Friday, September 19, 2025

This is the eighty-ninth installment of West Wind, your weekly drop of thoughts, ideas, and info for this Season. As Summer draws to a close, I’ll be showcasing one of my published stories each day, because there are getting to be quite a few! This is the eighth installment, check out yesterday’s if you missed it.

One more to round out the week! If it seems like every Frontier Flora story is an entry into an anthology contest, that’s because they are. Salty & Sweet Don’t Mix didn’t make it into the contest that I entered it into, but it was still such a good tale that I wanted to keep it as its own thing. It’s also the first narrated story that has both music and sound effects, and I think they sound great.

Jenie and Tolliver were originally slated for a series of episodic serial stories where they journey northward to find clues about her missing parents, and run into all kinds of trouble and interesting characters on the way. This little glimpse into their journey isn’t meant to be the first in the series chronologically, that will happen later while Salty & Sweet will be slotted in to the overall narrative.

Some of the ideas for episodes include:

• Encounters with a recurring rival in the form of a blonde-haired girl who commands a Raspbear, a Hucklebear, and a Cranbear all at the same time,

• Escorting a priest to his assignment in a remote parish and discussing questions of faith on the way,

• Doing lots of “boring” jobs like washing dishes and trapping Pamplemouses for traveling expenses,

• Dealing with a mysterious planter who keeps themselves wrapped up in hoods and robes and is hungry all the time.

One of the fun parts about Frontier Flora is the open-ended nature of the world, which makes it perfect for all sorts of quick jokes and situations that aren’t enough to make into a full story. They can just be pieces of someone else’s story and still shine.

That finishes up the second week of the story showcase! If you’ve read and/or listened to this or any of the other stories in the series, reply or comment to let me kow what you thought. Enjoy the weekend, and I will be back next week for even more fun.