Path to the Peacock Throne

Category: Path to the Peacock Throne (page 1 of 2)

Monday Inspirations: The Bird Women of Vao Artan

I’ve gotten a number of comments over the past few days about my header, so I thought I’d talk a little bit about some the inspirations that I’m drawing from for my fantasy WIP, Path to the Peacock Throne.

Art by Susan Seddon Boulet

I’ve been nursing the idea for country founded and governed by women for some time now, and it was in April that I started to build the basic structure of the land I have since named “Vao Artan.” The central organizing myth is that the realm was settled by seven sisters, siblings who were in the goddess’s favor and blessed with dominion over the land. Each sister had a specific talent — the cultivation of land and livestock; hunting and martial prowess; music, painting, and the arts; scholarly research; mathematics and science; magic; and diplomacy and rule. The descendants of each sister correspond to a specific strata or occupation within the society.

This is where things get interesting. Each of the seven sisters is associated with a type of bird — swans and magic, owls and scholarly research, nightingales and the arts, etc. The bird imagery continues throughout the duration of the society, to the point where the military’s headquarters is known as “The Falconry,” and the royal mage is known as “The Cygne” (cygne being French for “swan”). Each queen takes the name of a bird to represent her personality/rule. The current queen, Vaedyn, is known as the “Eagle’s Claw,” which symbolizes her status as a warrior. My MC, Liandre, will take the peacock for her standard.

So with that in mind, I’ve been collecting all sorts of bird-related things to help me out with world-building. I’ve been thinking about fashion, architecture, and decor, among other odds and ends. Today, though, I’m going to look at fashion.

Luckily, the fashion world has been drawing on avian inspirations for ages now, so there’s a wide range of ideas from which I can draw.

Feathers will definitely be integrated into this tale, from the crests that adorn the helmets of the nation’s soldiers and warriors and other accessories, like jewelry and belts, to elaborate gowns, cloaks, and other items of clothing.

I am completely in love this headpiece by Arturo Rios, which is elegant and dramatic, as well as a bit gothic. It’s just the sort of thing the aristocrats of Vao Artan might wear.

I also love the idea of drawing inspiration for makeup and cosmetics from birds, like makeup artist Mark Lim did here, using this absolutely gorgeous peacock headpiece and choker. (This is actually a look I’ve attempted with the bright blue and green eyeshadow, but I’m not nearly this talented!)

Other pretties include these phenomenal necklaces designed by Lucy Hutchings. They are apparently inspired by the Bowerbird, “who loves to feather his nest with lots of blue to attract an egglayer,” according to Trendhunter. I’ve introduced a similar sort of necklace into the third chapter of PPT, which is worn by the witch (or “Mother Cygne”) Simone. Instead of being made from stones of blue-green, it is a rope of egg-sized, rough-hewn amethysts.

The women of Vao Artan, I think, like their jewelry big and bold, their clothing bright and colorful, and their accessories noticeable. They are women after my own heart. 😉

Finally, here’s one last gown, created by Indonesian designer Anne Avantie. It doesn’t have any explicitly avian details, but the color scheme is absolutely perfect for a young woman about to assume the “peacock throne.” The model also reminds me of the way that Liandre appears in my mind, which is an extra bonus:

And there we have it! A wee peek into the world that I am attempting to craft for Path to the Peacock Throne. For more pictures and ideas, you can visit my Pinterest board (which is my method of choice for organizing world-building ideas).

Where do you turn for inspiration when you’re crafting a new tale? How do you organize your ideas — scrapbooking, collages, digital photo galleries?

Daily Progress Update!

July 5, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 1 Comment

Okay, so I’m trying something a bit new. In addition to the bi-weekly ROW80 updates, I thought that perhaps I’d try adding a quick aside each day to sum up the day’s progress, so I can have a more detailed history of what I’ve done and where I’d like to go in the next few days. We’ll see how it goes.

