Where I Got The Idea For My Novel

I wrote this up for my website (which I am still working away on), but figured I'd post it here too just in case anyone was interested in my novel or where I got the idea for it. Feel free to contact me or comment if you'd like more information.

I first got my idea for Fateful Course while playing one of my favorite games, World of Warcraft. Those of you who are familiar with this game will understand my explanation. I was rather new to the game and had recently started a Night Elf character. Night Elves are basically like most fictional Elvish races, woodsy and tall. I met up with an Undead Warlock, who was plaguing Teldrassil. An "Undead" in World of Warcraft is basically what it sounds like, a being that was once deceased and has since risen from the grave. Undead and Night Elves are different alliances, but I ended up spending well over an hour communicating with this Warlock through different gestures and had a good time flirting and dancing with the enemy. This encounter is what first got me thinking about two characters from separate alliances falling in love.

I had originally intended Starlight's love interest in Fateful Course to be an Undead wizard, but about half way through I changed Tempest into a human Necromancer, thereby making a more physical relationship between the characters possible. I retained Tempest's creepy vibe by making him very much into raising the dead and other strange things Necromancers do.

Tempest is based very loosely on some people I have known. Very detached manipulative people have always fascinated me, and I have always wanted to create such a character in my writing. Tempest started out as a creepy, emotionally manipulative character who is rather unlikeable, but as I wrote, he evolved into a deep and complex man with such conflicting emotions that I actually became quite fond of him. Because of this, Starlight became quite fond of him as well.

I had always wanted Starlight to be a very strong heroine, but I wanted her to fall for some of Tempest's dark charms as well. Rather than write only from her point of view however, I wanted to show Tempest's thoughts as he worked through his many schemes, thereby perhaps creating sympathy for a rather unlikeable character. Starlight is based on a Dungeons and Dragons character I had played while growing up. She is confident and strong and in complete control when she is in her element, but when she finds herself on unfamiliar ground, she is easily swayed. This flaw, combined with a bit of fate is what helps draw her to Tempest and although she is constantly striving for nobility and honor, she quickly looses her way with Tempest by her side.

I have started many such stories over the years, and when I began Fateful Course a year ago I never imagined it would become my very first novel. It has always been my dream to one day be a novelist, but those dreams had been somewhat forgotten as I grew older. When Fateful Course began pouring out of me I decided that I would finish this story! I never wrote it with any expectations or hopes. I wrote it for me. Whether it is well received or not is irrelevant, the important thing is it has reignited my old passion for writing, and since I have finished it I have already started half a dozen new projects. I just figure, if I wasn't meant to write, I wouldn't enjoy it so much!