GENRE: HISTORY

Ever since I was a kid, history has always been one of my greatest interests. Thanks to my autistic memory, I could remember a great deal of information for years on end. When I was young, I was interested in prehistory, which included dinosaurs and other extinct creatures such as the mega fauna of the Ice Age. Lately, I learned a great deal about medieval history. One thing I realized is that history is a treasure trove of inspiration because you can base scenes or overall stories on actual historical events. If you use a historical event as a model, then writing the story becomes a whole lot simpler.

MERCENARIES

During the Hundred Years War, King Edward III of England waged a war against France. However, there was a problem for fighting such a lengthy war. Every soldier could only serve forty days at a time, which made a traditional army useless. To solve this problem, Edward III would routinely hire entire armies of professional mercenaries. In my fantasy book, I realized that my main characters would not be able to conquer an entire continent with a regular army and would need to adopt Edward III’s system of hiring mercenaries. In order to accomplish this goal, they would need to acquire a great deal of wealth, which will be one of the many challenges they will face along the way.

THE HIGH KING

I did research on my Irish ancestors and discovered that during the 7th and 8th centuries, Ireland was divided up into several petty kingdoms. However, every once in a while these kingdoms would be united under the authority of a single High King with all of the other kings answering to him. This picture is of Tara Hill, where all High Kings of Ireland were crowned. To draw inspiration from my Irish roots, I am planning on developing a similar feudal hierarchy for the world in my fantasy book.

ITALIAN MASTIFF

The other day, I encountered an Italian Mastiff at the dog park. He was seven months old and not yet grown into his skin and feet. Very cute! Still, I learned that this dogs ancestors were used by the Romans on the battlefield. So that cute little puppy was a descendant of warrior dogs! Yikes! I can picture them in dog armor, bearing the scars of a thousand battles, amidst a ruined battlefield. Because this puppy looks like my beloved pit bulls and his ancestors were bred for war, I am thinking of combining these dogs to create a breed of warrior dogs in my fantasy book.

A CHRISTMAS DINNER TO REMEMBER

I had an extravagant Christmas this year. My family gathered, we went to the Disney Concert Hall to see the sing along of White Christmas, and we had Christmas dinner at one of the fanciest places in town whose name escapes me. At this restaurant, I tried venison and sweet wine for the first time, both of which I needed to sample for my fantasy book. The venison barely had any flavor due to the lack of fat, but had a satisfactory aftertaste. The sweet wine was initially a balance between sweet and sour, but gradually became more spicy with each taste. Overall, this was a productive Christmas to remember and I look forward to the New Year. Happy New Year everyone!

COMPUTER SIMULATIONS

I discovered something interesting while doing research for my fantasy book. There were videos of computer simulations that demonstrated not only medieval battles but also conquests and political maneuvers. By watching these videos, I started to learn about how battles were fought and how alliances and enemies are made. I now have a good idea of how to proceed with my fantasy book in the long run. Unlike my original vision, my fantasy book will have a great many moving parts like many of the classical fantasy stories. Similar to real life medieval times, there will be no heroes or villains just different people with different opinions. Instead of focusing on one main character, the story will focus on a group of siblings and their companions as they lead a conquest of a kingdom. I am eager to further work on this book and see what direction it will take in the future. Wish me luck!

A CAR MADE OF MUD

James May AKA Captain Slow and the slowest human being alive had discovered a new way to make a car. He constructed a car made of mud and everything went wrong. Too funny!

A CAR MADE OF MEAT

I have always been a fan of Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond especially since they started their new show The Grand Tour. One of my favorite of their stunts was recreating cars in unique and unexpected ways such as building homemade amphibious cars. In their new show The Grand Tour they took their innovations a step further by building cars made of nature. Jeremy Clarkson’s car, in particular looked like a combination of something from Mad Max and The Flintstones because it had a chassis made of animal hide, meat, and bones. What will these crazy men think of next?

CUTE BABY ELEPHANT

As an animal lover, I watch videos of cute animals doing cute things. Here is a video of a baby elephant snuggling with its caretaker. This reminded me of how my pit bulls and I cuddle.

WRITING UPDATE: FANTASY BOOK (CHAPTER 1)

I have just finished writing the first chapter of my fantasy book and it was an intense beginning to an epic story. I have been planning the groundwork for this book for so long that the writing process has become relatively easy. I cannot wait to continue writing the story in the near future and I will keep you updated.