Cool as it might have been, my author journey did not start out the same as Light Yagami's
Love of writing is something that few understand: the structure, the fine detail, the tension, the stakes—it’s all quite abstract, but very practical at the same time.
I was born into a cradle of words. My grandfather was an English teacher, with a postgraduate degree in English. My uncle is a voracious reader. My aunt has a PhD in English literature, and my other late aunt was studying English as well. My mother was never the biggest reader, but always encouraged me to pursue my dream, which has always been writing and English literature (even when I thought I wanted to become a veterinarian—still love animals though). We all lived together at one point, and through them, I caught the bug of the written word, and it never let me go.
Concerning the hard and fast word, I began with the novels Wish Horses and Bubble Trouble. I was fascinated with winged steeds, and dogs who avoided baths. From then on, Animorphs and Goosebumps caught my attention, and then a boy genius named Artemis Fowl made me laugh with his quips and fascinated by his schemes.
After feasting upon the aforementioned great works, at the ripe old age of ten I began penning my own manuscript which has its name forgotten to time. I fail to remember what it was about, only that I wrote for an hour each day, religiously, until my work was finished. It captured my imagination, entirely. I knew I was in love with the craft of smithing worlds and weaving people. Whatever happened to my first creation, I cannot account for, only that I thank it for putting me on the path that I am on now.
When high school struck, a new idea floundered into my mind: a boy who went to a magic school, only he wasn’t an orphan, which to me, made the work entirely original. It was called Trent Overwood, and the Grimoire of Gwendolyn the Great. All the main characters, in order to do magic, had to carry a grimoire with them. This particular boy was tied to a grimoire which already belonged to an ancient mage, the titular Gwendolyn the Great. I cannot quite remember the details, only that the cast was large, and that there was a by-the-books cop with super strength.
Later, at university, I wrote Alchemic Angels (ft the same cop, as a mmain character of four POV characters), about an alchemic being called an “angel” which attacked the city of Superia at seemingly random intervals, and it was up to ten magi ( a lot, I know) to stop it. It was interwoven with racial politics as well, with the poor living in Inferia, a city below. When I was done, after four whole years, with my fantasy epic, Arcane emerged, with the exact same premise. At the very least, by its success, I knew I had the capability to come up with good ideas (I consoled myself).
I did, however, like the cast of characters, and so vowed, and still do, to rewrite the entire manuscript with a wholly different story and world, but with the same characters. I wanted to make a series, of it to traditionally publish, though I had not the skill to make a series, and so decided I would make a “practice” series of standalone novels, until I acquired the skill to create a traditional series of books.
It was at this time that I began reading the greats: Bram Stoker, Sheridan le Fanu, the Bronte sisters, Madeline Miller, and the like. I created the first book in my “practice series”, called Third Time’s the Charm, a combination of Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
The world I’d created for my “practice series” called me back, however, and what was practice, then became passion. I found myself with all kinds of books, and all kinds of ideas, which The Kingdom of Ura, the place within which Third Time’s the Charm is set in, could comfortably accommodate.
Naturally there was a horde of ideas, which required shuffling around, and the frustration of for the first time, pantsing novels, rather than having a pre-existing outline.
I fell head over heels in love with wet Victorian Gothic prose, as opposed to minimalistic modern writing, with its mantra of efficiency over beauty—or rather beauty in efficiency. I was previously a part of this school of thought, but after reading Victorian novels, realised that description and so-called ornamental “purple” prose could be a part of the story so much as to be an engine thereof, a driving force. Someone could read a novel to not only enjoy its story, but to get to the next section of prose, and dialogue, much as what I did and continue to do.
I wanted to make The Kingdom of Ura a safe haven for queer people, particularly gay and bisexual men, where they, through the eyes of each protagonist (who will each be a gay or bisexual man) see that they can be a hero, in their own particular and special way. I wanted it to be a home for othered queer identities, with the casts diverse, and the Kingdom of Ura being accepting of all people.
My author journey continues until the conclusion of the seventh book, upon which a chapter will close, and a new one will begin.
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