Today’s success was facilitated by a video chat session with my best friend who lives in San Francisco, which forced me to sit in my chair and just work for a few hours. I managed to do the following:

Thesis: I managed to hammer out 1000 words discussing the use of mythopoesis (or the use of anecdotes and storytelling) in etiquette books. Okay, so I cheated a little and employed the substantial use of quotes to make it to 1000 words, but excerpts are important, right? Tomorrow’s goal is to clean up what I’ve written and add more, as I’d like to have a rough draft done by the end of the day.
Path to the Peacock Throne: I’ve been horribly stuck with this story, but I was somehow able to add a little over 1300 words in the form of edits and tweaking, as well as starting a new chapter. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to have to rewrite the pivotal chapter where Liandre learns the truth of her parentage and origins, but I’m now convinced that I’m not going to know exactly how it should go until I’m finished. Instead, I’m moving on to the next two chapters, which follow Liandre on her journey across the sea to Vao Artan, the mysterious and legendary land of her birth. The ship is crewed, I’ve decided, by a handful of women who are unlike any that the princess has ever met, and they will help to ease her transition into the new world she will encounter.

And that’s it for me! I’m going to have to switch gears soon to start contemplating my steampunk tale, which is the one downside of trying to juggle multiple WIPs: constantly disengaging and reengaging in different ‘verses and worlds and characters. But it keeps me on my toes, if nothing else!

ROW80: Starting off With a Bang!

July 4, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 5 Comments

Happy Independence Day, all! As I write this, I can hear the echoes from the firework show over at Stow House, about 10 minutes from where I live. I took advantage of the holiday to do a bit of relaxing and ended up writing much, much more than I planned, which is a welcome change from the past few weeks.

I ended Round 2 of ROW80 a bit earlier than I had intended. The end of the quarter, grading papers, traveling, and trying to deal with my schoolwork proved to be a bit more trying than I expected, but that’s why I love ROW80 — I didn’t feel too terrible or guilty taking a brief hiatus from my writing because I knew that Round 3 was right around the corner.

So here I am, tossing my hat into the ring once more. I’m starting at a pretty strong place: Path to the Peacock Throne stands at 20k words, and while I’m gingerly feeling my way through a bit of a sticky section, I know that with a bit of perseverance and patience, I’ll make my way through the rough patch. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve also given in and started scribbling down ideas for two other tales: a steampunk tale set in late 19th century San Francisco, tentatively titled tell me no lies, and a fantasy-esque tale in the vein of Anne Rice’s Claiming of Sleeping Beauty and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart, called Strange Bedfellows. At the moment, Strange Bedfellows stands at roughly 7.5K words, which have poured out of me over the past few days. I’m not complaining, though!

With that, here are my Round 3 goals:

Write an average of 500 words/day on any project. This means that I’m doubling my Round 2 word count goal, which makes me slightly nervous, but we’ll see how it goes! I found myself exceeding the original 250 words/day goal consistently, so I don’t think this increase will be too burdensome.
Complete Act 2 of Path to the Peacock Throne, and resist the urge to do too much editing to Act 1.
Move from brainstorming and world-building tell me no lies to working on the first draft.

And, for fun, some things that I am eagerly anticipating for Round 3:

Participating in an online writing seminar, “Steampunk from Aether to Zeppelin,” taught by Suzanne Lazear, from July 5th – July 29th.
Celebrating my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary with our first family trip in 3 years, from July 13th – July 19th. (Vegas, baby!)
My annual 6-week summer vacation in San Francisco, from August – mid-September.
Finishing the first draft of my MA thesis, hopefully by September.

I’m looking forward to another 80 days of creativity, scribbling, and imagining, and I’m also excited to connect with everyone else who will be participating in Round 3!

ROW80: Super-short Update

June 2, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 2 Comments

Friends, I’ve had a day. I hit the ground running early this morning with some high-gear multitasking: grading my final set of papers for the week, washing out some clothes in the bathroom sink (cheaper and easier than hauling everything to the laundromat), doing the dishes, and furiously trying to clean up my apartment. I leave tomorrow (today, really) for San Francisco, where my parents live, so packing and cleaning are essential.

After grading and handling my chores, I somehow found the time to work out, shower, dress, run errands, and then drive to campus for the end-of-the-year department potluck. Afterwards I hung out for a couple of hours before going to my weekly reading group meeting, which ran over two hours, ending at 9:30. Then it was back home to do more cleaning and pack. I have way more than any sensible person will need for a 1 week stay, but given that it has been 55 degrees and raining in SF, I need to have winter and summer options available. Whew.

At any rate, writing! I feel like I’ve got whiplash from how fast this year seems to be speeding by; I’m not quite sure where May went, and here we are, half-way through the year! What has astonished me is how much progress I’ve made with this novel in such a short period of time. I began writing at the beginning of May, and it’s really taken shape over the past few weeks. To illustrate:

Daily writing output

Wordcount graph

I’ve done my best to add on a little bit each day since my last check-in, and I’ve found that writing first thing in the morning seems to work really well. My mind is fresh, I’ve had a chance to “sleep on” the problems or challenges I may have run into the day before, and after a little tweaking here, and a bit of adding there, I end up reaching my daily word count goal without too much strain.

