Migrating My Blog

Good day readers!

I have decided to centralise my online presence.  Since I am no longer using Google Sites for my website and Weebly has a blog function I will be posting new content on my Weebly website: http://katarinaclaire.weebly.com/

Also, there is a sign-up field on the Home page where you can apply to receive monthly updates about my projects and posts.  Newsletters will be sent at the beginning of a month for the previous one.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and I hope to see you at the new location!

Cheers!

Illustration of a lush, green beside skeletal leaf
© Katarina Claire.

The Rules' Reality

Is a stable society achievable without oversight?  Perhaps it depends on what you consider a 'stable society'. 

The Rules trilogy is my attempt at a deeper look at humanity - whether we can be charged with our own future or whether we must be controlled to avoid catastrophe born of selfish, narrow-sighted desire.   The incredibly complex nature of this debate is why I ultimately decided to focus my attention on 'Black Panther' since I'd like to publish at least one book before I'm thirty.  Around my correspondence with the wonderful Boxjelly1 for that novel I am editing Book 2 of the Rules trilogy, trying to connect threads of narratives into a cohesive vision.  The first big challenge was place names.  Since this is the first real 'epic fantasty' I've ever attempted I have run into the challenge of visualising a world while keeping its coordinates, place names, and cultures straight.  It's been an interesting, not always fun task.

Besides the world's physical complexity there's the spiritual aspect which is its heart, but I'm still not 100% certain I completely grasp it.  This aspect consists of an ingrained system of rewards and punishments for behaviour which is at once separate from and linked to the world's energy.  I'm hoping this passage is too abstract to be much of a spoiler.  It's abstractness is what makes it fascinating yet enormously challenging to capture in narrative.  As a story told from a first person perspective the audience must learn with and be plagued by the limitations of their insight into this world.  I had no idea when I began this piece that it would be as complex as it is trying to be.  The feeling I have as I work with it is akin to what I felt when contemplating a series where individuals explore sections of the human brain: incredibly intrigued yet sensing I am out of my depth.

As I make progress editing I am gradually becoming more confident.  It's still a ways from being ready for publication but I know that I will be proud once it is finally finished.  After all, it's my first trilogy and, even if I'm not wholly successful in attaining my vision for it, the series will still be a great achievement.

An image whose significance for this trilogy comes in Book 3.
Image courtesy of ur1crazedupfruitloop

Writing as You're 'Starting Your Life'‏

Every writer encounters the challenge of finding time to write.  This is particularly tricky when you're a young adult expected to be 'starting your life'.

Once post-secondary is completed you have to find a job, establish yourself in your field, pay the bills, and balance a social life.  Soon after (hopefully) achieving some stability in your working life one is contemplating settling down with a partner, starting a family, maybe buying a home.  Before you know it you're in your late thirties and writing has taken a seat back on the bumper.  This is something I would like to avoid if at all possible.  I want writing to be integrated into my life so that, even if it's just a few lines a day, I never completely lose touch with the medium.

The next question to answer then is 'what type of writing do I want to do'?  Despite my practiced ability to construct essays (thank you four years of University English) I vastly prefer the narrative form.  Even once one has hit upon this preference, however, there are myriads of choices.  I'm fortunate to have written a fanfiction that continues to garner appreciation from the internet community but with that appreciation comes the demand for more of the like.  While I'd already contemplated a sequel to the work I am also receiving requests/prompts to develop the ideas of others in the community.  Since my intention is to put the majority of my attention toward my original works I am having to turn down these requests and encourage their sources to pursue their own inspiration.

At least it is nice to have one's literary skills appreciated so I am thankful for the time all my readers take to supply me with imaginative fodder.

As for my original works I have discovered a fantastic companion in Boxjelly . Her story 'Princess of Prongs' introduced me to her style and from the first chapter I knew this was an author I wanted to follow.  Her hold of language, expansive imagination and characterisation makes every one of her stories a pleasure to read.  After I left a review stating the like on the above mentioned story she contacted me and the two of us have begun a literary exchange, assisting one another in improving our stories.  I am so thankful to have her trained eye and masterful awareness of narrative to assist me and look forward to our continued correspondence.

Boxjelly1's deviantart.com Profile: http://boxjelly1.deviantart.com/