One lazy afternoon in 1995 I wrote the following paragraphs:
After a dozen long, tiring days of walking, a lone traveler finally reached his destination. He was quite tall and lean. A scraggy beard covered much of his sullen and dark face, but his eyes showed that much life was left in this man. They were not the eyes of a merry man, nor of a wizened scholar, but of a fighter. A survivor. Someone who would not go with Death quietly.
While some men carried hay forks, and others carried swords, all this particular man held was a beaten up oil lantern. It swung back and forth with each stride, swishing against his long grey cost. The little tinkle sound it made as it rattled was comforting to him.
– Corruption Within
Who was this traveler? What’s the deal with the lantern? I didn’t know but wanted to find out. As I kept writing the world expanded and I learned the traveler’s goals and met other characters. About half way through the book I realized this was actually book three in a series. I parked Corruption Within and started working on the first book, which became Veiled Allegiance.
Along the way, as I planned the entire series, I discovered it would be six books, spanning an entire continent and two centuries of stories. All of that from this humble beginning written one afternoon in 1995.