I’ve always loved science fiction and stories about traveling to different galaxies. I remember the first time I saw Star Wars with all those interesting planets and the different life forms that occupied them. I was fascinated and totally hooked. Every time a new space show came on television I’d be planted right in front of my set to watch Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Farscape, or Babylon 5. Last spring I started laying the ground work for a futuristic romance series. I had a pretty good idea of the different characters that will be in my stories; the hard part was creating the universe where they would all live.
Good world building is essential for any futuristic or paranormal story. Every world has to have rules that govern how things work. They can be different from the rules we have in real life, but they have to be established and in some way explained to the reader, as well as recognizable. For example, if you have a world with magic, there has to be a limit to what it can do or what creates it, such as energy.
Populating a universe is another essential part of world building. I had to figure out what sort of sentient beings live on the different planets? What is their political system? What are their religious beliefs? Which species get along with each other and which ones don’t? What do they eat? What type of housing do they have? Is it above ground or below? In short, each civilization has to be constructed from scratch.
There is so much detail involved that creating a story bible is an absolute must. You can never remember all the characters, creatures, places, settings, and other details necessary for the story. It saves a lot of time to have it all written down and easily researchable. I use excel spreadsheets for all the things I need to keep track of.
My first story in this new world was for the anthology, Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology Book #3. The prequel for the series is called The Last Christmas on Earth. The first book will be out on April 24th and it’s titled A Scattering of Seeds.
Do you like to read or watch science fiction?
The Last Christmas on Earth
What if you had to make a choice, your lifelong dream or your soul mate?
Scott Southerland has his dream job and his dream woman. What could go wrong? With his mother around, plenty. Scott’s on his guard, and his soon-to-be fiancé, Harper Castille, is, too. Scott has no interest in the other women his mother dangles in front of him, but can his relationship with Harper survive the destruction of his dream?
Barnes & Noble:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-christmas-on-earth-augustina-van-hoven/1128145828?ean=2940155037538
iTunes:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1360478283
KOBO:Â https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-last-christmas-on-earth
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