Welcome to TalesfromSalome.com!

This website is dedicated to the online science fiction serial: Tales from Salome. What is Tales from Salome? TfS began in early 2000 as a pen and paper roll playing game. In its original incarnation the game was set in the fictitious Kingdom of Salome during the dark ages. Using the classic D&D 2nd edition rule set the game launched with a total of five participants. The story detailed the ascension of Princess Lillianna to the throne of her belated half brother Ramicles II.

As a fantasy adventure this campaign was short lived. Science Fiction is where our heart lies and so the story was closed and re-launched about a month later. This new story was still set in the mythical land of Salome, which was now the entire planet, and it took place 1,000 years after the previous. It chronicled the return of our villain from the D&D adventure. He had been such a fun antagonist for Lillianna, we sought to preserve him for future generations. The new campaign started in 2000 and ran every week until 2004.

During its four year run the story evolved and changed a lot. Sometimes these changes were for the best, sometimes not. However, one thing remained consistent: the players were addicted. Somewhere, during its run, Salome managed to become more than a game. It sort of took on its own unique reality, not unlike a daytime soap. What started as an epic tale of 'Good vs Evil' became more a tale about the human heart and condition of man and men. The characters grew and each took on his/her own life. They loved and they hated. They laughed and they cried (real tears I might add). They were courageous and they were afraid. They faced, amidst this alternate reality with dragons, lasers, and robots, the same essential problems we face here in the 21st century.

All things must come to pass and so it was with the Game of Salome. After a successful four year run life and reality called the core of five to different places and thus came the sunset over Ludgate and the perceived end of Salome. As the sky grew dark and curtain was coming down Stephen and I decided that this was a new opportunity. With that bit of self assurance, and a heart full of piss and vinegar, we set about the daunting task of turning Salome into an online tale.

We wrote two novels, intended to launch the series. They are: TfS volumes I and II, Broken Angel and Sins of Father, respectively. Both were published by a small press and neither have enjoyed great success. While the reviews were solid we must understand that there are thousands of novels published every year. TfS never even made it to the book stores amidst the sheer numbers. As an online sale only, with hardly any advertisement, it has done as well as can be expected commercially, but this does not really concern us.

First: We take pride in the fact that, flawed as they may be in our youthful endeavors, the books have been well received by those who have read them. Good reviews are worth more than a 100 sales. Second, it was during this process that Stephen and I made a startling revelation. We hate writing books. While we love to write, we hate writing books. It was hauntingly difficult to convert the Tale of Salome over into a novel format. With a book you must worry about page count, publishing cost, sales, you must have a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. However, Salome was never about endings. Salome was a story without and end. As the world goes on from day to day so does Salome. Our cast, at its peak, was huge. It was greatly narrowed for the books. There were scenes we desperately wanted to include in the novels but there simply was not enough room, thus they were dropped from final printing.

All of this brings us back to this point. It is now, after some down time, that we are re-launching this website with a new focus. We love writing, we love our story, we hate writing books. Therefore, with that in mind, we invite you to the new TfS which is, in its purest form, closest to the original. This story continues where Sins of the Father left off. Only now we're free from the burden of books. On this site we will continue the Salome Saga with weekly updates. The story will live here and will never end until we at last are simply no longer able to update it.

We invite you to come along on this journey with us into a brave new world unlike anything you've ever seen in Science Fiction before. Come with us as we follow a crew of misfits into eternity.

Thank you,

Craig Lansford and Stephen Chamberlin.