Skip to main content

Inside Out




As I've been invited to participate in a discussion panel at The Oakwood Literature Festival in Derby on the 18th, this month is all about WORLD BUILDING. And the main question which needs answering is: Outside In or Inside Out?

 I’m very proud to be an Inside Outer, especially as I’m in very good company it seems. Other Inside Outers are JRR Tolkien and Tad Williams. Inside Out and Outside In are terms used to describe methods of Fantasy and SciFi world building. As an Inside Outer, Tolkien focuses his attention on Bilbo and the hobbits then creates a world around them.

In my very first fantasy novel, written when I was approximately 12, it turns out I couldn’t settle for just one process. I remember spending hours drawing and colouring maps of a world for my central character Panthra to inhabit. As a man who could instantly transform himself into a panther when the need arose, he spent a great deal of time in desert terrain and the odd cave or two. Sadly the drawings were lost when we moved from South Africa to the UK but the manuscript is lurking somewhere in the loft.

It’s no real mystery that I’m an Inside Outer when you reflect on my earliest fantasy influences – The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Dragonbone Chair. So as I’ve aged, I’ve settled for this method in particular. It’s fairly easy to see this in both my fantasy and SciFi series.

While Long Upon A Time World of my Dragons & Witches series is a crazy world where anything magical is possible, it is in fact the imagination of my central character, Clarissa Henry and therefore any child’s imagination.

I have however cheated in my Rainbow Quest SciFi series. The world of the first 2 books is in fact London, albeit a future one where the city is encased in an environmentally controlled dome. To make the city feel futuristic I’ve employed several small devices.

  • In the first book I tell the reader the city is encased in a dome (this is based on a real environmental scenario which goes back as far as the 50’s. In 2018, Dubai Square was launched as part of a larger project being built.) Science Fiction is fast becoming the now.
  • Computers which interact with humans feature (not unlike Alexa and Siri but displaying more human characteristics)
  • I mention the use of autonomous vehicles such as air cruisers and space ships at any given opportunity
  • Other planets also feature as holiday destinations

In book two the central character, Petra Sucher, spends large amounts of time at home and school so it was important to make elements in these settings feel familiar. The main way I've done this is by the use of interactive services as well as identifying products we use now as being retro.

To stay abreast of futuristic ideas:

  • I watch a great deal of science fiction film and television (I can highly recommend Channel 4's Humans for ideas on how tech will work in the future) – research is a great excuse
  • I watch the BBC tech programme Click - even the bits on gaming which don't interest me in the slightest
  • Read online articles and follow science features on space travel and new inventions
  • Follow climate change news

Click to leave a review


GIVE AWAY
If you like all things paranormal then this giveaway is for you.

OVER 40 FREE PARANORMAL BOOKS THROUGHOUT MAY

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. It's much appreciated as is the time you take to write a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Faetaera: Through The Rabbit Hole

  Larell’s heart was full to the brim.  His audience with Aurelia had been unexpected and full of wonder.  He was not surprised she was aware of his plans to send a force through to the other side.  Aurelia always knew everything going on in her world.  At times he thought he saw the weight of it bearing down upon her.  Then he wished to take her in his arms and carry her as well as the burdens she bore.  But of course he would never do this, merely imagine it.  It made him love her all the more.  She thought he did not know how she came by her information and he planned on keeping it that way.  It was the only way he knew to express his love for her without feeling foolish.   In the crystal lined chamber he felt her load more palpably than usual.   He knew it was simply his foolish love-sickness for his Queen but he let the feeling soak through him regardless.   Aurelia's lips twitched briefly as though she was amused.   She was kind in her tolerance of his ridiculous obsess
Post a Comment
Read more

Aphasia - Phase 1

It was one morning of May 2021. I woke up and I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know I had a stroke. I carried on as though I was okay. I even tried to negotiate with my guest when she was leaving. I tried to talk but only mumbles came out of my mouth. She left me with a big hug. I knew something was wrong. I tried to call my cousin, Michelle. With a few grunts, I convinced her to come round to my place. In the end she came round and she was very worried. She stayed with and we had lunch together. After she left, I called my friend in Sheffield, Bev. I tried to say what was wrong with me. I couldn’t speak. She rang my neighbour, Kathy. Kathy was out with Nelson, her fabulous dog. Bev rang her so she came round. When she came to my house I was sitting in the dark. Bev said she should call an ambulance. I took the phone from her and shook my head. Before long my neighbours Lizz and Leo came to see how I was. Kathy told Leo to ring the ambulance because I took her phone. She did not know w
14 comments
Read more

Faetaera: A Triumvirate

  A Triumvirate Brairton’s minions slipped through a barely noticeable fissure.  The tear would close shortly.  Despite the increase in their regularity the breaches rarely stayed open very long.  To the three insidious spies, the stink of the new world was almost unbearable.  But in time the triumvirate would each become so used to it they would scarcely notice it at all.  That it poisoned them they did not know.  Brairton was not in the habit of informing his operatives of fatal consequences.  Their programming precluded any thought beyond the mission they must complete.  In this Brairton had been exact and had performed the necessary rituals himself. Each had their mission branded into their being.   They would travel together for some time but then slip off to their secret destinations one by one, never to see each other again. The threesome latched on to their individual targets and began their particular brand of individual mischief immediately. Minion one skulked off to en
Post a Comment
Read more