About the author and the evolution of the Otherkind
I'm a writer. Like that tells you anything about me, I know right? However, if you understand what this means, it will tell you a lot about me. I need to write. Every day. Good or bad, As long as I have moved my pen across the seductive white expanse of fresh paper, or stroked my fingers across my laptop, my day is not complete. Issac Asimov once said "I write for the same reason I breathe-- If I didn't, I would die." It is much the same way for me.
As a single mom, the joy of my life is my daughters. The air I breathe is the worlds I create. I desire to always live on the constant knife edge of creation. Too far over, you will fall into the abyss and fry, too far away you freeze your... well, it gets too darn cold. And I ought to know. I live in North Dakota. But seriously, I have to write from the edge. Right at that very edge with insanity on one side, mundane oblivion on the other. Either way, balance is essential. Or at least close to it in any case.
I am currently working full time on a trilogy Fantasy Adult/Young Adult that has my time consumed with the voices in my head, here we go with the insanity part again! These characters are my focus.
Readers get to know us writers through the words we choose, the worlds we create, the voices that inhabit our minds. But sometimes when the light is just right, we can see you too. Those things you wish for and dream of. Those things that make you laugh, and cry, and feel alive. When I can take something from my mind and heart, then share it with you, that is special. it is magic. That is the heart and soul of the gift of writing. It is a joy and a pleasure to share it with you. I will look forward to getting to know you, just as you get to know me.
As a single mom, the joy of my life is my daughters. The air I breathe is the worlds I create. I desire to always live on the constant knife edge of creation. Too far over, you will fall into the abyss and fry, too far away you freeze your... well, it gets too darn cold. And I ought to know. I live in North Dakota. But seriously, I have to write from the edge. Right at that very edge with insanity on one side, mundane oblivion on the other. Either way, balance is essential. Or at least close to it in any case.
I am currently working full time on a trilogy Fantasy Adult/Young Adult that has my time consumed with the voices in my head, here we go with the insanity part again! These characters are my focus.
Readers get to know us writers through the words we choose, the worlds we create, the voices that inhabit our minds. But sometimes when the light is just right, we can see you too. Those things you wish for and dream of. Those things that make you laugh, and cry, and feel alive. When I can take something from my mind and heart, then share it with you, that is special. it is magic. That is the heart and soul of the gift of writing. It is a joy and a pleasure to share it with you. I will look forward to getting to know you, just as you get to know me.
Where the idea for The Otherkind came from and who they are...
The Otherkind have become a passion for me for a couple years now. This trilogy that could evolve into having a fourth book started just over 2 years ago with a jangle in the night. Deb, (on the right) my best friend who is more like my spirit sister, worthy word-war opponent, Nanowrimo partner in insanity, called me. I cannot even remember the reason why now. What I do remember with startling clarity, is some of the characters of this book as they first emerged from my dreams.
In my dream, an old woman was hanging up clean laundry, her crisp white cotton sheets. She was no ordinary woman either. She came from a very long line of mystical woman. I cannot tell you more for I do not want to add any spoilers here. But, from the forest behind her yard a creature walked out. He was beautiful! A stunningly handsome, and need I say very tall, centaur came towards her smiling. His monocle glinting silver in the sun. His smile dazzling. There was all this love coming from him to his friend, the old woman. He knew her, you could tell these two had a very long history together. She stopped her chores, wiping her hands on an apron tied around her waist, glad to see him. As the two moved towards each other, all this dialog was going on in my mind! I could hear them, see them, it was really an awesome thing to experience. So, I had to write it down in my dream journal. The next day I began to write the story. I wrote book one to this series in seven days I was so enthralled with it.
Those two characters and the old woman's grand daughter, have since evolved into much more complex beings. The centaur disappeared and someone else took his spot, only to return again in the second book much different than he first appeared. That is the way they live and breathe in my mind. I printed it out, the raw version of book one, on Dec 24th 2009. My family and friends read it, begging me to write the 2nd book.
