Instructions for Strange Desires
Playing around with images and whatnot for this 2024 project.
I figured out the idea for this collection of short stories. But, of course, it’s not just going to be a collection of short stories because that would be too fucking easy. And I don’t like to do anything easy; I like challenges. So, in this case, it won’t be just a collection of short stories; it’ll all end up being one big story told via a collection of short stories, as follows:
In an ancient library, a peculiar tome entitled “Instructions for Strange Desires” lies open to any who dare read its pages. Curious souls, adventures and scholars are drawn into the labyrinthine library, discover the book and disappear only to find themselves transported into a wide world of magic and mystery created by the book itself. Adventure awaits, but before long, some begin to suspect there’s more to their story than meets the eye. As the characters grapple with their newfound awareness and challenge the limits of their roles, they start to understand the nature of the tome. Determined to break free from their narratives, they embark on a quest for autonomy, to discover the secrets of the tome, and somehow escape from their prison.
So, this means I get to write both a longer narrative AND a bunch of short stories of all different types and genres. Some stories will be clearly connected, but some will be purely standalone. I plan on taking stabs at all kinds of settings and cross-genre writing, but mainly it will lean heavily on fantasy and science fiction and horror. And erotic — there will definitely be room for fantasy erotica or scifi erotica. Or rather than straight scifi/fantasy, I want to delve into something a little more chaotic and fantastic, such as a genre that seems particularly appealing in this case, the new weird, which isn’t so new anymore, but it’s still fantastic.
Here are a couple of ideas that I may work on for shorts in this series:
The Clockwork Menagerie: Characters: Elara, a curious scholar; Thorne, an adventurous tinkerer; and Orla, a mysterious guide who seems to understand the clockwork language.
Elara, Thorne, and Orla find themselves in a dimension where clockwork creatures roam freely. The characters explore a surreal landscape filled with ticking automatons, each with its own peculiar behavior. As they delve deeper, they discover a workshop where an eccentric clockmaker named Maestro Faelan crafts reality itself. To escape, the characters must use the clockmakers tools to craft their own clockwork escape hatch, but the clockmakers creatures may object to their meddling with the intricate gears of existence.
The Garden of Appetites: Characters: Seraphina, a botanist with an affinity for beautiful things; Griffin, a skeptical detective with a sadistic streak; and Iris, a mischievous sprite who seems to understand the secrets of nature.
Seraphina, Griffin, and Iris enter the Garden of Appetites, where the spores of plants warp the sexual urges of those who enter. The characters must decipher their own indecent deeds to understand the hidden threat and navigate through the garden’s illusions. As pollen-laden breezes reveal personal secrets and hidden urges, the characters confront the consequences of their own revelations. In the heart of the garden, they must challenge their perceptions of reality and choose to succumb or escape.
The Carnival of Shadows: Characters: Felix, a reluctant illusionist with a haunted past; Isadora, a daring acrobat seeking a lost memory; and Morgrim, a mysterious fortune-teller who hints at the characters’ intertwined fates.
Felix, Isadora, and Morgrim become entangled in the Carnival of Shadows, where each carnival attraction tells a different story, reflecting the characters’ deepest fears. As they navigate through illusions and face shadowy entities, the characters must confront their own psyches. The enigmatic ringmaster, known as the Shadowmaster, holds the key to their escape, but only if they can endure the unsettling trials presented by the Carnival of Shadows.
This will also give me a chance to create some insane graphic content with Midjourney, which I really love doing.
And who knows? Maybe I’ll solicit some stories ideas or even have a guest author or three. Everything is on the table with as many as 20 original short stories in which anything can happen, and then I think ten short stories that begin to bring everything together and to a conclusion. I have a pretty clear idea for how that will happen, and if nothing else, I’m going to have a blast writing all of this.
I miss writing short stories, so I’m looking forward to 2024 already!
