Quote from: Shiggy on December 20, 2006, 01:00:05 AM

Terion - Thank you for that, it's awesome!  I have a thing for sporks.

Hehe.   I always imagined that a Spork was a Runcible Spoon.  It was the closest literary definition I could find in my youth....


-LN

I see your avatar. Not only you're one of the most knowledgable Dresden fan, you're a real JB fan. You are offcially on my 'must-be-careful-of' list. 

And, of course, the hat's INCREDIBLE!!! You should bring it to a JB book signing

Thinking up names a chore I like to do. I don't have problems in making them sound elvish as I don't follow the today's general version. Names have meaning, an identity to the soul and I like all my characters' names to have meaning. The baby names book was a laugh as I had the exact same experience (buying one for my sister's firstborn).

I've created a system that making up names and languages easier, which also helps in being bilingual  . The kind of names I use for had a lot of 'a's and 'i's, cos to me, it sounds nicer.
Aneqes (Instinct)
Areaqain (Flowers in bloom)
Iqeas (Purity)
Aqera (Tangible purity)
Isane (Radiance)
Qionit (Most exemplarily)
Suayunu (Faith)

My main character has to learn all the new language by scratch so the readers can follow along. She can get confused with areanai, asaanai and areasaanai (and not asaareanai, which doesn't mean anything) 

I think of a begining and an ending and make characters as I go along, as long as it'll get me from one end to the other. I usually get characters from outside sources, like an existing political figure or a maternal person in the news who did a good deed. I also ready other books to get inspired, particularly in areas of conflict and redemption.

I'm mostly plot-driven, so it depends on the situation in the story on what character to some up with at the right moment. If I like the character, I'll tweak the plot to bright him/her back. Something like that. My characters actions are based on how I would feel if I were in their shoes. That one's tricky as sometimes I had to go back and review what I've written in light of their development to make sure I get them to make the right choice, good/bad.

Ooo… aspiring inspirers. I’m humbled. 

My name is Liza and I too am a fantasy reader. Writer is a vague sense because I made a promised that I get myself a job and grounded before I embark on a magical journey.

But I've made my homework on the future of any books I may be able to publish and it's not looking good. Fiction reading is not a large market here (most of us Asian are business driven and no time for a book and a cup of tea). Majority of English fiction are imported, thus it's all way out of the local price range at the age range I've targeted. I myself sneak into bookstores and stay there for hours; Borders, MPH, Times, Popular, Kinokunya, all the security guards there know me by face and nods at 'that girl who never buys anything'.

But hey, all that doesn't mean I can easily ignore my dreams. Nothing bestseller, just a hardcover with my name and story title on it. I've even looked into self-publishing. I don't have anything I've wrote with me at the moment. It's high-fantasy so I'm currently making an outline of the world I'm working on (characters, species, secret of magic, specific locations, that sort of thing). The Dresden Files really helps me in choosing a particular writing style. Maybe one of these days I'll start on the Codex Alera.

Here's what I got so far. It's five book series but I'm thinking of making it longer as soon as I see how the first set turns out. It's plot driven, in third person and I've even invented two different languages for it (my style though, nothing like the Tolkien's or Forgotten Realms'). I haven't got a title for the books but the series is called Suvon Story, even though it's more of Kia's story.

Book One:
A sequence of actions led a young Malaysian girl into an alternate world called Suvon. Kia's wish to return back to Earth lies in the hands of a baby boy who she calls Niq. Together, they must travel across a war-torn country as refugees to Niq's homeland, where in the capital, Niq's true origins were revealed.

Book Two:
Kia knew that her actions was not without ramifications and she was feeling the pain of its effects as Earth's magic contradicted with her Suvon energies. She returns to Suvon to find a cure and found that years had passed in her absence but none of the wizards or sages could help her foreign condition. It was with Niq, now a student caster on the verge of manhood, who's misadventures led her to a forgotten and very forbidden secret.

Book Three:
Kia had vowed that she would never go back to Suvon and was ready to travel to London permanently to receive her long-lost mother's legacy. But dark creatures attacked her world as a major shift had aligned Suvon's and Earth's timelines together. Kia and her half-brother, Salil, had to walk a fine line through the secrets and deceits of the Nobility Circle, of which Niq, a grown man, was once again at the centre of it.

Book Four:
The secret of Kia's magic branded her as both a traitor and a freak. After being rescued by the leader of the Unshackled rebellion, Kia instead turned toward her enemies' stronghold on a flying island in Suvon, to find Salil and Niq, despite questions regarding their true loyalty. On top of all that, Kia's pain of her magic returned and she wonders if she could even survive long enough to secure the safe passage for the outcasts to Earth.

Final Book:
It was final battle of an event that happened 1200 years ago on Suvon and 170 years ago on Earth and Kia's the catalyst. A painful incident was her final cure but the price she paid with was her faith. She isolates her emotions from her family and friends, keeping focus on saving the future of both her worlds and a possible dark ending. Especially when the man Kia loves was ready to kill himself to protect her and her cause.

Yeah, ambitious for a possible self-publisher. I'm writing the books for me and duly hope to get it distributed. There's just something about browsing for your favorite titles and suddenly seeing your name on the same shelf as theirs. But for now, I have to keep my essentials. Study first, job next, and the dream will come true. 

Ahh, that. 31 December, double food fest. I'm going to a neighbour's house for Christmas. Then I'm going back home to Old Pak Ashim's house and eat red meat. But back to JB's hats...

::imagine JB in a tanjak::

No. Way. 

Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee...!!
::death-by-giggles::

Look at it this way. Now you can say you feel his presence on every damn board in the forum. 

Thought was lost in the wrong forum for a moment. The themes sound nice but it also sounds like potential death-by-giggles. We can try a colour theme. We already got silver-white winter, maybe a speckled black and rainbows like New Year's fireworks or pink for valentine's...

If I were a wizard, I'll be a Blackstaff masquerading as a Warden, quietly looking for White Council traitors.

If I were a supernatural entity, I'll be a summer fae of the trees, skilled in the matters of nourishment and healing.

If I were a gifted mortal, I'll be a teenager with a strange condition where my subconcious controls more of my magic, meaning I'm more powerful when I'm asleep, and I didn't even know I could cast magic.

If I were a mortal, which I already am, ...