MAGIC IN MAPS?! DARK ACADEMIA
CHARACTER: Elizabeth Silk, sheltered teen
SETTING: Georgian England ...
CONFLICT: Britain at war ...
CONCLUSION: Escaping her constraints and finding freedom in a new dangerous world
CHARACTER: Elizabeth Silk, sheltered teen
SETTING: Georgian England ...
CONFLICT: Britain at war ...
CONCLUSION: Escaping her constraints and finding freedom in a new dangerous world
A little background ...
As a child I frequently had my nose deep between the pages of a book. I spent my time imagining all sorts of different scenarios invariably prompted by those books, but also films such as The Last Unicorn (1982), The Never Ending Story (1984), Legend (1985) and The Worst Witch (1986). By the age of ten I was dreaming up story ideas and by thirteen writing them down on scraps of paper (alas, now disappeared into the ether) which ranged from magical elves to dastardly vampires. The point I'm making is that it was fantastical worlds which captured my imagination from the very first, and since becoming a professional writer I toyed with the idea that one day I might create my own, one which would have appealed to my younger self.
It's taken some doing. I'm an adult fiction writer first and foremost, and to begin with I found it very difficult to get into a different headspace to produce something for a younger audience. I knew I wanted to address adult themes in whatever I wrote, so MG (middle-grade) fiction wasn't quite going to cut it for me - it became clear very early on I should be writing YA (young-adult) instead. But what I also had to consider was how I could merge my interest in fantasy with something I felt comfortable writing about. This, then, is where the eighteenth century came in! The more I thought about using this era for YA the more I liked the idea ... what better way to introduce a younger generation to the Georgians than making the period accessible to them, by injecting a little bit of magic into its fabric?
There came then a lot of research: reading other YA authors, making myself familiar with the key ingredients needed to write YA at all, then looking at an 18thC timeline and thinking about how I could adapt it, and how I could make two worlds - both 'real' and 'fantasy' co-exist. As with any fantasy story there was a lot of world-building to do, and trying to see just what part my titular character Elizabeth Silk would play in it. Queue #, #, #, a stitching of ingredients ready to be brought to life.
And so, the enchanting yet dangerous world of # was born and along with it Elizabeth, one of my favourite characters I've ever created. She is tenacious, courageous, inspiring, and has a strong moral streak: exactly the kind of person I admired as a child. I hope my readers - of any age - enjoy meeting her and seeing the journey I've taken her on!
It's taken some doing. I'm an adult fiction writer first and foremost, and to begin with I found it very difficult to get into a different headspace to produce something for a younger audience. I knew I wanted to address adult themes in whatever I wrote, so MG (middle-grade) fiction wasn't quite going to cut it for me - it became clear very early on I should be writing YA (young-adult) instead. But what I also had to consider was how I could merge my interest in fantasy with something I felt comfortable writing about. This, then, is where the eighteenth century came in! The more I thought about using this era for YA the more I liked the idea ... what better way to introduce a younger generation to the Georgians than making the period accessible to them, by injecting a little bit of magic into its fabric?
There came then a lot of research: reading other YA authors, making myself familiar with the key ingredients needed to write YA at all, then looking at an 18thC timeline and thinking about how I could adapt it, and how I could make two worlds - both 'real' and 'fantasy' co-exist. As with any fantasy story there was a lot of world-building to do, and trying to see just what part my titular character Elizabeth Silk would play in it. Queue #, #, #, a stitching of ingredients ready to be brought to life.
And so, the enchanting yet dangerous world of # was born and along with it Elizabeth, one of my favourite characters I've ever created. She is tenacious, courageous, inspiring, and has a strong moral streak: exactly the kind of person I admired as a child. I hope my readers - of any age - enjoy meeting her and seeing the journey I've taken her on!
Vision Board
Elizabeth Silk: AI Generated
