On Inspiration:
I have a confession to make. It’s not something that many people know about me. Behind these dark brown eyes lies a hidden passion that I’m only now beginning to reveal. It drives me to reach a hand up to a sky filled with airships, ride on the back of a dragon, glide across an ocean filled with talking dolphins, and charge across a field against a seemingly unconquerable army (or run like hell depending on which chapter I’m on).
That’s right, I’m an author. I’m the one who chooses his career not based off of the hope of making millions, although that would be nice, but because I love to fall into the pages of worlds born of my dreams and forged in the fire of my mind.
The wizards who stand by my side and guide me across a foreign ocean are the talented editors who sacrifice so much and receive so little recognition for the worlds they help us to save, or destroy. My writing will be loved by some and disliked by others. But I don’t write because readers love it, but because I do.
My story, “The Promise,” was born from a very real promise that was made long before I was born. A gold watch was to be handed down through my family and given to me on my birthday. But a war happened, and for a time the watch was lost. It passed through many hands and for a time it was completely forgotten. Then by chance it made its way to my mother, who immediately recognized it, and gave it to me on my promised birthday.
I often wondered what happened to the pocket watch while it traveled the world. Where did it go? What kind of people held it before it was passed on?
One day my editor shared the news about an upcoming anthology that was open for submissions: Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology. The moment I heard about the concept, I knew I had the perfect inspiration for my story. It was time to let my hidden passion take flight again, open a new door, and allow the watch to lead us through.
Why let the watch lead? Because I believe that when a person encounters a moment so powerful, with an undeniable impact on fated events, meaningful objects can retain a bit of his or her essence. For some, this would be like a soul passing through the object, leaving a fragment of a memory or intent behind that remains connected. In my story, “The Promise,” such an object is born when a father passes before he is able to keep a promise to his son.
Now I would like to make a second confession. I hate it when a story ends. I’m forced to say goodbye to characters that I’ve watched grow from the first page. I’ve been there for tears and triumphs, fear and relief and yet when the story ends I don’t get to find out what happens next.
Perhaps that’s selfish of me, but in truth, I write because I’m selfish. I want to write as many stories as I can to enter unknown worlds and share what I see and experience.
“The Promise” isn’t just about a promise between father and son. It’s about the way we reach out to one another in a world that can appear so crazy and yet, just beneath the surface, there are events happening page after page in this wheel of life we are on.
Books are like that. They connect all of us in ways we don’t even realize. In a world where technology has connected us more than ever before, we find ourselves distanced. But no matter how far we advance, the objects we touch, the lives that cross our own, will always be connected by something invisible and yet so very important.
I hope that as you read about the lives of every person in “The Promise,” you will remember, as I did, that the hearts of characters, readers and author alike will cross paths on every page and that the story will never truly end.
But ahead of us, dear reader, are worlds we haven’t reached yet. We’ve been given a key by Xchyler Publishing, and have only to open the door, walk through it, and step out into a land we can discover together, one made of steam, hearts, and hope.
So please join me in the world of The Promise, and the many other worlds my fellow authors have the pleasure and honor of sharing with you in Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology!
Michael Cross entered the industry in 2013 as a wandering hopeful, seeking to have his own adventure in the literary world. When he isn’t working on his next novel, he is reading, modding Steampunk inventions, or working on his airship with his copilot Chihuahua.
Cross’ short story, “Time Out of Mind” appeared in Moments in Millennia: a Fantasy Anthology published by The X in January of 2014.
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