Search for Re: Cartazonon.

The Cartazonon.

Image from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wesh_unicorn_statue.jpg

This Indian and north African equine calls deserts and wastes of mountains home.  It possesses a reddish-yellow coat, long mane and tail, and a lengthy horn that is black and shiny.  Although it sounds beautiful, the Cartazonon is not your typical Disneyfied unicorn:  au contrare, it is very aggressive.  It will attack anyone who tries to capture it--no one has managed that feat yet, so the legends go.  Sometimes its agression is unprovoked, attacking people for no reason.  It seems to dislike animals as much as humans, especially lions.  The African native will kill whole prides of them. 

What do I like about them?  Come on.  Killer unicorns?  What is not to like? 

How do they relate to my writing?  Well, I did have a story idea once with evil unicorns, but besides that, folkloric horses gives me ideas on building a better mount for Walker.

Resources: 

• They Bite by Maberry and Kramer
• Giants, Monsters, and Dragons by Carol Rose
• Image from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wesh_unicorn_statue.jpg
  

Search for Re: Boobrie

What is the monster this week?  A neat Scottish creature called a boobrie.

 
It is enormous and birdlike, with black wings and claws like human hands.  The most interesting features about this creature are the eyes and the bill.  The black eyes have a stare that can drive a man insane.  Its bill is a long as a sword and just as deadly, capable of skewering large animals and flying off with them.  It is also capable of emitting a terrifying roar.

The boobrie is similar to the Great Northern Diver, but it has white markings and huge webbed feet.  But do not mistake it for a mere fishing or wading bird.  It prefers land animals, consuming anything that goes near its loch or even shipbound lifestock.  It will tear through wooden rails and nets to reach its prey aboard such vessels; sometimes it even tears through the sailor or fisherman who tries to stop its predation.






What do I find so intriguing about this creature?  The stare and the bill.  Walker sojourns in a world with a predatory bird.  I pictured it about the size of a crow, but I never thought of making it bigger or increasing its bill length or strength.  Nor did I consider making it have a hypnotic gaze.  All very cool things.  Though, I'm considering making it either silent or a mimic, whichever ends up scarier.

Resources: 

• They Bite by Maberry and Kramer
• Giants, Monsters, and Dragons by Carol Rose
• Image one:  http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/Boobrie
• Image two:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gavia_immer2_BS.jpg

Search for Re: Alps

In my quest for vampire folklore, to find something that fits the vampires that are part of the Walker universe, I ran across something called the alp.

The alp is a night predator from Germanic folklore.  They are more like incubi than vampires according to Wikipedia.  Although from what I understand, according to the same resource, they rarely sexually attack the victim. 

Perhaps the incubi connection has more to the with the Old Hag syndrome, which has to do with uncomfortable or suffocating pressure on the chest.  I say that because they sneak in at night, sit on their victim's chest, and increase their weight until the victim can no longer breathe. 

They feed off their victim's vitality, breath, and their terror--that is, while atop their victim, an alp changes the victim's dreams to nightmares and feed off the discharge of terror.  Or according to Wikipedia, alps feed by entering through the victim's mouth or nose as a fine mist and once inside feed on dreams.  Or they may use their long tongue to do the same.  Gross.

Well, the more I looked into the alps, the more I realized they were like my "keshets" in the Walker universe.  My keshets are like a mixture of vampires and succubi/incubi--you know all about the latter, of course.  It was the tongue thing though that made me think of them.  My keshets have a long tongue they stick down inside you, through any handy orifice.  Walker gets an earful, for example.  Anyway, this tongue has a dual purpose.  First, it discharges something like a spider's venom, turning your insides into a Slurpee.  Second, they use it lap or suck you dry.  Yum. 

But I really like the idea of the dream-changing and I see a way to tie it in my creatures.  You see, the keshets are so physically enchanting, the victim is drawn helplessly to them while they work their stuff.  What if, part of that "enchantment" involves some very . . . captivating dreams, so that once they get you close, they keep you close.  You're insides are liquefying, but you don't feel it, because you are off somewhere in la la land doing something far more pleasant than being munched on. 

Folklore is cool, huh?  Where did I find my information about Alps?  Well from Wikipedia and from a cool new book, They Bite by Maberry and Kramer.  You'll probably be seeing more from this book during this month.  After all, I still need some more vampire info.  And I need some cool critters for other worlds in the Walker universe.  Oh, and once my web page gets up and running, I'll see about posting more information creatures like alps, because they have some other quirks too worth noting.

Search for Re: Stagecoaches

One of my new, potential nano ideas involves an Old West type setting, and I decided to research different modes of transportation.  This time, I'm looking into the romanticized stagecoach.  In particular, the model I'm most likely to visualize and emulate is the Concord, called an "imposing cradle on wheels" by Mark Twain.

