Monday, March 02, 2015

World-Building by Trish Arcangelo

World-Building
Trish Arcangelo
www.trisharcangelo.com

One of the things that drew me to the sub-genre of fantasy romance was world-building. Within it lies absolute freedom. There are no rules, you get to create a setting of your very own. No other story by any other author has ever occurred in this time or in this place.

Unfortunately, one of the things that terrified me about the sub-genre of fantasy romance was world-building. It is daunting. There are no rules, no well-beaten path, NO comfort zone. My mind jumped to epic worlds like George RR Martin’s Westeros or JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I can’t create anything that cool, I said to myself. I’m not that creative…

Now, as I sit back and look at my carefully drawn map of Dominion, The Dark Isle (setting for new book Darkness Embraced) I’m still torn. I’m proud of it even as I nervously anticipate readers’ reactions. Will they enjoy this place as I do? Will it feel real to them as it does to me? I hope so. I’m very excited to share it. The map can be found on my website:

http://www.trisharcangelo.com/the-dark-isle.html

The creation of The Dark Isle was no Big Bang, it was a process of many months. I drew it out with pencil and paper and then added to it slowly over time --- a town here, a body of water there. Now it feels as familiar to me as my hometown. It has pros and cons, beauty and ugliness. But it's the place where Dredd and Ivy live there own love story....

Trish Arcangelo
www.trisharcangelo.com

No comments: