Seeing a Real
Underground City
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two months since I
completed the first draft of my third children’s book about the magic game ‘The
Tenth Gateway. I’ve been on
holiday and it’s given me some fresh ideas.
For instance, we visited Turkey and saw lots of amazing
sights and met many friendly people. When we visited the ancient underground
city of Derinkuyu near Goreme it reminded me of my fictional underground home
for the gnomes in my book ‘The Spy’s Door’. It was several stories high and
filled with twisting tunnels and myriad small dwellings and proved to me that
people (and magical beings) can survive for long periods underground.
My photo could only capture a tiny glimpse of this amazing
place.
Developing Characters
I have realised that some of my characters need further
development. They are a bit wooden and their personalities not sufficiently
differentiated. After seeing Derinkuyu I can better imagine who might live in
such a place. So I’ve decided to focus on Gwulfud (the gnome), review his
dialogue and strengthen his characteristics.
We also visited places on The Baltic Sea and parts of
Scandinavia. I loved the fairy tale castle at Schwerin in the north of Germany
but the only castle I have included in my stories so far is the
forbidding fortress castle of Malefic, the evil magician. I’ll keep the
Schwerin image in mind for a future fantasy tale.
Do you have any special places that have inspired you?
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