Get to know Lon Prater, one of the 22 contributors to the recently-released Allegories of the Tarot Anthology (which is already trailblazing its way up the fantasy anthology charts on Amazon!). Lon wrote his tale, The Intern’s Story, based on The Magician card. You can read an excerpt of his story below.

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About Lon

Lon Prater has worked in the Reactor Compartments of USS Enterprise, edited the military’s textbook on arms deals, and kept things safe in the produce and laundry industries. He lives, writes, and plays a lot of board games in Pensacola, Florida. Visit lonprater.com to find out more.

Just a few questions…

What intrigues you about this particular Tarot card? I like the idea of transformative knowledge. That having gone through certain stages, the Magician has learned a thing or two about both the divine and the mundane, and he’s been changed by it. Empowered by knowledge, the Magician is equipped to deal with what comes next.

Why did you decide to get roped into this project? Annetta and I used to be part of a smallish online writers group. I know her talent, her obsession with quality, and her drive. There is no way I would pass up the chance to be a part of a project she believes so strongly in.

Have you ever had dealings with the Tarot before? I have had rune readings done several times by a skilled friend, but I am foggy on whether I’ve had any honest-to-gosh Tarot readings.

What other projects do you have planned? A novel I co-wrote with Josh Rountree, ALAMO RISING, is due to debut at Worldcon San Antonio this year. Having a lot of fun with promotional plans that I’ll be able to talk more about later in the year.

How did you decide what to write about? As I considered the list of cards which were still available, and reviewed their meanings, I got a flash of insight about a story I had been working on a few weeks earlier. The story didn’t work for me at the time because I didn’t know what it was about. But seeing The Magician’s element of connecting the spiritual and material worlds in order to create a new life, I instantly realized what my story was really about, and then set to redrafting it.

How literal did you want to get with your card? I didn’t really want to go for literal. The card itself is a metaphor, and taking metaphor too literally seems to cause enough problems in the world as it is, without me adding to it.

Is your story a part of something you’ve written about previously? I have actually written one other story about photographing fairies, a long time past. It wasn’t very good and I should never have let the publisher have it, but I was desperate for the feeling of having sold a story, so… Now the little zine it appeared in is long-defunct, and that story will never ever (ever ever) see the light of day again.

Would you like to have written about any other card? Which card? Why? No. Once I read the descriptions of the Magician and had that flash of insight about “The Intern’s Story” there was no chance of wanting to go with another card. It was a tense little wait when I requested it from Annetta, hoping no one else had beat me to it!

If you could have the power to divine the future, would you or would you not and why? I would love to. But with my luck it would be some terribly limited and useless divination, like I’d only be able to tell whether Hart of Dixie would get better again, or how long before men wearing jeggings becomes a capital offense.

An excerpt from The Intern’s Story

Hansom Haddix nudged the antique pickup’s three-on-the-tree column shifter back into third. The transmission shrieked like a circular saw cutting through knotty wood. The big truck shuddered, but somehow kept right on zooming down the red clay Georgia road. We were on a mission, the infamous white-haired photographer and I.

I just didn’t know what it was.

Read the rest of The Intern’s Story in the Allegories of the Tarot Anthology!

About Allegories of the Tarot

Once upon a time, there was an editor with a fascination for the Tarot. She was struck one day by a crazy idea. “Hey,” she said. “What if twenty-two writers each wrote a story about the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot and were fashioned into an anthology?”

The idea would not leave her alone.

And thus, the Allegories of the Tarot was born.

Crowdfunded by a campaign on Indiegogo with the help and support of an amazing group of writers, twenty-two stories were crafted around the mysteries of the Tarot. The group includes a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Pulp Ark nominee, a former Bigfoot researcher, a journalist, an award-winning YA author, and a Rhysling Award winner. Professional writers, new talent, and a range of genres boggling the mind: Horror, Speculative Fiction, Bizarro Fiction, Erotica, Mystery, Humor, Paranormal, Epic Fantasy, Literary, Romance, and Historical Fantasy.

What has emerged is an outstanding collection of fiction, unique and mysterious. Stories that will make you cry, make you laugh, and make you think. Stories that make you feel the touch of the Universe.

Dare to step through the portal to shadowy realms and emotional journeys.