grievesmen

As I've probably mentioned here or there, the whole thing started with fan fiction. Wrote a story for a prompt community, my partner and amazing beta suggested I try refitting it for sale, so I did.

I didn't expect it to spawn a whole world. I guess once an idea gets loose in my head there's no stopping it, which is a very good thing for a writer. Weird, but good. I'm beginning to vaguely understand the writerly concept of "muse" or "soulbond" which, if you know me from other journals, is frankly rather amusing. (Heh -- aMUSEing!)

Anyway, I'm rambling here. The story world started off in Final Fantasy VII territory, with not-so-subtle shifts on that first piece. I just wanted to see if I could pull it off, convince myself that those two new characters deserved breathing space in their own milieu.

Then I started wondering what other FFVII characters I could do that to: take a basic sketch, and morph it to fit this different magic-filled world.

Honestly? It's more fun than I ever expected.

I'm working on a backstory for Zaxxir, and his connection to Zack Fair is fading with every scene. Except for his hair. Sorry about that, but some things just stick.

I've surprised myself by splitting up Chaos and Vincent, in effect. Their "Oathbound" incarnations work so much better apart, though the one based on Chaos still lives bound to a human. That one is a smartass. And the Vincent-inspired man is still a gunslinger -- what? I couldn't NOT keep that part! -- though his pistol is of Dwarven manufacture.

The Shinentai made their own space in this world, again serving as children of advent in a much larger scheme. I had too much fun devising their names, by the way.

Now, the kinky versions of these stories are probably going to remain outside the full novel/whatever it becomes for publication. Probably, but not definitely. I'm going to see where it all goes, because when one is muse-driven, one is merely a passenger.

It's becoming a bit of a hobby for me, looking at FFVII characters and wondering where their dopplegangers fit into my world. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, or merely funny bits inspired by any of this, let me know -- if I want to use your ideas, I'll ask nicely and promise a lovely mention in the foreword.

Anyway, I've got a bit of rewrite to do on one story, so I'd best be off to that. Peace, all, and stay out of the rain!

You know, usually a writer creates a novel first and then the derivative stories.

I'm going at this bass-ackwards and loving it.

Of course, part of that could be due to my lack of an opening for the novel...either that, or I'm enjoying the erotica aspects too much.

Still, I've recently sent the third story in this abstract series to my favorite ezine. Hopefully they'll have as good a time reading it as I had writing it. This one not only deepens the overall plot quite a bit and expands on the nature of Oathkeeper (Gïordan's sword), but it also marks my first foray into hermaphroditic encounters. It's much more of a supernatural feel than the first two stories, with just a hint of dubious consent -- actually, to be more correct, it's not so much dubcon as extortion, but let's not give too much away here.

As for that pesky novel... I have a chronology in my head and now mostly in a Word doc as well. I've got notes upon notes, an iTunes playlist for inspiration, and a dedicated beta. All I'm lacking...is a beginning. I think I know how I want to do this, but getting the words to cooperate is like trying to coax a spider into a drinking glass when all it wants to do is run up the wall. (I know, weird comparison, but the other day I had to rescue a daddy longlegs from our cats, and, well...mission completed without too much incident, but I'd never say it was easy.)