Behind-the-Curtain #1: Creating a Universe
Good morning, fellow imaginers, and Happy Easter! This is one of my favorite weekends of the year, a time in which I love to spend with friends and family! If I get to curl up with a good book as well, I consider that time very much well spent! This weekend, I wanted to use my blog post to delve into the Metamorph world and give you all a taste of the behind-the-scenes of the writing process! Today, we will be discussing the thought process behind building the world and where it goes from here.
When I first came up with the concept of Metamorphs, I had originally planned on having a quadrilogy, in order to account for the four years of schooling the students would require. Each book would take place within the space of an entire academic year, and a set number of new students/teachers would be added each year. The cast would be very diverse, as would their powers, making for a rich and complex mini-world that the reader would enjoy.
And then it would end.
Seriously, I had no other thoughts on continuing the series after the four books. I had always figured at that point I would move on to my next series and possibly another genre altogether. But thankfully, that will not happen.
You see, when you begin to write and create your own world, something amazing happens. The characters come alive, their backstories expand, and soon, you begin to realize that there is a gold mine of stories waiting to be told within this magical place. So many of my characters have expanded in terms of their depth far beyond what I had anticipated, and as a result, readers have expressed more interest in them. Naturally, I have leaned into this and responded accordingly, giving the fans more of the characters they’ve grown to appreciate.
But that’s not all.
As I delved into the original characters, I also expanded upon the world itself, designing an environment outside of the confines of Island X.
There was still so much more to explore.
I began to look at other characters, other possibilities, and soon, more ideas came to me. More spin-offs. In fact, as it stands, I have four additional series that will branch off of the original Metamorph series. When I complete the series at the end of this year, I will take some time to finalize my world some more (currently in the process of fleshing out the details) before starting on the others in 2020.
What’s great is that, while they are in the same world, they will be in different genres: Teen & YA urban fantasy, College and New Adult superhero fiction, even Adult military thriller. They will allow me to flex my creative muscles and reach new fans as I continue. I am super excited for this and have implanted several easter eggs (see what I did there?) throughout my current novels that readers will be able to look back on and reference to!
I am thrilled with the response toward the series, and I hope you all are as excited as I am to watch this world grow. I hope you’re enjoying the ride and are immersing yourselves in this new world. Heck, at this point, I shouldn’t simply describe this as a world.
This is a universe.
Welcome, fellow imaginers, to the Alterra Universe…
Until next time, keep imagining!
Photo by Slava Bowman on Unsplash