#TacoTuesday

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Welcome to week 3 of building our book taco… sorry foodies, this really is still a writing thing. If you’re just tuning in, you can check back to the original post to see what this is all about – and there’s no time limit for joining in. Just make sure to leave a pingback to your post in the comments below, so I can check it out! 🙂

Writers Menu

Beans: Details are a fat free way to fill out your story, whether real or fictitious, what was your favorite place to describe?

I’m completely in love with creating the fictitious world where my Thief of Dragons series takes places, because I get to blend medieval and modern elements however I want. I’m still unraveling new details as the story progresses – here are just a couple of examples from different locations:

Spires pierced the skyline, modern towers battling for most uniquely designed and impossibly tall. Skyways arched over the busy avenues, while glass elevators soared up and down gilded, mirrored facades. A giant, octagonal tower crowned a bend in the road, rising into the clouds with gold filigree trim curving down over the sides like a giant claw from the pointed roof. More gilded metals framed the elevators working at various levels up and down the tinted glass. Due to the curve in the road, it held the largest entrance of all the other buildings, fifteen yards of decorative stonework holding park benches, long planters with flowering shrubs and a fountain people could actually walk through if they wanted.

Toward the top of the building, and on every facet, was the Draea Coat of Arms glowing in colorful display for all the city to see.

~ Thief of Dragons, Episode 13

A grand staircase swept across the space from the right, creating a balcony across the back of the foyer, before curving down the left wall and finishing in a wide, angled welcome. Maplevine was woven through the decorative balustrades, sprinkled with the soft glow of fairy lights. An enormous chandelier hung level with the second story, the very light source behind the stained glass Crest visible from outside. It looked exactly like the fiery bloom of a Dragon’s Breath flower. The chain was molded into the same twisting, vine-like stem, the frosted glass stained sunset orange and crimson for the petals that curved up and then out at the very tips. The stamen spiraled down from the center, each holding a glowing orb of light. The stigma was capped with a multifaceted sconce of crystalline amber, the light dancing in simulation of an actual flame.

~ Thief of Dragons, Episode 16

Readers Menu

Beans: Which book or series had such a spellbinding knack for detail that you feel like you’ve actually been there in person? (You get extra cool points for choosing a book that has never been adapted to film.)

I haven’t read a Mercedes Lackey book in too many years to count. Epic Fantasy world-building at its finest! I first dove into the Valdemar universe when I was about 15 or 16, and recall having lengthy conversations with some of my other friends and family who were also reading the series at the same time. Actually, you could say we inadvertently became our own Mercedes Lackey book club there for awhile! I accidentally read them out of order for the timeline (starting with The Last Herald Mage trilogy as pictured), but I was never confused, just utterly awed by this astounding world Mercedes had created with Valdemar being the main kingdom. Home to Haven, the city where all bards, mages, warriors, scholars and other talented youngsters would travel to take on their apprenticeship training. It was also the home to the Grove, the mysterious place where some Companions appeared (the horse-like creature on the cover) who could mindspeak with their chosen and were hinted at being reincarnations of previous Herald Mages sometime in the books – can’t recall now.

Like I said, it’s been a long time since I’ve read this series, but they’ve stayed with me my whole life and I can still picture certain events, definitely the places, that formed in my mind all those years ago. One day, I plan to sit down and re-read the entire Valdemar series, and perhaps even the hundreds of other books Mercedes has penned!

♥ Next Tuesday’s ingredient is Cheese!

Cheese for the writer: Share a scene where one of your characters interacts with some kind of camera, photograph or video for any reason. If there are none, then share one of their funniest moments or dialogue pieces.

Cheese for the reader: Name a favorite book/series that had to do with photography, acting, reporting or any other camera-related theme – OR – where the humor was so off the charts you found yourself ‘cheesing’ through 90% of it.