We have another new author to the Scribbler for you to meet today.
I had the pleasure of meeting Nick at the GMRDBook Fair this spring and he has kindly accepted our invitation to be our guest this week
Read on, my friends.
Nick Doyle
is an author from Saint John, New Brunswick. He’s a securities lawyer by trade
and has a background in Greek and Roman history and culture. He likes to use
that background to create engaging, mythologically dense stories with a dark
twist. His preferred genre is dark fantasy and has two ongoing dark fantasy
series. His latest foray into fantasy, Celestial City 66, is the first of a
planned trilogy with the second due out Fall 2026.
Title: Celestial City 66
Synopsis:
In
a world swarming with monsters and the decay of a ruined civilization, the small
settlement of Mist has survived in relative tranquility. That is, until a
terrible creature breaks through Mist’s walls and shatters the peace by
infecting the populace with a deadly poison. With no available cure, two
youths, Remus Quinn and Claudia Tarr embark on a perilous journey to the north
in a desperate attempt to reach the mythical Celestial City 66, the last living
city, and the only place medicine able to heal their people might exist.
The
path north leads through a multitude of dangers from horrifying creatures
littering the countryside to bloodthirsty warlords and their gangs of killers.
Beliefs are challenged and hands are bloodied all without knowing if the fabled
Celestial City 66 truly waits for them at the end of their journey.
The
Story Behind the Story:
The initial idea
for Celestial City 66 came from a short story I wrote while I was in law
school. While adapting short stories into novels isn’t odd for many writers, it
is for me. I’m terrible at writing them and usually avoid doing so. This short
story was about a creature that derived elements from Eastern Orthodoxy mythology
and some hapless fools that wandered into its cave. It wasn’t very good, but I
started imagining what the world outside the cave would be, and this led to me
creating a fun post-apocalyptic backdrop. An adapted version of the short story
is actually a key chapter in the book and marks the end of its second act.
Facebook: Please go HERE.
Scribbler: What has been the most enjoyable about your writing journey, Nick? The least enjoyable?
Nick: Easily my favourite aspect of the writing journey is the weeks following a release where I get to finally see reactions from readers about the stories I’ve had locked up to myself for so long. For the actual craft of writing, I love when I can click with a character so much that I don’t need to consider what they would or should do. They simply act in the story according to their internal beliefs. I have a good number of characters under my belt, and those ones are precious.
The least enjoyable part is the grind. Sometimes things don’t gel, or you’re not feeling the scene. Pushing through that and forcing words on the page even without the muse is always the hardest part for me.
An Excerpt from: Celestial City 66
Remus emerged into a
different world. Rolling green fog smelling of lavender and cooked meat rose up
into the air. It wasn’t coming from the lake. The unnatural vapor wafted from
where the gate once stood. Remus pierced the fog and ran to confront the beast.
He spotted its
monstrous shadow through the fog near the chapel. Its arms flung wild, snapping
up fearless, stupid men who tried to challenge it in the hope of proving their
strength to the Messiah. As Remus got closer, fleshy tubes had sprouted from
the sides of the monster, pumping out the green gas that filled the town. Two
hunters were stabbing its thick fat but hadn’t pierced its hide. Remus ran to
join them. He backed off just as the monster’s left hand smashed one to a paste
and swiftly grabbed the other.
Remus yelled at the
top of his lungs and swung the Maneater as he rushed forward. The serrated
blade hit the monster’s left arm near the joint and left a long cut. From the
beast’s mouth came the pig cry again, spewing equal parts drool and gore that
pooled in front of it. Remus followed up his attack, forcing the monster to
drop the hunter in its clutches. The blue light of the dangling eye focused on
Remus. It reared its other hand back and sent him flying against the wall of
the chapel.
Remus gasped as the
air flew from his lungs on impact. Never once did he allow his spear to fall
from his hand. He gazed up, his head fuzzy and vision blurry. The fog grew
thick, but before a green death enveloped him, he spotted a figure running in
his direction. The man’s face was obscured by a black gas mask, but the purple
robes meant it had to be the preacher Michael.
“Get out of here,”
Michael shouted.
“But Mist.” It was all
Remus could say before he started coughing in the fog.
“You need to get to
the lake.”
“I can’t. I can’t. I
have to stop it.”
“Foolish child. Get up
and…”
The piercing bang of a
gunshot choked off Michael’s words. The preacher turned, muttering to himself.
The monster reared its head as its insectoid legs began the long process of
turning its hulking mass towards the gate. Another shot broke past the yellow
orb of its right eye. The monster wailed, and its giant hand pressed against
its leaking face. Chunks spattered into the air as two more shots burst through
the beast’s flesh. Emboldened hunters rallied. They were quickly brushed away,
but not before opening a series of bloody gashes on the monster’s
side. Remus rose to join them, but the preacher Michael held him back.
“No,” Michael
said.
Remus looked past him
and saw a swift shadow in the fog, racing like the winged angels of Michael’s
sermons. The figure wore a long brown coat with a wide-brimmed hat. His face
was covered by a gas mask, and he carried a knife the size of a forearm. The man
scrambled up the monster’s back, arm slashing back and forth as he ran along
the ridge of the creature’s spine. He reached the forehead and grabbed at the
tendril holding up the blue light. The man severed it with two brutal hacks.
The light dimmed and the beast sputtered bile and bellowed once again.
Remus stood in awe as
the lone man stood against the giant beast. Both hulking arms clasped together,
snatching up the man before he could evade. The beast squeezed, throwing open
its mouth in anticipation of a well-earned meal. The man wriggled in the stubby
fingers, his hand reaching something on his belt. As the beast dangled him
above its gaping mouth, the man tossed a tiny ball downward into the gigantic
esophagus. At the same time, he unleashed his knife on the fingers holding him,
forcing them to release. Dropped on the ground, the man entered a dead sprint
toward Remus and Michael. He fell upon the side of the chapel and covered his
ears just as a mighty bang sounded. Remus’s eyes flew open as an explosion
rocked the inside of the beast’s stomach, spewing fire, smoke, and the gruesome
contents of the beast’s stomach everywhere. Its mouth hung open and it fell to
the side, landing among scattered flesh and a strange, blue blood that now
seeped into every surface of the village.
Mouth agape, Remus
gawked at the man, who was busy wiping a messy mix of bodily fluids from his
coat.
“W-what was that?”
Remus asked as the man passed.
“Loimos. Better be
worth the grenade.”
The man left, joining
a woman at the gate wreckage. Though a gas mask obscured her face, Remus could
recognize that lanky false bravado anywhere—Claudia.
Thanks
for being our guest this week, Nick, and for sharing an excerpt. Your story
sounds intriguing.
We
wish you continued success with your writing.
Thank
you to all our visitors and readers.
Feel
free to leave a comment below.
We’d
love to hear from you.