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I asked fellow Legends – Monsters That Go Bump in the Night anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next week or so.
Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to Legends – Monsters That Go Bump in the Night (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).
And now, The Legend of Tilly Mae:
Field Notes of Detective Halla for Case 1033, November 2
We found the scene at the edge of the tree line, off the beaten path, through the orchard, and around a cluster of boulders. Burnt fragments of a white robe with a bloodied, filigreed knife through the chest lay centered on top of a circle of charred earth. The hood held a few long strands of silver hair. Surrounding this blackened area, red-orange oak leaves with arcs burned through them covered the ground. We weren’t sure what would cause such precise burns. Among them was a single red feather.
How the story came about:
A couple of things came together for this story. I feel like the synthesis of ideas is what makes something great. I’ve been working on a full length novel trilogy, which I’d decided to make in the epistolary style (think letters or blog posts). The opportunity for legends came up and I wanted to create something epistolary to practice the form. Tilly herself came from a writing exercise in a Steering the Craft (Ursula K LeGuin) workshop where I needed to describe two scenes that tell a story about a character. One scene should be somewhere the character goes frequently. I chose Tilly’s room. The other was the aftermath of something I would define. I immediately thought of the opening scene. Tilly had done some magic and someone was investigating what happened. I knew somewhere along the way that I needed opposing opinions on what was going on, so Indigo was born. Originally Tilly was the legend of the town and the tapestry depicted an owl that was never referenced more than once, but I’d also been having what you’d call a very phoenix year. I was seeing the phoenix everywhere: In Tarot readings in FB Reels, on posts by friends, and even a friend’s tattoo. So, I felt like I needed to give it some love and center it in this story. The Phoenix is all about burning to the core of who you are (shedding old layers that no longer serve you) to renew your life and I spent the first three months of this year on fire. But my personal situation stabilized in April and I felt like I rose from the ashes of my previous life.
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About Danaeka Scrimshaw: Danaeka Scrimshaw has been writing in the speculative fiction genre since 2018 and embellishing stories longer than that. They have four short stories published and are a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Literary Contest for a YA portal fantasy, Worlds of Fire and Glass. They’re working on their speculative fiction trilogy. They live with their partner and a zoo consisting of three dogs and two cats in Denver, Colorado. Find them at danaekascrimshaw.com. |
See all Legends stories here.
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