Lindsay McCafferty's Blog, page 7
February 20, 2024
Aria Quote
This was a scene that I saw very clearly when I got the idea for Reawakened Flames. I ended up writing it even before the first chapter because I wasn’t sure how to start the book.
A Fantasy Author's Search History Collage
My Sparks Shall Rise series has a heavy emphasis on the struggles of the main characters, particularly mental illness. These are some of the things that I’ve had to look up.
With anxiety and health anxiety, I could pull from my own experience, for the most part.
I looked up yoga, mindfulness, and meditation to see when they came about and where they were developed. They have actually been around for a very long time and were developed in India and the East.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder had to be researched, although I need to do more for future books. Hallucinations and derealization had to be researched more extensively. I used hallucinations stemming from an unknown cause for the character, Vision, although I did look into schizophrenia quite a bit. But the treatment of schizophrenia requires antipsychotic medication, which no one in this medieval world would have access to. I also learned that there are many causes of hallucinations, even an eye condition that causes them.
Mental illness treatment history was equal parts interesting and horrifying. I was primarily interested in medieval times and a period of time afterward. Sometimes, people with mental illnesses were treated kindly, and methods were used that helped them live productive, happy lives. Other times, they were locked up and tortured or thrown out on the street and abused. And the experiments on them, like lobotomies, were disgusting to read about. If you create a fantasy world and show mentally ill people, it’s good to keep in mind how you want them to be treated and do any relevant research if needed.
With anxiety and health anxiety, I could pull from my own experience, for the most part.
I looked up yoga, mindfulness, and meditation to see when they came about and where they were developed. They have actually been around for a very long time and were developed in India and the East.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder had to be researched, although I need to do more for future books. Hallucinations and derealization had to be researched more extensively. I used hallucinations stemming from an unknown cause for the character, Vision, although I did look into schizophrenia quite a bit. But the treatment of schizophrenia requires antipsychotic medication, which no one in this medieval world would have access to. I also learned that there are many causes of hallucinations, even an eye condition that causes them.
Mental illness treatment history was equal parts interesting and horrifying. I was primarily interested in medieval times and a period of time afterward. Sometimes, people with mental illnesses were treated kindly, and methods were used that helped them live productive, happy lives. Other times, they were locked up and tortured or thrown out on the street and abused. And the experiments on them, like lobotomies, were disgusting to read about. If you create a fantasy world and show mentally ill people, it’s good to keep in mind how you want them to be treated and do any relevant research if needed.
January 24, 2024
Aria and Jayce Quote
I’m quite proud of these lines. I wanted to show that Aria felt like she was drowning in the darkness of her issues, and Jayce reminds her that as long as she is still fighting every day, there’s still hope. And she is not lost in the darkness.
January 17, 2024
A Fantasy Author's Search History: What is a knight?
What is a knight? Well, put very simply, a knight is a specific type of mounted medieval fighter. They begin as squires when they are young and train until they achieve their own knighthood. They could even have their own castles and staff.
This was an oops moment for me. I mistakenly assumed that knights was a general name for medieval soldiers, but it's not. I found this out over a year after writing Reawakened Flames when I read "Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction" (Card, Athans, Lake) and after getting into a YouTube channel called Modern History TV.
I hadn’t been sure what to call the fighters in my book and wanted a name that I could use consistently. Otherwise, I was going back and forth between soldiers and warriors. Now, my books are not historical fiction, so I guess my broad usage of "knight" is fine.
January 23, 2023
Landa Quote
This is one of my favorite quotes from "Reawakened Flames." I loved including phoenixes in the story and then being able to write lines like this.
January 2, 2023
Hand-Drawn Map
This is the map that I drew for my designer. The final map turned out much better than I could ever have done. I have a post on my website talking more about it called "How I Made the Map for My Book."
December 19, 2022
Haven Quote
The scene between Haven and young Vision was a difficult one to write. It felt more like Vision asking me what the purpose of her pack is. But it also helped me dig more into the lore of the seer wolves.
December 2, 2022
A Stormy Path First Draft
The first draft of "A Stormy Path" is completed. I still need to add 12 more pages to the manuscript, but it feels good to have taken a wall of notes and turned it into a book.
November 7, 2022
Magnolia Quote
Magnolia's character was originally just a character who was mentioned and then she had her own scene. She will even have a short story in the future.
October 25, 2022
Format Test Copies
When I used Atticus to do new formatting for the first two books, I needed placeholder covers until I knew the final page counts to give to my designer. These covers that I quickly made in Book Brush turned out pretty good for their purpose.
