Wanderer's Tales #14 - Passages
Welcome to Issue 14 of Wanderer’s Tales. In this issue is Chapter Ten of Shield of the Goddess.
Welcome to Issue 14 of Wanderer’s Tales, the newsletter of Ancient Roads, the website of Seattle writer and songwriter Chris Struble. Here you will find fantasy fiction set in ancient words, and music born from a writer’s imagination.
In this newsletter is Chapter Ten of Shield of the Goddess, the adult fantasy novel I am releasing chapter by chapter as a web serial.
This chapter finds Jenan, a sixteen year old boy, arriving at a training camp where he will begin his new life as a horse soldier.
Chris Struble
The theme of this newsletter is Passages.
The word passage comes from old French, meaning the action of crossing from one place to another, or the location where this transition occurs, like a mountain pass. By William Shakespeare’s time it could also mean death. It later came to mean a corridor in a building, as in passageway.
The prehistoric monument of Newgrange in Ireland, built more than five thousand years ago, is a tomb that invokes every sense of the word passage. The narrow corridor leading into the grave site, aligned with the winter solstice, probably led to deeply meaningful experiences for those who participated in the rituals within the passage on that sacred day.
For modern people the New Year can be a kind of passage, a time for new possibilities. Out with the old and in with the new. Still, looking back, I accomplished a lot in 2025.
I wrote and released nine chapters of the new Shield of the Goddess web serial. I released two songs from the novel here, along with four other songs. I also posted a newsletter every month, and built my subscriber base to more than 10 people. My total writing output was more than 21,000 words of fiction and 7000 words of newsletter last year.
By the time this issue is published, I will have passed from one stage of my life into another. I was laid off from my software engineering job of the past seven years. I took an option for early retirement. I am applying for full time and part time jobs, and also preparing to spend more time on fiction writing and songwriting this year. Whichever path I follow, I will be leaving behind many friends, and making new ones. Life goes on.
I should mention that everything I’ve shared on Ancient Roads up to now has been a spare time activity, accomplished in just a few hours a week. The possibility of being able to spend more time working on it is very exciting for me. Stay tuned.
How is the new year a passage for you? What are you leaving behind? What are you hoping to grow or to find in the coming year? Please share in the comments below.
If you’re already a subscriber, remember you can always visit my Books, Music, and Reviews pages to see everything I have published here to date.
Don't forget to check out my Recommendations for selected authors, bookstores, musicians, and providers of unique services I know.
If you're a new visitor, please sign up to stay up to date and receive emails when I publish new content! You can also help by sharing this newsletter with someone in your life. You’ll have my gratitude for spreading the word.
See you on the road!
Chris Struble