Ezok and the Whispering Woods

I’ll never forget the moment. In the middle of my launch party for my first novel, a friend walks up and says, “Hey, talk to me about this Redwall collection on your bookshelf.”

Those are the books I grew up reading. Those, and the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, the Duncton Wood series, The Call of the Wild and White Fang, the Varjak Paw series, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and Watership Down.

Now, both of us in our 20s, these books still hold such a prominent place in our hearts that we’re both gushing about our favorite heroes, villains, and plots from these books we haven’t read in a decade plus.

Still, treasured as each of the IPs mentioned above is, none have had quite an impact on me and my writing future as Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten. I found it through the movie—as I imagine many have—but where others may have been put off by the harsh tone and dark themes in contrast to the Disney-fied version, I was enraptured by it.

At the time, it led to many half-baked parodies/spin offs/straight up rip offs. Even so, the pattern of reading something amazing and being inspired to make something in its image has repeated many times in my writing career. And those early attempts were formative for the sheer fact that I wanted so desperately to write something worthy of Salten’s work. To expand the cache of works out there for those who felt the same.

And yet, for all my earnestness, I was too young, too unrefined. All I could create were pale imitations. So the dream would burn on deep inside as I shifted to conventional horror stories that allowed me to finally break into the market.

How ironic that it was that affinity for horror that would eventually let me fulfill the original dream.

The Tall Tail challenge asked us to write a short story about a talking animal. And somehow, within the core of my marrow, I knew this was my time.

The challenge said nothing about making the story scary, but I love cross-genre stuff and sometimes the added challenge is what draws me in.

What resulted was some of the tightest dark fiction I’ve written in a thousand words:

Like every other series I’ve started on Vocal, I had no initial plans to make this story the start of a series. But the protagonist stayed with me long after the story and the results came out to no joy. Despite the challenge loss, the whitetail deer I’d conjured up named Ezok stayed with me. Waiting for his resurrection.

So, a year later I wrote a sequel to “The Precipice” inspired by the then-current Whispering Woods challenge:

It expanded the world, fleshed out Ezok’s character, wrapped up the events of “The Precipice,” and introduced a new character all while meeting the challenge requirements. In other words, my kind of Vocal challenge entry. Advance the story and win some money.

Well, “Whispers and Whisps” achieved one of those goals, anyway 😉

Long-time readers will know that writing a series using Vocal challenge prompts isn’t exactly new turf for me. Thus, they’re probably wondering what makes this “a unique Vocal project,” as my subtitle claimed.

Funny you should ask 😎

This time, the challenge called for a fiction story about a recurring dream or nightmare (3:00 AM challenge).

I recalled that my close friend and fellow Vocalite Bri had written her own short story duology for the Whispering Woods challenge that I had read at the time.

Sidenote: As a duology, you can read them in whichever order you wish.

And in one of those random strokes of inspiration that you wish you could tap into more often, I messaged her:

Hey, can I set my story in your forest and include your characters?

One “yes,” and the fates of my Ezok and Bri’s Speaker of Life were intertwined.

Their first encounter became the subject of my 3:00 AM challenge entry:

This was already a unique experience. Using someone else’s IP (with their permission) and mixing it with my own. A character that I get to write but who belongs to someone else. And a chance to collaborate with another magnificent writer and author.

And, as 2025 begins, that is where we stand with the novella I’ve taken to calling Ezok and the Whispering Woods. With the addition of one more chapter to tee up the climax of the book when Ezok and Speaker clash:

Still, the ending remains a blank page.

At least until today.

I haven’t finished it, but 1,300 words and a deep dive on my co-author’s IP has gotten me well on the way to completing the saga.

That’s another unique aspect. How often have we actually sat down and analyzed someone else’s work here on Vocal? Sure we find many pieces we like and we try to leave insightful comments, but have you actually annotated a story on Vocal? Considered the deeper themes and how they compare to your own work and protagonist?

And this prep work is already making the ending all that much richer. Not the least of all because I’m in the unique position where I don’t want Ezok to be in the spotlight so much as share it, and having all these notes will help me make the ending rich for both IPs.

So what’s next for the novella?

Naturally, I need to write the climax.

Then I asked Bri to write an epilogue from her character’s perspective.

After that, there’s the usual editing, proofreading, and production processes, which I anticipate taking a bit longer than usual because it will be the two of us collaborating on any larger adjustments and bouncing ideas off each other.

So we come in with a big release at the end of 2025??

Well, no. At least, probably not.

Why?

1. I anticipate the collaborative process will lengthen our timelines. I don’t see this as a bad thing. In fact, I embrace it.
2. I’ve already committed to releasing two books this year and don’t want to juggle a third.
3. Bri is also busy with her own writing projects, so all the more reason not to rush things.
4. A majority of my friends/audience to date are not gushing about their favorite Redwall books (sadly), so promotions will be a bit unorthodox and I want to build in time to do some research.

Still, I would like to have the first draft of Ezok and the Whispering Woods completed by the end of the year to keep some sort of momentum behind this project.

Seeing a book born of that long-simmering dream from childhood now out in the world with both our names on the cover will just about make my heart explode with pride. That’s my motivation. And how many co-authored books started their life as Vocal challenge entries and grew into something much more?

I think that’s damn unique and worth all the extra time and care incorporating two authors’ IPs will demand of us.

Wish us luck!