Author Miles Nelson wrote a love story about adorable aliens as a wedding gift to his husband. Now the couple are sharing it with the world, for Valentine’s Day.
The Forge & The Flood is a heart-warming tale of friendship and love, inspired by the process of self-discovery and the bringing together of two families in preparation for the author’s wedding.
Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to announce the publication of The Forge & The Flood by Durham-based author Miles Nelson. On the face of it, The Forge & The Flood is an innocuous fantasy story about a growing friendship between two alien species (based loosely on otters and red pandas) who seem to have little in common until a catastrophe forces them together. However, beneath the surface, it is an allegory for LGBTQ+ alliance, coming out, and accepting people even if you don’t understand them. It also places great weight on learning from the mistakes of history, to avoid repeating them.
But the story behind the writing of the book is itself like something straight from the pages of a romantic novel. Which is why they have chosen Valentine’s day to launch the book.
Peter Buck, Editorial Director of Elsewhen Press said, “We first met Miles in 2020, when he submitted a novel to Elsewhen Press that we subsequently published as Riftmaster, in March 2021. While talking to him about his writing, he mentioned a story that he had written as a wedding present for his husband Chris, when they had married at the end of 2019. The story was called The Forge & The Flood and Miles had only produced enough copies for the guests at their wedding. When he wrote the story, Miles had not intended for it to be published, only to be read by family and friends. But as he described the story to us, we were intrigued and asked if we could read it. He sent us a copy of the manuscript. We read it, and Miles and Chris agreed to publish such a wonderful story for a wider audience.”
Miles Nelson says, “The Forge & the Flood is a young adult fantasy novella which was written as a gift for my husband-to-be on our wedding day. It was based on an idea he had given me on our first anniversary, five years before, at a noodle bar that has since closed down. Because it was a wedding gift, I wanted the themes of the story to be joy and unity between two dramatically different families – even if those families happen to be adorable aliens. 15 copies were printed to be given to close family and friends and now, 2 years after our wedding, I can’t wait for everyone else to share that same joy.”
Peter Buck, again: “Anyone who meets Miles is immediately enchanted by his enthusiasm and joie de vivre. We hadn’t yet met Miles and Chris when they got married, but it is easy to imagine the sheer joy of their wedding. Giving a copy of this story to their guests would have been both romantic and delightful for all of them. We are honoured to be able to bring this story to a wider readership, in a way that remains true to its original meaning.”
The Forge & the Flood is a poignant tale of two creatures from different species who meet under adverse circumstances and grow close. A catastrophe forces the Ailura to leave their island home on makeshift rafts. One of the Ailura, Sienna, makes friends with Indigo, a creature he sees in the water. Indigo is a princess of the Lutra, and with his help the Ailura manage to land on the Lutra’s island. Indigo’s father, the Queen of the Lutra, tasks Indigo and Sienna with finding a suitable place for the Ailura to live. As they look for an appropriate habitat, Indigo and Sienna become ever closer, gradually confronting the differences between their two societies. But they also discover that these two species, who apparently have no prior knowledge of each other, may actually have had a turbulent, shared history.
In the afterword to this version of the book, Miles wrote, “As we approach our second wedding anniversary, and enter our eighth year together, it seems only fitting that we should start by sharing this story, that has meant so much to us, with the world.” He added, “Chris finished this book on our honeymoon. And he cried. A lot.”
The Forge & The Flood is available from today, Valentine’s Day, in eBook and paperback format.