And out of the depths
of despair came my latest novel, The Brede Chronicles. I’d spent nearly a year
depressed and disinterested, unable to write one creative word, convinced I’d
never produce another novel and if I did probably no one would care. But I do
have a strange little habit—you could call it compulsion—and that is to scour
the Internet and find interesting photos and pictures that for some reason
speak to me. It can be aliens, alpha males, or avatars but if they evoke
something in me, I collect them.
I especially collect
photos, pictures, and articles on ancient history particularly Egypt. I’ve been
in love with the ancient Egyptian world since my mother bought me the World
Book Encyclopedia set for my eighth birthday and I read each one including the
reference books (LOL!). One of the most impressive bits of information I came
across was the process of “mummification” done by the Egyptians. I’ll spare you
the details but I never stopped obsessing about that ancient culture and people
and their magnificent civilization.
Just in case you’re
wondering what the heck this has to do with a science fiction novel, hang in
there please. It has a lot to do with it—a lot. I pulled up every image of Egypt I could find
or already had and indulged in their eye candy for months, not really sure what
to do with them if anything. An automated writing prompt started me thinking
about mixing cultures and timelines, and since I am primarily a science fiction
author that kicked off the creative process that had been in neutral gear for
at least six months. I don’t know whether it was sheer relief at having those
artistic juices flowing again or just the idea of an interesting
setting/story/characterization, but I was grateful and decided to focus on the
story that would eventually become The Brede Chronicles. I had to think hard
about it. What exactly did I want to do with the new story? After the dark,
intense Isadora DayStar, I wanted something a bit more upbeat, a bit easier on
the emotions. So I thought.
What would happen if
the entire Earth’s economy and ecology took a nosedive 100 years from now? Who
would save us? Aliens? What if they were a positive for humanity rather than
the negative almost always depicted, at least economically? What would the
revamped Earth and its residents be like in the next 100 years? What would be
kept culturally and what would be tossed out? What has humanity kept over the
millennia? Specifically, what has Egypt kept over the millennia? I pulled up
those photos, dug up information, and shifted my creativity into overdrive.
First, as with humanity
from even before Egyptian beginnings, was livestock. The earliest peoples
shepherded livestock and along the life-giving Nile River they harvested their
food from its blessed annual flooding. Eventually they taught themselves crafts
and trading. As of 2014, the souks (trading bazaars) namely the Khan Al Khalili,
the biggest and most well known in Cairo, still do thriving tourist business
just as they did thousands of years ago. That trading and marketplace sold and
still sells live animals, chickens, goats, sheep, and plain and fine cloth and
rugs. That stayed.
I needed characters and
Alekzander Brede was the first of all. I started with his name. Brede. It just
sounded good. For me, names have to have a ring to them, a cadence. They have
to be recognizable without being too simple. Now for a first name: I started in
the A’s and came across Alexander. Alexander Brede. Yup, it had that ring. But
it was too simple, too common for an ice-cold alpha male alien/human. Hmm. I
looked at the different spellings and saw Alekzander. That was it. It looked
harder, tougher, more edgy with the 'k' and 'z' in it. Only later would I go back
and find that the definition of the name Brede meant ice! Perfect!
Now I needed a heroine.
I didn’t want some beautiful female with long tresses and hypnotic eyes. No,
this character was different. She was a scamp in love…with Alekzander Brede.
She was a street orphan, a terrible hustler who thought herself particularly
gifted in the art of theft and scamming but wasn’t. Her name? Again I went to the names and got
to E. Elektra, she told me. Elektra what? I asked. Elektra Tate. That did it.
She was different from the rest of the humans of New Cairo, Egypt. She had pale
blonde hair and blue eyes. And an uneven grin that irritated Alekzander Brede
to no end. Oh yeah, these two were a pair alright.
Now, just in case you
think this is all a bit too pedantic, this is how I got this book done and sold
to a publisher. This book was a sort of salvation for me and my writing. I
became obsessed with it, as I said. It rescued me from the depths of despair and
saved me by setting me in the world of the past, only future.
I loved this book. I
loved the characters and even when others didn’t I still believed in it. And I
still do.
If you’ve learned anything
from this long lecture-like exposition, it’s this: believe in your story. Believe in it! And someone somewhere—the right someone—will believe in it too.
Guest Blogger Bio
After an extended detour through the entertainment industry,
P.I. Barrington has returned to fiction author. Among her experience are journalism,
radio air talent and the music industry. She lives in Southern California. Her work includes Future Imperfect Trilogy (Crucifying Angel, Miraculous
Deception, Final Deceit) through Desert Breeze Publishing, Inamorata Crossing/Borealis 1: A Space Opera through Desert Breeze
Publishing, Isadora DayStar (self-published), The Button Hollow Chronicles: The Leaf Peeper Murders through
Mainly Murder Press, as well as some free stories for your reading pleasure on ReadWave.com & Wattpad.com.
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