Blood-Born

Foreword

by Joseph Lallo, Author – Book of Deacon Series

It is a wonderful time to be a storyteller.

Is it because more stories are being told? No. Ever since the first cave painting, we have been telling stories. We trade them across the dinner table. We lull our children to sleep with them. We use them to vent the stress of a rough day, or to share the triumph of a hard fought victory. Our stories define us as individuals, and stories as a whole shape the development of the species. There are as many stories as there are people in the world and seconds in the day. This has always been the case and it always will be. Nothing has changed there.

Is it because there are better stories being told? No. A story is a story. Now, as ever, whether it is good depends upon the mind that created it and the mind that consumed it. Stories exist in a sort of quantum state of excellent and awful, simultaneously drawing in readers who see in the characters elements of themselves and pushing away readers who crave something that story can't provide. The most brilliant prose will fall upon deaf ears if what the reader sought was a rousing adventure. And the most fascinating plot will go unfinished if the reader isn't getting the turn of phrase he or she seeks. A good story is a story that finds its way to the reader who is looking for it. And the path from author to reader has long been a rough one.

Publishers can only release so many stories in a single year. A good book takes time and money to put on the shelves. The people in charge have to be selective, because too many books that fail to find an audience can sink a company. Even the smallest publisher has the bottom line to think about. There are employees to pay, expenses to cover. And thus, with such a small percentage of the books being written actually finding their way to print, the finest tale ever told could end up disregarded if pitched in the wrong place at the wrong time. The gatekeepers simply can't afford to give every story a chance.

That, my friends, is why it is a good time to be a storyteller. With the rise of self-publishing, the barriers between the writers and the readers are gone. Anyone who has the time and the will can put their story out there for the world to see. And time and time again, we've learned that the same story that no publisher would ever touch can earn a special place in the hearts and minds of readers who otherwise never would have had the chance to experience it.

This is a time when Ican write tales in age-old genres, crafting the exploits of wizards anddragons, while simultaneously exploring experimental genres like sciencefantasy and superhero satire. It is a time when someone who a few short yearsago was weathering his fortieth rejection can find himself writing the forewordfor an exciting story of the Weird West. I am honored to share the virtualshelf with people like Bob Sellers, Jr. I hope you enjoy this story, and I hopeyou enjoy a dozen more like it. Because as wonderful a time it is to be astoryteller, a storyteller is nothing without a reader.