Then I discovered my internal editor was a bigger perfectionist than I. I left the novel alone until during this past Nanowrimo. (National Novel Writers Month) I retyped and edited all of book one, finished book two, plotted out book three, and saw the possibility that there may be a book four. I will find out as I write the third one. On a sad note, my life partner of twelve years passed away. He was with this since the very beginning as: my best friend, biggest fan, support, sounding board, editor, beta/proof reader, resident trivia compendium, history major, and kept me running on three wheels, caffeinated, and supplied in writers snacks! Not to mention kept our kids at bay while I was working. Book One, Heart, is for you Steve, my heart. HKSB.
Just who are the Otherkind?
The Otherkind is what I have chosen to call the many races from within our galaxy who reside on a different plane than we do here on Earth. I believe that we are not alone. So, I gave them humanoid form and, rather than call them aliens, they became the Otherkind. I took some liberties renaming the astral plane, attaching it to a central plane, and populating this new galaxy that could very well be our own.
Do I believe that soul mates can happen between other races of beings?
I discovered through writing the story that soul mates could possibly happen on any dimension. Why not? When I contemplated that possibility incredible things began to happen in my story. Personally I've never experienced it, nor know of anyone who honestly has, but as a fantasy writer I see the amazing potential.
I think that we are a lot more than we think we are, and that opens the door for some pretty astounding things to occur. The human spirit is eternal. Just because we wear an 'earth suit' to exist on this three dimensional plane, and we can't remember anything, or anywhere else, doesn't make it not so. I saw the possibility for humans to have mates on other planes, either remembered or not. Soul mates can happen on any realm in any incarnation. Just as things happen here, so too do they there, and indeed everywhere.
In my dream, an old woman was hanging up clean laundry, her crisp white cotton sheets. She was no ordinary woman either. She came from a very long line of mystical woman. I cannot tell you more for I do not want to add any spoilers here. But, from the forest behind her yard a creature walked out. He was beautiful! A stunningly handsome, and need I say very tall, centaur came towards her smiling. His monocle glinting silver in the sun. His smile dazzling. There was all this love coming from him to his friend, the old woman. He knew her, you could tell these two had a very long history together. She stopped her chores, wiping her hands on an apron tied around her waist, glad to see him. As the two moved towards each other, all this dialog was going on in my mind! I could hear them, see them, it was really an awesome thing to experience. So, I had to write it down in my dream journal. The next day I began to write the story. I wrote book one to this series in seven days I was so enthralled with it.
Those two characters and the old woman's grand daughter, have since evolved into much more complex beings. The centaur disappeared and someone else took his spot, only to return again in the second book much different than he first appeared. That is the way they live and breathe in my mind. I printed it out, the raw version of book one, on Dec 24th 2009. My family and friends read it, begging me to write the 2nd book.
Then I discovered my internal editor was a bigger perfectionist than I. I left the novel alone until during this past Nanowrimo. (National Novel Writers Month) I retyped and edited all of book one, finished book two, plotted out book three, and saw the possibility that there may be a book four. I will find out as I write the third one. On a sad note, my life partner of twelve years passed away. He was with this since the very beginning as: my best friend, biggest fan, support, sounding board, editor, beta/proof reader, resident trivia compendium, history major, and kept me running on three wheels, caffeinated, and supplied in writers snacks! Not to mention kept our kids at bay while I was working. Book One, Heart, is for you Steve, my heart. HKSB.
Just who are the Otherkind?
The Otherkind is what I have chosen to call the many races from within our galaxy who reside on a different plane than we do here on Earth. I believe that we are not alone. So, I gave them humanoid form and, rather than call them aliens, they became the Otherkind. I took some liberties renaming the astral plane, attaching it to a central plane, and populating this new galaxy that could very well be our own.
Do I believe that soul mates can happen between other races of beings?
I discovered through writing the story that soul mates could possibly happen on any dimension. Why not? When I contemplated that possibility incredible things began to happen in my story. Personally I've never experienced it, nor know of anyone who honestly has, but as a fantasy writer I see the amazing potential.
I think that we are a lot more than we think we are, and that opens the door for some pretty astounding things to occur. The human spirit is eternal. Just because we wear an 'earth suit' to exist on this three dimensional plane, and we can't remember anything, or anywhere else, doesn't make it not so. I saw the possibility for humans to have mates on other planes, either remembered or not. Soul mates can happen on any realm in any incarnation. Just as things happen here, so too do they there, and indeed everywhere.