I once
described how I came up with the stories that I write. (To see that post go here.) It’s what works for me as a creative
process. Of course there are the
inevitable ‘dry’ periods where for whatever reason I’m just not coming up with
anything new. During those times I do
whatever I can to keep writing – and being a busy mom, sometimes student, and
occasionally gainfully employed person, the time I have to write can sometimes
be pretty scarce… Case in point: January through August of this last year. In the last two posts I’ve mentioned the
three stories that I have in the works (as LD Ferris) and I told you little bit
about where each of them stood. Now I
want to tell you a little bit more about each.
The Chosen
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| from http://www.myspace.com/etherealflyer |
The idea
behind this one is something of a universal good vs. evil plot. There are a few twists, a couple turns, an
(almost) love triangle, shades of grey, and that question that seems always to
be asked – how much are you willing to sacrifice to achieve the end you
seek?
Lynora
Montgomery is the oldest of three sisters who grew up in Massachusetts. She’s an honor student at Yale, a kind,
caring, and generous individual, who is popular, serious, and most importantly,
a witch; a really powerful, really ‘good’ witch. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances,
a few complete surprises (even to me) and some really good friends. When the darkness of evil starts to thicken,
she and all those around her know that they must do what they can to snuff it
out.
But what do
you do, when the only way to save the ones you love is to give up everything
that you are, and everything that you have within you?
Immortals
In many ways
my fascination with the paranormal, the fantastical, the mythological and (lol)
the beauty of Greece combined in to a dream, an idea that then became Immortals. The immortals, or the Athanatos (thanatos=death in Greek, a-thanatos=undying) as they
call themselves in this story, were created, bred and born by the ancient gods
and goddesses. Though the primary
mythological backgrounds in this story are based in Greek mythology, there are
also aspects of Celtic, Viking, Roman, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Sumerian
mythology as well.
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| Identifying Mark of the Athanatos |
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This story
is centered on Alexis Vasilios, a young woman born in Greece and raised in the
USA, who discovers that she has strange abilities, powers that exceed the
imagination, when she is in a car accident with her best friends. Through her extraordinary efforts she is able
to save her friend, thus making her realize that somehow, someway, she’s
different from every one she’s ever known, although she doesn’t, indeed can’t
recognize how truly different and superb she really is. It is Xander NIkitas, the Athanatos seeker who manages to track
her down and explain her remarkable heritage to her. Yet as they learn more about her history, they
are both shocked by the depths of truths that they find.
Alexis’s
story is about her self discovery, not only of her abilities but of a place and
a people who she feels she can belong with.
Through her incredible journey she also manages to uncover a secret
power play within the Athanatos
community, she forges friendships that will last forever, and finds the one man
who she can see herself loving through time immortal.
The Gifted
This story
is set close to home… literally. With
settings near Magrath, Pincher Creek, Lethbridge, Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton,
Vancouver, and Victoria, as well as some locations throughout Europe, this
story is told, more or less, about right here at home. Interestingly enough, though not really
surprising when you think about it, when imagining and describing some of the
characters personalities, I’ve found bits and pieces of myself and the people
actually in my life appearing on the page in front of me. (You may have noticed in the introduction of
Dawn McKenna that I said she took a job teaching dance at a studio in
Lethbridge… And everyone who knows me knows that I danced for years, and still
consider teaching.) It’s been an
interesting process, so far, telling a story about places that I actually visit
all the time – some more than others.
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| Photo from www.dumbweek.wordpress.com |
As for what
the story is actually about, well, to put it simply: the gifted. Individuals, and whole groups of people, that
are gifted with supernatural and extraordinary abilities or talents. It’s not about witches in the way that The Chosen is, or beings created for a
specific purpose as those in Immortals,
but it’s about a world, our world, that exists along side a whole host of other
similar worlds, all connected together.
From those other worlds, beings of supernatural origin have come across
into our world and over the millennia have congregated in groups for
survival. There are vampires, fae,
were-creatures (including lions, cougars, panthers, bears, wolves, etc.),
sprites, brownies, leprechauns, berserkers, and other species.
The Gifted tells a story about six people (the
three Tallant siblings, Dawn McKenna, her cousin Shayla O’Conner and her best
friend Bradford Lawrence) and how their lives come together and change, until
they aren’t just six people, and they aren’t just siblings, or cousins, or
friends. Through their experiences,
through the challenges of responsibility and even fate, they become three
couples, and they become a family.
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So that is
what I’m working on, most of the time anyways.
It’s so much fun creating these stories – the ‘worlds’ that they exist
in, the characters and people who inhabit them, the things both real and
amazing and those that are fantastical and imagined. It can be aggravating, frustrating, annoying,
complicated, mind numbing and hard, difficult work, but it is so worth the
effort and the time it takes. To read,
even an unfinished work-in-progress, is so rewarding and enjoyable, and really,
really, just fun. I honestly love
it. Every single part of it. And now, I’m going to get back to it!
See you
again soon!
