The Visionary

The other day, I glanced over at Lazy Buns (her actual name, yes; and no, I didn’t come up with it), still in bathrobe and curler mode, and realized I had the same attitude about the world building I had not yet completed for a middle grade science fiction novel I’m writing. There was so much work yet to do, but I was feeling lazy.

“Join meeeeeeee,” Lazy Buns hissed in her best Darth Vader imitation, a voice incongruent with her small stature.

To snap out of the trance I’d fallen into, I turned to some behind-the-scenes DVD documentaries. I’ve mentioned before that I love documentaries on the creative process. I’m particularly fascinated by authors and filmmakers who envision possibilities not previously foreseen, even in the face of criticism. We think of them as visionaries.

The other day, I watched one of the documentaries on the Attack of the Clones DVD. I’ll pause here to give anyone who hates this film the opportunity to judge me for having it (or if you love it, to praise my good taste). . . . Are we done? Moving on . . . in the documentary, George Lucas talked about the challenge of working in a new medium called digital technology. According to this Red Shark News article:

George Walton Lucas, Jr., entrepreneurial filmmaker, creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones and industrial empire builder, drop-kicked Hollywood into the digital age with the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones—the first major Hollywood blockbuster to be shot 100% digitally.

Keep in mind this film came about in the early part of this century. We take digital filmmaking for granted nowadays. But Lucas took a lot of criticism for going the digital route. After all, digital was nontraditional. But nontraditional thinking is the mark of a visionary.

Lucas pushed his staff beyond where they thought they could go to achieve the vision he saw in his head. This was par for the course for Star Wars, a franchise that sailed in uncharted waters when it first debuted.

The Star Wars franchise is very controversial these days. Fans are divided over the current crop of movies, now owned by Disney. And let’s face it, even when Lucas had control of the company, fans complained then too. But few people debate the fact that George Lucas is a visionary writer-director. You can see that if you take just a cursory look at the world he created.

For years I have also been inspired by book authors  like Ursula Le Guin, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, L. Frank Baum, Frank Herbert, Charles Yallowitz, and others whose expansive worlds I’ve visited again and again. They remind me that world building takes time and effort—two words that are contrary to my current lazy bones attitude.

 

 

So I have an attitude to shake off. Here I go—back to researching galaxies, designing star systems and the terrain of planets.

Sigh. I need cake.

What fantasy or science fiction worlds do you love to visit? If you aren’t into either, who is someone you consider to be a visionary?

George Lucas photo found somewhere in the internet. Dune cover from Goodreads, since I can’t seem to locate anything I own of this series. Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie poster from inquisitr.com. Cake from clker.com. Other photos by L. Marie. Pop Hair Pets are a product of MGA Entertainment.

Check This Out: War of Nytefall—Rivalry

Thank you to L. Marie for being a great host and helping me promote my newest book, War of Nytefall: Rivalry. This is the third volume of my vampire action-adventure series, which takes place in the same world as Legends of Windemere. Okay, I think I covered the promo bases, so let’s get to the meaty stuff. Wait . . . My name is Charles E. Yallowitz. Knew I forgot to introduce myself. Oops.

The overarching story in War of Nytefall involves the Vampire Civil War that takes place right after the Great Cataclysm. During this global disaster, a vampire named Clyde is about to be executed by the followers of the Sun God. Magic is going haywire, so their spells actually turn him into a new species. Unlike the old-world vampires, Clyde and his “children” don’t lose their strength in the sun, they possess heartbeats, can eat regular food, and each has a triad of powers in place of the ability to cast magic. Since his blood can turn old-world vampires into what are called Dawn Fangs, Clyde sets off a war with those who consider him an abomination and a threat to their society. Every volume touches on a different event of this lengthy, but slow-moving war that happens in the shadow of Windemere. It’s the old-world vampires versus the Dawn Fangs . . . most of the time.

A twist in War of Nytefall: Rivalry is that someone has shown up to threaten both sides. The Vampire Queen has been a rumor for centuries, but has revealed her existence by kidnapping the leaders of both factions. Her intention is to choose a Vampire King from the strongest of their species and then conquer the world. Well, there’s another goal, but that’s more personal. Either way, she has turned herself into a common enemy of the old-world vampires and the Dawn Fangs. This isn’t an easy thing to write about considering the characters, especially Clyde, have monstrous tendencies towards violence and grudges. Why wouldn’t he just take out his most hated enemy, Xavier Tempest, and deal with the Vampire Queen later? Taking out the leader of the old-world vampires would end the war and give him victory. So, how does this story even work while keeping the war going to the next volume?

       

Mostly, this comes down to Clyde not being a reckless idiot. Yes, he’s the strongest vampire and hasn’t lost a fight. His confidence and brutality are incredibly high, so he could make short work of everyone around him. Yet, he doesn’t know what the Vampire Queen is capable of or if she has something else going on. Also, Clyde is a man who has always had a gang to work with, so he doesn’t even realize that there’s a discomfort towards working alone. This is why he needs Xavier on his side even if he does have the strength to win. What Clyde has in brute strength and cunning, Xavier has in magical power and intelligence. So, they actually work well as a team, which is why they used to be friends. It’s almost like they are being forced to fall into ancient habits in order to survive even though they really want to kill each other. Left alone with the Vampire Queen, neither man is sure they can survive. One could see why the war has been raging slowly for decades here because Clyde and Xavier are both cautious.

That only covers the character motivations though, and most readers will accept that if it remains in the realm of possibilities. I’ve established that these two are careful survivors, so a temporary alliance makes sense. Of course, this brings in another problem: How do I write this without making Clyde and Xavier good friends and endangering the war with a truce? If they get along so well, then you can’t really believe that they hate each other enough to continue fighting if they survive the Vampire Queen. On the other side of the coin, you need them to get along enough to work as an effective team. My answer to this came in two parts:

1. Clyde and Xavier settled for insults instead of punches. You can demonstrate that the bad blood is still there by how they talk and act. Maybe they don’t really try to protect each other from harm, but only step in to prevent death. Insulting names instead of real ones is an option. There has to be at least some animosity that can grow as the climax nears since stress can make them more hostile to each other.

2. I accepted that they might mellow out a bit in regards to the hate. This is something I considered while planning this story. It wasn’t something I liked, but I knew it was a strong possibility. Hard to truly hate a man who you just survived an ordeal with. This is why I had to come up with an event that will reignite the hate in a later book. Xavier and Clyde do accept that they cannot coexist and will continue the war if they survive, so they’ll need another push. A real nasty one too.

I have to admit that this was probably the hardest aspect of the book. Putting everything else together was a cinch, but I had to keep an eye on the overall story. You see in many stories that enemies will unite against a common threat, so I did some research. A big part of this was seeing what not to do because it didn’t make sense. Won’t say what that is because of spoilers, but this one part really did take up a lot of my attention. It even forced a few outline rewrites because Clyde and Xavier were getting too chummy. Needless to say, I’m happy with how this shaky alliance has come out, but I’m also nervous. One false move on something like this and I’ll have to rethink the future. Part of the job though.

Hope everyone enjoyed this post. Catch you in the comments and check out War of Nytefall: Rivalry on Amazon!

About the Author

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn’t working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. Truthfully, his tales of adventure are much more interesting than his real life, so skip the bio and dive into the action.

Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Website: www.charleseyallowitz.com

L. Marie here. Comment below to be entered into the drawing for a copy of War of Nytefall: Rivalry. Winner to be announced on April 10. Double post this week, y’all.

Covers and author photo courtesy of Charles Yallowitz.

Winning World-Building

The other day I watched a YouTuber talk about his love for all things Pokémon—the games, the anime series, and movies. He could probably name all 800+ Pokémon, including the regions in which they can be found, and also the different towns players visit in the games and anime.

Now, that’s a fan! When you create a world, you want it to be appealing enough to attract dedicated fans like this who love visiting over and over.

   

Who wouldn’t want to visit a world with creatures as cute as Torchic (right) or as majestic as Xerneas?

With the subject of world-building, maybe by now you’re thinking of the various planets in the Star Wars series or fantasy places like Westeros (George R. R. Martin), Hogwarts (J. K. Rowling), Pixie Hollow (where the Disney fairies live), Wonderland (Lewis Carroll), Narnia (C. S. Lewis), Oz (L. Frank Baum), Windemere (Charles Yallowitz), or Middle-earth (J. R. R. Tolkien).

I think about Lothlórien or Narnia, and how I’d love to live in either place for the rest of my life. (Mordor is a definite no as a place to retire, however.)

 

Hogwarts would be fun also, now that He Who Must Not Be Named isn’t an issue any more. I also think of Oz, since I’ve been rereading some of the books. Who wouldn’t want a lunch or dinner pail full of food that you can pick ripe off a tree the way Dorothy, the plucky orphan from Kansas, did in Ozma of Oz?

       

Even if I wouldn’t want to make my home in a land (looking at you, Westeros), I still enjoy a visit via a book in the comfort of my own home. I love to learn about the different animals and plants in a land. Like Fizzle in Windemere. To learn more about him, click here.

But the aspects of a world that really resonate with me usually meet a felt need. Sometimes when problems crowd the horizon and I feel helpless, I long to escape to a land of magic where full-course meals grow on trees and adventure is just around the corner. Or sometimes, I crave a place suffused with wonder (look—tiny fairies) and peace when life seems gray or full of battles.

Yet many of the worlds I read about have problems like wars and hunger. In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy wound up lost and hungry. Maybe that’s why that dinner pail tree made such an impression on me. She found it after a struggle.

And how could I forget that the peace in Narnia came after the defeat of enemies like the White Witch?

So, maybe the world-building in each series I mentioned really resonates with me, because a skilled author has shown the compelling efforts his or her characters made to overcome their problems, and thus build a better world.

Now, that’s winning world-building!

What is your favorite fictional world to visit? What do you love about this world?

Dorothy illustration by John R. Neill found at the Project Gutenberg website. Westeros/Essos map from geek.com. Lothlórien image from somewhere on Pinterest. Oz map from fanpop.com. Narnia map from toknwasiamknown.wordpress.com. Torchic from imgarcade.com. Xerneas from pokemon.wikia.com. Star Wars planets image from somewhere on Pinterest. Hogwarts from rmvj.wordpress.com. Disney fairies from fanpop.com. Ozma of Oz book cover photo by L. Marie.