The ideal for me is to have my main character, temporarily dubbed Walker, be able to ride as guard, not on the stagecoach, but on his own horse.  A horse which is to say a little different than the average horse.  Anyway, reading through The Expressmen, the only mention near what I wanted was this:

"To protect the stages carrying bullion from Comstock country--popular targets of robbers--Wells, Fargo put not only a shotgun guard on the box beside the driver, but another on the top of the coach and two more riding on horseback 50 yards to the rear."

Since my character is going to be under some mental duress, another tidbit from that book was interesting:

"Lacking a doctor to certify a traveler's madness, stage drivers and passengers alike kept a careful eye out for strange behavior.  When incipient delirium was detected in a passenger, he was sometimes forced to stay over at a stage station and, despite his protests, take his chances on the next coach.  Now and then such passengers wandered away from stations in a daze and disappeared.  Journalist Richardson referred to 'stage-craziness' as a recognized malady of the West."

Of course, my character isn't likely to be riding in the coach--although that might be fun due to the instant friction of passengers sleeping on the go while cramped inside coaches.  Anyway, I foresee some interaction between him and the passengers that does not go well, and it would be an interesting for Walker to be left behind at a home station.  Maybe his cool horse can even be taken.

Not to mention potential for trouble on en route, that is, running into robbers or the demonic equivalent of an Indian attack.  Or rather, instead of demonic, a zombie equivalent, since this is novel is set in the same world as Walker's unwritten prequel, a novel idea that was inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  After all, even though I am putting my original nano on the backburner, doesn't mean I have to put zombies (or their kin) there too.

Well that's it for today.  Stay tuned for more Old West research next week.

Search for Re: Jung and King

As I'm not feeling well this week, let's keep this short.  What are we looking at this time?  Psychology.'

First up, an interesting concept called the shadow.

According to Wikipedia:  "In its more destructive aspects the shadow can represent those things  which people do not accept about themselves. Someone, for instance, who identifies as being kind can have a shadow that is harsh or unkind."  Although, there is another side to the shadow.  For "in its more constructive aspects, a person's shadow may  represent hidden positive qualities. This has been referred to as the 'gold in the  shadow'".

However, I prefer to focus on the darker parts.  After all, I want the House to bring out the worse in my people, and if it is the part of them that they are desparately trying to deny, but actually get turned into, all the better.

Next, an equally interesting topic that both Carl Jung and Stephen King talked about.   Heh, never thought those two would go in one sentence together, did ya?  But in his book Danse Macabre, Stephen King sees the Werewolf concept and Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr  Jekyll and Mr Hyde as about the Apollonian and Dionysian conflict.  What is this conflict?  In other words,  Apollo represents the moralistic, intellectual, noble side of us.  Dionysius represents the wild side, the side concerned with physical gratification and impulses.  Apollo is self-control.  Dionysus is the unconstrained. Apollo the light, the Dionysius the dark.  Order, chaos.  You get it.

Anyway, in Stephen King's words, I want to show "the Dionysian psychopath locked up  inside the Apollonian facade of normality . . . but slowly, dreadfully emerging."  I want to strip away the control, and show the shadow and the Dionysius inside my characters, and in the end, I want to show it consume the light, the morals, the order inside of each of the men and women in my story.  Well, maybe not each of them.  Just enough of them to make it interesting :-)

That's it.

Search for Re: A Roman Spin

Well, while looking up ghosts and ghoulies, I ran across lemures.  Also, not long ago, it was Read a Banned Book Week, which got me to thinking about censorship.  For some reason, the  two things crossed in my mind.  So I looked up about the term censor at wikipedia, and found this page.

That's the fun part about research.  You can find one cool thing, and it leads to a fixture in the story that changes everything.  Good when done early on; no so good, when done later in the writing process.  But anyway, what is the fixture in my case?  That the dominant culture in my nano novel is based off the ancient Roman's.  Which is  neat because, of a third reason.  I got this book out of the bargain bin at B&N for my birthday, and been looking for an excuse to use it.

So, right now, I am focusing my Roman research on lemures, homes, and censors. 

On censors.  You see, I have difficulties writing about real world people with real world type jobs.  Even past historical jobs, where I become over focused on getting details perfect.  Which is why many of my protags in my novels have something to do with magic, because the details are my details and I can make it up.  But this nano novel needs people in it as unmagical as possible.  After all, it would be hard to focus on  the weirdness inside them and in the mist, if they are already too weird to start with. 

So, MC#1 is a censor.  More of a morality police, big brother type than a census taker.  Also, I want them to perform acts of censorship in the sense of the word as we know it now.  Plus, they must seem to embody the morality they enforce, and the latter just opens the door wide onto a world of inner conflict, since someone close to MC#1 is corrupt and untouchable because he is also a censor.  MC#1 feels the hypocrisy greatly.

