Hello Voidfriends and Voidfolk!
I am certain that this is the post that you’ve been waiting for. Or maybe it was just me. No idea.
So what is The Preface of a Worthy Fable? The Preface of a Worthy Fable, shortened as Preface, is book that I wrote while I was living in Scotland. I wrote it while completing my MLitt and I’ll be completely honest with you, I never anticipated that it would be the book that I would put out first.
For people who may have been following me for years, you will know that I have been querying on and off for years. What you may not know is that I have been writing novels since I was in the seventh grade. That story is one for another time. Today, we focus on Preface.
Preface started as a dream (a pretty standard for me as a writer ngl). I wrote the dream up and have been refining it ever since. It is not the first book that I’ve completed, nor will it be the last. It is, however, something that with every edit, felt the most like “this is what I want to make of my career.”
What does that mean? Essentially Preface is the closest to a manifesto that I’ll publish.
Is it perfect? No. No book is or will ever be perfect. It is, however, MINE. And it’s something that I’ll be able to be proud of, even if others hate it. But that’s art. Once you release it into the world, you have no control how it lands.
Let’s talk about Preface.
Full Title: The Preface of a Worthy Fable
Pen Name: Astrid Axton
Page Count: 698
Links: Amazon | Good Reads | Barnes & Nobles
Recommendation: Get the print, the ebook messes with the formatting.
Preface is a novel that I like to describe as arthouse fiction. I know that it is a film term, but like arthouse films, this novel is made for a very niche audience. I don’t anticipate it taking off in any way. I put everything in this novel to support the themes. I actually put standard fantasy rules aside in order to satisfy the structure and themes. I use poetry and words on the page similar to ergodic fiction. This is not done through the entire book so I don’t think it qualifies as epistolary fiction.
The book is divided into 27 “Dances” and 5 “Interludes” rather than Chapters. It is split into 5 parts. This form is the same as the dances in the novel.
In the world I’ve created there are Twenty-Seven Dances, which are danced as a religious act every year. These dances a performed to connect the Gods and mortals together, without them the mortals would have no magic and the Gods would die. The dances are split into five sections. When performed an emcee speaks in between the sections, to introduce the next section. Each “dance/chapter” in each of the parts are supposed to reflect the dance that it correlates with. Each part is intended to mirror the section it is named after.
Detailed Thoughts
There is a lot of info dumping (which is a serious no-no) in the first six chapters, as it reflects the section: KNOWLEDGE. Is this proper form? No? Did I do my best not to make this overwhelming? Yes. Does it also feel like a cop-out? Probably, if you’ve never read my writing before. It’s like saying “That’s a bad thing.” “Oh! No! No! That was my intention.”
So you can believe me or not, whether or not I achieved my goal is ultimately a decision of the readers.
I was very intentional in a lot of the choices I made. I’ve read this manuscript too many times to know if it will effectively land.
I hope it will.
I’m proud of it either way.
How is this a manifesto for me? Well, I’d love to explain, let’s get into it.
The Preface of a Worthy Fable is what happens when you tell an artist that it doesn’t matter anyway, create what you want to create. Every writer has their Preface. Everyone has that one book that they create because there’s nothing left to lose. Preface is a book looking at what it means to be an artist, and the anxiety that comes with that. It is the drive and the sorrow, the pain and the joy. Ultimately, it is the knowledge that art is not created in a vacuum: it is a cumulation of every life experience you’ve had and the people who have either supported you or haven’t.
Preface is 100% of me. Which sounds scary, especially with knowing there will be many people who will never love the book. However, I love it. And I love the effort i put into it, from the typesetting to the line editing. I love all the time I put into caring. I love every line and every character.
Preface is my love letter to all artists and creatives. It is my love letter to myself. It is for me, but it is also “for you.” For everyone who supported me, now, before, in the future. It is for everyone who has ever felt alone and for anyone who has ever had a dream. It is the representation of a million words and a lifetime of silence.
It is everything. And nothing. And runnons and fragments. And imperfection. And so much joy.
Because at the end of the day, being an artist is about joy. So many people say that art is about suffering, you as the artist. That we must suffer to create. And while we represent our suffering in art, and yet conflict is needed for a story to thrive, art creates connection. It can develop empathy in individuals and form bridges. And those bridges and that empathy and that connection leads to understanding and ultimately a shared experience.
Which to me leads to joy.
For there will always be one person in the world that is happy you are an artist: you. And that is what it means to be a worthy fable.
For, artists create, it’s what we do.
If you’ve gotten this far, I suppose you’d like to see the information that actually matters to readers: the stuff that may or may not make you want to read the book. So without further ado: The Preface of a Worthy Fable.
WHAT IS SILENCE?
For twelve years, Arna has done everything the Gods asked of him in hopes of saving the world after he nearly destroyed it. Despite his efforts, time is up and if he cannot complete the sacred dances by the summer solstice, the world will end. Determined to succeed even at the cost of his own life, Arna is willing to give anything, that is until the Gods tell him to return home.
Forced to face everyone he left behind, all Arna has ever known begins to splinter. Pressured on all sides, Arna struggles to reconnect with those he abandoned while being the savior the world needs. Who will he dance for? Mortals or the Gods? Life or death? A single choice stands between the end and the beginning.
Marlena Marie 