When I was asked to write a guest post for Lisa’s Writopia, Lisa noted that my graphic novel is an expansion of a short film. She wanted to know: is there a feature film in the works? The question got me thinking about the unique journey my story has taken – from the screen to the page – and the future that may be in store for it.
I write mysteries because it’s the genre I most enjoy reading even though I have a fair share of biographies, historical fiction, and sports-related books in my personal library. But if I’m settling down to read for pure enjoyment, you can bet it’s a mystery or a thriller in my hands.
I recently released my first fantasy novel, 𝘌𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴, and I would love to share how this book came to be. It has been a long journey for this first novel in the Awakening series, but so many aspects of my culture, my personal life, and my journey as a writer have come into play so that 𝘌𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴 really feels like an appendage of myself.
After many months of mistakes and banging my head against the wall, I came up with a few principles related to creating fictional worlds. I’ve never written them down before and they’re by no means perfect, but they may help you craft your own world or at least generate some thoughts on how you would approach it.
Always being attracted to spooky things, even as a child, is what led me to write horror. My first book was a Christian fantasy with horror elements.
Cats spend most of their day asleep. It’s one of the things they are so good at. They use much of their time sleeping to restore their energy before the next hunt even if it’s chasing the laser, rubber ball, or catnip toy for our domesticated friends.
Andrua, the main character in 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎, and Robin Hood are both heroic although they are heroes of radically different kinds. Probably the most significant difference between the two is their status. Andrua, princess of D’Land, hides her true identity in the beginning of the novel but is still a legal authority of her people.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒅 was inspired by a Time Team TV special on Doggerland that I watched in 2007, but there’s a long road of research between a popular TV program and a novel based on actual science.
What I learned from my first trip through Italy was to listen to the people, be respectful of their culture, read up on their local history and be open to the joys of a world you have never before encountered.
Bringing characters to life gives me the ability to live a hundred lives with no boundaries, limits, or rules.
