January 2023 Premium Post #2: Art Before My Short Story "Nicor"

Two different sketches entitled "Intruder in the Hall," or artwork inspired by BEOWULF

Back in late 2012, I sold one of my college-era short stories “Nicor” to the webzine Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. Thus began a partnership that ultimately included my selling a large number of the collection The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Vol. 2, which includes “Nicor,” at various book-signing events for a tidy profit.

Behind the paywall are two sketches from 2006 (not long after I first finished “Nicor” for an anthology that ultimately rejected it) entitled “Intruder in the Hall.” Not only do you get the drawings, dear subscriber, but you also get some commentary.

Both are based on the monster Grendel and his attacks on Heorot Hall from the early English epic poem “Beowulf,” although I went with the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” humanoid reptile/amphibian interpretation rather than the more common mammalian interpretation.