Legends of Windemere

Man who knows nothing about Imperial Stormtroopers

L.Marie asked: RPGs inspired you in the past. What inspires you now?

I’ve always been inspired by a lot of things, but tabletop RPG’s allowed me to test out my characters.  When I started, I was influenced by comic books, video games, cartoons, movies, books, and mythology.  This has remained constant with a few additions over the years like anime, live-action tv shows, and philosophical discussions.  Side-note: Quest of the Broken-Hearted, which is coming out in early July, is heavily inspired by the Castlevania series.  I loved the idea of writing a story where you have a hero battling through a monster-infested city, but I wanted to do it in a way where you still had development of character.

Colin Noel-Johnson asked:

How about these questions?
What would you change about Windemere if you could start all over again?
Did you ever think about writing an epic sci-fi series?
How did Griffins allow themselves to be ridden?

1. Okay, but I’m taking the second one last.
2. I used to dabble in both science-fiction and fantasy, but I began to move away from sci-fi when it felt like people were becoming too critical of the science part.  I’m not comfortable enough with my space and physics knowledge to do anything that pokes at the theories.  Give me magic and I can explain it, but this isn’t to say I’m avoiding the genre entirely.  I still have an alien bounty hunter that might get a few short story collections at one point and my superhero series has a few tech-based.  If I keep the latter on Earth then I’ll have to be more careful.
3. Griffins are very intelligent and became tamed in a similar fashion to other domesticated animals.  They found a benefit to working with civilized people, which is a more constant food and shelter source.  Funny thing about the ‘allowing’ part of griffin-riding is that they’re very much in control.  The rider can direct them only so much and that’s typically with a signal that warns them of danger or brings their attention to something.  So, there’s no breaking of them like with a wild horse.  It’s much more of a partnership built on trust, respect, and meals.
4. The thought of starting over with Legends of Windemere makes me cringe because I could never imagine going back to the beginning once more.  This series acts as the foundation for all of my other Windemere series, which means changing one thing can have a ripple effect.  For example, if I had to do it again, I’d probably alter the Kira/Luke/Sari love triangle a little to make it run smoother.  Not get rid of it like people have requested.  Yet, that would change the future appearances of any of those who survived the final battle.  This subplot played a major role in Ritual of the Lost Lamb too, so that dynamic would change as well as several of the other stories.  I think the series came out the way it was supposed to come out.
   The more I think about this, the more I wonder about reboots and how that would even look.  I imagine it being done without me, which makes me think that some characters could be cut and others moved up or down in popularity.  Personally, I could see someone delete Delvin or Timoran because they are the two stable heroes.  Queen Trinity would end up being a champion, Nyx might take more of the spotlight, and the love triangle could be thrown out entirely.  The reason I say a lot of this is because they are ‘safe’ decisions that I’ve seen in other stories.  Again, I personally wouldn’t change anything, but I know people do love altering stuff.

So, what change would you make to your story or one you read?