The Iridescent Universe... What is it?
Plain and simple, the Iridescent Universe is the universe my stories take place in. It started a very, very long time ago when I did a little thought experiment. I don’t remember the exact date, but I was a teen, judging on the dates on some of my Word files (the oldest one I still have is dated 2010, may have been others before, but I've lost data from two computers over the years). I’d written a couple books and I had a character in one that I thought would be hilarious if hanging out with a character in another.
So, I wrote a tiny little scene where the two met. It was funny… and bloody. And a bit stab-y. It was horribly written, upon rereading, but I see what I found in value from the exercise.
More recently, in the last eight-ish years, I’ve done a lot of work to make it make sense. I wanted every book and series to have its own story, but I also want every story to impact a larger Universal story. Some of these things will be little, some very large and important.
To do this, I wrote the last book in my universe. (Sort of, okay, it’s a WIP, but I know what happens. It’s being plotted in my pants-y sort of way) I know where characters end up, what happens, and why. I know secrets. I know the good guys. I know the bad guys. I know their goals… and I understand and sympathize with both sides. I know the people with the most power. I know the most influential. I have universally constant powers and concepts. For instance, the magic systems in the whole universe are largely the same, even if different cultures have different approaches or ways of speaking about it (but they work the same way). I know some of who will live and die in the end (these things always end up changing though when I finally write them out).
I also have a pretty good idea of where most of my stories will fall on the timeline of the universe as well.
Why did I name it the Iridescent Universe?
It was not my first pick. Nothing was rolling off the tongue. I almost picked the Unhara Universe (which makes sense in context of my books, but heavily favors one series and I didn’t want to do that). I had a couple other ideas, but they were spoiler-heavy (so not saying anything here).
Then I thought more about a power that exists throughout the Universe. Annnnd since Opalescent Universe didn’t sound great and Dark Universe seemed too bleak (though it was a top contender), I shifted to Iridescent Universe.
And I was like, huh, I like that. It captures a thing that’s important in my universe. It rolls off the tongue. And Iridescent Books sounds good too. Okay, cool. (Does it also reference one of my favorite songs, which I didn’t realize until I was already sold on the idea? Yes. Yay happy accidents.)
Every book and series in the universe (except for a couple fun side-adventures I have planned) will make total sense and be complete stories on their own. But in every story, I will put hints to the bigger things at play throughout. Like in an upcoming title Again, there’s a character that changes things who is meddling with things a bit. It seems strange and a little curious, but not so far from the reality that it can be brushed off, but what they do has a large impact further down the line. My first book Listen includes the strongest magical being in the universe. The Ruby of Idree has two world hoppers and a re-born soul in it (literally, adoption has made for the most messed up family tree of all time, I have it written down and it’s hilarious to me).
There will be a lot of things that cross over through the books I write. Easter eggs that some people will take note of and appreciate if they’ve read a lot of my work, but also a large story building along the way. Major pieces pulling themselves forwards. There will be abilities explained in some books that you may go “OH! That’s what that other character in another series had too!” Some characters may be reborn from other planets, pay attention to certain phrases or people who feel a little… weird or have strange memories they can’t quite figure out. (Some of them are very aware of their previous lives though.)
I do have some stories that aren’t part of the universe, but when those crop up, I’ll make sure to inform you that they aren’t part of the universe.
If you want to know how meta this is going to be, my penname was picked with extreme care in regards to the story I’m telling in-universe.
If you’ve read my first two books it may seem totally innocuous. And yet, there are multiple universe-related things hidden in them. I hope to keep it that way, that I can keep subtle things peppered throughout. But it won’t always be subtle. Some will be very explicit. Some series, like the Warrior and Mage series, will explain a few staples of the universe in a clear way. While things like the Unhara Chronicles will dig into more detail-oriented staples.
The book I’m editing now, Again, also has a lot of universe lore in it. A particular emphasis is placed on the soul and spiritual abilities in that story. That’s a blog post all to itself. The spiritual abilities are their own universal constant fun thing (not quite magic, but a magic system if that makes sense?).
Something that will exist in one series, might be called something else on another planet. Some characters may pop up again. Magic from one place might show up somewhere else. It’s going to be a whole mess of things.
The symbol that I use on the spines as my publishing symbol is also the symbol for the Iridescent Universe as a whole. I did end up taking that from The Unhara Chronicles (a series in the ‘Verse). On that particular planet the symbol represents choice, free will, decisions, life-path—that sort of thing. It’s in dragon tongue, so the exact meaning depends on how you pronounce it and how you write it (world-building for later down the line).
The points represent all the ways you can go, and the star’s inter-connected, never-ending line, shows that there’s always more paths, more choices you can make, things you can do, even if it feels like there isn’t. I like the idea of that and feel it is incredibly important in life and in the context of the universe. Free will and choice are very important as themes throughout my stories, so the symbol felt very fitting.
The only other symbol I considered was the Thratva dragon sigil (again, later work). That one is a symbol of strength of character and life. I liked it… but I think my current one makes more sense in context for the whole ‘verse.
There will be a lot more to this, but I’m not out here about to spoil my whole universe. I’d like ya’ll to be able to pick up these things organically as you read. To see the little threads or sometimes huge ones, I weave between stories.
