Merry Christmas!

Here's a little holiday cheer inspired by The Empyrical Tales:

          For a four year old girl, Queen’s Day is the most special day of the year. It is the day Father Odin returns to celebrate his meeting with the first queens almost two thousand years ago.

          Zandria remembered the story her mother told her last year. Father Odin is one of the Immortals who lived in Empyrean before there were any queens. When the first queens took their thrones, all of the Immortals left Empyrean. Now every year, Father Odin comes back, delivering gifts to all the children. His gifts are reminders of how the queens saved Empyrean.

          Zandria’s mother told her Father Odin has special helpers called Pitirs. Pitirs do chores for Father Odin and help him plan his trip. They also have the unpleasant task of taking away children who misbehave or disobey the queens’ rules. The Pitirs come to Banookanook before Father Odin and search through the village making sure the children are asleep. Families even leave food out for the Pitirs to keep them happy.

          Queen’s Day is supposed to be special, but this year, for Zandria it was not. This year, Zandria’s mother and father had something to tell her.

          “Sweetheart,” said Zandria’s mother, “you are going to have a new baby brother or baby sister.”

          Zandria loved her parents and did not like the idea of having to share them with anyone.

          That night, when everyone was asleep, Zandria snuck out of their hut. She wanted to find Father Odin and tell him not to bring the new baby. Being four years old, she thought that was how babies might arrive.

          On Queen’s Day Eve, the moon always shone bright and full. Zandria could see all of the huts in her small village. At the far end of the beach, she could see the hundreds of candles that decorated the Palace by the Sea. She knew these colorful lights were meant to help guide Father Odin on his way.

          Even at four, Zandria was a smart girl. Already, she suspected her parents of delivering the single present she got each year. She enjoyed the day of singing and decorating their huts, but she did not believe there was magic in her world now, if there ever was. She did not really expect to meet Father Odin. However, as she walked between the huts with colorfully painted seashells hanging from the eaves, she was determined to stop him from changing her family, if he was real.

          Then, out of the corner of her eye, something dashed between two huts. She spun around to see, but nothing was there. Suddenly, there was a noise behind her. When she turned, she saw a shape jump from one roof to the next. Now, she was quite aware of several figures moving in the darkness around her. This made her wish she had never gotten out of bed. She started to wonder if this could be the Pitirs coming to take her.

          Zandria turned to go back to bed and crashed into a tall figure. The force of her collision knocked her down into the sand. She looked up to see a tall man with a bushy, white beard. He was dressed in red and green robes, holding a crooked wooden staff. Behind him, another of the mysterious figures carried a sack stuffed full of presents.

          “Why are you awake so late, Zandria?” asked a surprisingly gentle voice, when she expected a booming roar from someone his size. She knew it could only be Father Odin. She always listened intently to her mother’s stories and her mother always described him so well.

          “I don’t want it, I don’t want the baby,” she said.

          Father Odin scooped her up with one large, strong hand. He said, “Let me tell you a secret, you are going to have a baby sister soon.”

Zandria wondered how he could know it was a girl baby, not even her parents knew that.

He continued, “Your parents have more than enough love in their hearts for both you and your new sister. This is the time when we are supposed to be thankful for all our gifts. Things will change for you soon and then you will have the most important job and your friendship with your sister will be greater than any gift I could ever give you.”

          Zandria did not quite understand, because four year olds do not always understand these things. Still, she felt a special warmth in her heart that melted away her fears. Zandria knew the warmth came from the knowledge and magic of this special message from Father Odin. She loved her parents and knew deep in her heart they could only give her love in return.

          Father Odin returned her to her hut and left her with a gift. She fell asleep thinking a better present was yet to come. When the baby got here, this would be the best Queen’s Day ever.

Merry Christmas and Happy Queen's Day to all!

I recently had the opportunity to meet and work with Corbin Bernsen. You might know him from L.A. Law, Major League or Psych. I know him as an interesting guy with some new ideas. He was in Orlando and we did a one day shoot for a faith-based movie I am involved with called Heading Home.

While we were on set we talked about one of my favorite shows, Psych. We also had the chance to discuss the importance of positive values in entertainment. We are on the same page in saying there needs to be more books, movies and TV for the family. He and I are both at interesting points in our spiritual journeys as well. I won't put words in his mouth, but he seems to dislike labels as much as I do.

Now, I'm patiently waiting for his feedback on The Fourth Queen. I have to say it was a treat working with him and the very talented members of the rest of the cast and crew.

Here's me spouting

If you're a fan of Star Wars (I am, even after the prequels) then, at least once, you've seen or read an article when Lucas talks about the Hero's Journey.

It's a real thing. It's not something he made up to justify cardboard actors in an effects-laden space opera.

This guy, Joseph Campbell, devoted much of his career to it. He was huge and did a lot with fairy tales and folklore and mythology. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but if you are interested, google him. Trust me, it's worth it.

Anyway, Campbell lays out a blueprint for a Hero's journey. There are necessary steps to become a hero, like humble beginnings, the wise mentor and the hero's death. Not every story has every element, but all have at least some.

When I set out to write The Fourth Queen, I wanted to make a true fairytale. I read alot of Campbell's work and laid out my plot with all the necessary steps for Zandria to become a hero. Yes, Zandria is the hero, regardless of the story's end. Without going over every detail, she comes from humble beginnings and is thrust out of her element. She meets her Obi-Wan in the form of Prince William. She even experiences the Hero's Death in the bell chamber. That is when she truly becomes a hero and is "resurrected" as one. That is where her character arc completes.

