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A Fantasy Life

May 27, 2008 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

Rayna was the first character in the Augeas series. She had been sitting on the front porch with Grandmother for several years before I figured out who she was and where she belonged. There are now six Augeas stories and more in the works. Unfortunately, I write faster than my artist draws so my picture collection is behind.

This month has been filled with all the publishing part of the writing process. I’ve had to do edits and a galley with more galleys coming. However, as I read the galley for the re-release of Yesteryear’s Love, I thought about the fantasy part of time travel. It isn’t as hard core fantasy because the characters just move between one time frame and another and the author has to stay true to both time frames. Of course, if the characters went forward in time, then the author would need to create a new world.

With time travel the first thing an author has to figure out is what propels the character through time. There are many options, but finding a new one is a challenge. I chose a stain glass window. I came up with all types of reasons why the stain glass window was a portal. It was charmed before it was imported to nowhere. It was over a scared spot that the Native Americans knew about. Actually, none of it matter. It moved people through time and space and how it did so was never explained nor needed.

Then, if the character returns to her own time, how much time has passed since she left. Does time move at the same rate so that if she is gone for a year, a year has passed in her time? Or, does no time pass and does she return to where she started? It can work either way or something in between.

Then, if the character is going back in time, what about bathrooms? Who wants to use a chamber pot or the outhouse. It’s amazing when flush toilets came into being and the different types of bathtubs that were around in the 1800’s. Aren’t bathtubs, hot water and toilets important? It’s bad enough to do without microwaves, cell phones and computers.

Art work by Jasmine Tanner – http://veildandy.deviantart.com

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A Fantasy Life

April 27, 2008 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

When writing fantasy, sometimes something out of mythology can trigger and idea that is just too good to pass up. A chimera seems to be one of those things.

A chimera is a mythological creature first mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The creature is always referred to as a female. She is immortal, not human and made up of a lion in front, a dragon in back and a goat in the middle. Sometimes she has three heads. She also breaths fire. That has to be the dragon part of her. Most of us remember her from school. A scary creature who may have mothered the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion.

The interesting thing is that a chimera can also be a human being. (No dragon head or breathing fire, but just as interesting.) This condition occurs through the fertilization of two ova by two sperm, followed by the fusion of the resulting zygotes and the development of an organism which is actually two organism in the guise of one. A human chimera could have a heart with one DNA and a liver with another. Most chimeras never know that they are two people fused together. After all, how many people are going to have their DNA checked on different parts of their bodies to see if they are one or two people. It’s a rather creepy thought.

However, in fantasy, it is an intriguing idea. What kind of a character would a chimera be? An evil creature? The original one was. How can the other characters tell a chimera from everyone else? They’re not going to run out and do DNA tests either, so there has to be a way to tell. Otherwise, the whole idea falls flat.

Now that I have discovered this unique individual, I have to put her in a story. Dark fantasy. A chimera would never be in light fantasy.

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A Fantasy Life – Part 5

January 28, 2008 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

By Janet Quinn Cornelow

Alternate life forms living within our bodies that cause gallstones. MRI’s that can tell what we are thinking. A gay gene. Footprint casts of Big Foot.

Fantasy? Reality?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell anymore. As writers we have to be careful abut writing certain things because they won’t be believable – unless we’re writing fantasy.

I’m getting ready to start on my fourth set of Augeas stories set in a fantasy world filled with magic. Dyna, the picture for the month, is a young Ancient One with the power to see what is happening around her in her mind. I talking about seeing things outside on the street when there are no windows or on the next block over. Her power saved her grandmother, Carissa, and several other Ancient Ones from Dorjan’s thundering hoards.

When I wrote the first stories, I was in a hurry to finish them. A story of 8,000 words seems like not such a big undertaking. After all, it isn’t a 100,000 word manuscript. Wrong. Short stories aren’t as easy as they seem. I came up with an idea and hurriedly built the world of Augeas and the Ancient Ones. I came up with the name Ancient Ones because they lived to be several hundred years old. However, that’s really not a good reason. There were a few other things I had to change with the second set because I hadn’t planned ahead.

So why are they called Ancient Ones? They aren’t all old. They have to start as babies because they don’t get to come into the world full grown. They are all magical, but that doesn’t make the name fit.

As I start on the fourth set of stories, I decided it might be time to explain why they are called Ancient Ones. Just as soon as I figure it out. Are they an ancient culture that the humans started calling Ancient Ones? One story mentioned they came from the mountains, except Gideon comes from the mountains and he’s a human. Are they aliens who came from another planet? Did they come from an alternate universe? Why did they come from either? Were they explorers who couldn’t get home? Were they outcasts running for they lives? Or, were they an ancient civilization around Augeas before the humans who had to leave the area because of war or pestilence and have now returned to help the humans? And who knows the answers?

When starting these stories, I probably should have figured this out before I started. It’s harder to build in things once certain parameters have been established. I know who knows the answers. A very ancient Ancient One who is the keeper of the stories. He hasn’t told me what the stories are yet, so I’m not sure why they are called the Ancient Ones.

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A Fantasy Life – 4

December 27, 2007 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. My family bought me a laptop, which was exciting. My oldest bought me a cool case with wheels and a handle to carry it around. He pretty much figured I wouldn’t be able to lift a regular case and get it across the room. So far I can play games on it. I was practicing using the touch pad. My oldest has promised to set up the internet connection and Word tonight, but he’s in his office making up characters for his new role playing game. The major reason I wanted the laptop is because I am going to become a online facilitator for Axia, a division of the University of Phoenix and my middle son and I are always fighting over the computer. He plays World of Warcraft and gets cranky when I want to use the internet. The whole family is into fantasy worlds. The youngest also does role playing games.

It’s almost the new year and time to look back at what was accomplished in 2007 and what I want to accomplish in 2008. I have a tendency make more goals than anyone person could accomplish. I’ve made a few less for 2008, but will add to the list. I always do. A new project comes up and I finish it, so I have to add it to the list so I can cross it off and say, “Look what I did.” I pretty much ignore those that didn’t get done. Some of them I really didn’t want to do anyway. Others get moved to the next year. I keep all of my goals in a journal so I can look back and see what I did and didn’t do in past years. When the same goal has been running for three years, it is time to rethink that project. I actually got one of those goals done this year.

I still have a few days left and am on vacation from my day job, so I have a list of what I have to do this week. Write two fantasy short stories for The Enchanted Hawk which comes out in February. I need give aways for a contest. Finish the rewrites I’ve been working on for two months that should have taken half that time. And venture into the world of trailers. I want to do one for my Augeas fantasy short stories before the next two come out in February. I also have to order new character pictures since the city scape is nearly done. I hope you enjoy the black and white version. I don’t have color yet.

Everyone take time and visit the fantasy world of your choice. Where would we be without a good book to read.

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