I’ll probably do a post about spiritual abilities later, because my writing group finds it intriguing and wanted to know more as they read Again, so I’m going to get ahead on that for you.
Have a good one, everyone!
Take care!
-M
So, I wrote a tiny little scene where the two met. It was funny… and bloody. And a bit stab-y. It was horribly written, upon rereading, but I see what I found in value from the exercise.
More recently, in the last eight-ish years, I’ve done a lot of work to make it make sense. I wanted every book and series to have its own story, but I also want every story to impact a larger Universal story. Some of these things will be little, some very large and important.
To do this, I wrote the last book in my universe. (Sort of, okay, it’s a WIP, but I know what happens. It’s being plotted in my pants-y sort of way) I know where characters end up, what happens, and why. I know secrets. I know the good guys. I know the bad guys. I know their goals… and I understand and sympathize with both sides. I know the people with the most power. I know the most influential. I have universally constant powers and concepts. For instance, the magic systems in the whole universe are largely the same, even if different cultures have different approaches or ways of speaking about it (but they work the same way). I know some of who will live and die in the end (these things always end up changing though when I finally write them out).
I also have a pretty good idea of where most of my stories will fall on the timeline of the universe as well.
Why did I name it the Iridescent Universe?
It was not my first pick. Nothing was rolling off the tongue. I almost picked the Unhara Universe (which makes sense in context of my books, but heavily favors one series and I didn’t want to do that). I had a couple other ideas, but they were spoiler-heavy (so not saying anything here).
Then I thought more about a power that exists throughout the Universe. Annnnd since Opalescent Universe didn’t sound great and Dark Universe seemed too bleak (though it was a top contender), I shifted to Iridescent Universe.
And I was like, huh, I like that. It captures a thing that’s important in my universe. It rolls off the tongue. And Iridescent Books sounds good too. Okay, cool. (Does it also reference one of my favorite songs, which I didn’t realize until I was already sold on the idea? Yes. Yay happy accidents.)
Every book and series in the universe (except for a couple fun side-adventures I have planned) will make total sense and be complete stories on their own. But in every story, I will put hints to the bigger things at play throughout. Like in an upcoming title Again, there’s a character that changes things who is meddling with things a bit. It seems strange and a little curious, but not so far from the reality that it can be brushed off, but what they do has a large impact further down the line. My first book Listen includes the strongest magical being in the universe. The Ruby of Idree has two world hoppers and a re-born soul in it (literally, adoption has made for the most messed up family tree of all time, I have it written down and it’s hilarious to me).
There will be a lot of things that cross over through the books I write. Easter eggs that some people will take note of and appreciate if they’ve read a lot of my work, but also a large story building along the way. Major pieces pulling themselves forwards. There will be abilities explained in some books that you may go “OH! That’s what that other character in another series had too!” Some characters may be reborn from other planets, pay attention to certain phrases or people who feel a little… weird or have strange memories they can’t quite figure out. (Some of them are very aware of their previous lives though.)
I do have some stories that aren’t part of the universe, but when those crop up, I’ll make sure to inform you that they aren’t part of the universe.
If you want to know how meta this is going to be, my penname was picked with extreme care in regards to the story I’m telling in-universe.
If you’ve read my first two books it may seem totally innocuous. And yet, there are multiple universe-related things hidden in them. I hope to keep it that way, that I can keep subtle things peppered throughout. But it won’t always be subtle. Some will be very explicit. Some series, like the Warrior and Mage series, will explain a few staples of the universe in a clear way. While things like the Unhara Chronicles will dig into more detail-oriented staples.
The book I’m editing now, Again, also has a lot of universe lore in it. A particular emphasis is placed on the soul and spiritual abilities in that story. That’s a blog post all to itself. The spiritual abilities are their own universal constant fun thing (not quite magic, but a magic system if that makes sense?).
Something that will exist in one series, might be called something else on another planet. Some characters may pop up again. Magic from one place might show up somewhere else. It’s going to be a whole mess of things.
The symbol that I use on the spines as my publishing symbol is also the symbol for the Iridescent Universe as a whole. I did end up taking that from The Unhara Chronicles (a series in the ‘Verse). On that particular planet the symbol represents choice, free will, decisions, life-path—that sort of thing. It’s in dragon tongue, so the exact meaning depends on how you pronounce it and how you write it (world-building for later down the line).
The points represent all the ways you can go, and the star’s inter-connected, never-ending line, shows that there’s always more paths, more choices you can make, things you can do, even if it feels like there isn’t. I like the idea of that and feel it is incredibly important in life and in the context of the universe. Free will and choice are very important as themes throughout my stories, so the symbol felt very fitting.
The only other symbol I considered was the Thratva dragon sigil (again, later work). That one is a symbol of strength of character and life. I liked it… but I think my current one makes more sense in context for the whole ‘verse.
There will be a lot more to this, but I’m not out here about to spoil my whole universe. I’d like ya’ll to be able to pick up these things organically as you read. To see the little threads or sometimes huge ones, I weave between stories.
I’ll probably do a post about spiritual abilities later, because my writing group finds it intriguing and wanted to know more as they read Again, so I’m going to get ahead on that for you.
Have a good one, everyone!
Take care!
-M
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