What I'm Working On: The BREED

Hey everyone!

So I finally get to tell you a little more about that project I've been working on. It's called The BREED. About two years ago, I was approached by a couple of people to help get a project off the ground. One of these people I have known for some time as we used to game together in that text based RPG I've mentioned way back in the day called Legends of Cosrin. The other person was a complete stranger.

That complete stranger had this idea for a multiverse world full of your usual horror creatures; vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, etc. He wasn't a writer, but still had this idea that he worked on with my gaming friend. His names is Charles and my gaming friend is Ray. Ray knew my writing skills due to lots of posts I had made and role plays I had designed in game. For whatever reason, he felt I was the one who would be able to help get this project off the ground. I'm not only an author on this project now, but I'm the Creative Director as well.

So I was allowed to recruit authors as long as they signed a non disclosure agreement. Let me tell you, that was more difficult than you realize because I couldn't give these authors much information until they signed that NDA. I posted on here looking for people, I scoured my author friends list and I only got a few bites. But let me tell you, those few bites have panned out and we are so close to being able to tell everyone so much more!

In the meantime, all I can say is we have a few stories ready for editing and publication, plus a couple of screenplays. There are about half a dozen more stories in the works. When all is said and done, we're looking at having books, movies, video games, brand merchandise, graphic novels and so much more. It's been a very interesting past couple years!

If you'd like to learn a little more, there is an old article on the Horror Society site here.

You can also check out one of our many pages on Facebook here.

If you think you'd like to be a beta reader, here is the Facebook page for that here.

If you think you'd like to be an author and want more information, contact me here.

More links:

Facebook page for the movie, "Feeding on Fear".

Facebook page for "The Midnight Carnival".

So there it is. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what I can reveal at the moment. I hope it piques your interest enough! Have a good Monday!

World Building Wednesdays: Gods and Goddesses...

In fantasy, the pantheon of gods is boundless as well as important. When you think fantasy, think Mythology and how the mortals worshiped the likes of Zeus, Hera and Aphrodite. There was a god or goddess for all things, it seemed like. War, love, life and death. Mortals wanted to be gods so bad they could taste it and would attempt any kind of trickery to get to that higher, immortal station.

In my world, there is a god or goddess for just about everything. Why? Well, it is my belief that gods and goddesses are the epitome of magical energies and essences. You have the main deity (in my case, this is Ioweth) who created the world and all the creatures within it. His sons and daughters are the gods and goddesses brought into existence by the mortals of the world. So basically, if the people of the world needed something desperately enough and prayed for it, the god or goddess would be pulled from the magical ether and poof! you have a deity.

For example, if people were constantly being killed or robbed while traveling, there is a goddess who protects travelers, her name is Yizanthia. There is a god of worldly abundance, his name is Jerremor. Jerremor is the patron deity of adventurers looking for great wealth or people who dream of being rich. Fizanu is the goddess of law and justice.

Others deal with lakes and rivers, deserts or forests. The two suns of my world are actually twin gods, Halidien and Perriden. The moon is the goddess, Merydwen. The goddess of Life and Rebirth is Pel. There are twin sisters ruling the underworld and afterlife. Ta'arinuru is the goddess of the underworld and reigns over damned souls. Veritru'ul is the goddess of the afterlife and she resides over those kind, good souls and allows them to move on into their next incarnation.

There are lots of fantasy stories out there where the gods and goddesses are invisible. People just have faith like they do in real life that a higher being exists. Other stories have the deities walking the earth and others have them appearing only to special people. My goddess of law and justice, Fizanu, speaks with Black Rose and gifted him with longevity. He acts as her champion, righting the wrongs and fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. Basically, you better be good or Rose will come get you and send you off where you belong. Unless of course you are repentant and ask for absolution.

So think about this before you create the world. Do you want it to have just popped into existence with no explanation? Do you want just a single deity responsible for it all? Do the people of your world have free will? Or are they controlled by the gods? Do they require sacrifice or gifts?

Lots to think on! Have a great rest of the week!

World Building Wednesdays: Characters...

Where would your books be without characters? Boring, actually. Too much information tends to put people to sleep. I have issues with my own writing where I want to put in so much information because there is so much I want to share, that I bore the reader.

I actually bored myself once.

Just once.

Anyway, back story is best utilized through characters and dialogue. Lots of people have said it and I had to learn how to do this.

But everything still falls flat if you don't have interesting characters. Your characters have a story to tell. That is why you are writing!

But how do you get such diverse characters? How can you create well developed characters? How do you get the reader to love those characters?

Give them a voice. Give them a soul.

How many writers out there feel like their characters are a part of their family? Feel like they are literally your children. You did give birth to them and their idea, after all.

No, no. No need to call the men in the white coats. If you deny you have conversations with your character you are a liar. LIAR! Oh and your pants are on fire...

I talk to my characters all the time. Explains a lot, doesn't it? But this is how they tell me their story, this is how I learn what direction to take. When I get stuck, I can't keep writing something else because I'm distracted and can't focus on it because I am listening. I am waiting for the moment when said character whispers in my mind.

"Are you ready to listen?" they say. They remain quiet for so long because I get focused on their story and I just write it all out, listening in on their conversations, putting it all down on paper so I can share it with you, my reader. But they get real quiet once in awhile and suddenly, I've hit a brick wall. I stopped listening to the character tell their story and have gone off on my own tangent. I hit a road block and then they swagger up to me, all cocky and smirky.

"This is how it is supposed to go, got it?" they tell me. "I don't want it to go this way, because that isn't how it is supposed to go. This is my story after all, you're the intruder here. Just write down what I tell you."

That's a good way to get good characters. But diverse is something else altogether. I've said it dozens of times before. Go. Watch. People. But don't get arrested, for pity's sake! Stay in a public place, listen in without being a stalker. Watch people when they think no one is watching them. Oh, the things people do. Like pick their nose and wipe it off under a table in a restaurant.

I kid you not.

These are real people, your characters. You have to develop them, give them their personality. You have to give them their strengths and weaknesses, their skills, their flaws. Give them that eye twitch when they are stressed. Make them chew their nails. Make them grab a toothbrush to bite down on before their mom pulls out the peroxide to clean yet another one of their scrapes from falling off a bike. (Yes, I did that ALL the time.) Give them a sense of honor, purpose and above all, the sense of humor to deal with life. Give them passion, give them love and the hatred and jealousy that sometimes goes along with it. Make them petty, selfish people or make them compassionate givers. Make them hate life or love it, make them your best friends.

Seriously. Who better to pattern your characters off of then your friends and family? Aren't most characters an extension of ourselves? Of who we are right here and now in the physical realm and also who we most desire to be? What kind of person would you be if you were stuck in the Middle Ages or Ancient Greece? What kind of person would you be if you were rich beyond your dreams and didn't ever have to worry about money? What kind of people would your children be? Spoiled? Good-natured? Greedy? Killers or healers? What if you had nothing?

Think about all these aspects because the events in your life make you who you are. So once you know the ins and outs of the human psyche, you can begin to create stronger characters. What makes people do the things they do? What gives them their drive and motivation or their laziness? What events will affect your characters and how will they react? How would you react?

If your characters don't seem believable to you, don't feel like a part of you, then you need to go back and work on them again. Make them shine! They're going to tell you a great story if you give them half the chance.

Writing Wednesday: Building Worlds...

World building. Sometimes it sounds like fun, but when you figure in everything you need just to begin, it becomes a bit overwhelming.

Think about it, you are about to create a whole world. At first it gives you a giddy, God-like feeling. But then you realize, you have to get the details just right or people will rip it apart.

Begin with the basics. Doesn't matter if you are writing fantasy, romance, horror, etc. You have to make sure the world around you is realistic. If your setting is in this world, you've got lots to draw on from memory and make sure you write about areas you are familiar with. If you haven't been where your story is set, you are going to fail. Why? Because people will read what you've written, see you've gotten something wrong with the area they actually live in and it very well may turn them off from reading your book. You don't want to name a historical landmark and then plop it in the wrong location of your book.

When I read the first Joanna Brady mystery book J. A. Jance had written, I was smitten! Yes, I realize I rhymed. But what ignited that spark? Sadly, the character's husband had been shot and killed. She was at the hospital in Tucson, Arizona. University Medical Center! I gave birth to my two children there! Her character then went outside, walked across the street and down to a local hotel I used to pass by on a regular basis. I could see Jance's character, Joanna, walking along that sidewalk! I could practically hear the traffic on Campbell as she walked away from the hospital.

THAT is what initially made me fall in love with her books and that particular character. The rest of the books were written in Cochise County area and I knew it from visiting there on several locations.

Get where I'm going with this? Good!

So get your geography of any area straight before you begin writing.

Now if you are building a world from scratch, you've got lots more to think about. Why is it cold in the north and warm in the south? Flip that around if you like. Or, make it colder to the east and warmer in the west. Be creative, don't stick to the norm, if you write fantasy. This is your chance to think outside the box. But make it believable! Explain why your world is different. Maybe the tilt of your planet in comparison to that world's sun is wonky. Yes, technical term there, wonky.

When I first drew a map of my world, I started with a city. That soon turned into a small blob of a kingdom which grew into a continent. I added several more blobs that transformed into other kingdoms. Next, I had to work on each area and decide what the society would be like. What customs did I want to incorporate? What types of food, speech or clothing? Were they simplistic in nature or were they extravagant? Farmers? Merchants?

While there is a lot to think of and work out when building a world, if you are organized you can accomplish a lot. If you have to name characters, rivers, lakes, kingdoms, cities and the like I strongly suggest you have some lists you can pull from first. Figure out what would be good names for these things and categorize them. I have a whole three ring binder with pages of names ranging from Gaelic based to Asian based, to mythological and common. I first label the page with 'Lakes' or 'Cities' then I list the names. Don't cross off the name after you've used it! Label it with what you used that name for.

When I am naming characters, I do cross off the name on the list simply because I know I've used it. But names for things like inns or taverns, I list the location of each one. City names are labeled with the kingdom, etc.

I have several good name generator links in my links page of this blog. I have dozens of print-outs of names and labels. Figure out your surroundings before you plop your characters down into unknown territory. Figure out vegetation, water sources and forests. Where will you place a swamp? If you don't know, research the sort of climate/area that would create a swamp to begin with. But make a map, make lists and keep notes! You will have to use them more than once while writing, I guarantee!

What's your organizing like when writing or building a world?

Writing Wednesdays: Building Languages...

This is an important post regarding fantasy world building. When you think of fantasy worlds, you always think of the creatures, the magic and all that. However, one thing that gets overlooked is the languages.

Sure, you automatically assume there are going to be unique languages associated with different races. Tolkien built on languages for Elves in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Elven language is copyrighted, despite the fact that Tolkien wanted to share aspects of Middle Earth so others could write from it.

I tried, they said 'No.' Quite firmly I might add...

So what's a girl (or guy) who writes fantasy to do about languages? Make it up as you go along.

Unless you have the time, skills and education Mr. Tolkien had, you have to use what is available to you. Most of it will be your imagination. There are ways to go about it and create something. I have a link here to my translator page. I use Latin for a lot of things. No surprise, look at the titles of my books. But I sort of cheat and mix Latin with Drow or Tolkien's Elvish. I'm not using his work, just using it as a guideline of sorts.

What I do is take a word. Let's use the word 'Sword'. We want another 'name' for Sword in our story, so we think about it a bit and hit the internet. Now in Latin, you can use the word Gladius. In Drow it is Killian. But I can't use Drow and I don't want it to be in Latin, that's sort of boring. I want to be unique. So I would combine the two somehow. Kildius, Kilius, Gladian... you get the idea. But a couple of those look kind of lame. So I just shuffle things about a bit and go for something along the lines of Kildan, Adius or completely away from either of my language choices and try Samas. Does this make sense? I may not get an exact derivative from my two language choices, but it sparked my imagination enough to come up with something else entirely.

There are name generators out there as well to help with the language and naming processes. I know there are sites out there that tell you when naming things in fantasy, don't use an apostrophe. Well. Screw that. Use what you want! I have lots of names, including the name of my world that have an apostrophe. Eir du'Brusai.

People always ask me how I come up with names. I honestly cannot give you a formulaic answer. I don't know. Names and the like just pop up in my head and I use what fits. Languages are the same for me unless I get stuck and then use my tricks up above with the two different languages. I try to be unique but not so unique in everything that people get frustrated reading my work. I try to give the unique name and try to find a way to describe exactly what it is to the reader. Most everyone will get the idea right away that my D'raetus Pastiniir are lethal, elite assassins.

But there is that pesky apostrophe!

Too bad. Fantasy Police don't like it, they can arrest me.

I am always happy to help other writers find unique names for people or items. So if you get stuck, by all means, drop me a line! I'd be happy to help. Most of my name generator links are on my links page of the blog. Check them out.

Writing Wednesdays: Building Kingdoms...

So if you have been keeping up with me these days, you'll know I've been working on a series of posts. This is how I built my fantasy world, something I've worked on for well over ten years.

The first post I did was regarding magic. Rules or no rules? Limitations to magic? You can check it out over here and continue the discussion if you like over there as well.

This post is going to focus on kingdoms.

In sword and sorcery fantasy, there is always a King and Queen and the first born son is usually the most likely successor. There is also usually one or two kingdoms. Sometimes you've got the two warring with each other or they live in harmony and decide to work together to vanquish a common enemy.

But let's think outside of the box.

In my world, I have patriarchal societies as well as matriarchal. If you don't know your hierarchies, this can be confusing. Patriarchal is ruled by men, matriarchal is ruled by women. I have kingdoms where it doesn't matter if the successor is male or female. Some kingdoms dictate that only the eldest daughter can  inherit the throne. In my Elven kingdom, there is a king and queen, but the majority of the rule is given to a council of nine women.

I've read some books where the next ruler of the kingdom is voted in by the citizens of the kingdom. Even a peasant could rule. But what if there was a lottery? Would you put your name in to be the next king or queen of a kingdom if your predecessors were murdered? In Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, that kingdom had been ruled by a steward and his sons took over when he got too old or died.

So think about your ruling families and structures when you are plotting out your world. Don't stick to what I feel is an old cliche. Try something different. Maybe the kingdom is ruled by a governing body of 13, an odd number to help break tie votes. Or perhaps the youngest child inherits, despite the gender. Maybe only women rule, but they secretly confide in one man?

We all know what works in fantasy writing, but sometimes those get boring. Dare to be bold, be different! Think outside the box, but don't get too weird or people won't be comfortable with it. It should be different, but also plausible!

Writing Wednesdays: Building Magic...

So here is the first in my world building posts. I'm going to start with magic. Not for any reason in particular, it's just a place to start.

Magic in my world is not unique by any means of the imagination. But it is different, simply because how I view magic. My opinions on magic in fantasy differ, I'm sure, from other fantasy writers out there.

There is a lot of debate in the fantasy world that I'm sure most of you are unaware of, if fantasy is not your genre. The debate? Should magic have rules? Lots of fantasy buffs think it should. Where is the fun in fantasy if you've got a magic user that can just conjure up whatever he or she wants with the snap of their fingers?

And what of the magical 'cost'? By cost, I mean what does it cost the magic user to conjure? Does it take away from his energy? His life in either seconds, hours or years? Maybe it takes from his soul.

I'm currently reading a book where magic affects the users mind. Every time they use magic, they go a little more insane. ("The Way of the Black Beast" by Stuart Jaffe) (Note: Guest post on Thursday August 9th by Stuart, drop by!)

But what about those pesky rules? I'm of the mind that magic should not have rules, per se, but limitations are an absolute must! Again with the whole snapping of fingers and poof! you have stuff. Magic should cost the user something, right?

In Melanie Rawn's series of books, The Dragon Prince trilogy and The Dragon Star trilogy, she has magic users called Sunrunners. The basis of these Sunrunners is this: They can use sunlight to communicate with other Sunrunners over long distances. Can they conjure up items or anything? Nope. They just speak to each other. So what are the consequences of something like this? They can't use starlight. It is forbidden, but if the Sunrunner is powerful enough, they can accomplish it. They also don't travel well on water. You put a Sunrunner on a raft over a river and they're incapacitated for hours. Imagine what sailing would do to them? The other drawback to being a Sunrunner? There is a drug that they can use to increase their power to reach longer distances. It is super addictive and they're easily controlled when addicted. Sometimes, though, a Sunrunner will get lost in the light and can't find their way back to their body. If this happens, they basically end up an empty shell and die.

In David Eddings' series of The Belgariad and The Mallorean, Belgarath the sorcerer and his daughter, Polgara the sorceress, are a couple of pretty powerful magic users. They use the 'Will and the Word' method. You picture what you want in your mind then you will it into being with a spoken word. One of the drawbacks is that when you use magic, it makes a sound other magic users can hear. Sends out a beacon, and if you are hiding, that's not good! There are very few magic users in Eddings' world. A handful, in fact and they are not easily swayed. They try to stay out of things unless Prophecy dictates otherwise. So they can use magic all they want and their lifespan is limitless. They can be killed, but you better be able to get close, first.

My magic users have limits as well. I call them Mahjii. They're born into magic. They know by the age of fourteen if they have magical energies within. They have one year to seek out training and if they ignore it, they pay the price. My Mahjii must seek out training or their magical energies will consume them. They literally burn with fever and end up in ashes. Sometimes, they're only powerful enough to maintain that energy within. It prolongs their death and they're pretty sick their entire life, but they're alive. That's their only restriction, really. And rules? Well, they're meant to be broken, aren't they? They try to stay out of political issues. They have chosen to withdraw from the world after their city is destroyed, so people in my world think they're dead and gone. Myths and legends. But they still exist!

Mahjii in my world use the energy that surrounds them. They draw off the energy of the earth at their feet, the air, water, anything. They don't exactly conjure up just anything. They have specific things they create and lots of tools to enhance their abilities. My Elves that use magic are the same way, but their magical energies won't kill them if they can't control it. My water Elves live near running water to power their magic. Lakes don't do it, rivers are workable but oceans are optimal. They can use the energies to shape-shift and conjure to a point. The way my magic users see it is if they need it and can't find it anywhere or make it, they create it using their power.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Tune in next time when I discuss kingdoms. Tomorrow I will have a guest post by Stuart Jaffe, author of 'The Way of the Black Beast' regarding magic in his world. So drop on by and say hello to Stuart!

How I Write Fantasy...

I'm going to be writing up some posts in the next several weeks in regards to my views of writing fantasy and more importantly how I write fantasy. Things I have worked on, things that took me a long freakin' time to create. Now, this may or may not help you if you are a fantasy writer, time will only tell. Most fantasy writers take so long in writing their work because of all the world building they have to do. Others just wing it.

So what, first of all, does world building include? Well, that depends on how far you want to get into it. Here is what my world building included:

* Magic

*Kingdoms

*Laws

*Creatures

*Characters

*Money

*Gods and Goddesses

These are just the main things. In each of those categories, there are numerous sub-categories. I had to make lots of decisions regarding the list above.

In making decisions on my world, in general, I had to start out with some pretty mundane stuff regarding the sun, moon, stars and so on.

Might sound silly to you, but in writing fantasy, you're here to think outside of the box. I literally came up with several choices on those basic things and rolled the dice. Not kidding! I used to play Dungeons and Dragons, so I pulled out all my dice. Six sided, four sided, twenty sided and I rolled, baby!

My world has two suns. If you think this might be a hot climate, it isn't really. The second sun is really, really tiny when you look at it up in the sky of my world.

I have one moon in my night sky and of course, my stars make up their own constellations which had to be written down in folklore and the like. I even have a story about the moon. I'm still working on the constellations and the stories associated with them.

So, over the next several weeks, I'll be posting things about my world and choosing from those categories above. Bear with me, as I worked on this world for well over ten years and it still isn't done or is it perfect. I'm constantly adding to it and changing things, but most of what I have is set in stone and is here to stay. So I hope you enjoy what I have to share!

Creatures of my World...

I have a portfolio on Writing.com under the user name Caledonia Lass. I subscribe to a few newsletters there and the Fantasy one asked about creatures, world creation and things like that. So I am going to share my creatures here. Since I have several different types of creatures, I'll just pick one per post.

I have some of the usual ones. You know, like Dwarves and Elves. Things like that. Hey, it is Fantasy you know. While I have several odd creatures I've created, it proved to be a task not unlike character development. You need to create a background for some of them as to how they were created or what happened to create them. Others are just there and undiscovered like the creatures of our world. Folklore is often used to point people in the direction of the creatures, but sometimes folklore isn't always accurate.

Let's begin with my Dargorians. These came about through a brainstorming session with my husband. In my world of Eir du'Brusai, there is a "shattered continent". (I have yet to draw it out on my map) It is named due to the meteor that crashed into it causing islands to form in the ocean in a somewhat perfect circle surrounding the crater. On these islands there were dragons and over the years, they developed into humanoids called Dargorians. Dragons still exist in their original form in other areas of the world as well. While Dargorians follow the traditional dragon types, i.e. Crystal, Amethyst, etc., they have "human" qualities. Qualities such as speech in their own language as well as common languages. Their snouts have shortened so they can manage this speech. Their talons extend out like fingers, some of their scales are softer and more malleable enough to be braided like hair. When they take a mate, they mate for life and usually die directly after their mate. The bond they share is akin to "soul mates" as they feel what the other feels, share thoughts. They stand over nine feet tall and walk on two legs rather than four, they can fly and are very philosophical in nature. They're often very curious creatures and pour over tomes and scrolls to learn as much as they can. Typical dragon behavior. Sort of.

One in particular is my favorite. Her name is Aun. When she stands before people, she will fold her wings around her like a cloak. The two claws at the outer edge of her wings will hook together to form a clasp. She has a mane of softer scales and are usually braided and adorned with jewelry. Aun cannot belch fire, but she can emit a sonic scream that rips the flesh from her adversaries. Because of her scream, she does not speak like some of the others. Instead, she uses telepathy to communicate. Even a chuckle from her would hurt those around her, so she has to be very careful. She's shy, she's quiet. She doesn't like to be around people, so she'll hide out in shadows, on rooftops and keep to herself. Her best friend is Onetta, who happens to be a Kefferling. Which will lead me to those creatures next time. :D

Have any favorite creatures you've either read about or created yourself?