A Map is All You Need!

No fantasy book is complete without a Map. It’s your invitation to go places, and explore. Not to mention it is very handy for making sure it takes the proper amount of time to get from point A to point B... something I am a little, erm, obsessive about.

So how does one go about making a Map? Good question! I suspect I might enroll myself in some cartography classes (or hire a cartographer) eventually, but for now, this is how I'm going about making the map for my Phoenix Trilogy.

Rough Sketch

It all started with an idea. I wrote the very first book with no map at all, but when I got to revising for posting on Protagonize I needed a map to figure out timing. So, I made this rough sketch of what I thought Vervell and part of Azure looked like.

When I got to revising the second book, I needed something more. My map had no scale, and I needed more detail. Thus this, my second, and more detailed, version was born!

Detailed Sketch

Then I got into these whole world building exercises and found a link to some web pages about building a planet, which emphasizes there really aren’t planets of sand or forests or ice (Bonus 1).

One of the other points in the world building was that maps don’t have to be free handed. One way is to trace old maps, so I bought myself a World Atlas. I wish I could have the one I used to pour over when growing up, but the one I bought isn’t bad. It’s on the environmental side, but that means it has useful world maps, that show currents and climates.

Then I got to talking with Charley. We’ve always had a sense that our Phoenix and Aeserion trilogies take place on the same world. Both trilogies are set in a similar era of human evolution. And then there was the character invasions of each other’s plots in the third books, without thought to continuity! Anyway, I offered to layout her world of Cumnor and my world of Videra on one map.

Charley's Sketch

So this April, after Charley sent me this lovely sketch, and a barrage of email exchanges, I got out my tracing paper and atlas. Using one of the world maps, I began tracing land boarders and country boarders, mixing and matching, reversing and inverting, until I was relatively happy with the result.

After some more e-mails and some reconsiderations of the amount of water necessary, I finally have... The Map!

I’m still figuring it out – I’ve got the currents (dark blue lines in the ocean), mountain ranges (the grey/silver lines on the land), and major lakes and rivers (landlocked blue obviously). Now I need to work on climates and vegetation cover.

The Map!

Cumnor is solely Charley’s territory. She is the overlord supreme and is tackling at least four countries with, I don’t know how many, deities. (Bonus 2)

Videra is mine. Since Sarah’s from the USA Midwest, I felt the need to turn her world even more upside down, so Vervell,  Azure and the Areni Plains are actually located in the southern hemisphere and a mirror image from before. I, however, have stuck with two Gods for the entire continent. (Bonus 3)

The Pontus Isles, and Draconia are collaborative territories. They may or may not feature in our novels. Yet, they are there, just waiting for a mischievous Demi-God (or two) to set things in motion. The lonely Apanati Islands, however, are mine. I have a lament to write, which I intend to set there. (Bonus 4)

BONUSES

Now if you’ve been wondering what those Bonuses are... Well they are questions for you to answer.

1. What is the names of the ‘planets’ I reference and what universe do they belong to? – 4 possible points
2. Where is the Errion and Skatha Peninsula located, and what parts of the world did I use for this continent – 2+ possible points
3. Where is Azure, Vervell and the Areni Plains located and what parts of the world did I use for this continent? – 2+ possible points
4. What parts of the world did I use for these Island groups? – 4 possible points

E-mail me your answers (elorithryn at gmail dot com) by June 1st. The person with the most points gets to choose one prize from the list below. I’ll let you know the results in my June 6th post, though I'll e-mail the winner asking for their preference.

• A scaled sketch of your map
• Editing on up to 2,000 words of prose
• A guest blog post on you blog (you pick the topic)
• Post as a guest on my blog
• Pick a topic for me to blog about

The Delinquent Blog

Normally I try to post something on Tuesday or Wednesday, while my hubby plays hockey, but I failed at that. Now, I’m not apologizing, but I thought you might be interested in why. You see, I’ve been map making. :}

On Tuesday night, I got so absorbed into making my map that I stayed up until midnight. And then last night I was up till eleven working on the same map. But, what map, you might ask? Why, the one for the city state of Solaris.

