“Small Things Lead To Wonderful Ideas” — A Guest Post from Tarran Jones

As promised on April 10, here is the guest post from Tarran Jones on some of the inspirations for her short fiction collection, Tales From The Scribe.

Tarran and I met at AussieCon4 in Melbourne in 2010, where she impressed me with her friendliness, sincerity and enthusiasm. At that time Tarran lived in Adelaide and was employed in the book industry. Since then we have reconnected via t’ interwebs several times and I have always appreciated Tarran’s engagement with books, writing, and speculative fiction in particular.

Tarran has since published a collection of her short stories — the theme of today’s guest post 🙂 — and has also recently moved to the country, a change which may also prove an influence on her writing. For now, though, I hope you’ll endorse my welcome to “…on Anything, Really.”

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Small Things Lead To Wonderful Ideas

by Tarran Jones

“So much work goes into writing even a simple short 2000 word story. You have to get your ground work done before you can even touch the middle and start building your dream world.

I believe stories are dream worlds of authors who then want to share their dream with other people—and that the process of writing gives us an insight into the minds and personalities of everyday people. They could be our neighbours, friends, families, or a random stranger on the train (In fact, a random person typing away is most likely going to be an author, frantically trying to get as many words done on the trip to and from their daytime job.) The author also puts a small piece of him or herself into every work they do. It can’t be helped.

World-building in stories means a lot of things. You have your basics, like customs, money, countries, and peoples. Then you have the info structure, daily life, weather patterns, laws, borders, and the list goes on. To make a believable world, one must intensely research seemingly mundane things and then use them in ways that enhances the story. Once the ground work has been done, then your imagination can fly.

The first story in my short story collection, Tales From The Scribe, is called:

The Journey of Cerdiwen

I fell in love with the original telling of this story because the magic of the Celtic tales run through my blood. My family hails from Britain, the Yorkshire plains and Kentish countryside. I am first generation Australian but my heart has always lodged in the myths and legends of my mother and father’s country. Cerdiwen’s Tale comes from the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is the story of Branwen, sister to Bendigeidfran (The Blessed Bran.)

In the original, Bran comes to the aid of his sister Branwen who is being abused by her husband Matholwch, in retaliation for an offence committed by her other brother, Efnisien. Matholwch tries to trick the Blessed Bran and his brothers, but in the end a battle ensues and everyone is killed apart from Branwen, Taliesin Ben Beirrd (Bard), and a few other soldiers who then have to take the head of the Blessed Bran back to Britain. They bury it where the Tower of London sits, where it is said to protect Britain from invasion to this day. Branwen then dies of a broken heart because everyone she loves has died.

I wanted to write a rehashing of this story, but then I thought, “What if Branwen’s fate could be changed, then what would happen?” A strong series of images followed, with Taliesin rewriting history by sending people back into the past to change a pivotal moment in their history. If they succeed then they disappear, never to return. If they fail, they come back changed beyond belief. How scary would it be to go through a ceremony where some people never made it back? As a protagonist, what would you be thinking? So I send Cerdiwen back to change time. Is she successful? You’ll have to read her Journey to find out.

Life After Death, another of the stories from Tales From The Scribe, takes a powerful look into what the afterlife may be. Nobody knows for certain, but we all have theories. This story came about when I was in a dark state of mind and wanted to explore what I believed. In the story my main character, Gillian, has committed suicide after battling with depression. She could not see the love she gave or what she received, she could not see the good in the world. She then goes on a journey into her soul-mind to discover and learn HER truth. Pain, Struggle, Regret. These are very powerful emotions and when we die, most of us are going to have experienced these things, but if we can learn to accept and not fear them, then we may have a chance to go to God, be reborn, or fade away into nothing. Our afterlives, in my opinion, are based on what we believe. Gillian’s struggle and then acceptance of death is an intense moment that we all face in the future.

The world building in Life After Death is within the person herself and her inner demons. We know nothing about the country she lives in, its economy, or her job. All the reader learns is about the inner workings of Gillian’s mind and the journey she has to make after taking her own life. It is not a story about suicide as such, it is about what happens to our souls and how we reconcile with the decisions made during our lifetimes.

Life After Death is perhaps one of my favourites from this collection. A story with such raw pain and yet the hope of redemption.

Conclusion:

I have been writing three of these stories for a few years. Re-working them, loving them, shaping them. I am so proud of them. Each one has a little bit of my soul poured into it. I have changed so much as a writer as I wrote them. I see how far characters such as Cerdiwen have come along, and how personalities like Gillian have changed so much. I believe that writing these stories has helped me grow and become better. There is something for everyone with this collection and I really do hope they inspire and make you think. You don’t have to like them as long as they make you think, “What If?”

I would like to hear from you and your thoughts if you do end up reading my Tales From The Scribe. Contact details are below.

To find out more about Tales From The Scribe collection, including reviews and how to buy, follow these links:

Tales From The Scribe

Amazon: Tales From The Scribe

Good Reads: Tales From The Scribe

~ Tarran Jones. “

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Tarran Jones

About Tarran Jones:

Tarran Jones is an avid book lover and has been in the book business for 16+ years. She loves to write fantasy and has a short story in the anthology Twice Upon a Time (ed. Joshua Allen Mercier, Bearded Scribe Press, 2015.) Tarran’s collection, Tales From The Scribe, has recently been published. A Twisted Tale of Wonderland will be coming out in 2017, so keep an eye out for it.

Tarran is quirky, dedicated and a dreamer. After writing, gardening is her passion and she would love to own a hobby farm and be self-sufficient. She lives with her family in Peterborough, South Australia and is keen to be involved in workshops and other bookish things.

You can find Tarran on her website: