G'Day,
It seems apt that as I've spent the last three and a half weeks in Australia visiting my darling little grandson, my next featured author should live in Australia too. So before I leave these shores for Thailand please welcome Elita Daniels, author of Before Dawn, Tree of Life Book two. As each and every author I've featured on here, Elita has her own unique way of writing and planning her next novel. Thank you for participating Elita...
The idea for Tree of Life came as an isolated scene in my mind of mother and son running from something or someone who wanted to hurt them. There was no story to speak of until my old dog passed away and the reality of mortality hit me. I became completely obsessive about death and I struggled with the idea of having to lose loved ones and that one day my life would end, too.
With the idea of mortality a story was beginning to take shape. But it wasn't until I came across a picture of Murtagh (a character from Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle) that I realised who my main character was going to be. I decided he would be the little boy and that something terrible would happen to him, and he would have to be raised in the immortal elven realm where he suffers the enhanced realities of his morality. I wanted Nature and the elves to be his antagonists, and I wanted him to be his own enemy, not just the bad guys. I also wanted a love story weaved in there with a dark priestess, which he struggles with, so even love itself becomes an enemy.
The story for Tree of Life came together very quickly then. I went through the process I always do when writing. I keep hundreds of notes. I find as I start writing ideas just keep coming on their own accord, especially at night when I'm in that stage in between awake and asleep, so I try to keep a pen and paper next to the bed. I like to set my mind to dreaming about different scenes in the story, like a movie going on in my head.
I also ask myself a lot of questions, starting with the main character - want does he want, what does he hate? If he wants something unusual, who else wants it and who are they? What world is he in? Who is he going to fall in love with? I find asking myself questions will just keep building and fleshing out the story as I answer them.
I never, ever imagined I would become a writer, even though I've always had a fascination with stories, usually in the form of movies. The two things that motivated me to write were escapism from pain and wanting to be involved in the movie industry. I wrote a screenplay for Project Greenlight and made it to top one hundred with some pretty encouraging feedback. So I decided to try my hand at novel writing with hopes of one day having them adapted into movies.
One of the reasons I wanted to become an actor was to not only lose myself in fantastic roles, but also to work with extraordinary people who share a passion over the same project and sort of become a little family. I'm experiencing a similar satisfaction being an author. Working with a small team of people who get excited over the same project, the story, the cover design, the videos, and everything else that goes into bringing a book to life. It's been a pleasure to work with my friends and family, and all of you who have supported me along the way. We still have a long way to go, but I'm looking forward to it!
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Thanks Elita - and thanks everyone who has been following my seriesof featured authors. My next blog post should see me back in Cyprus at the beginning of March.
May I take this opportunity to thank all of you fab people who have supported me these last few weeks. Both The Assassins' Village and Children of the Plantation, and not forgetting The Surgeon's Blade have done phenomenally well on Amazon. THANK YOU! You all rock!
Have a great week and weekend ahead everyone.
Faithx
It seems apt that as I've spent the last three and a half weeks in Australia visiting my darling little grandson, my next featured author should live in Australia too. So before I leave these shores for Thailand please welcome Elita Daniels, author of Before Dawn, Tree of Life Book two. As each and every author I've featured on here, Elita has her own unique way of writing and planning her next novel. Thank you for participating Elita...
The idea for Tree of Life came as an isolated scene in my mind of mother and son running from something or someone who wanted to hurt them. There was no story to speak of until my old dog passed away and the reality of mortality hit me. I became completely obsessive about death and I struggled with the idea of having to lose loved ones and that one day my life would end, too.
With the idea of mortality a story was beginning to take shape. But it wasn't until I came across a picture of Murtagh (a character from Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle) that I realised who my main character was going to be. I decided he would be the little boy and that something terrible would happen to him, and he would have to be raised in the immortal elven realm where he suffers the enhanced realities of his morality. I wanted Nature and the elves to be his antagonists, and I wanted him to be his own enemy, not just the bad guys. I also wanted a love story weaved in there with a dark priestess, which he struggles with, so even love itself becomes an enemy.
The story for Tree of Life came together very quickly then. I went through the process I always do when writing. I keep hundreds of notes. I find as I start writing ideas just keep coming on their own accord, especially at night when I'm in that stage in between awake and asleep, so I try to keep a pen and paper next to the bed. I like to set my mind to dreaming about different scenes in the story, like a movie going on in my head.
I also ask myself a lot of questions, starting with the main character - want does he want, what does he hate? If he wants something unusual, who else wants it and who are they? What world is he in? Who is he going to fall in love with? I find asking myself questions will just keep building and fleshing out the story as I answer them.
I never, ever imagined I would become a writer, even though I've always had a fascination with stories, usually in the form of movies. The two things that motivated me to write were escapism from pain and wanting to be involved in the movie industry. I wrote a screenplay for Project Greenlight and made it to top one hundred with some pretty encouraging feedback. So I decided to try my hand at novel writing with hopes of one day having them adapted into movies.
One of the reasons I wanted to become an actor was to not only lose myself in fantastic roles, but also to work with extraordinary people who share a passion over the same project and sort of become a little family. I'm experiencing a similar satisfaction being an author. Working with a small team of people who get excited over the same project, the story, the cover design, the videos, and everything else that goes into bringing a book to life. It's been a pleasure to work with my friends and family, and all of you who have supported me along the way. We still have a long way to go, but I'm looking forward to it!
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Thanks Elita - and thanks everyone who has been following my seriesof featured authors. My next blog post should see me back in Cyprus at the beginning of March.
May I take this opportunity to thank all of you fab people who have supported me these last few weeks. Both The Assassins' Village and Children of the Plantation, and not forgetting The Surgeon's Blade have done phenomenally well on Amazon. THANK YOU! You all rock!
Have a great week and weekend ahead everyone.
Faithx
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