[Today we sit down with artist and author, Ren Alder. Here, they discuss their brand new myth- and music-based fantasy story, Harmonic Dissidents.]

Forests Haunted By Holiness: You recently launched Harmonic Dissidents on Royal Road. First, congratulations! Second, why Royal Road? Why did you choose that platform?

Ren Alder: Thank you! I appreciate it. To be honest, I wanted my story to be free to read. I chose RR because some writer friends of mine at New Edge Sword and Sorcery suggested it as a good site. Lots of traffic. Well maintained.

FHBH: Harmonic Dissidents features six “dumb college kids” who start a band. The bandmates include a nixie, a water spirit, and a lizard-man, among others. How did you decide which mythical beings to include in your story? Were there any you considered and then rejected, or opted to work into the story in a different way?

RA: Harmonic Dissidents actually started out as a homebrew roleplaying campaign with an ex of mine. We started writing silly fan fiction about our own characters! Never knock cringey or nerdy stuff. You never know where it might lead!

I chose the main characters to line up with the six traditional classes of animal. Nixies, a creature from German folklore, represent amphibians. Undines fish. And so on. There are definitely more types of creatures in the world, but that’s why I chose the six. I have chosen not to include mythical creatures that are too far from the human body plan, such as centaurs. They were part of the original campaign, but I wanted to make the story a little less complicated while also using the creatures as a stand-in for modern humans. They have a few extra magical abilities, but they’re essentially people. The mythology aspect just allows for some fun symbolism.

FHBH: The kids just want to make music, but they encounter some problems. Can you give us a hint as to what sort of “cultural conflicts” they run into?

RA: Yes. I want to talk about a lot of the issues facing myself and people like me. As a punk band, this group is inherently leftist and counter-cultural. They also happen to be pretty queer and neurodivergent, like me. And, like me, they’re coming of age in a time when conservative thought is normalized and becoming more extreme with time. I don’t want to spoil too much of the central conflict, but that’s kind of the gist.

FHBH: Do you plan to collect the story when it is complete? If so, where will it be available?

RA: Yes, that would be nice. Once they’re all finished, I might give them a thorough editing pass and then see if I can’t put them to print. If that doesn’t work out, they’ll always be up on RR and, probably, a few other sites. I’ll be sure to let folks know when the time comes.

FHBH: You are also a talented artist, with a particular interest in fantasy maps. Where can potential clients find your work? And there is anything you especially would love to illustrate for an author?

RA: Aw shucks. You can find my artwork on Bluesky or on my ko-fi, Rendj.

I love making maps. But I’m not taking new commissions at the moment. My resources as an artist and writer are stretched too thin. When my commissions open back up, I will get the word out.