Between last night and this morning, I wrote a 1,600 short spook story which doubled as a Reddit writing prompt and a submission for a writing contest (hosted at my old online stomping grounds: Newgrounds!)

It was important for another reason: I fused two previously independent story ideas, using ideas and characters from mostly undeveloped plotlines I call THE DEPARTMENT OF MINOR INCONVENIENCES and THE INCREDIBLE MISS LAINEY CASE. The latter is actually a series I’ve been incubating and excited about for a long time, and the former one of those cute ideas that refuses to stay unwritten and unthought-about… and marrying them resulted in solving both of their most insignificant gaps: essentially the core “why is this even happening” that drives a central plot. I’ve had this happen before: independent interesting ideas finding footholds in one another. In fact, the whole fantasy world that is manifesting in THE MOUNTAIN DANCER and CHILDSEEKER’S is really an amalgamation of story ideas that have been around since I was a wee lad.