Todays News

VanGundy releases short story illustrated by MHS students

Longtime ER physician Dr. Lance VanGundy, who has authored four epic fantasy novels in The Rune Fire Cycle series, recently released a dark, wilderness fantasy story entitled "Kallidu and the Golden-eyed Grenderling." Notably, it features artwork done by Marshalltown High School students and their teacher Garrett Rolenc.

VanGundy and Rolenc will be at Fizz & Fiction Saturday for a book talk/open house from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Rolenc noted that his wife Anna, an ENR nurse, and VanGundy, are colleagues. They all got to talking and came up with the idea of having Rolenc's graphic design students create artwork for a piece to be written by VanGundy.

"I styled the story (to be) in the same universe as what I'm using for my fantasy novels, only hundreds of years unrelated in the past -- more freedom I guess in terms of what the world could be in," VanGundy noted. "I liked having a female protagonist and it's a YA story."

According to its synopsis: "Sixteen‑year‑old Kallidu, Vaden's daughter and heir to the mystic's mantle, refuses to let her mother slip away. Armed with a heartwood spear, her grandmother's bone‑shard dagger, and the whispered guidance of the dead, she joins the hunters on a perilous quest. But the Oomfast do not trust howlys--those who hear spirits on the wind--and Kallidu must fight not only the creatures of the fen, but the prejudice of her own people. When Vaden's consciousness unexpectedly surfaces inside Eiger's mind, Kallidu learns the truth: the grenderling's poison is spreading faster than anyone feared, and the hunt must turn north, toward the shadowed slopes where the snowline runs low and the fen's monsters rise early."

VanGundy said it had been a while since he'd penned a short story, which required massive edits to keep it to its final 60-page count. He gave the story a twist ending, leaving people on a cliffhanger.

Once completed, he turned the manuscript over to the students who then got to work providing illustrations based on the plot.

"I didn't want them to have any limitations on what their creativity would do, so I didn't give them any guidance other than some character descriptions as the story unfolded," he added.

The students who contributed are as follows: Viviana Gorgonia Macias, Zane Safley, John Aung, Serenity Holtsclaw, Elynn Garcia, Logan McDaniel, Saw Say, Jacob Bethel, Maria Gonzalez, Matilda Webb, Brianna Gomez, Julian Fogarty, Elise Brott, Ryder Ambrose, Aidan Hofer, Denisse Meza Lara, Evan Beebe and Zaid Ibarra Ruiz. Rolenc provided the cover art.

"My goal as a teacher for doing this project was to give the students a real-world project to give them a taste of how they could apply the skills and techniques we learned in class into the real world. The project introduced many new challenges that students had to collaborate to try and solve like creating consistent characters and settings, developing a common style and color palette, and critiquing each other's work and receiving feedback. Dr. VanGundy was an amazing collaborator, writing a thrilling story that the kids were excited to create illustrations for," Rolenc said.

Denisse Meza Lara said she liked doing the sketch of her drawing.

"I visually made it in my head when I read what was happening in the scene. It looked waaay better in my head," she said of the process.

Saw Say noted the project was a good learning experience overall.

"I never got to complete it in time, so it looks really rough, and in all honesty, that's on me. I wish I could remake it into a fully complete drawing, as I feel like my effort/the lack of, is a shame to the author and book," Say said, adding that "the process of learning and advancing my art will be always be exciting to me, and the prospects that my art will one day be enough to make people feel all sorts of emotion excites me."

The illustrations are peppered throughout the story, placed where they make the most sense based on what's happening in the tale.

"There was definitely some learning opportunity, but we're going to try to do this again next year and I'll do a different story," VanGundy said. "I really liked the authenticity of the students' art and the cover art. That just resonated well with me -- to have an opportunity for people to contribute and have their name on something that is genuine, not AI. That's important."

The book is available for purchase as a paperback, as well as an ebook on various platforms, free of charge.

Learn more about his work at: www.lancevangundy.com.