The Shining Orb Series

What inspired me to write?

There are a lot of reasons I decided to write, and a lot of different things I was inspired by. From television to movies to books to video games. I loved reading in elementary school, but when I entered junior high I didn’t read as much, and in the early years of high school I probably didn’t read a single book (not even the assigned ones).

But in 2015 Witcher 3 was released. It quickly became one of my favorite video games of all time. I was hungry for more Witcher so I read the books, and loved them. It was during this time, when I was a junior in high school, I think, that I began to create the world and history for my fantasy books.

Inspiration from the Witcher caused me to create a dark and gloomy world, based more on Eastern and Northern Europe. The world was cold. But when I decided to finally watch Game of Thrones after graduating high school, I saw that my fantasy world didn’t need to be completely dark and dreary, and that there could be bad things that happen even with a sun filled sky and colorful clothes.

Game of Thrones changed everything for me. The summer I finished the series, up to season 6, I began to work on the first draft of the first novel. It only took me a few months (years for the second draft). My ideas for the world and what I wanted to write became full of politics, much more than before, and the world became warmer, literally. The areas of the world I pulled from as inspiration moved farther from Europe and now there are cultures and places inspired by places all over the globe.

The amount of magic I had planned dropped very low, mostly dealing with dreams. It wasn’t until I read the first few books of the Wheel of Time that I added in more magic to my world, still not as much as other books, but enough for me. I find magic difficult to write. I even have some issues in my books of how the mages are seen as dangerous but don’t exactly prove it.

There was more inspiration than just books. I studied history in college which inspired me to flesh out the history of my world, as well as continue to make the different cultures unique. The Last of Us Part II (my new favorite game of all time), inspired me to look more at the psychological affects of trauma, as well as write a certain couple, most of this won’t show up until book two though.

I’m sure there is even more. I’ve read a lot of history books, with a preference towards revolutions, that have inspired much of what is happening as the war continues in the book series. The Lord of the Rings is of course an inspiration as well. The way elves and dwarves are written and seen wouldn’t even be a thing without Tolkien. So there are probably more. Maybe if I figure them out I’ll make a new post.