On the road, so I couldn’t write up a goal post. I’ll either make one before I go to bed or wait until next Saturday even though it would be a week after the trip. Probably give me time to get pictures for it. Make that decision later. For now, enjoy some semi-related music:
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I’m not even sure if I can make a big post about this. The idea came to my mind when I was thinking about how heroes in fantasy go on big adventures. Can’t remember many of them getting homesick. Not majorly. Sure, many lose their hometowns during their origins, but that isn’t everyone. So, why don’t heroes get homesick?
Part of it might be that the heroes are heading out on a mission, so it’s assumed that they won’t think of home very often. They will focus on the job and only consider home when they remember who they are trying to protect. Guess it makes sense, but it can’t hold out for years like with most adventures. Traveling with friends certainly helps, but they aren’t the same as going back to family. Not only family, but just returning to your place of origin and remembering where you came from. Maybe humans have a fear of forgetting their hometowns if they’re away for so long. I know I definitely started feeling that when I lived in Florida for 4.5 years, especially since I think I only came back to Long Island twice during that time.
In Legends of Windemere, I kind of bypassed this by having the heroes either not have a hometown or return over the course of their adventures. Luke Callindor, Nyx, Delvin Cunningham, and Timoran Wrath all had points where they went back home. Sari and Dariana didn’t have a home to return to. So, there wasn’t much of an opening for them to get homesick. In War of Nytefall, it never came up because the heroes were always at home during part of their story. Clyde and the Dawn Fangs weren’t traveling adventurers, but protectors of their kingdom. Hence, homesickness wasn’t a thing.
So, will this be an issue with Darwin Slepsnor? I genuinely don’t know. Events in the first book kind of prevent that, but I also found that his personality wasn’t letting me give him a bout of homesickness. He just kept getting distracted by a new adventure, new friend, or whatever was in front of him. Darwin being sad and missing home never felt natural even though he’s stated many times that he plans on going back. Maybe a hero who is sure that they’ll return some day and plan to do so with stories doesn’t get homesick? I mean, if he goes back too early, Darwin won’t have enough stories to tell or miss a big one. For some reason, that logic makes more sense for him than missing home.
So, what do other people think about heroes being homesick? I’m talking primarily from a fantasy adventure perspective, but we can talk in general. I figure characters on Earth will be easier to suffer from it than non-Earth.
No, I’m not gonna tell you how to get away with the perfect crime. Not today, anyway. 😉 But I will show you how to become a murderer… and transfer …
How to Become a Murderer
(Guess I had a lot of downers in ‘I’ section. Then again, is anyone surprised that I wonder about my own legacy? I write stories with destined heroes and question if free will is stronger or weaker than destiny. I have my heroes hope to create a legacy even if they die because they want to leave the world a better place. So, I always wonder if there will be anything left a hundred years after I’m dead to tell people that I was here. Not just that I lived, but that I did something. I also wrote this when my son was really young, so the idea that I could die and he wouldn’t remember me was scary.)
If this day
Was my last day
What scar would I leave
Upon the world
Or would I fade
Into a set of photos
Collecting dust
In tear stained albums
Packed into a box
Would my stories live
Beyond my notes
Finding life
When I am gone
Or would they remain
Trapped
Within their tombs
Of lined paper and cheap binding
Crumbling on a shelf
Would my collections
Of blade and book
Become heirlooms
Passed to generations
With stories told
Or would they depart
Sold or donated
To make some space
For newer toys
Would the key to legacy
Be the son
Carrier of the bloodline
Living proof
That I was here
Or is he too young
To remember his old man
A memory not yet forged
Fading before I cool
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Being a single father, I think about the father/son relationship a lot. Mostly because I’m always hoping I’m doing right by my own son. This gets tougher when I see fiction maintaining the ‘stoic father’ ignoring the son’s issues until they explode or not having the father be in there at all. It can get even worse with adventures because the father tends to die at some point. Come to think of it, fathers are fairly common sacrificial characters if they’re in the picture at all. Anyway, here’s some ideas on writing a father/son relationship in fiction.
Hi SEers! Denise here to continue my discussion in part four of What Writers Should Know. This time we’ll be diving into research. Research is …
What Writers Should Know! Part Four: Research
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
Back to the temples in Tribe of the Snow Tiger. This is the 10th volume of Legends of Windemere and started feeling like the homestretch. At least, as far as the writing side goes. Probably felt more like Act 4 of the overall story. So, what can I say about this one?
I had hinted at Timoran Wrath having a secret for a while, but the guy was so low key that I don’t think the fact stuck for very long. Going with barbarians being warrior philosophers who can control their incredible rage meant that he was mild tempered until triggered. So, Timoran was the wise one of the group who did his best to not get pulled into the antics of the more impulsive heroes. Hence, it was a shock to some when it was revealed that he was an outcast of his tribe. There was more to it than that, but it created a fun backdrop.
Events of the previous volume meant the heroes were divided to make up for lost time, so Delvin, Sari, and Fizzle were absent. This left Nyx, Timoran, Luke, and Dariana to handle the trial that I had planned. I learned really quickly that I lacked the mind and patience to write a lengthy trial storyline. The courtroom scenes were fun at first, but I realized that I was going to get bored fast. Maybe I sensed this, which is why I sent two of the more trouble-attracting champions on this adventure. Luke and Nyx made sure that things moved along quickly and with plenty of explosions. Not that the chaos they caused was always on purpose.
From the title of Tribe of the Snow Tiger, you can tell that this deals with barbarian tribes. I had actually put some thought into this and had a file where various tribes were noted as well as their animal sign and associated deity. That didn’t really come into play much being giving me a jumping point to explain more about barbarians. Timoran was a good example of them too. They are warriors who live in cities found in some of the harsher, more isolated environments. Not uneducated berserkers who are always looking for a fight. I figured every group has people like that, so why would an entire culture be based around it? So, I thought taking the ‘warrior philosopher’ idea and having it be done by these large, powerful, rage-controlling people would be a nice twist. Never regretted that and it opened the door for more.
There’s another event of Tribe of the Snow Tiger that I was looking forward to writing for years. I kept having trouble rationalizing having two characters fight each other and not making it their final battle. So, I kept throwing in interruptions and other obstacles to have their previous conflicts end without a clear winner. Their first encounter is probably the only one that had one since it kicked off the feud. This meant that I kept putting ideas for this event on a list that I had to indulge in. Probably my favorite fight/battle/slugfest in the entire series. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to end it as well because my delaying it resulted in both characters being favorites. Needed to appease everyone, including myself, and am proud about how it ended.
Would I change anything in this story? The only thing I probably should have done is researched more on how to write court scenes. It was supposed to be a bigger thing than I made it because I didn’t feel confident. Not sure if that would have made the book better or worse, but I do feel like I didn’t step up to a potential challenge. I’ve got other stories where characters are put on trial, so maybe I’ll make up for it.
Questions for fun:
Well, Passover starts tonight. At least my birthday doesn’t fall on it this time. As per tradition that I just made up, I leave you with some funnies. Enjoy!
Being fascinated by space travel since I was a child, I have enjoyed for years reading about it and watching space-travel-related TV shows and movies…
What Is Life in Space Really Like?
Yes, the wolverine is part of the weasel family along with otters, badgers, ferrets, and a bunch of others. You can kind of see it with the short, stocky body and the attitude of a honey badger. At least if you see a picture since most people picture the comic book character first. Many don’t even realize Wolverine is named after the wolverine. Hugh Jackman apparently didn’t know until he played the character. The reason for the connection is because the superhero, like the animal, is short (5’3” in comics), has keen senses, and is very vicious.
Before I dive into some facts about this animal, what is its conversation status? Well, it usually gets listed as least concern because we don’t know their exact population. Wolverines are solitary and have huge home ranges with males covering 240 miles and females covering 50-100 miles. Members of the same sex try not to overlap territory, so you would likely only see a male and female together for mating. The low population density makes it difficult to get an exact count.
Note I said ‘usually’ since in November 2023, US Fish and Wildlife Society added the wolverine to the threatened list. Being cold weather animals, climate change is reducing their range and population since the females make their dens out of snow. Wolverines also get into human developments, which causes conflict. They can be very ferocious and threatening, which leads to conflict. Although, there have not been any reported wolverine attacks on people since we aren’t seen as food.
So, what are some facts?
Now for some pics and video:
Yes. I figured I had to include him.
Legends of Windemere 