Musings

Ever wonder where authors of fantasy and futurist escapades get their inspiration? Me too, and I write both. LOL. So, where do I get my inspiration? I was blessed with a very vivid imagination and a voracious appetite for watching anything sci-fi. I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but I think that’s because I don’t want to plant ideas in my head from other writer’s words. I plant enough ideas from the visual versions.

I also research. It’s quite easy to find information on fantasy figures like dragons, witches, gnomes, trolls, and wizards to name a few, but it’s more difficult to conduct research on the author’s projection of what the world might look like centuries from now or the dynamics of a civilization within another galaxy. For Celestial Dragon, I had to make up a new power source and being the mechanical klutz that I am, I had to envision how that power source might be used. In this case, my husband’s vast knowledge came in handy.

I broke a few rules within the sci-fi standards of world building, but sometimes rules beg to be broken. Rule #1: Thou shall not use made-up words unless they serve a purpose. Celestial Dragon vibrates with new vocabulary and while not evident to some, most will see that these words are grounded by sound. My purpose in creating new adjectives (primarily colors) was to allow the reader some leeway in conjuring their own visuals. Rule #2: Thou shall not allow the inhabitants to live in a cave. I didn’t really know about this rule until after I’d written Celestial Dragon, but I hope I gave enough reality to the situation to suspend disbelief. Yes, caves on earth are dark holes where moisture clings to the surface and bats nest. Trails leading downward are usually steep and rugged, but caves on distant planets can have whatever characteristics the author chooses to give them. Enough said. LOL. For research on this part of the story, I visited Carlsbad Cavern. Deep inside this cave, the owners built a restaurant and public facilities, so I know it’s possible to build a structure within a cave and make that structure habitable.

If I broke any other "rules", it was unintentional, but heck - what fun would it be if we always had to play by the rules.