Beyond the Sample -- An In-Depth look at what you're going to see for The Allegheny Chronicles: Eden and the Alchemist.

 Happy Tuesday! Welcome to another in-depth look, or the author commentary, on the sample you're going to get to read for The Allegheny Chronicles: Eden and the Alchemist. I hope your week is going well. It's a bit stormy here, cold with rain, but I'll take the rain over heat any day. It's a great day to grab a nice hot cup of something, curl up with a book, and get lost reading.  Let's get started. 

First, some housekeeping (because doing it here is so much more fun than doing it in real life.) The Allegheny Chronicles is available on Amazon in both kindle and paperback form. At the moment, until January 2023, those of you who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited can read this one for free. Some people love Kindle Unlimited, some people don't care, but I mention it just the same because it is a tool that we authors can use because it means the ebook is exclusive to Amazon kindle and isn't found anywhere else. 

OK, now that that is out of the way, here we go...

So, the Chronicles, as I refer to it, is a book that is attached to the Portrait of an Unlikely Affair series, but isn't actually part of the series. So, then, when would you read it? Well, you can read it whenever you want. You can read it first. You can read it last. You can read it in between books 3 and 4 or 4 and 5 or wherever you wish. The story itself stands alone, but it also plays into the series. The cover design was originally just looking down at waves on a beach...Like this...

...which is pretty because I love the ocean, but then I decided to add a bit of wistful mystery by adding a woman in a hat looking out at the ocean. As I've said before in an "About the Author" post, sometimes I give myself too many options.

The Allegheny Chronicles actually got its title in a way that is completely 100% me. A while back I was watching an episode of Ghost Hunters one night and they were going to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I loathe haunted asylums and haunted hospitals. They freak me out. I refuse to watch a certain first season episode of the TV show "Supernatural" where they go to a haunted former asylum on a hunt (All you Supernatural fans know the one.) I skip over that episode all the time, or leave the room if someone else wants to watch it. But, when it comes to Ghost Hunters, I will watch the episodes with the old asylums and abandoned hospitals because they go to a lot of them and it's always funny seeing their reactions. As this particular episode started, they kept saying "Allegheny" and my writer's brain was first intrigued with "how in the world do you spell that?" then "hey, that's kinda fun to say." I knew that the Alleghenies were part of the Appalachian Mountain range and I recall seeing photos of it from old encyclopedias we had as kids. 

Fast forward to me, trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to name my fictional character's book series. I wanted something that was versatile, something that sounded like a place, and something that was more along the Eastern US as Portrait takes place primarily west of the Mississippi River. That was when I recalled that fun word, "Allegheny."  Right here I'll show you how this writer's mind works. As I am typing this, I am curious as to what "Allegheny" means and its history, so I'll do a quick internet search. Brave Search is my favorite search engine. According to the ever truthful and never wrong Wikipedia, apparently the word comes from the Lenape tribe of Native Americans, and is thought to mean 'fine river' and may have a legend about an ancient tribe called the "Alligewi" that the Lenape defeated and that Allegheny is just the French spelling as the Alleghenies were once considered New France. Yeah, I know. Interesting, right? I like legends. And why would they name a river or location after a tribe they defeated? Were they a fierce enemy to be respected, even in their defeat? So, if you look into the Alligewi, you find sources that tell us historians have found different translations but the quick version is that the Lenape (or Delaware) migrated east along a southern route to avoid the more savage Iroquois, who were expanding their territory. Both tribes made it to the Ohio River where they were stopped by the Talligewi (ah, another name for the Alligewi), who occupied the east. The Talligewi were not "savage" or nomadic, and had a "great civilization" which was known by the Lenape, Shawnee, and other tribes. So, the Iroquois and the Lenape find themselves stopped at a river by the Talligewi so at some point the Lenape and the Iroquois decided the Talligewi were their common enemy, made an alliance, and went after the Talligewi. Apparently the battles were merciless and fierce and the Talligewi were expelled.  But they weren't forgotten completely because the Delaware Indians use the word "Talligewi" which means "Ancient Ones" in their language. There are lots of other sources but you get the gist of the legend. At this point, you can delve further into it, as it is noted that the tribes themselves got their names from their neighbors and didn't actually call themselves what their neighbors do. 

Now, with your social studies out of the way for the day, ironically, I hadn't actually made the connection of Allegheny to West Virginia, which is a location that does play a role in the story, but I had rather mentally connected it to Allegheny County, PA and the Allegheny National Forest, also in Pennsylvania. West Virginia just meandered it's way in via my fingers as I feverishly wrote the story. But that's just how I write. (One day English Lit teachers may come up with some deep, complex, and totally plausible explanation behind why I chose the title to be Allegheny Chronicles, but it will be wrong because you all read it here first: I thought it was a fun word to say while watching a Ghost Hunters episode.)

So, in our sample, we are first greeted with my note, explaining the story. Blah, blah, blah, right?  It's a quick explanation. I never intended to write this book.

