Beyond the Stained Glass …

an arc of stories beginning after the events of A Kingdom By the Sea. In this universe, neither The Hollow Men nor the season 2-ending-trilogy of episodes occurred. Vincent did not have the dark breakdown in the deep cavern; Catherine did not come to his rescue … there. Instead, Catherine’s “I wished it were you” – her admission after having kissed Elliot Burch – is most definitely granted, and their lives go forth together.

These stories introduce original characters beyond those familiar from the episodes and a community outside the perimeter of canon, one based both in the northern tunnels beneath the Bronx and up-top in the neighborhood of Woodlawn. So you don’t get lost, they’re best read in order. (The mid-arc, work-in-slow-progress Iron Behind the Velvet, is a very long but unfinished novel. Skip on to the following stories if you want – they don’t super-depend on Iron/Velvet.) And though the character studies, episode expansions, and illustrated tales are stand-alones, they do – or can – exist within the same universe.

Character Studies …

Several of these were originally published at Winterfest as part of The Hearthside Stories; a few more were submissions to group projects hosted on the fan site Everything … While they are stand-alone tales, not dependent on the reader having read the Beyond the Stained Glass series, nevertheless, they all occur within my particular continuing classic universe. They run the gamut from a Vincent’s-childhood story to an Isaac what-if-he-knew.

The Winslow stories are part imagined history, part episode expansion, and Jamie’s story dovetails with his. They’re best read in order and are so captioned. (A third Winslow story is found in the Episode Expansions). Sebastien’s story is, in a small but respectful way, an homage to Roy Dotrice’s wartime experience.

Episode Expansions …

Many of these stories first appeared as submissions to projects hosted on the fan site, Everything …, some of which also appeared in Winterfest libraries. But I do love imagining further moments, and so I’ll be posting additions to this section now and then. The powers-that-were just didn’t go far enough!

The odd story out, There Will I Make Thee Beds of Roses, is my oldest, my very first fan fic, written in 1990, written to fix what happened in third season. (It’s kind of an episode expansion, I suppose.) I didn’t know the terminology when I wrote the story, but it’s not a SND, rather a continuing classic story, set in a universe similar to the one I’m working in today. Feel free to skip over the too-long literary excerpt!

Illustrated Stories …

I taught myself Photoshop once I started writing fan fic, and some of these are first experiments with the program and different techniques.  Some of the stories are supposed to be humorous, though I don’t think I’m particularly funny. (I tried!)

The postcards between Brigit and Catherine were part of a larger WFOL project, but they herald a fuller and independent tale yet to be told. The Lake House story was originally the framework for a Winterfest Poem of the Day project. A couple stories were originally created as the basis of Winterfest Treasure Hunt activities at the old Imagine That and at the Crystal Rose Lending Library site. I think – hope – they’ll all make sense just on their own.

Challenge Stories … Singular Stories …

Stories set outside the Beyond the Stained Glass universe, written in response to prompts or themes issued by CABB and Tunnel Tales. If I can ever make these part of the main story arc, I’ll move them to the appropriate category, but for now, they’re one-offs – something I wasn’t sure I could do! It was fun, and I’m looking forward to doing more.

Winterfest Drabble Challenges

Debuting at WFOL 2021 – the daily challenge to write an exactly 100-word story incorporating three given elements. Some were real head-scratchers! (And some I never managed!) They’re super-short stories in their own rights, but they’re also plot bunnies begging for attention, wishing themselves larger. One day!! 🙂