Oh yeah, character arc is important to me. If the character never changes, why do we care about them? Sometimes they change for good, other times for worse. At least one character in a story has to have an arc, or I don't consider it a real story. What's the point of only having a story arc with no character arc?

Now you're sitting there thinking, "He ripped off Star Wars." From the beginning of written communication, people told stories and before that they actually talked and told stories. These elements were present from the start and are infinitely older than Lucas, Campbell or Shakespeare, but maybe not Beowulf.

So, I did not borrow from anything, instead I worked really hard, did a lot of research and created a traditional, structured fairytale. Also, it's a really fun story!

Three's Company

The dwarf Lord Vanril, the snail-like General Gusk and the gypsy witch Sasha. Oh, and Adam.

One of these things is not like the others. Three of these people are not nice. Their only goal in life is to bring about the return of the Forgotten Evil.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Don't read this unless you've finished The Fourth Queen, or don't mind spoilers. The three baddies fail and Adam changes sides. When Adam, a ten-year-old boy, is introduced, he is working for the bad guys. He spent his life underground as a slave in a mine. They send him above ground to stop Zandria and Olena in their quest. He gets his revenge by helping the sisters instead.

*****END SPOILER*****

Vanril, Gusk and Sasha were all created as recurring characters. Until the final showdown with the Forgotten Evil, the girls need other nemeses. We probably won't ever learn much more about them than that they like to do mean things. (The preceding sentence might win an award for the most repetitive use of "th")

Adam serves a better purpose. He is the same age as Zandria. While that age is still young, as the characters grow older, their relationship may develop into something more. Adam also becomes one of the identifiable characters for male readers. True, The Fourth Queen is a classic fairytale about two sisters, but boys like fantasy-adventure too.

I needed a guy like Adam to balance the story. Besides, he's a good kid, only a little misunderstood.

There's one other male lead still to be introduced. Before then, I'm going to act like George Lucas. Next post, I will spout off about fairytale structure and the Hero's Journey.

Oooooh, Scary Story...

For the main part of the story, Zandria and Olena are chased by werewolves.

I did not want the girls to meet the principal bad guys in this story. They never encounter Gusk, Vanril or Sasha directly. That left me with the opportunity to maybe bring those three back later. Instead, werewolves!

Are werewolves too scary? They definitely add a sense of tension and urgency to the sisters' journey. The werewolves work well as a constant reminder that Zandria and Olena must keep going. There is also an intense scene involving the werewolves and unicorns. So, yes, they are very scary.

I believe it was Walt Disney who said we need fear. He did not mean outright Stephen King-type terror, but King works from the same principle. Disney employed wicked witches, killer whales, step-sisters and ghosts across his stories. That little bit of uncomfortableness reminds us of where and with who we are safe. Maybe a werewolf jumping out of the shadows gives us a fright, but then a giggle and the reminder that we are surrounded and protected by the ones who love us.

Happy Halloween!

My Girls

After a sweeping introduction to the land of Empyrean, we finally meet the two main characters:

Zandria and Olena

Two sisters born four years apart. They spent their early childhood in the beach side village of Banookanook. My own girls are only eighteen months apart, but the older one definitely acts older and the younger is my baby.

I wrote this story for them, really for all four of my children, but especially for the two girls. Life's hard enough and being a parent makes it that much tougher. Here I had a chance to teach my girls some values, show them how important it is to be strong and independent. I could sneak a lesson into a make believe world of fairies and unicorns. That way, when they reach the age when they know more than me (probably twelve), it will be ingrained and my job will be done.

So yes, Zandria and Olena are my daughters. It's almost like having two sets of daughters. At least with one of the sets, I will have complete control over where they go, who they date, etc. Unfortunately, life is not as easy as coming up with an outline and writing a chapter.

I took some of the best traits of my girls and gave them to Zandria and Olena. I even stole some of their behaviors and idiosyncrasies. That click that Olena does when she has something important to say is real. Then I had to give them some things to make them different and allow them room to grow. My oldest is not nearly as self-centered as Zandria starts out...at least not yet, she's not a teenager.

I gave them a beautiful home and a happy life. Then I took it all away and threw them into a huge adventure. Even with two young girls as the main characters, I needed the story to have a broader appeal. The girls couldn't sit around building sand castles and playing dress-up.

So I sent my girls out into the world of Empyrean and I am going to do my best to keep them safe.

A Little About The Bad Guy

So, The Forgotten Evil kind of sums it up.

He's really old, so much so that he's been forgotten. Literally, there's no one around that remembers him.

Oh, and he's evil, really evil.

The Forgotten Evil will not be seen until the final story, The Last Queen. Until then, he is a shadow and a mystery. Any bad guys that come along in the meantime work in service of this guy. He's the reason they do what they do. The Forgotten Evil is nameless and shapeless. Maybe at one time, he was a person and there will be more on that in Book IV: The First Queen.

For now, he is the man behind the curtain, serving mostly as a plot device.

Being such an absentee master, he still manages to be quite a motivator. In the land of Empyrean where peace has reigned for hundreds of years, the Forgotten Evil has managed to muster quite an army: the snail-like General Gusk, dwarf Lord Vanril, Sasha the gypsy witch, carnival ringleader Raymond Shaydaway, Spynum Begg, Emperor Am-Li. Not to mention the hordes of underlings willing to do mean things: werewolves, Rockhorns, dwarves, half-dino warriors, black cloud monsters, or kappas.

The question is, who will win in the end? The Forgotten Evil or the queens?