The literary legend of the Flying Dutchman dates back to 1790. It tells of a ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. The phantom ship is a sailor’s portent of doom.
In L. Ron Hubbard’s fantasy “The Devil’s Rescue,” a shipwrecked sailor finds himself rescued by the Flying Dutchman and embroiled in a game of chance to win his freedom.
This story was originally published in October of 1940, coincidently while L. Ron Hubbard was on a sea voyage himself. He had embarked on the Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition from Seattle, Washington in a 32-foot sailboat, The Magician. He was charting the coast of Alaska for the US Navy. During a stay in Ketchikan, Alaska, Ron participated in several local radio programs, one of which was a new program about writing, “The Golden Pen.” It was then he launched an attendant contest for aspiring writers—the genesis for the Writers of the Future competition.
Preston Stone was born and raised in Loveland, Colorado. In preschool he began making images of superheroes and monsters with markers. From there, he expanded the subject matter to include studies of various wildlife, eventually developing a fondness for drawing insects. There was even a time when it seemed he might pursue entomology as a career. Instead, he stayed on the art path, realizing that he simply had an aesthetic appreciation for what most people viewed as ugly or creepy.
High school brought with it the discovery of new art and entertainment. Anime and tabletop fantasy role-playing games occupied much of his time, and he began to emulate the themes and styles he found there.
He continued his education at Aims Community College where he earned certificates in game design and animation. In 2013, he earned a Bachelor of Art and Design, with an art emphasis and drawing concentration from the University of Northern Colorado. He’s currently working as a freelance artist in fantasy and science fiction, and he hopes to one day have his illustrations on the covers of books and his creature and character concept work used in video games and movies.
He is a former quarterly winner of the Illustrators of the Future award. His artwork was published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 32.
He credits any success to the support he received from his parents, who provided the tools, the studio, the artistic foundation, and an attitude of complete acceptance toward his decision to choose a career as an artist.