I’ve got something I am so very excited and honored to share with all you today!

A new anthology has just released to the beautiful world of fiction, and it sounds exactly like the type of thing we could all use right now.

WHERE GIANTS FALL is an anthology of 14 short stories by 14 different authors, with themes about finding the light in the darkness and heroes learning to overcome. As these are themes incredibly close to my heart, I am so glad such an anthology now exists!

As if that’s not exciting enough, today I have the absolute pleasure of having Sarah Ryder, one of the authors, here for an interview! So grab a favorite beverage and settle in as Sarah tells us a little bit more about her contribution to this anthology—WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS—her own writing, and plenty of more goodness!

WHERE GIANTS FALL released March 1st, 2022!

Find it on: GOODREADS and AMAZON

Interview with Sarah Ryder

First off, can you tell us about the WHERE GIANTS FALL anthology?

Yay, thank you so much for interviewing me, Christine! I’m honored to talk to you on your amazing blog!

Okay, so, WHERE GIANTS FALL is a fantasy short story anthology comprised of 14 different authors (including me!) all about light in the darkness. Here’s the official blurb so you guys can have a better idea of what the book’s about:

Man-eating monsters. Devils in the dark. Darkness lingering in the shadows. 

Can light overcome it? Can the weak and fearful stand strong?

This anthology will keep you reading past your bedtime with heartfelt stories of light illuminating the darkness.

Share with us eager readers a bit of a teaser of your story WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS! What is it about and what are we to expect?

Haha, I’m still not used to people saying they’re excited to read my little story! Without giving TOO much away (it IS a short story after all), it’s about hope in the midst of despair and how the care and light of one person can set off a chain reaction to freedom. (Fun fact: the villain’s name is actually “despair” spelled backwards!) You can also expect a prison escape, action, magic and swords, some sarcastic banter, and a group of do or die characters.

What was the first spark of an idea or the overall inspiration for this story?

I actually can’t take full credit for coming up with this story idea as my mom and older sister actually came up with the very basic concept of someone from the enemy side being in prison only to be helped out by the very rebels he was fighting against—my sister especially wanted the whole compassionate rebel angle.

I then expanded from that basic framework and here we are! This was also after I had tried and failed to write 4 other stories to submit with this being the only one that survived. So all the credit for the idea spark goes to my mom and sister!

Who are some of the characters we’ll meet and what’s your favorite aspects about them?

Again, I won’t say TOO much about the characters since the story’s so short, but my main guy is Archer, the disowned son of an evil lord who’s pretty much on death row when he’s freed (rather reluctantly in some cases, LOL!) by some rebels who comprise of a sword wielding girl with a suspicious streak, a kind mage with purple light magic, and a way too cheerful boy who doesn’t take no for an answer. The villains you’ll just have to wait and see about. 😉

What I love most about these characters is the dynamic and teamwork that grows between them all despite the short timeframe.

Did you plot the story before you started? Did you know how it would end or did it surprise you throughout the process?

Ha! Plotting? What’s that? ;P I don’t really plot my stories (which can be awkward since I normally write 200,000+ word books…) as the one time I outlined extensively the story crashed and burned (and I’m STILL trying to fix/resurrect it, *sigh*…). SO all that to say, no, I didn’t plot this story.

My general way of writing/“plotting” is I come up with a bunch of scenes in my head, arrange them in the (hopefully!) correct order, and then use them as markers to aim for as I write all the stuff in between. For WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS, I knew how it would start (which is EXTREMELY rare—generally I know the climax/end first and the beginning I rewrite half a million times, bwahaha) and had a few, general ideas of how I wanted it to end with a battle of some sort, but for the most part I just wrote and hoped it would all make sense and be under the set word count in the end!

What was your favorite and least favorite part of writing this story?

My favorite part were the interactions between Archer and the rebels, especially since at the beginning he butts heads with a certain rebel and their traded barbs were super fun to write, lol!

