1923. The Illinois backwoods. Sean Joye, a young veteran of the Irish Civil War, aims to escape faerie attention, atone for his assassin past, and make a clean new life in America. But his bootlegger friend, Caleb, is in danger. At least that’s the way Caleb’s girlfriend tells the story. As Sean treks through a November ice storm on a rescue mission, he braves greater threats than revenuers. The forest itself bristles with fae ill intent, and a strange old mountain woman would just as soon shoot Sean as feed him squirrel stew. People will die—or not die—unless Sean cracks the secret of Otter Springs and its water of life. This ebook is equal to around 24 pages in a physical book and will take most people about an hour to read.

Water of Life, the concept for it, anyway, is an early tale, drafted while I was still working on my creative writing certificate. The story has grown and shrunk over the years, and at one time including a lot of Irish Revolution and Civil War information from Sean Joye’s backstory as well as Southern Illinois indigenous (primarily Shawnee) cultural information. I peeled away most of those details, which were in the way of the narrative. Water of Life is now very much roots music for me: The setting is my birthplace (although I grew up in St. Louis) and Miss Lutra was inspired—one way or the other—by the country-dwelling elders of my youthful memories.