Exapansion

Of late I have been having some fun on my Tumblr blog with some untold stories and histories of the Lands of Man and the Lands of the Animals that I wrote about in The Meep Sheep. The point of the new stories is to get all you good folks interested in the world of that book and interested enough to pick up the book. I mean, a guy has to eat, right, or at least tell you he has to eat so he can spend all his millions at casinos and on robots. Bwahahaha (all writers have to have an evil laugh. It’s part of  the guild rules).  Anyway, I started the blog and writing the stuff there to let people know about the book and get them interested in it. You know, that PR stuff that, while you may not have to do it yourself, you have experienced in your life. The thing is though that I am loving doing these side stories. I love The Meep Sheep and that world but more than just wanting to write in that world, these stories allow me to flesh that place out and to broaden it and fill in some shade and color. A book is like seeing one country of a world map and unless the book is part of a series that is all you will see of that world. And as a writer it is always tempting to see what lies just off the map, and what stories might be hiding there. For me, I am writing ‘prequel’ stories, which is silly to say but I imagine that’s what people would call them. What they really are is a way to explore that world without the baggage of an existing universe. It frees me to talk of a time when Man had not yet conquered that land and when it was still a very wild world. And really, the stories amuse me. I love finding ways to discover what this is, who that is, or what happened at this moment in history, and when you make it all up along the way it’s even more fun. My hope is that people who read the stories and have not read the book will want to know why these places and people are so important and will want to read more. And for those that have read the book I hope it’s like finding out how their favorite magic tricks were done while still maintaining the magic behind it all.

Now, what happens with the stories is up in the air. Time will tell, I suppose. For now though, I love writing them, and love expanding on this fun little world where magic is still very real and very active. And until that magic wears off for me, I am happy to keep visiting that place as often as I am able to explore more of its places, people, and things.

c