArt, please check them out!