It’s been just over a year since writing started on The Witch of Benbar’s Cross. If you were one of the people who pre-ordered a copy of The Akashic Records of The Last People as Written by Neko, you would’ve received the letter that I included in the mail with the news of this book – although, at the time I was expecting it to be called The Witch of Kalvenia. I moved away from this title and direction for many reasons, but the main two were that I wanted this story to be set in a fictional world (and no matter how hard I wanted to believe differently, ‘Kalvenia’ was always going to be a little too close to home) and that’s simply where the story went.
The Witch of Benbar’s Cross is about a woman who goes to a forgotten desert town to find her missing twin sister and while she’s there, discovers a curse on the settlement, and to save her sister she must lift the curse.
That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. But, of course, there’s lots of complexity and magic and supernatural goings-on, and Morgan will have some tough decisions to make and her character will be tested and she’ll meet some people along the way who help and hinder her on her quest. You know, the usual story fare.
But there is a twist in the text that’s greater than this story itself.
If you’ve read The Fulcrum, you’ll find a lot of crossover in The Witch of Benbar’s Cross, including a glimpse into the origin story of the immortals. I loved including this and if you’ve read The Akashic Records and clocked the connection between the Great Mothers and the ending of The Fulcrum, you’ll start getting an idea of the universe I’m writing in.
If you didn’t read either of my previous books, don’t worry about it, nothing will be lost for you in WoBC at all. It’s just a little thing to tickle my own storytelling fancies and something that might tickle some readers’ story-reading fancies.
The thing that really strikes me about finishing this book and writing this post, is that the original story idea for The Witch of Benbar’s Cross came to me some twenty-six years ago.
It was a simple image with a simple premise (which I’ll write more about once the story is in the world), but it struck so hard and was so relentless that I couldn’t let it rot on the story idea compost heap. And so it sat in the corner of my mind for years waiting for its moment. In 2016 I tried writing it as short story for a competition, wrote about eight thousand words of it, but it didn’t work.
So it sat. Waiting.
The thing that kept me coming back to it was the title that had shaped in my mind: The Witch of Kalvenia. It was so juicy, I wanted to know everything about it: Who was the witch? How was she a witch? Why this desert town? How did the curse happen? Who was going to make it unhappen? Why were they there in the first place?… As always, storytelling, in my experience at least, is just one why after the other.
Anyway.
I was actually planning to write this one after The Fulcrum, but then the Neko dream landed and was desperate to take shape and it was going to be a quickie so that happened first. By the time I got to sit down with the WoBC I’d been ready for it for decades.
And now here we are.
In some other maybe good news, I *might* have a publisher for it. I’m not freaking out about it just yet. Nothing’s been signed; nothing is in motion. But it’s a nice little possibility on the horizon.
So there you have it.
In the meantime, I’ve finished my counselling course and now that this book is done will be actively pursuing my great pivot. The next book is spooling up already though and I’ll still set time aside each morning to get her down and into the world once The Witch of Benbar’s Cross is edited and published.
But it’s time to start a new career and start making some fucking income like an adult, friends.
Hope you’re keeping as well as can be considering all of – *waves hands around* – this.
Tanya
TANYA MEESON 