If you’ve poked around my website or been following my blog, you’ve probably noticed that in addition to Alchemical Tales novels, there are a bunch of Alchemical Tales short stories. In fact, the Alchemical Tales started with a short story, which was eventually accepted into an anthology (yay!). I found that despite my misgivings I actually enjoyed writing short stories, and so I kept submitting to anthologies even after the novels were out.

Now, behind the scenes, this makes lots of sense to me. I like novels, I like anthologies, I like spending time in Belville–win win win! Plus, contributing to anthologies helps new readers find Red and her friends.

But I’ve begun to get a consistent question . . . where do I begin?

And again, as an author, I think: well, hopefully you could begin anywhere you like, because part of the set-up of each story or novel is re-introducing the world! 😉 I do try to make each story somewhat standalone, especially the ones going to new anthologies with unfamiliar readers. So at first, this question tended to make me ramble.

Then I realized: I’m overcomplicating things–as usual, haha. Some folks just really appreciate having the context or going in order through a series. And I have to admit, no matter how organized I try to be, The Alchemical Tales has grown very organically and it could get pretty confusing trying to line up the stories in chronological order!

So, what’s the answer? For me, it’s a handy graphic:

. . . Which, naturally, will change over time (specifically in the next few months!). Putting everything together made me realize just how sprawling the Alchemical world has become! I didn’t even include various writing challenges and holiday extras in here; maybe one day I’ll make a really comprehensive list. 😀

In future, I’ll still give most folks my routine answer: Beauty is book one and it’s totally fine to start there, but if you want the prequel, that’s Carousel. But I’ll have this graphic–and perhaps a revised webpage–to offer readers who’d like a more in-depth exploration of Beyond.

For other authors, first of all, feel free to use this idea too if it hadn’t occurred to you yet! And I do encourage you to have this in your back pocket. If nothing else, it’ll help you keep things straight in your own mind when someone says, Sounds cool! Where do I begin? 😉

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