We’ve had a lot of rain the past few days, and it apparently made my internet go out.
Yesterday, I was supposed to post Kait’s guest blog post and couldn’t – but now I’ve found there is wifi in the town square of my little town (pop. <500) outside the library, so whooo-hooo!
I’m back online for a few minutes. It’s getting dark out now, so I have to head back home. I won’t be able to get online to follow-up on comments tonight, so please don’t feel like I’m being rude 
Before I lose my connection, I’d better get down to the business of posting her post:
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As I propped open the storm door to let my dogs out this morning, dawn was still a good hour away. The air was cool and hushed, the birds not yet rousing themselves to chirp, and I wasn’t anywhere approaching actual consciousness, despite being vertical. Then I looked off through the glass and saw a brilliant, glowing blue hovering above the fence. I blinked, squinted, stared, wondering if this was some rare form of firefly or phosphorescent dragonfly—or an unlikely fairy sighting, which would have been a marvelous start to the day indeed.
Then I realized I was seeing the reflection of one of the LED lights from the living room behind me. My brain, no doubt, began to weave the beginnings of a story, though it didn’t last past my first cup of tea. But this is a pretty good example of how I tend to see the world. Anything ordinary can lead to the extraordinary.
When I was studying abroad in Paris during college, there was a patio at the back of my residence hall, flanked in by a row of old, gnarled trees. I used to take my tea and breakfast croissant there most days before class, and I’d stare at this one particular knot. It was the size and shape of a human face, and every time I saw it, I imagined Merlin, trapped by Nimueh. I got many hours of entertainment, imagining stories surrounding his release.
I think that’s one of the things that I love the most about writing paranormal romance. My random flights of fancy are entirely possible within the worlds I create, so it would be totally plausible that I looked outside and saw a fairy this morning or that Merlin really was trapped in that tree. I think that’s pretty cool, to be able to go through life and see the possibilities in everyday things. It’s almost as if there’s a veil between our world and the next and sometimes I can see through to the other side. Given my background in psychology, I know perfectly well that writers are the only people who get away with saying such things and not being assessed for schizophrenia.
I think this ability to see the extraordinary in the ordinary is also very important when it comes to world building. Since most readers don’t go around with their heads in the clouds like this, they require some orienting to the story world they are reading about. Whether you’re writing about another planet, another time, or simply a world like ours but with a little something extra, it’s important to show them the familiar, give them something to relate to even as you’re introducing the strange, fascinating, and unusual. It’s like taking a little piece of home with you when you travel. It makes the transition easier.
In any event, I challenge you as a reader (or a writer) to go out and look for the extraordinary in your ordinary. What you find just might surprise you.
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For those who are interested, my debut paranormal romance novella, Forsaken By Shadow, is available at Scribd, Smashwords, Amazon, and the iBookstore. It is the first in the Mirus series.
Banished from their world with his memory wiped, Cade Shepherd doesn’t remember his life as Gage Dempsey, nor the woman he nearly died for. But when Embry Hollister’s father is kidnapped by military scientists, the only one she can turn to is the love from her past. Will Gage remember the Shadow Walker skills he learned from her father? If they survive, will Embry be able to walk away again?
Link to book cover image: http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g54/southernseanachi/SmashwordsCover.jpg
Kait’s writing blog Shadow and Fang
Kait’s cooking blog Pots and Plots
Kait on Twitter
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Since taking time to leave comments always seems like I am intruding on other people’s worlds I generally just make quick posts to Twitter. At times I’m drawn in deeper to place I really would like to be but can’t shed my flippant attitude for fear the exposure will leave me subject to deep wounding.
Of course, other times I can’t help myself and I just have to take a moment, or two if I try to proof my typing, and exclaim that the posting was fabulous. And this is no exception.
I am intrigued and I look forward to delving into Mirus and hope I find it as enjoyable as the Dark Hunter series.
Sure hope its acceptable for an old coot split between writing and performing music and the writing and reading of children stories. . .
Daniel, I hope you never feel like you’re intruding here. And surely hope I’ve not been too much of a smartass in response to your earlier visits!
I do appreciate your stopping by here and especially for giving Kait some feedback. Her book is a very good example of what diligent attention to all the right details can do for self-publishing.
Come back sometimes
I hope you enjoy it, Daniel! Thanks for stopping by!
[...] regained internet after being waterlogged over the weekend. I’m over there talking about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Today I’m over at Curiously Twisted with Dara England and I’m actually talking about [...]
Very evocative, Kait. I agree with you, which leads me to wonder why I gravitate towards writing YA rather than fantasy. That image of Merlin in the tree is going to stay in the back of my mind for a while… Time to reread Malory I think