Being a bestselling book-writer certainly didn’t pay like it used to, if the Author Estate was any indication. Three stories high on average and occasionally four when one accounted for the numerous towers poking up at odd intervals, the massive, sprawling manor rose up from what might as well have been a private forest. Sculptures of fantastic, impossible creatures occupied the grounds alongside topiary figures from countless mythologies. A hedge maze dominated the back, rumored to be the exact mirror image of the labyrinthine layout of hallways inside the first floor. Stone and brick crawled with girdled ivy, oddly colored roses, and far too many weathervanes and gargoyles with outlandish faces.
The odd little fact that it was simply called the ‘Author Estate’ explained itself away on a placard by the out-of-place and much more recent parking lot, right next to the equally new-ish gift shop: “Internationally famous fantasy literary icon T. H. E. Author made his home at this estate until his mysterious and as-of-yet unexplained disappearance in 1982. Until his surviving relatives opted to convert the aptly surnamed Author’s home into a museum of his life and work, little was known about the reclusive man himself aside from the numerous novels in his best selling ‘Other World’ series. Ever since, Author’s home has operated as a glimpse into his strange and fantastical life, as well as an archive of his original manuscripts, cover artwork paintings, and many other privately commissioned creative endeavors to give further life to his world-renown series.”
Below that read:
“Tours weekdays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. No visitors permitted on grounds unless accompanied by a guide.”
Further below still, the most recent addition yet to the estate added: “Management wishes to stress there is NO truth to the rumors that, hidden somewhere in the Author Estate, there is a secret gateway to the very real setting of the Other World novels. T. H. E. Author did NOT disappear into his own books. Trying to find this location will NOT transform you into a fantasy creature more fitting for the setting, sometimes of a different sex. Any attempts to sneak away from tour groups to find this supposed gateway will NOT be tolerated but will instead result in an immediate ban from all future visits.”