Z for Zoology – #atozchallenge

There’s one thing I love about fantasy as much as I love actually writing fantasy.

World-building.

It’s addicting.  Writers have the power to create anything.

It’s one thing to create a world, cultures, plants, foods . . .

There’s something about creating the animal kingdom of a fantasy world that engages my mind.

Okay, I admit it, I am a tree-hugger at heart.  But seriously, how many conservative Christian tree-huggers can you say you know?  I bet I’m the only one!

But back on topic.  Dictionary.com says zoology is:

The science or branch of biology dealing with animals.

You have to know a few things about ecosystems if you want your fantasy worlds, with the animals and whatever type of life inhabits the world, to be cohesive.

I’ve had such fun creating creatures in my made-up world of Gyti.

I have everything from something that looks kind of like a flying ostrich with fangs, to a riding steed that looks like a cross between a wrinkly llama and a hairless goat (though it’s about the size of a horse), to blood-sucking rodents.

No, not vampire bats.  Actual mice-like blood-sucking rodents.

But they each have their purpose in the world.

What are some amazing creatures you’ve dreamed up for your fantasy worlds?

 

H for Heroes – #atozchallenge

Photo courtesy of the Walters Art Museum

The world is full of heroes.

In the Bible, there’s Samson, Gideon, King David, and many more. In ancient mythology, there’s Odysseus, Beowulf, and King Arthur.  In more modern times, there’s Aragorn, Gandalf, Batman, the X-Men.  There are real-life heroes in our world today, too.  Mother Theresa was one, but we also each have our own personal heroes in our lives.

So what is hero? According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, a hero is:

A man of distinguished valor, intrepidity or enterprise in danger, as a hero in arms.

A hero, in my mind, is a person that is willing to sacrifice anything for the code of honor they uphold – even their very life.

Every story has a hero, even if that hero isn’t the main character.  In my Gyti stories, the main characters are the heroes.  In Undoing, the hero is Sachi.  In Weeping Willow, the hero is the Puka.

Each one of those heroes is different, and they have different goals to accomplish, but each one is in the same in that they are defenders of good, and protectors of the weak.  Heroes can also be martyrs (especially in the case of Sachi), but it’s not always required.

Who are your heroes?  If you don’t write, who has inspired you?  If you write, tell me about the heroes you’ve found in your stories as well.

 

G for Gods – #atozchallenge

photo by Charlie Phillips

Just stop and think for a moment on this question – how many popular entertainment icons can you think of, right off the bat, that involve mythological gods?

I can think of at least ten, personally.

Gods, religion, faith, and morals will always be present (whether by their existence or non-existence) in a fantasy story – it’s another one of those things that is required to give depth to characters and plot, no matter what the views about those things are.

Even if you don’t have a God, gods, or a spiritual force of any kind in your stories, it will still be present in some way.  People will have beliefs about life, the after-life, why bad things happen, etc.  Since this is so ingrained in our readers, we absolutely must deal with this in our characters.

If you’ve never done it, creating gods is so much fun!

In my Gyti story, I have a few different dynamics going on.  There’s the Creator, who’s become a very abstract idea instead of an actual god, except by a few.  There’s Talxz, the goddess of Dusk, and she’s vicious and cruel.  There’s the Eswad, who have a name for their goddess, but more embrace the concept of her as water, because they live in the desert.  Everyone is a little different, though you can see how they all came from the same place originally.

Fantasy Faction posted an excellent series of articles back in February about Creating God: Religion in Fantasy.  It is a resource that I’ll look at time and time again, and if this is a topic you’re interested in, I highly recommend these.

What have your experiences been with creating gods in your stories?

 

F for Fantasy – #atozchallenge

Fantasy is such a versatile genre – anything is possible.

However, just because anything is possible doesn’t mean it should be possible.

Fantasy is all about making the fantastical believable.  To do that, we have to make it relatable to the world around us.

I have worlds inside my head that are nothing like this world.  Gyti is the first one that comes to mind, and the descriptions I have written for it pale in comparison to what I’ve envisioned, but I’m stuck with what our languages and experiences can relate to.

What’s stuck in your head that’s impossible to tell?

 

My Goals and Aspirations for 2012

I hate the word ‘resolution’, because I am not someone who resolves easily.  I like ‘goals’ much better, because then if something happens where I truly can’t complete something, it’s not a failure.  It’s just something that will have to wait a little while longer.

I’ve had some of these goals in the back of my mind for a while now, especially as I begin to feel the price of spending hours a day hunched over a computer.  My body is protesting now.

I’m going to have three different kinds of goals this year – Writing/Blogging, Lifestyle, and Me.

Writing/Blogging should be obvious as to what kinds of goals they are .

Lifestyle will be things that I want to change about habits and choices I make, and how my husband and I live.

Me will be things that I just plain old want to do.