From Household Chores to Fantasy Wars: My Writing Journey

Hello again,

Did you miss me?

 I want to look at this blog as if it is a casual conversation between you and me, not some stuffy piece where I try to explain what it is like to be me as an author. So, let's hope we will use this new blogging style from now on. This way, I can tell you what is happening and have fun writing to you, my electronic pen pals. So, today, I will start by just filling you in on who I am and what is happening in my world.

The last three weeks have been crazy at the house. On top of that, a book I have been dying to read was released, so I tumbled back into the world of dragons and dark magic. I am also beginning to work my way back into my fictional writing. Let me start by bringing everyone up to speed.

My name is Spring Cora, and I am an independent author. I didn't go through the big publishing houses to print my first set of novels. There was a reason for this. The Awaken Saga was a story near and dear to my heart, and I didn't want to give up control. My first blog in this series is about the four books, and I encourage you to look at that blog post to learn more.

My everyday life consists of living in Northern Colorado with my parents, whom I care for. My sister and her fiancé, whom I am pretty much their housekeeper. Our two precocious dogs keep life entertaining. Finally, I also live with my niece, who is a high school senior. Whom I have helped raise and tutor for the past eighteen years. She is the joy of my life. I am super proud that she is beginning to see her dreams take flight, as she will leave us in September to study Marine Biology at the University of Oregon. (I'm not crying, I promise.)

During my days of laundry, cleaning, cooking, tutoring, and doctor's visits, I squeeze in three or four hours of writing time. My current work in progress just solidified last week, so I have transitioned from working on two disparate novel ideas into having an outline for one novel to return to eventually. The other resides in four separate composition notebooks while I flesh out an entire fantasy world that will produce more than one novel. This second intricate current work in progress has two inspirations.

The first genre fuels my passion for literature. I assure you that many of the novels in this block will become the subjects of future blogs. For now, I will explain that I have had a deep love for fantasy novels since an early age.

My mom read me The Hobbit as a bedtime story. I think she did it so that I would like chapter books. Her alterer motive at the time was helping me overcome my dyslexia by pronouncing words that weren't all that pronounceable. However, it wasn't until I was in college and re-read the series during the Lord of the Rings movie phenomenon that I realized how much of the book she had edited. I didn't know there was a war of the five kings or that the evil necromancer existed. For my eight-year-old self, the story was just Bilbo, Gandalf, and the crew going to the Lonely Mountain to get back the dwarf lands from a dragon. It is also where my love of dragons began, which we will discuss later. Once I have processed the emotions from my most recent dragon read, that is. (Is there dust in here? My eyes keep watering.)

The second is down the hall and leaving for Eugene, Oregon, in seven months. (I swear time is speeding up.) My niece gave me the idea one night while waiting for our favorite Monday night program, WWE Monday Night Raw. She commented that she wished there were more fantasy novels in the Ocean but that the characters were not mermaids. I was intrigued by the concept to the point that I did not pay attention to the first few matches. I wondered if a continent comprised of kingdoms of magical sea creatures who lived two lives would be fascinating.

What if the creatures we know and love could magically transform into humans in this kingdom, and their world was in a never-ending war for control of the continent they call home? What if a human found their way into this battle of dominant species where predators and prey live like humans? What if the human was caught between the Apex predators she has loved her whole life and the secrets they keep from her in this new world? What if, in their discovery, she found she was the key to unlocking the continent? What if she saw that the one who could save her was not who she thought he was? I riddled and puzzled out this concept until the story became apparent.

The major problem for me. I love fantasy, but I fear writing it. The idea of world-building is intimidating to me. I like to keep my stories in this world, with all the laws and functions we have within it. But the idea of this new magical realm of Orcas, Sharks, Octopuses, and Otters began to live "rent-free" in my mind. So, I started typing out the story. I merely want to get it out of my head. As a fun thing, I can send it to my niece while she is at school.

She has seen the opening chapters and wants me to keep going. Which is beginning to make me believe I can write fantasy. That may be my favorite genre, but it can also be a new avenue of creativity for me as an author. I'm hoping, dear electronic pen pals, that you will remain with me as this latest story comes into being. It is a hopeful wish that you, too, will want to read a fantasy novel set in a mythical world of transforming sea creatures, magic, and chaos.

This is where I will leave you this week, my dear electronic pen pals. The characters who reside in my mind are becoming unruly and would like to finish their dinner party. So, keep living those thousands of lives you all live inside the book worlds you reside in, and we will see you next week.

SC