New Things
I know it’s been forever since I’ve been here. I have all the usual excuses. Gardening this time of year is intense. Goat care this time of year is intense. One of our dogs needed oral surgery. And yesterday, my very first grandchild came into the world. Plus, I’ve been working on my book and on new book designs for clients. But, still. I have had time here and there. So I’ve been bad. I’ll try to be better.
Yesterday, whilst driving (I’ve been driving a lot because the baby was born forty five minutes to over an hour one way away, depending on traffic) I changed a relationship and the stakes related to that relationship between my MC and a Death vosl. So now I’m excited to write book 2, or it might be book 3, but I’m revising book 1 so with my schedule being so hectic I really can’t afford to start writing ahead of myself. Yet. I’m hoping that later on this year I can start writing ahead. I prefer to have drafts of books ahead of the one I’m working on set down so that I have a good idea of the big picture of the series. It’s the best way I’ve found to work in those little details that foreshadow the things that are to come.
Anyway, this begs the question of what’s a vosl. In these books there are elemental forces or Gods that aren’t in any way human, but are somewhat sentient. They’re just sentient on a level that humans really can’t relate to because humans are too small and the sensory experience is totally different. Anyway, although all living things (and some technically non-living things) respond and interact with these Gods, some of them are better at it than others and some of them can even shape and manipulate those forces in a cooperative way. These are vosls. The ones that can do basic things are called amphors, and the ones that can really channel and almost become something other than human for a while are called rivs. So, for example, an amphor of Light can make little rocks shine with light, while a riv of Light can intensify and pull in starlight to light a dark house through a single open doorway. And stuff like that. I don’t restrict this ability to human beings, by the way. There are animals that can do amphor or riv-like things. It’s the same percentage of living things (and some non-living things) that can interact with the God forces in this way. So a sacred space, like a cave or a mountain or a spring, interacts with and manipulates in a deliberate way one or more Gods. So you can have a glowing creek that flows uphill (Light & Land). It makes the Mother (what they call their world) a very cool but also pretty dangerous place.
I’m really excited to share the Mother and Grim and Liatris and all the other characters of this new series with everyone. But these things take time. I’m working as fast as I can!