Solaris is the name of the city state in which I’ve set the Choose Your Own Adventure, The Prisoners, I blogged about a bit ago. I’ve got two wonderful women helping me with the project, Moonwalker and AmandaQuirky. We’re each taking a character to write for and see if we can’t get this interwoven tale going.

Anyway, back to the map. It’s nearly done. I’ve got some coloring to do and than I will be scanning it to share with my coconspirators. Yes, I’m probably going all out on the map, but at least it’s only one city, not a whole country or world. It also took two drafts and umpteen erasures to get it right. Okay so I’m a perfectionist too.

But just wait! It’ll look awesome. *grin*

:} Cathryn Leigh

Family, Whine and Cheese

“Next time you whine I expect you to serve it properly!”

At least so says my Mother-in-law to my son. I can’t blame her. Brendan is stuck in that wonderful whining phase. Just about every request he makes is in that petulant whining tone that drive parents crazy. The only thing that tops it off more is the crying at every little thing that doesn’t go his way.

The pasta falls off his plate as he mixes it with catsup vigorously. “Whaaaa”

The cherry on his ice cream Sunday falls down the side. “Whaaa”

The PJs I pull out for him to put on aren’t the one he wanted. “Whaaaa.”

I think you get the idea. We’re working on getting him to use his words. He’s got plenty of them. He uses them with Fiona enough, or when he’s stalling bedtime by telling you about his day. Fiona did the same thing when she was his age. Thankfully, she grew out of the phase right before he went into it. Unfortunately, there was barely a pause from one going out until the other went in.

However, before you get the utterly wrong idea about our kids, they are great. As I said, Fiona’s grown out of the whining. She’ll still burst into tears when she doesn’t get her way, or if she thinks you’re mad, or misunderstood her. That would be a trait inherited from me, at least, the being sensitive to criticism.

Brendan is just frustrated that daycare hasn’t moved him up to the next class yet. He’s definitely ready, though he won’t be four until October. My suspicion is that his attitude will drastically improve once he’s in the new class and learning new things. Last year, when he was ready to move up but hadn’t yet, his good behavior took a dive at daycare. So at least this time he’s not taking it out on his friends, but on us at home.
That’s the way it is for parents isn’t it? Everyone tells us how well behaved our children are and all the awesome things they can do. Then my husband and I look at each other and wonder, “Are they talking about the same kids we know and love?” I do have to say they can be very well behaved (like right now cooperating in using what used to be my computer). Having them twenty-two months apart was a huge stress in the beginning, but they do play so well together, most of the time.

Still I can’t wait until they can serve me whine properly; in twenty years. And how will I expect my whine? Why with cheese, crackers, fruit and chocolate of course!

:} Cathryn Leigh
(Can you believe I managed to write that in 30 minutes while the kids were still up?)
Preposterous! *grin*

Running a Prose Competition

I think it is appropriate this Tuesday to talk about the Prose Competition I’m running on Protagonize. That’s right, on top of all my editing, motherly duties and work I am coordinating a Prose Competition, the Summer Prose Competition of 2001 (SPC2011).

I spent this spring coming up with contest rules and details, leaving the challenges for last. First, I had to create the questionnaire so that I could pair people up. After all Protagonize was created to be a collaborative site, so what better way to celebrate, than to have people collaborate? *smile* The questions were fairly basic, focusing on genres people love to read and write as well as some basic writing styles (like point of view and amount of planning). Pairing people up was h-a-r-d, hard! There were a few who had stellar compatibility, but I tried for a middle road. I wanted the teams to have a somewhat even footing. I’m just glad I gave myself a few days to analyze the results. Not to mention there were only fourteen contestants.

I did finally create my challenges too, finalizing them when my contestants were filling out those questionnaires. Nothing like a little last minute prep, eh? *grin* I’m really happy with them. Two story prompts and six criteria for each. The first Challenge is already posted to Protagonize and submitted to the Seasonal Prose Competition Group (Read tab). On Friday they will be complete short stories.

So far no one has complained about their partner, though I’ve caused some mass confusion by not clearly stating what I meant by Peer Reviews. My four Judges seem to be getting along well, too. Of course, this could all change when I post the standings tomorrow afternoon.

Wish me luck!

:} Cathryn Leigh