X is for Xyblik

         (My A to Z Blog Challenge theme this year is Bittersweetness & Light, my new collection of hope-filled, joy-inducing fantasy and sci fi short stories, poems, and art.  It’s not too late to see what my fellow A to Z bloggers are up to, by checking out the Master List.)

        Time for another excerpt from another story.  Here’s the beginning of “Love Potion.”

        Xyblik’s Cosmic Emporium stood for as long as anyone could remember at the corner of Elm Street and Hillside.  The proprietor was an Old One made of tentacles and slime, who bubbled cheerfully at all his customers and loved nothing better than a good gossip when anyone came in to buy a box of interdimensional nails or a packet of eldritch biscuits.  Abby Dimmock took this into consideration when deciding the best time to purchase a love potion.  She knew Xyblik would chat if she came when the Emporium was empty, and she was in no mood to chat with anyone about the sorry state of her love life.  On the other hand, this still seemed preferable to asking for a love potion in front of half her fellow townsfolk on a busy Saturday afternoon.

        She winced as the cracked iron bell in the doorway clanged, announcing her entrance.  So much for subtlety.  At least the sparkling and warbling of the ineffable feathersquids in the corner always made her smile.

        “Ah, Dear Lady Dimmock!” Xyblik greeted her brightly from the high counter of polished mahogany in front of the shelves of dusty bottles, lead-sealed urns, and other dark and mysterious items.  The air sac inside his semitransparent greenish body swelled and pulsed as he spoke, amplifying his voice to a tone suitable for Dark Proclamations.  “What service may be rendered unto you on this fateful day?”

        “I’m looking for a love potion, please,” she mumbled.

        “What’s that?  A Potion of Inexorable Love?” the Old One bellowed, making Abby profoundly grateful that she was indeed the only customer in the shop at the moment. 

        This is one of those rare stories that sprang into my head pretty much fully formed, and was super fun and easy to write.  The illustration of Xyblik is a proper rubber block print (originals still available, at the link below), while the illustration of the ineffable feathersquid was done digitally, by request of the editors of Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, where the story was first published.  You can still read the entire story on their web site here.  (That version is very slightly different from what appears in my book.)  You can also read much more about the whole process of story and illustrations at my previous post How to Make a Love Potion.

        (Past Me was very clever to name a character starting with X long before Present Me was going to need it for an A to Z blog post!)

        Marketing Moral:  Attack people on public transportation with a copy of your favorite indie author’s book, so that the cover gets featured on the news.  (Okay, I don’t really advocate this, but I saw it on another author’s list and it cracked me up.  I guess the real marketing moral is to be a little creative about how to catch people’s eyes, but I confess that my creativity doesn’t seem to get very fired up about promotion, alas, when it would rather be writing and making art.)

        Proper Moral: Two wrongs don’t make a right – but two ineffable feathersquids do!

        What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve ever done to catch the eye of a love interest (or to promote a book)?

[Picture: Love Potion, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 2021;

Ineffable Feathersquid, digital illustration by AEGNydam (Images from Bittersweetness & Light, but originals of Love Potion are still available at NydamPrints.com).]