I'm going to start on #WritingWonders a bit late. I confess I've fallen into a Fortnite hole and randomly become hyperfixated on this kids' f2p game, which is why my posting in general has been sparser. I'm writing a lot! But then I jump from my writing into the game and do nothing else. Like shower. Anyway.
All answers will be coming from #AtopTheTreesBeneathTheMountains.
#WritingWonders day 1: Introduce the WIP or book you'll be sharing this month.
#AtopTheTreesBeneathTheMountains is a romantic fantasy novel. Think Kushiel's Dart meets Tim Curry's Legend meets JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Esor an Amen is a young Low Elf hired to work as tutor by a mysterious Lord Mayor in an uberwald distant from his small town home. Arriving in S'elasdur, Esor finds himself drawn into the sordid, deadly secrets of embattled Great House Kovemisi' - and falling under the sensual spell of Lord Mayor Corvinde.
This is a hefty book in length and world building. It's a passion project I've been writing for three years now!
#WritingWonders day 2: If you could live in your fictional world, would you? Why or why not?
My fictional world is dying, so no. I'm basically already in that world.
One of the major themes of the book is the impact of endlessly expansionist empire upon the climate. The Elves have been abusing their world, which is literally a goddess (hence why the series is called Upon Her Divine Body), and it is manifesting in a dramatic fantasy-styled collapse of forests in something called Creep, farms to Blight, and lives to Wasting. All different manifestations of the same illness: empire.
The environmental message is partially in homage to Tolkien, but I draw inspiration heavily from Princess Mononoke in terms of vibe.
#WritingWonders day 3: What is something you're knowledgeable about that you include in your stories?
I have spent my entire life as an Author, primarily, having finished my first novel when I was 12 (and I already had piles of stories before that), and I spent my 20s producing books like *crazy*. I'm now almost 35. I have written many millions of words. Certainly over 10 million words by now.
So truly what I know best is the act of writing. I humbly submit I have an unusual degree of understanding of the craft of fiction and story structure, thanks to simply having spent a LOT of time doing a LOT of writing. I learn about writing from multiple angles, genres, and mediums so I can have the biggest toolbox possible as an artist. I have done so much research. Read so many books about it. Taught others about it. etc.
I also have an urban fantasy universe with like 70-80 novels in it (for reals) and this gave me a rather cool understanding of worldbuilding. Most folks don't have the privilege of writing that much in a single universe, much less have the motivation to seek out as many interesting niche corners to develop different parts of worldbuilding as I have.
And I watch *so* much by way of tv and movies. I'm a bit of a robot in terms of story. Input comes in, gets processed, books come out.
If you know me, I am pretty frank about my numerous flaws, so I hope when I say the above y'all know it's not hubristic. What I'm putting into this book is very, very deliberately crafted with a level of familiarity and skill you don't really get to see very much. It does happen because, well, there's a gazillion writers, and I am simply one of them, but even so. I have put a lot into this wip.
I'm a little embarrassed writing this toot but whatever, I'm allowed to think I'm uncommonly great at ONE thing in my darn life. Haha. I am really bad at parallel parking tho.
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #AtopTheTreesBeneathTheMountains
Sara Marie Reine
Branwen OShea (she/her)