Rosedale Pub - Ghost of a Chance

Alien Beer

I was honored to be a featured guest at InConJunction Science Fiction and Fantasy convention over the recent July 4th weekend. I was anxious about being around many people in person for the first time in 16 months, but I think I did better than I expected at that. One of the presentations I gave was on using randomness as the seed for a story. I called it "Storymancy" because often I get elements from divinatory sources: Tarot cards, for example. Or I'll look for ideas from the next three songs my iTunes plays on shuffle. I'll think about the random elements that have been given to me and try to shape it into a story. Sometimes inspiration will strike, and I'll throw out most or all of the elements and go with that instead.

Most of the Rosedale pub stories have had some randomness in their inspiration. I sat down to brainstorm this story when I wasn't feeling any inspiration. I listened to a few songs on shuffle, I laid out some cards, and then I went to work trying to piece the resulting elements together into a cohesive story.

What were the elements of this story? Oh, a certain Beastie Boys song for the character's origin, the Queen of Wands, and the Four of Wands, to name a few. Make of that what you will.

I didn't get to sit down and write the story for another couple weeks, so I guess it simmered somewhere in the back of my mind, and what came out is the story I'm reading you today.