Ecotour

Yes, you read that right. An ecotour: part blog tour, part ecotone, and all about a virtual journey around this here blog-o-sphere. Are you ready?

I’m co-conspirator, oh, I mean, co-editor of Ecotones. We’ve asked all our authors a series of questions. So many now that I wonder when they’ll start to mutiny! But what I really wanted to know was what made them decide to write for this anthology, an anthology about borderlines, borderlands, and ecotones. I mean, just what are ecotones?

Today, I am happy to introduce Victor G. Espinosa, a contributing author to Ecotones. He’s here to tell us why he wrote and submitted his story, The First Feast.

Don’t be shy! If you have any questions for Victor, please do so in the comment section below.

The first thing I read about ecotones was the definition posted at the top of the contest requirements:

An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes. It is where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems).

What stood out to me about the definition was the “communities” part. Though my mind swirled around some ideas of Sci-Fi worlds in the middle of unknown changes or a rare ecosystem undergoing a violent metamorphosis, I thought the idea of having two societies or peoples coming together was a little more interesting.

So I thought about what two societies I would pose against each other. My mind has been stuck on the classic fantasy trope of humans vs elves and the friction between their two races for some time now, so I examined that relationship more. What if these two races interacted in a way that wasn’t what most people have read before? What if these two cultures came together, blended, and created a unique ecotone?

I adopted a lot of lore and world history from the universe of my own stories, but expanded upon it and created the Sacred city of Ashern. A city that sees a one-of-a-kind celebration where humans and elves come together to enjoy each other’s company and celebrate their cultures. Normally the humans stay in their towns and stone cities, while the elves prefer their woodlands and forest sanctuaries. But once a year the two races come together at this city, smack dab in between these two communities or biomes, and celebrate what their unity can produce; a deep friendship that borders on family and a unique culture that can only come from two totally separate races. I also threw in some conflict and romance for good measure.

I wrote the story originally to help me understand the history of the worlds in my own books and entered it into the anthology contest just to see how it would stand up against other authors. I was absolutely thrilled when it was accepted, and honored to be among many other prestigious authors. SFFWorld.com and their community has been a big help in my writing career with constant inspiration and encouragement, so I am really excited to be a part of their anthology. I’m more excited, however, to read the other stories accepted. There are some real professionals in there!

Want to read Victor’s human and elf experiment? Want 13 other great, ecotoned stories from professional and amatuer writers from around the globe?

Then look no further and go back our Kickstarter campaign!

You’ll get Victor’s story and much more.

Also, please take a moment to visit any one of these locations on our Ecotour: