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Artificial Intelligence: The Newest Frontier?
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash TLDR: AI is escalating in development and application so quickly that we can’t keep up, and we are on the cusp of another revolutionary change, like the invention of the Internet, that will alter life as we know it. Also, it’s affecting my writing career, boo. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, This is a book and writing blog. Why are you talking about AI? Are you changing genres to science fiction?? I’m not jumping genres (other than in my reading), but what I want to talk about certainly feels like science fiction. Every time I turn around there’s another…
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Welcome to Lunaria! Part IV
Government and Groups of Influence Welcome back to our series on Lunaria! Thank you for tagging along as I share about the different elements of the world I’m building. This is a great exercise for me to make sure I have all my details straight, but I am also hopeful that you will enjoy this deeper dive into the world. I also hope it will make the books come alive even more when you begin reading this fall! So let’s dive in. Government The Royal Family Lunaria is a monastic kingdom. The royal family rules over the kingdom, and power is passed down from parent to child. In theory,…
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Welcome to Lunaria! Part 3
Exploring Religion and Magic Magic and religion are intimately linked in Elemastra. Typically, people worship the god of the elemental gift they are most dominant in. So those with strong magic pray to Farrig, those with earth magic pray to Xantara, etc. But each of the gods also has special domains that they keep watch over. Each territory in Elemastra also sees the gods and magic in slightly different ways. I will tell you a little about how Lunaria sees the gods and then how they see and interact with the different elemental magics. The Gods Farrig Farrig is the god of water. He is also considered the god…
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The Maps of Elemastra
They’re finally here! After hours of playing around and conquering the learning curve, the first maps are finished. Will I update them as I improve and learn more? Probably. But here is the ‘finished’ product. It is my pleasure to present to you the map of Elemastra, and a closer look at Lunaria. Let me know what you think in the comments below! Elemastra Lunaria
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Welcome to Lunaria! Part 2
A Brief History of Lunaria The Kingdom of Lunaria was formed after the Great Schism. When the people of Farlothen first came to Elemastra, many wandered or sent out explorers to determine where to settle. They came upon the Source Well, the site of the Schism. On this hill, a relic of a people of ancient times, they discovered five stones. Each stone represented one of the elements–Farrig’s Tear, the stone of Water. Phira’s Heart, the stone of Fire. Xantara’s hand, the stone of earth. Kazeh’s breath, the stone of air, and Aetheron’s eye, the stone of spirit. Once plucked from their resting place, the stones awakened the magical connection…
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Welcome to Lunaria!
Part 1: Geography and Wildlife Today I’m going to be sharing a little sneak peek into Lunaira, the northernmost Kingdom of Elemastra and the primary setting of the first trilogy. So let’s get into it! Note: I will add a map of the Lunarian territory to this post when it becomes available Geography Lunaria, as I mentioned, is the northernmost kingdom. But, instead of being cold and icy, it is warm and primarily tropical or subtropical in climate. Think of the Southern Hemisphere and how the farther north you go, the hotter it gets. Same concept. The geography of Lunaria changes and shifts. On the West coast, we…
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Adventures in Book Maps
One of my favorite things about reading fantasy is opening up the book and finding a map inside. It’s a brand new world, imagined and brought to life by the author. Those beautifully illustrated maps are an adventure in themselves, and I love the way they bring the stories to life. When I began solidifying the ideas for my own world, I knew that I wanted to create a map of my world. Or even a series of maps! Maps of the world, of each kingdom, of the major cities, of the interior of the castles…I could go crazy with book maps. So today, I want to share…
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Worldbuilding: Ethics and Considerations
I should probably preface this blog post with the truth: I have no idea what I’m doing. TLDR: Authors need to be careful about how they depict real cultures, countries, races, etc in their fictional worlds. Here are some questions and considerations I’ve had while working through that. Note** This is not a prescriptive post. Not a ‘how to’ or ‘things to avoid.’ It’s mostly me rambling to myself and you about what I’ve been thinking or fearing when building my own worlds. But if you’re interested in said ramble, continue reading! How this all started… When I began the process of worldbuilding, I ran into an issue I hadn’t…
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New Year, Same Me
This year I am giving myself permission. Permission that when that clock strikes twelve and turns over to 12:01, I can be the same person that I was at 11:59. There is no magic spell that is going to change me into either Cinderella or a pumpkin. I’m giving myself permission to still be the same person. The difference is I want to be the same person but on the path to growth. On the path to change. On the path to progress. Change is not something I expect to immediately happen, like I’m a new person on January first and I’m going to live my life a completely different…
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NaNoWriMo: A Postmortem
In which my tired brain tries to recap what happened and reflect on the future. It came. It was here. And now it’s gone. NaNoWriMo is a whirlwind every year, but this year feels like a special kind of crazy to me. I went in with a plan. I carefully considered every nuance–how past Nanos had gone, what I had learned from them, and what I wanted to achieve this year. I was going to achieve balance with a reasonable goal of a few thousand words per week. I wasn’t going to write every day. Rest and recovery would be my priority between writing sprints. And in the end, I…