Once I’ve dealt with grading final papers and the like, I may bump up my daily goal to 500 words, since I’m surpassing 300 words so easily. Now that my confidence has been built up a bit, I can make myself work a little harder.

I’m excited for my 5 hour drive tomorrow, since I’ll be able to let my mind wander. I’ve got a pocket recorder downloaded on my cell phone so I can record any interesting writing ideas that come to mind. In the days to come, I’m going to be focused on characterization. My protagonist, Liandre, has just discovered that her whole life is a lie, and I want to make sure that her reaction to this news is realistic. We’ll see how it goes!

ROW80: Motoring Along

May 29, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 3 Comments

Another Sunday, another ROW80 check-in! I’m currently lamenting the weather for this year’s Memorial Day Weekend: blue skies, sun… and winds up to 45 MPH. We’ve been under a severe wind advisory for days now, and it’s such a downer, because the weather would be perfect for the beach otherwise. As it is, I have to stay shut up inside because the wind is wreaking havoc with my allergies.

But let’s talk writing! I finally broke through the block that was holding me back with that coronation scene (well, to be honest, I abandoned it, though it’s mostly finished) and sketched out the next four scenes. I’m working with the wide paintbrush at the moment (or, to return to last Wednesday’s analogy, my machete) and aiming for getting the main points of each scene onto paper: dialogue, action and movement, and other “big” developments. I’ve found that working on the finer points, like sensory details and description, take more time than I actually want to spend, so I am going to set those aside and fill in the blanks when I return for edits.

The current manuscript stands at 15,529 words, which means that I’ve written something like 5,000 words since Wednesday. I’m really over-the-moon with this, though I know my output will probably slow down over the next couple of weeks, between the final papers I will have to grade, and the traveling I will be doing to my parents’ place and back.

However, I have the first “Act” of the book outlined. It will be 5 chapters long, and traces the beginning of Liandre’s journey from the comfort and safety of the “Ordinary World” to the start of her adventure in Peridion. As I move forward, I am going to have to give plenty of thought to the development of Liandre as a character. She is going to have a lot of hard truths to adjust to — the truth of her parentage, being forced to abandon everything that she knows and loves in order to return to the land of her birth — and I want to make sure that she responds to these changes in a way that feels realistic.

But those are concerns for another day! I will spend this Sunday grading (blech) and luxuriating in the wonderful feeling of reaching 15k. And, er, I’m not going to think about the new story idea that won’t leave me alone… or the fact that I’ve given it a title, and a cast of characters, or the fact that I know exactly who the murderer is going to be. We’ll see how strong my willpower is, lol.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone!

ROW80 Check-in, and Thinky Thoughts about POV

May 18, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 2 Comments

Time for my mid-week ROW80 check-in! Surprisingly, I managed to exceed my expectations over the past few days in terms of word count. To review:

Sunday, 300 words in the form of an old legend, to be told at the funeral rites in Scene 2.
Monday, another 300 words, this time wrapping up the funeral, which had been hanging for a few days.
Tuesday, roughly 1000 words, trying to forge my way through a coronation scene that is proving to be a bit difficult (possibly because I have a very, very vague idea of what should happen. Once I refine my expectations, the writing should flow a bit more easily).

Not sure how much time I’ll have to write today, as I need to double-down on my grading and prepare for a meeting with my thesis advisor. I’m also giving a guest lecture in the undergraduate course that I’m TA’ing tomorrow… and that has been giving me nightmares for the past few days. :/ At any rate, I seem to be on track to meet my goal of 2100 words by Sunday, so I can feel proud about that.

I’ve been giving some thought over the past couple of days to the pros and cons of including multiple perspectives in my story. At the moment, Path to the Peacock Throne is told in 3rd-person Limited POV. We see the world and learn everything from Liandre’s point of view, which means that, as readers, we have the same blinders that she does. Lately, though, I’ve been wondering what it would be like if I switched perspectives in different scenes, or different chapters, rather similar to the way that George R.R. Martin or Joe Abercrombie do in many of their books. Part of me imagines that seeing the world out of her brother’s eyes, or even from the perspective of the story’s villain, would give me a different “slant” on what has happened… but I’m not sure if that slant would be a good one.

