Buccaneer Blogfest: week 2 day 3

A Day late and a dollar short. I feel like right now I'm dragging my feet in this blog fest, Actually that has been my life for the last several weeks. Mostly it is job related, let's just say that on a good week I only want to quit once, on a bad week I want to quit at lease once a day. Yesterday was bad, I spent most of it convincing myself that I need a paycheck and well that was the only reason I could for why I stayed. (I've had two emotional break downs in the last two weeks. crying at work is not cool, being put in a position where you can't stop crying is worse.) but that is not the focus on today's post.

Right today, or rather yesterday, the prompt is Light bulb moment. How did I come up with the idea for this work in progress. well this story has had several Light bulb moments so I am going to have to tell you it's story.

I was in college it was either 2004 or 2005 and I was in church with some friends. As we were standing and singing I had an image pop into my head. there was a storm and a girl with purple hair and a lime green trench coat was standing next to what used to be a road. she was staring at a dilapidated house and while she stared a light came on in the window. That day -ignoring the sermon completely- I wrote what would be the first draft of Breadcrumbs the first book of the Utopian Chronicles. It was to be a science fiction in a very small universe, a planet with five moons. the girl in my vision was Thea who's last name was Job to begin with but then changed to Keziah.She was going to be a female version Han Solo and King of Bandits Jin these books were to be a series of high thrill adventure and the first six books would be origin stories for the cast of six characters who were created. I wrote Bread Crumbs, When Doves Cry (Ki's story) and started on Truth (noel and Nehim's story) and I got bored with origin stories. So I promptly decided that I would move on to something more exciting and just leave the world of Utopia alone.

So Second Light Bulb moment: I was in the car with some friends on our way to kings Island to ride the roller coasters and we were listening to the radio when Kelly Clarkson's song Because of You Came On. This was Noel's song. her story was about over coming paralyzing fear. and as I listened to the lyrics I had a new vision, the paragraph you read earlier this week was born. I decided not to worry about origin stories and write the books I had wanted to write in the first place the rescue of Noel seemed like the perfect story to get this group of people who hated each other to become on single unit. that was the book I wrote for Nanowrimo 2010. (although that year I was in the middle of wedding planing so is it any surprise I didn't finish?)

Now we have the Third Light Bulb. I had decided that I would continue to work on The Rescue though out the year a because I really liked these characters. But I was more and more dissatisfied with the setting. I changed it from being one planet with multiple moons to being a solar system. But I was really getting tired of science fiction. I was listening to pod casts about writing and I kept getting discouraged by what I would hear them say about the genera. Things like making the universe scientifically actuate, how Science fiction writers should understand that they are teaching people about science and that they should work with scientists to make sure that the science is correct. okay Let me just say that I think science is cool, for years I wanted to be one kind of scientist or another, but when I write I don't care about the science. maybe I am lazy but the science fictions that inspire me are not the ones that about any kind of real science, and I was chaffing under the idea that I needed to put real science in my novel other wise I was stupid. (okay no one I remember said that, but it was the feeling I got) And I am lazy I didn't want to research what the current real world options where for space travel, or how light speed is understood to work today. So I tried making in a fantasy, I tried Steam punk, but neither of them worked so I resigned myself to have to research like hell to write the stories I wanted to. then one glorious day I listend to the C. S. Liewis Podcast about a theory behind the construction of the Chronicals of Narnia, all based around the Medieval cosmically. Now please remember Medievals did not believe the world was flat, but they did believe that the skies were full of life and the earth was at the center. Now I had my world structure. a purely fantastical world where I could have space ships and not worry about anybody saying I needed to research science. the Planets became worlds which orbited around the nexus or hub, the sun became an inhabitable place that rotated around with the worlds. the stars became living beings. Space outside of the protection of the ship was no longer inhabitable. cold still but not deadly. It was an idea the breathed life into my world and I sighed a content and happy sigh of relief.

One last Light Bulb moment to share. I was getting to a point where I was losing the story. Calling it running out of steam, call it boredom, calling writer's block, call it what you will, But I needed help. I don't have many writer friends around, I share my idea's with my friends but they are often encouraging but they don't always help me with I get in a spot where I don't know what to do next. So I went to the next best thing: The Round Table Podcast. There this very story idea was work shopped and they helped me see so much. There is no way to actually put down all the things they helped me see in a new light and the podcast hasn't dropped yet so I don't want to say too much yet but I will say this to Dave, Brion, Seana if they are stopping by, I have a big over arching villein, well actually four but the form a unit called the Quad whom the voice stands directly opposed to.

Okay that is all for now- lets face it i talked way to long today as it is, but now you know (and knowing is half the battle) probably more then you ever wanted to know about this WIP.

till next time God Speed and Open Roads.

(PS don't forget to check out the blog posts of all the other awesome people participating in the Blogfest Argg!)