As we delve deeper into the holiday season, each one of us finds ourselves with more and more to do, and it might come to pass that you wake up in the middle of the night on a Saturday and realize that you have a blog post due the next day.
Not saying that’s what happened, noooo.
When TDP was first proposed, I offered to bring over Hidden Worlds, which was initially published last year around this time, just in time for Christmas presents. Most of the other turtleduckers were familiar with the story in various forms, so the offer was accepted and here I am.
Hidden Worlds was something I started for fun. I honestly expected it to die off like so many other “just for fun” projects I’ve let flounder over the years. I took a variety of things I’d wanted to write about over the years – magic doors, pirates, unspeakable evil – shoved them together into a single plot, created a frame story of a magical writing community, and off we went.
The story was initially done serially in my main writing community. It was a way to get some writing in – I was neck deep in wedding planning at that point and all my major projects were on indefinite hold – and it was easier to commit to a scene or so at a time, when the writing itch was truly itching and I found a few minutes of free time.
Writing serially proved to be very interesting. I received instant feedback from my readers which helped me form the story later on. Perhaps the most important comment led to the inclusion of Someone in the story and I honestly don’t think the story would have been complete without him.
It took me a year and a half to finish the story. Something I thought was just something to pass the time managed to grow into a story that I adore and am pleased to offer to other people to read. Please, check it out if you get a chance.
I’m always amazed at how a semi-random assortment of elements can come together into a coherent story. It’s happened to me, too. I guess narrative really is hard-wired into the human brain…
Siri
When I was in high school, I used to claim that I could write a story about anything. (Rotten tacos were the example I used, I believe.) High school!me was no doubt full of BS but I do think that just about anything can be incorporated into anything else if you think about it long enough. (Some day, shape-shifting river dolphins, some day.)
~Kit
…shape-shifting river dolphins? Can I steal that? They’d fit into Hiro’s world wonderfully, especially if one ate the fortune-telling mini-mermaid.
~KD
…I think my point has been made. 😛