Have any of you dealt with the debate over multiple perspectives? What were the criteria that made you choose one way or the other?

Thanks, all, and have a lovely rest of the week. Hump-day is here, and the weekend is beckoning!

ROW 80 Check-in: And So It Begins

May 15, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 7 Comments

A Round of Words in 80 Days, the 80 day writing challenge, is half-way through Round 2, and I’ve decided to leap on in. I stumbled upon the writing challenge through some circuitous blog reading last week, and given that I am trying to finally be serious about my writing, I felt the time was right to give it a try.

So here I am, pledging that I will write an average of 300 words/day. That adds up to 2100 words/week, which is on the low end of the spectrum, but given everything that will be happening over the next few weeks (grading, thesisizing, 2 guest lectures, final exams, etc.), it’s definitely a practical decision.

Honestly, I’ve been doing surprisingly well in terms of word count. I started tracking my progress last week, and this is what I have to show:

Daily word counts

Wordcount graph
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It’s not too shabby, if I say so myself. I started tracking on Friday, May 6th with my first 1000 word scene. By the following Friday, May 13th, I hit 7000 words. I’m not quite sure where all of this energy and excitement is coming from, and frankly, I’m not about to ask. This is the most I’ve written since I entered my writing slump almost two years ago, and I am incredibly grateful that the art of writing, of imagining, and of creating has returned (knock on wood).

There is, however, much work to be done before I can emerge from the other end of chapter one, including:

Brainstorming the culture and history of Peridion, particularly surrounding the role of magic within the world. The disappearance of magic a few centuries prior to the tale’s beginning (captured here in a mini “codex” excerpt) is pivotal to the actions of my current villain, the royal mage Leopold, and also helps to explain the mysterious circumstances around Liandre’s origins and heritage. I’ve got a vague sense of what’s gone on, but I will need to solidify what’s happened over the coming weeks.
Scribbling the tales and legends that are considered important in the world of Peridion. What are the stories that every person, commoner and noble alike, seem to know? Why are they important? What messages or themes are prevalent, and what can they tell us about the overall psyche and culture of Peridion?
Thinking more about birds, and Liandre’s eventual introduction into the world of Vao Artan. I will be reading Daphne du Maurier’s short story, “The Birds,” and also watching the Hitchcock film based on her tale for a bit of inspiration. I’ll most likely be posting about it as well, so look for that in the coming week.

That’s about all, at least for the moment. I am battling a migraine, so this post is neither as long nor as informative as I’d like… but there’s always next check-in. With that, I am off to pop some aspirin… and to try and scribble a few more ideas for this funeral scene that I am trying to write.

May 11, 2011

On the Loss of Magic in the Kingdom of Peridion
— From Peridion: The Dark Ages

By 1015, the last traces of magic faded from Peridion. Gone were the days of the old sorcerer-kings, the armies of mage-warriors, and the research of the wizened technomancers; the old ways had disappeared never to return.

There are few explanations for the disappearance of magic from the realm. Some say that a great sin was committed by the sons and daughters of the magic-wielders — strange research into dark and forbidden territory, brought on by hubris and a lust for power — and in punishment, the gods themselves revoked their blessing. Others claim that the gods were jealous of the heights to which men vaulted themselves, and so sought to end their dominion out of jealousy and envy. And there are still those who believe that it was the indiscretion of women in the Old Age that brought about this calamity, for the records tell us of witches, enchantresses and sorceresses more wicked than the last, wielding their power to ensnare even the most pious of men.

There can be little doubt, however, of the vast repercussions of such a change upon Peridion society. For a kingdom founded on the use of magic, its loss precipitated a period of great instability and internal strife — the Dark Ages. Without magic, its people had to relearn the use of their hands and labor; without magic, its would-be rulers could only depend upon the strength given by steel and blade. The once-mighty Peridion, jewel of the west, was reduced to little more than warring tribes and factions. Brother turned against brother, son against father, and the carnage that was wrought was catastrophic.

Preview: Path to the Peacock Throne, Scene 1

May 8, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 2 Comments

I’ve finally started drafting an opening to my tale that reflects the latest changes in plot, and I thought I’d post it up to share. It is, course, pretty rough; I’ve cleaned it up just enough to keep myself from going crazy, but I don’t want to get too bogged down with edits.

