I added depth to the choice, different Beastly classifications, different notions to consider. I threw in tons of Beastly description, including an encyclopedia as bonus content at the end of the book.
And so I made sure to highlight that question. If not so much to him, but to the reader. Every new Beast that Barclay encounters, no matter how adorable or monstrous, they’re a possibility. I adored this foundational question most of all, because it permeates the entire story. This concept immediately offered such fun and exciting choice: If you were a Lore Keeper, what kind of Beast would you bond with? In Barclay’s world, there are tons of fantasical animals known as Beasts, and if you form magical bond with one, you’ll share some of its powers yourself-and you’ll thus be dubbed a Lore Keeper. This may be a traditional novel that follows a designated hero-Barclay Thorne, a clever but stubborn mushroom farmer who has no interest in going on an adventure-but if I wanted readers to take up the mantle after Barclay’s story ended, then I needed to offer them choices of their own, buried within the story. I started with a very particular word in that idea: choose. A setting that was perfect for a choose your own adventure. I knew even before I started drafting Wilderlore that I wanted to create a setting a reader would love to visit.
Prior to it, I’ve only published YA fantasy books, all of which are cast in worlds that I could imagine myself into, but would perhaps be frightened to do so. The Accidental Apprentice, the opening of the Wilderlore series, is my first middle grade fantasy novel. Almost like a choose your own adventure, to be carried on by my own imagination.
Meanwhile, fantasy novels offered something. My favorite mystery or thriller or contemporary books might’ve been entertaining, but the stories truly ended when they reached their final page.
It wasn’t so much because the real world bored me, but I already knew my place in it. I loved all books, but there was something special about the stories that transported me to new worlds. I’ve been a devoted fantasy reader since I was a child.
0 kommentar(er)
