WafeeyRoslan
3 weeks ago

@whikerms Not as weird as you'd think. For some reason I get my best story ideas when I'm in the water (swimming, taking a shower, falling off a boat into the ocean, etc)

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whikerms
3 weeks ago

@WafeeyRoslan I have no idea haha - I would think of most of my ideas while I went on runs outside - probably sounds kinda weird.

That book to me always just "happened" naturally and once the twist came to me, it kind of developed on its own.

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WafeeyRoslan
3 weeks ago

@whikerms Yeah, its great to actually have a good conversation about this stuff once in awhile. 

I've gotta ask though, how did you manage to always come up with more ideas? For me, even though writing the beginning and end is always easy, I always end up stumped and out of ideas somewhere in the middle. 

Honestly, I can't even imagine myself finishing the book I've been working on, but I've been doing my best to see it through

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whikerms
4 weeks ago

@WafeeyRoslan In my mind, she was actually pregnant, though this is kind of left open for the reader's imagination. If I were to write a sequel, she would be pregnant.

This actually goes back to a prophecy Pelk's mother told him, about the "Pillar of Smoke" that was half man, half beast, that would rise and save his people. Charlotte's offspring would be half Lark, half human. 

Since the Larks in the womb develop much faster than humans, in the sequel her offspring could potentially fulfill the prophecy of freeing Pelk's people. I had a lot of subtle connections like that which I'm still not sure was clear enough for the reader to pick up on.

One of the other subtle twists was that in the beginning chapters Marg had a dream that he fell off a cliff and saw people on boats crying to him. That is actually what happened to Henderson in the end, when he fell off the cliff in front of the ships that were carrying the younger Pelk haha. 

You don't know how happy it makes me to actually talk about this nerdy stuff haha.

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WafeeyRoslan
4 weeks ago

@whikerms That was a pretty clear explanation, so my question is pretty much answered. However, I think you should probably make that part about Charlotte clearer in the story.

I'm a little bit confused on it now. So is Charlotte (the one from the reality where she was about to be hanged) actually pregnant now, or just feeling the pains that the other Charlotte felt?

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whikerms
4 weeks ago

@WafeeyRoslan Ah - good observation. I'll try to explain. When Whik saw the other him, it was because both worlds were "combining" for short periods of time. When Whik and his copy were in the same place on the island (though in separate realities), he could see his other self.

Malachi's copy, on the other hand, transferred into Malachi's reality in the first chapter. That's why everyone could see him - because there were two of him in the same reality. Before that, Malachi may have seen short visions of his copy from the other reality, but both were still in separate realities.

In the end, Whik transfers to his copy's reality, which is why everyone could see his childhood corpse. That said, the realities did start to mesh together, which is why Charlotte was pregnant in old Whik's reality, and then felt something move in her stomach in younger Whik's reality. The Lark hadn't forced himself on her in the younger reality, but still parts of both realities combined in the end.

Hope that is not entirely too confusing. I'm always looking to fix plot holes, so please let me know if you felt like that was a cheap answer! Thanks gain for all your feedback - really appreciate it.

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WafeeyRoslan
4 weeks ago

@whikerms Also, I had one question. When Whik made a parallel reality after his blood touched the maker, only he could see the other him. But in order to convince the Larks to help him, Malachi used the power of the maker to make another version of himself appear, which the Larks could see. Why the big difference?

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WafeeyRoslan
4 weeks ago

@whikerms Thanks, it's not even close to being finished yet, but I'm hoping to hear back from you about it soon.

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whikerms
4 weeks ago

@WafeeyRoslan Ah, interesting. The only powers Malachi (and Whik) received were from dropping their blood into the Maker, which subsequently created a parallel reality from that point forward. Might have to make sure that's clearer in the book.

Sure, I'll check your book out.

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WafeeyRoslan
1 month ago

@whikerms By the way, I was wondering if you could read my story, "Heaven and Earth: The Greek World War". I could REALLY use some feedback. If you read it and know some ways for me to improve it, don't hold back on the criticism. I can take brutal judgements pretty easily

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