I’m trying not to get too attached to the scene (once I’ve written the first draft of the book, I know I’ll have to slash and hack and murder my precious babies), but I think I can confidently say that I like this. Without further ado, here is Chapter 1, Scene 1: “The Dream.”

Title: “Path to the Peacock Throne,” Scene 1: “The Dream”
Word Count: ~3350 words
Summary: Liandre, princess of Peridion, grapples with strange nightmares, clashes with the royal wizard, and has a few quiet moments with her beloved older brother before the funeral rites for their father, King Roland, begin.
Warnings: None
Notes: The inspiration for Liandre’s dress can be seen here.

It was the most perfect of days, one that invoked all of the senses. The ear was overcome by the roar of powerful ocean waves, and both nose and tongue by the salty tang of the sea breeze. The body luxuriated in the warmth of the sun’s rays, and the eye delighted in the enchanting sight of a dozen sea birds turning and diving like a team of trained aerial acrobats.

The child felt all of this, standing on the promontory that soared high above the shore. She was little more than three or four, a cherub-cheeked girl with laughing violet eyes and a head of dark curls. She spun happily, bare toes digging into the grassy earth, arms reaching for the sky. Her laughter was sweet and warm, the perfect counter against the birds’ shrill cries.

“Would you like me to show you how to call the birds, Princess?” The child looked up to see a woman’s smiling face; in her outstretched hand she held a plain wooden flute, smoothly polished and gleaming in the afternoon light. The child nodded in excitement and the woman sat down beside her and gathered her to her lap.

“Hold it here, gosling,” she whispered, arranging the girl’s fingers on the holes. “And now blow.”

Suddenly there was music and the rustle of wings — dozens of tiny birds dancing upon the wind, their flight timed with the song’s tempo. The child’s excitement and glee were practically tangible, the power that she invoked humming through her tiny body. She played the song again and again, all the while blind to the danger that lurked, hovering just beyond, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

It was a faceless darkness that encroached upon them. It came slowly at first, tendrils of smoke that insinuated itself like wispy threads across the brilliant blue sky. Anyone watching would have failed to see that anything was amiss; as the smoke grew, spreading with increasing speed and mounting malice, it was obvious that something was very wrong. It was too late to stop it. The darkness silenced the precious birds, blocked out the sun’s rays, eclipsed the woman’s loving face. The child stood in the midst of this swirling abyss, the final survivor against a foe she could never hope to understand. When the void finally closed upon her it swallowed everything — even her screams. Continue reading

Rolling with the Punches

May 7, 2011 / Lena Corazon / Comments Off

Coming from academia, I’m no stranger to the twists and turns of the writing process. My current scholarly project has suffered from no shortage of detours. I realized last fall, for example, that my initial concept had been turned on its head. Instead of working on a project about the ritual of the white wedding, using etiquette books as my case study, I realized that what I had on my hands was the exact opposite: a study of etiquette books, using the wedding as my case study (more on that madness can be found here).

I won’t lie — I threw a bit of a tantrum when I reached this happened (there’s nothing like watching a formerly established research plan go up like a puff of smoke to make one incredibly cranky) — but it was clear that I had two choices in front of me. I could go back to the drawing board and redo the project to follow the original path that I had anticipated, or I could be a bit adventurous and try something new. I chose the latter, as it was also the most practical choice (telling my thesis advisor that I needed to throw out 2 years worth of work definitely wasn’t an option), and I haven’t regretted it.

So when Path to the Peacock Throne took an unexpected left turn, I did the only thing that a resigned passenger can do: sit back, buckle up, and brace myself for sudden bumps in the road.

Granted, I’m ultimately the one in charge of my work, but both my scholarly research and my experiences with fiction have taught me that sometimes it’s okay to pursue an unexpected idea, no matter how strange or off-course it might be. In this case, I think my “off-roading” just might pay off.

Path to the Peacock Throne began as the coming of age tale of Liandre Hallivere, the reluctant heir to the throne of Vao Artan. One of the problems I kept running into was trying to figure out the source of her reluctance. I didn’t want to justify it with the explanation of ‘adolescent angst’ or ‘teenage rebellion.’ Either of those could have worked (particularly for a YA audience), but they just felt too worn-out, too tired and lazy. My solution draws on another trope (the “kidnapped princess” trope), but I actually think it’s fitting for a tale based on Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces” arc. The current plot, then, looks something like this:

Continue reading

Lena Corazon

Flights of Fancy