Werelden ontwaken
November 2022
Seven writers, seven worlds, one journey.
The Dutch story collection Werelden ontwaken (“Worlds Awaken”) is a collaborative project by seven fantasy and science fiction writers, in which we give a taste of the worlds in which our future books will be set. The book contains my novella Winterwaker (“Winter Watcher”), the first of my stories of Mennistriam that’s available to read for everyone!
The other authors are Antoni Dol, Heleen van den Hooven, Marieke Frankema, Mariëlle Douma, Robin Rozendal and Tom Kruijsen. Apart from an editorial pass by editor Sarah de Waard, we tackled the entire production and publishing of the book by ourselfs. For example, the cover illustration was made by Robin Rozendal, Antoni Dol was responsible for layout and design, and I coordinated the online promotion, in addition to many other small and large tasks that were divided among the group.
Werelden ontwaken will be available from 22-11-22 and can be pre-ordered now on www.wereldenontwaken.nl (shipping to the Netherlands and Belgium).
Winterwaker
Winterwaker is a mystery story starring fantasy creatures:
The cold-blooded scalekin spend most of the winter sleeping, except for small teams of ‘winter watchers’. As an exception, Stonehead is allowed to take part in a winter watch, a role that according to tradition would never fall to him. He’s determined to prove that this is where he belongs. When two winter watchers disappear without a trace into the freezing cold, suddenly there’s more at stake than his fight for his identity.
You can read the beginning of the story here (in Dutch).
Reviews
The following are translated quotes from Dutch reviews.
‘[This story collection proves] the power of collaboration: high-quality stories in a well-designed and polished book.’ – Sigrid Lensink-Damen on Fantasize
‘All the authors are experienced, and you can tell. Smooth writing styles, characters are far from one-dimensional and true to life. [...] The scalekin, their way of life and the atmosphere of the story are so well portrayed, that you can almost smell their world.’ – Roos Poppelaars on Hebban
‘[In Winterwaker] you feel the cold, see the darkness and experience the fear for the much bigger humans. But above all I really liked the world building here – the scalekin’s stratified society, and how they brave the cold using heat vests.’ – Johan Klein Haneveld on Hebban
‘As a reader you fullly get how much [the main character of Winterwaker] wants to prove himself, and resist with heart and soul the role that has been imposed on him.’ – Connie Flipse on Connie’s Boekenblog
‘What a wonderful image of this (despite the winter) warm community and the intriguing personal struggle. The tension is palpable, so the story flew by. [...] After reading this story collection, it is clear to me that the Dutch fantasy genre has much to look forward to.’ – Arne Tump on Hebban
Links
Official website – Shopping cart – Kobo – Kindle – Goodreads – Hebban.nl
Related news:
8-11-2023 - Interview on Out Of This World
25-11-2022 - ‘Werelden ontwaken’ released
9-11-2022 - Pre-order ‘Werelden ontwaken’