Although this chapter carries on with the story of Evylin and George crossing level three, what I remember most about writing it, was all the time spent in research. There are so many different scenes inside my head that needed to be explained. And of course, in doing so I didn’t want to write cliches or out of date descriptions. This is always challenging – but in a positive way. In all, there are three main scenes – the icy landscape – which is easy to picture but not to describe. My final description of it being like a giant plowed field, although bordering on fairy tale ideas of Jack and the Beanstalk, appeals to me, because until I moved to the country, I had always thought a plowed field was like my mom’s garden. No. The earth is tilled large and rugged. These were boulders of earth.
The second scene is within the ice wall. I added a footnote concerning the caves that helped me understand what my cave needed to look like. That is the wonderful thing about the internet, it allows me to see images similar to those that I have inside my mind. If they exist in a photo, then this helps make my world more believable.
The final scenes that needed researching were the blood and gore ones. How to kill someone, or what areas are more vulnerable than others – simply because, well, if I am to write a fight scene it has to be somehow believable. But it wasn’t only the ice fighting scene that needed research, but also the wonderful Dog Soldier. I actually like this one character a lot and found it a shame he had to die. (Which is a little insane, considering I write the book – but there are rules even within my own fantasy.) I think this love comes from my childhood. As a young boy, my brother and myself, we would often play Cowboys and Indians – like most kids at this time – but for some strange reason, I always liked the Indians more. Maybe it was the strange way they talked. The wild calls they made riding bareback, or the fact that they lived in tents, which at the age of ten has to be the best place in the world to live.
The Indians were basically my favorites.
This love of action movies – the softcore kind, (films filled with blood and gore – are not for me) has remained. One such actor who is fun to watch is Jason Statham. His manner is so very much like my childhood LOL. As a child I knew people who behaved in a similar fashion: Soft spoken, very polite, very exact, and as hard as nails. They did not make a song and dance about something. If you refused to back down, you were knocked down.
My childhood friends and acquaintances were all very scary people – LOL – an all-year-round Halloween.
So … although this chapter continues with the story, there are lots of sections within it that are filled with wonderful imagery: Lots of slow-motion moments: The howling of Dog Soldier – The twisting jump of GoD – The matrix-styled landing on the ledge, and even the way George is lit up on the side of the column, a black spot on a yellow board.
In my attempt to keep the story both interesting and fast-moving, I have to continually create new and exciting (believable) scenes. And to make this possible I end up doing lots of research. Something I must admit I enjoy doing. It is great being able to select the things you want to learn and know about.
This chapter is packed with just such wishes.
