Along with my unending love of fairy tales, I also adore mythology and urban legends. I graduated quickly from The Pokey Little Puppy to Aesop’s Fables and never looked back. My interest in anything with a fantasy flair evolved from there.
Dungeons and Dragons, magical realism, high fantasy, low fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction fantasy - I love it all. But what attracts me to these stories more than contemporary fiction, historical, thriller novels and adventure tales? Magic, of course!
At their core, all stories tell the same journeys. Characters are challenged, forced to rise above the challenge, and reach their goals. Emotions flow, conflicts grow, the end of the main character's stasis looms. It’s the little details flavoring the scenes that keep me hooked.
A neglected stepchild forced to labor for room and board until fame and fortune falls in their lap? Droll. Add in talking mice and a fairy godmother, and that pulls it out of the mundane.
A jaded detective investigating local disappearances? How tedious. But if the detective is from a Hell Dimension and the kidnapper is an elder being recently roused from centuries of slumber, then I’m all in!
So, when I set about to pen my own stories, I knew it had to have fantastic elements. But even fantasy is divided into categories. Supernatural, occult, epic, sword and sorcery, paranormal, contemporary, etc. Novels featuring the undead rarely also include fairies or mythical animals. It does happen (Charlaine Harris is a great example), but it is not common. I felt pressure to pick one side or the other; Day or Night; Light or Dark; Living or Undead. But I held love in my heart for them equally, how could I choose? Moreover, I couldn’t choose just one cultural origin story, either. There are so many glorious legends from all over the world, all with amazing inspirational potential.
Vampires stories are found all over the world but their creation, method of operation, and weaknesses all vary, sometimes drastically. Different kinds of werewolves and ghosts, too. And I’ve already covered some of the fairy variants. I’m like a kid in a candy store - I want them all!
And so the Grymveil began. The multidimensional premise allows the living and the undead to cross paths; for fairies to work with gryphons and sphynxes; for magic and science to go hand-in-hand. To be fair, my setting is not built on the idea that all the stories are true, but that they could be true. Or rather, what is true formed the basis of the tales. That gave me the freedom to adjust a fantasy creature’s aspect to fit logically within a world that contains beings from conflicting mythological origins, to build my own canon.
The journeys that my characters go on is the same as any other well-planned story, with conflict, challenges, highs and lows, and all the emotional pangs you’d expect from an entertaining novel. Just with that added bit of magic to - hopefully - make the journey just a little more interesting.
In my upcoming short story collection (details to be released later), I feature a Fairy Knight, a flying Witch, a hapless Alchemist, a disillusioned Godmother, a befuddled Reaper, a horde of pixies, and more. Magic doesn’t solve everything, and sometimes makes modern life more difficult! Exploring how fantasy creatures would interact with a modern world is part of the fun, and I hope you find it just as amusing.
While today's post is a bit short, I plan on delving more into my worldbuilding in later posts. I'm moving into a different house and quite a bit of my non-working hours is being consumed by packing and hauling boxes across town. Things should settle down in the next couple weeks and I can devote a little more time to longer, more in-depth glimpses into my writing process, characters, and settings.
Until next time, Stay Magical!
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