Make it through that and you're being dropped on top of a mountain with this character called the Reaper and his handler. The Reaper is a kid, who really doesn't seem like a kid. He is there for training, to meet a mentor that he will work with for quite some time. We only know what they call this mentor - The Alchemist. I had been reading about alchemy because it just seems like a weird subject. The idea of transforming metals from one thing to another but more precious metal is just as intriguing as turning plain ol water to good ol wine without adding grapes and the fermentation process. Do you just stare at it? Can it be done? How is it done? So, without going into more details, an alchemist sounded mysterious and gives you a certain image in your mind. For me, that image was this medieval bearded guy with swords and a horse, in a cave somewhere, with a fire and an old iron pot full of something boiling and a whole bunch of brass knick-knacks on shelves behind him that he can't quit get to turn from cast iron to gold. Perhaps he should try making aluminum or glass and brew beer instead.... 🧐 So, that's how the Alchemist got his name.

Back to our Sample. With the Reaper, as his handler, is Colonel Eden Magnuss. Her character just flew out of my fingers, developing as I typed this story one evening, trying to get everything I was seeing in my mind, and hearing of their thoughts and conversation. She is a bit preoccupied as she is trying to figure out the direction of her life. As they trudge along to find this mentor. Her last name is inspired from a character in the Portrait series, Admiral Magnusson, who was Howard Stone's grandfather. Anyhow, as they are walking along, wondering where they're going to meet this mentor, someone gets the drop on the Reaper.

And this is where the book becomes very uncharacteristic for me. There is instant conflict between the Alchemist and Eden as obviously the two of them had met before. It'd be interesting to know your thought process during this part. What do you think is happening here? How do you think they know each other? Eden has the bigger problem with the Alchemist, who just seems to enjoy riling her up, just to see what she does and says. A lot of my main characters react favorably to each other on the first meeting, so these two, it doesn't seem like it's going to go so well, does it? 

We move along and they come to where the Alchemist lives -- a one room shack, basically, in the middle of nowhere. Where else would an alchemist live? Of course, Eden has some thoughts about the shack, to which the Alchemist has some remarks, and Eden isn't too happy with him even still. But, there is more to this shack than meets the eyes. Who hasn't wanted their own bunker hidden behind a trick bookcase? 

Anyhow, the Alchemist gets them settled and Eden obviously doesn't want anything to do with him. And this is when we find out what their past is. Were your suspicions right? 

Now alone, our characters are now allowed to decompress, get lost in their thoughts, and we get to see who they are and how they actually feel and think about their situation. Because they are both who they are, they also make their individual plans on how they are going to take this assignment on. 

Before you know it, it's Day 3...At least if you're reading this sample on the Kindle option. For whatever reason, the paperback option only gives you the the shack. But if you're in the Kindle option, you get a little more to suck you in (One thing I dislike about the Kindle Sample is if you read it on a computer screen, the drop caps are off, leaving a gap, which annoys me. But I assure you, it's not that way, I've quadrupled checked.)  So, Day 3 starts with a peace offering initiated by the Alchemist. What would you do in Eden's position? The Alchemist's position? What do you think happened to him to get them to this point?  Here we also learn that the Alchemist has a name: Barrett "Bear" Magnuss and that he was a master chief with the Navy. I've got nothing for you as to how I chose his name. Just like Eden, it just seemed to fit right off the bat and no thought was put into it. I did go with the Navy this time as we have gone with the Army and Marines in the Portrait series, I thought it'd be a nice change. 

As this goes on, we get to know more about the two of them and that he does have a secret he is hiding from her, it's just not what she thinks. Before we know it, it's Day 14. Have they driven you nuts yet? Are they justified in their actions?  Just as we are being pulled in, learning more, the sample suddenly ends with Eden reviewing her memories and their present. giving you the option to purchase.

Dang it.

This particular story is unique because it is just a part of a supposedly much larger fictional series that was created by a fictional person based on 'real' events in their fictional world, plus it even spawned a fictional tv series in that fictional world. Yup, it's fiction based on fiction. Because of all that, there are things in it that is assumed you already know, including who and what Allegheny is, what they do, who the Reaper is, who these other characters are, what the Program is, what training the Reaper is getting, and what they have all been through up until this point. In the Portrait series, it has been written, but in our reality, it hasn't but I have a feeling it'd be one intriguing series to write.  I'll get there. 

I hope you enjoyed going over the sample with me. If you haven't read the sample yet, what are you waiting for? 

Go get it here: Sample of Allegheny Chronicles: Eden and the Alchemist

If you have any questions about the Allegheny Chronicles: Eden & the Alchemist or any other of my novels, let me know! I'm easy to reach. 

Thanks for stopping by and hanging out with me. I hope you continue to have a wonderful week and we shall chat again on Friday!  -- Em Brooks

Liked this teaser? There’s more. Head over to Amazon to buy the book! 

The Allegheny Chronicles: Eden and the Alchemist