1. More than a naiad—new Maudelayne audio drama

    26 January, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    Maudelayne Series 4
    “Well of Doom”

    Listen to episode: BrokenSea Audio Productions

    Krinaia senses evil water nearby, and sure enough a terrible horned serpent arises from a mysterious well, bent on drowning all humans it finds. But not all is as it seems. What secret is Colchester hiding?

    The naiads were introduced early on in the Maudelayne series, along with the concept that no mythical creature or object can stay in our world longer than a few minutes after the rift closes.

    When I happened upon a story referenced in Phantastes about a maiden trapped in a magical mirror that only her true love could smash I knew that would be a dramatic way to bring Krinaia’s character back. There was just one catch to the story—whomever broke the mirror would die. My first thought was, “that wouldn’t stop Atherton,” my second thought was “I think sacrificing your life would open the rift more permanently,” and my third conclusion was, “perfect, but I’ll need a counter tale to bring him back to life again.”

    The storyline fit perfectly with the traditional Maudelayne series finale on a cliffhanger, which I borrowed from my years growing up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, so at the end of Series 3 Atherton died saving the naiad and the opening of Series 4 saw them both alive and well again. That is when I decided to take the character of Krinaia in a different direction.

    I did not want the naiad to become simply a love interest character—she needed to be strong and have a purpose for being there as herself, not based on her relationship with Atherton. I hunted through ancient tales of sea monsters and water related legends to chose one where she could take charge of the situation. I also wanted to pick a story from the Pacific waters, since I had just done two from Europe. The legend I chose is that of the Atunkai creatures from the wells of Amhuluk—a tale from what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. Anything that falls into the water turns into a horrible sea dragon.

    Having now written through Series 5, I know looking back that I made the right decision, because her character is ultimately powerful, but she does not fully realize it due to being treated like a useless toy for so many years. In the company of Atherton, who cherishes her as an intelligent person, she blossoms into quite a remarkable woman and naiad.

    Category Podcasts, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  2. Erfyl sequel is a go—it started writing itself without asking

    21 January, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    When I finished Erfyl I was exhausted—trying to keep everything accurate yet have a compelling story is quite difficult! Plus I was writing my first “first person” work which was also a challenge. Looks like the gaming guild is back for new adventures!

    At first I didn’t plan on writing a sequel for years. Unfortunately the first chapter sat down and wrote itself before I could put a stop to it—the visuals came so intensely that I could not deny them.

    The book opens by throwing the reader straight into the action of a chase sequence—the most compelling intro chapter in any book I’ve seen in a long time. I decided to go with Terry Goodkind’s method of writing sequels by not explaining exactly what events occurred between books, and not opening the sequel with explanatory info for new readers. He assumes you read the previous book and throws you straight into the situation. To me that is a powerful method to use, and so when the opening action came to my imagination I didn’t latch on any information to “introduce” the readers. Here are the very first few lines (remember it is a rough draft):

    Desperately I rushed at an open area between the silhouettes of trees as fern leaves tried to grasp at my ankles. Twigs scratched at my face and arms in my blind stumbling run toward freedom. I could see no light anywhere. A loose rock sent me whamming against dirt. I could taste its soft bark in my mouth and smell the richness of pungent forest needles. Scratching at the soil to right myself I rushed on through the woods. I could not even hear my breathing as I ran—concentrating only on finding openings in the dense undergrowth and thick old trunks surrounding me like ancient sentinel guards turned to stone and helpless against the Diras.

    After writing the first chapter I figured “that’s great, I’ll let it sit for awhile and can ignore it” but no such luck. An emotionally charged situation came up in my own life, which mirrored where the character Erfyl left off at the end of the chapter. I thought I might as well keep writing because I could channel that emotion to her and have quite an honest, realistic chapter two. Here is a brief excerpt:

    Tears stung at my eyelashes threatening to burst out and I knew any speech I attempted would sound shaky at best. I was so furious at myself for messing up, yet I could not feel it for the deep sorrow ripping out my insides that it had been me. I wanted to pout on the cold dock all night, or scream at the hill rising innocently up covered with flowers peeking through the gloom.

    “What’s done is done,” Vanessa finished the figure eight of the lines to secure the ferry, “moping never helped anyone.”

    “But what else can I do?” the words slipped out half mumbled and filled with tears. My throat felt dry as sandpaper.

    Obviously it is a first draft, yet I think the fact I captured what I was feeling can easily be expounded upon later and made for quite a charged set of paragraphs. It looks like book 2 is off to a start, and there is nothing I can do about it!

    Category Fiction, Personal, Writing | Tags: ,,,, | 9 Comments

  3. I’ve Heard It Before—What to do When Stories Get Overused

    19 January, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    How many times have you heard Cinderella? Even the “variations” such as The Egyptian Cinderella or Tattercoats leave you with basically the same story. Usually they are written by a narrator, and occasionally first person, but always from Cinderella’s perspective. How many times have you heard about David and Goliath? I even heard it referenced yesterday on the news talking about George Lucas vs. the residents of Lucas Valley. It has the same problem—always told from David’s perspective and often by a narrator third person approach. “Look boys and girls, David stopped to pick up stones from the river” etc.

    Even the movie Ever After, in its retelling of the story, chose to keep it basically from Cinderella’s point of view. Yes it was a fantastic fresh take on the tale and did create variations, but it did not have as dramatic a shift of perspective as other stories have done. Yes I am talking about Wicked. It re-oriented the world of Oz to a completely different character’s view.

    I think examining the other people in the Bible can also lead to some surprising and intriguing results. What would David and Goliath be from, say, Goliath’s perspective? We would learn a great deal about the Philistine culture, perhaps even how it can be easy to become legitimately proud of our accomplishments and talents to the point of letting that feeling overcome us, and maybe that even if it appears as though are sure exactly what will happen the smallest thing can completely ruin our plans. What about someone in the army of Israel and what they thought of what was going on. Were they conscripted? Did they consider going against Goliath? Did they think it was fair David won? Were they just happy to be able to go home after the battle?

    It isn’t the story that is bad—it is the fact we hear it in the same narrative voice from the same perspective over and over. Next time you are called upon to tell the story of Cinderella or David & Goliath, try it from a different character’s voice. Whatever the age of the audience, they will appreciate the opportunity to hear new ideas from an old tale.

    Category Bible Study, Religious, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

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