Least favorite part was writing the end battle scene so it wasn’t too long for the word count constraint but not so short it felt rushed. Also I had some trouble with making my villain dangerous enough for Archer to want to flee yet not fall into the trap of making him ridiculous by his personality and lack of screen time. Short stories are HARD for me to write (this is about the only successful one I’ve ever written!) so that as a whole was also a HUGE challenge.

What did you enjoy most about doing a collaboration project like this?

Getting feedback from two different editors—Angela and Michaela, who did a fantastic job and made WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS sooo much stronger and better!—and seeing how that process goes, as I’ve never had an editor read and correct my work before.

Do you have any authors who particularly influence and inspire you?

Oh rats, you would have to ask this question, LOL! At least it isn’t my favorite books…AHEM off topic! (don’t get any ideas now, Christine…)

Honestly, it’s mostly the stories that inspire me rather than the authors themselves, so I’ll just list a few authors by the books/series I love and have been inspired by in one way or another:

Nadine Brandes (Romanov & Fawkes), Jaye L. Knight (The Ilyon Chronicles), Selina R. Gonzalez (The Mercenary and the Mage series & The Miraveld Chronicles), Mizuho Kusanagi (Yona of the Dawn manga series), Angela R. Watts (The Infidel Books & Seek), Michaela Bush (The Lady of Lanaria, Faith Hope and Love series, & Mount Sterling series), and about a thousand more I don’t have space or time to list!

And even though this is not an author or a book, I also have to give a shoutout to Tangled for being my biggest inspiration and the story God used to nudge me into writing to begin with—without it I wouldn’t be published today. 

What’s one piece of writing advice you’d give to all your fellow writers out there?

You know, when I first read this question, my first thought was “who am I to give writing advice? I’m no expert!” LOL! But all jokes aside, it’s very simple but with, I think, the best meaning behind why we day after day, year after year sit down at a keyboard and bleed: write from your heart the story of your heart.

Because if we don’t love our stories first when we’re the only ones reading and writing them, why are we doing this? Why bother? I know personally I can’t write a story unless I feel and love something about it that I just want to get out and explore, find inspiration and hope in and maybe, hopefully, one day share them with others.

What do you wish your readers to take away from this story? How do you hope they’ll feel after reading the final page?

That there is always hope even in the darkest of times and circumstances. It’s not a very deep or complex or even new idea or theme, but it’s one I find I need reminders of every day, sometimes even several times a day, and one we can often forget during the business and stress of life. And at the very least, I hope people like and enjoy WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS as a fun story with some lovable characters!

Once again thanks so much for interviewing me, Christine! (My first ever interview! Eeee!) This was super fun, and I loved getting to hang out on your blog for today!

About the Author

Sarah Ryder is a lifelong storyteller even though she never thought of writing them down and becoming an author until her late teens. Aside from writing, Sarah loves reading, fangirling over various fandoms, living in the country, drawing (even though she’s not very good at it), and spending time with her family and their many pets. She lives on her family’s farm in the Pacific Northwest.

Find her on: Youtube | GoodReads

And check out her family’s gorgeous ETSY SHOP where they sell handmade soaps inspired by stories and fictional characters! AND some candles are in the works as well!

Thank you, Sarah! This was such a delight for me to have you on my blog. I absolutely loved hearing more about WHAT THE DARKNESS FEARS. Magic and swords? Sarcastic banter? Rebels? The light of one person making a big impact? That is exactly my kind of story!

And such beautiful writing advice I feel as though we could all use—write from your heart the story of your heart. Yes! I firmly believe that is the true key to a writer. Write what you love and are passionate about. <3

This whole anthology sounds like stories written from the heart, and I cannot wait to experience them all!

Don’t forget to add it on GoodReads or you can purchase a copy right now on Amazon!

What do you think, dear readers? Does this anthology not sound like the most beautiful thing? Do you have any more questions for Sarah! Another huge thank you to her for being on my blog today!