Anyway, some links on censors:

• Roman censor
• Censor
  

Now, how about lemures?  They were basically malefic ghosts and had to be exorcised during certain festivals.  I am going with a form of them instead of zombies, per se.  After all, I  think they'd be a lot more freaky to encounter in a perpetual mist than zombies--and  harder to kill, especially if the typical exorcisms no longer work.  I also thought it would be neat to tie it in with the Festival of Luna (discovered in Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome).  On that day, the cover of the ritual pit (mundus) was removed and ghosts were allowed to walk around--and although this festival involves the "blessed dead", that's just asking for trouble of the zombie-like sort in my world.

Some links on lemures and lemuria, the festival associated with them, and the mundus.

• Lemures
• Lemuria Festival
• Lemuria
• Lemuralia
• Mundus, Gate to the Underworld

Finally, since I am going with a Romanesque culture, I need a Romanesque haunted house.   This is my hardest research thus far, because so many things will be going on inside this place, I have to be able to see the house and rooms clearly in my head.  And what I found isn't quite cutting it.  So, all I can do is keep looking until something clicks.

Links:

• Housing
• Roman House
• Roman Buildings
• Roman Homes
• Roman Houses

Well, that's it so far.  Enjoy!

Search for Re: Start Researching Your Nano.

Since next month is Nano Month, it's time to prepare for a brand spanking new this month.  I already have my primary novel idea.  I'd love to do bee-geisha, but that requires way too much research and besides, I started on the first chapter.  Instead, I'm doing a novel that is best summed as The Mist meets Lost meets 1804.  With zombies.  Yup, when two of the influences are Stephen King works, you can guess what sort of novel this will be.  Dark.  Or maybe Semi-Dark.  There is the Lost weirdness and psychology thrown into the mix.  After all, I love how the show delves into the characters' lives, into how the characters work out personal, past, and situational problems on the Island.  My novel has people thrown in a crucible, put over a fire, all to see how they react.

Anyway, I will be doing an idea post later this week, but for those who have theirs already, research is the next step.  A venture that can be as daunting as coming up with a viable novel plan in a single month.  So, the solution?  Start simple.  Ask yourself, what are the main parts of your idea? 

Well, let's see.  My nano concept is thusly:  Several strangers seek refuge from a zombie outbreak in an abandoned mansion, and find the horrors within themselves and these walls are greater than those without.   Psychological dark fantasy.  Obvious research topics?  Well, remember that "meets" summary?  Let's use that for a start-up breakdown.

• Mist:  What makes mist/fog.  What are its effects on sensory information.  Unusual real mists/fogs.  Pictures of mist/fog for visual stimulation.  Other novels and movies written about mists or fog (purely for research purposes, of course ;-).
• Lost:  Point of view techniques (since I have a cast of a dozen and maybe a house).  Effects of isolation.  Psychology in general.  Survival techniques.  Small group behavior.
• 1804:  Haunted houses.  Bizarre and weird places and phenomena.  Poltergeists/ghosts.  Sacrifices (because my house is a weirdo).
  

And let's not forget:

• Zombies:  Types--voodoo or Night of the Living Dead.  Related monsters, i.e., ghouls, etc.  Similar novels/movies.
  

Every week at this month, I'll expand my beginning list, provide cool details of what I found, link to helpful research techniques and material on my subjects, and reveal how it affects the foundation of my novel. 

So, what are we waiting for?  Let's get busy.

Bee Geisha Research

Yes, yes, I know. I can't seem to concentrate on one novel at a time. Unless I get into the "groove", the obsessive phase where I can write for hours on end and don't even get up if mildly hungry, I usually don't.

So here's a growing list of bee geisha books I'm using as research, because you see, it's damn hard to find what I want in one source. So I have to go across so many different subjects to get what I need. Other research topics are going to be makeup and dress, etiquette, tattoos, courtesans, dance, tea ceremony, and body language. That's just to start with.

I don't think I ever did this much research for a novel before--sure I've read about four or five books, plus dozens of articles, for EoS, but that's was relatively easy. Look up Aztecs, find Aztec information, there you go.

To find out what I need for bee geisha, not only am I going to have look up the two main topics, bees and geisha, but Japanese and Chinese culture and daily life, Greek culture and daily life, and any "art" that the "geisha" in my story will have to learn.

Like manners, how to dress, make up, tea ceremony, dances. They will have to read body language like a pro and be able to control any conversation with their own words--so books about speaking. Oh and feng shui is also going to have a role in this. I'm sure I'll discover tons of more stuff.

But for now, here is my starter list.

Ios's bee-geisha-research book montage

Ios's favorite books »