***QUICK NOTE: Hey, Everyone! KellyAnneBlount here. I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you all know that on Friday, I accidentally posted Alecc0's post from the Wattpad Block Party last year. Oops! I've left that one up, but wanted to post this one as soon as possible for Alecc0! Not going to lie, I don't think I've ever done that before in the seven #WattpadBlockParty events that I've posted, but there's a first time for everything! :) LOL! Thank you, Alecc0 for understanding! :) Okay, on to the post... 

  ★ ★ ★

Alecc0 Presents: An Introduction into a Sci-Fi Fantasy Universe

Hello! Who am I? Who are you?

Hey there! Pleased to meet you all and thank you for stopping by my little corner of the Wattpad Block Party. There are some freshly made brownies over on the table. Cheers! *clink*

So tell me, what do you do?

Oh yeah? Interesting. You'll have to tell me more about it sometime.

Well I'm an animator mostly, currently working on children's television shows. I've published several books through a publisher, a couple of long novels and a few shorter stories, all available on Amazon.

I tend to stick to fantasy adventure, and have delved into some horror and action. Somehow it's easier for me to make up a whole new world, even one that's only glimpsed at, than set something in the real world. Maybe that says something about me...

My post

So what are we doing here? In previous Block Party's I spoke about How To Write a Story – Tips from a Professional Masterclass: https://www.wattpad.com/376438180-wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-iii-alecc0%0D

And gave a Guide to Writing Fantasy: https://www.wattpad.com/454159608-wattpad-block-party-summer-edition-iii-august-2017

(I don't think those links will work, but check out the previous WBP stories to find the posts.)

This time around I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce a fantasy world I've been developing for over twenty years... (stay with me here)

If anyone enjoys making up their own worlds, or is interested in how such things are made, please read on and find out how I went about it, and what the final outcome looks like.

Being a big Star Wars fan, for the longest time I wanted to make my own galaxy with heroes and adventures. I grew up playing Final Fantasy games, and loved the concept of collecting characters in a team as you progress through the story. And I loved the battles when I used to watch Dragon Ball Z.

So my fantasy world would be shaped by the things I wanted to see, and that was a world of magic and technology, aliens and fantasy creatures - a kind of sword and sorcery but with space travel too. Now in all honestly those all probably do not mix that well together, but that was my goal. And somehow I'd try and make it work.

Twenty-something years in the making?

I was an active and creative teenager, and was always drawing and making up ideas and concepts for comic books, video games and cartoon shows. I felt like I could make anything if I just thought of it and did it. 'Doing it' was of course a very rough and childish approach that probably looked like gibberish to anyone but me.

One day I had a dream-like vision, an image flashed in my head as I was slowly waking up one morning. And in that instant I had an idea for a character, who I somehow, strangely, knew was called James Island, and that he would go on a big adventure. I know that sounds crazy but that's the only way I can describe it. I drew the image that had flashed in my head, and went from there.

As I grew up I developed James Island's story, and it changed and evolved over the years. As I matured and changed and thought differently, so did the story I was making, growing alongside me. At one point I was the main character - actually me, in a fantasy world – before I realised how stupid that was and made James Island the main character. Eventually I had to get this big story out there, somehow, and wondered how to do it. I decided to use my love of writing to turn the story into a novel, and went on from there.

The story that ended up being in the novel, The Awakening of James Island, is probably about 85% different to the original idea my younger self had.

Actor reimagining of younger me:

Introducing a new galaxy of worlds

So my galaxy has magic, technology, aliens, space ships, and gods and demons. Basically I feel that it can have a bit of everything in it. The main focus is an epic adventure in the vein of The Lord of the Rings, set in technologically advanced worlds like in the Star Wars universe, with a progressive RPG style to the narrative. I also see it as more of a television series, instead of a film (like a lot of people see their stories), and there is a strong sense of build-up and progression and character development that is more usually found in long-form television rather than a big blockbuster film experience.

The trick with this is trying to explain these new worlds while the story is moving, giving glimpses into the history and making it all feel lived in and real, while not getting too carried away with world building and detracting from the actual story.

How do you guys find balancing your world building in your stories?

What is Island Legends?

This is the main heading for the novel series. The first book is called Island Legends: The Awakening of James Island. The second book, which I'm currently writing, is called Island Legends: Echoes of the Past. The long, epic journey detailed in these books focuses on James Island and his family, although there are other major story points that can take up more time than James's story.

Cover artwork for The Awakening of James Island (by a professional artist friend):

What happens in the story?

Good question! To sum it up, James Island was born two years ago, coming to the world as a fully grown man with no memories beyond his own name. One day he comes across a young alien boy named Evan Goodheart, who tells James he has been sent by the gods to find him. Despite James's trepidation and desire to just get on with his life, he goes on to discover how connected his fate is with Evan's as he begins to unlock the truth to his unknown past. The two of them uncover a bigger threat to the galaxy, and set upon a great journey to stop a secret army that may be forming.

The Awakening of James Island is the first step in the story. I see it as more like a double-episode pilot that sets the bigger story up. Now in all honesty some people may not like that format, as there isn't really the typical big showdown with a dark lord at the end, like is generally expected, but the first book works more to set up the rest of the journey. Maybe that works against it, or maybe what's there is enough for people to want to keep reading.

What do you think? If a good book works as Part 1 to a bigger story, would you be happy enough to continue to the next book or feel cheated?

Who are the characters?

So you know a little about James Island already. He 'awoke' on the outskirts of a city in the desert, and managed to make a life for himself as a construction worker, and lives a relatively simple life. He is a bit socially awkward as he tries to hide the fact that he has no memories before awakening, and he likes to read a lot and learn as much as he can about the worlds out there. He has the role of 'hero' thrust upon him, but is anything but the typical hero, and reluctantly goes along with things while still trying to hold on to the life he's made for himself.

The second protagonist is Evan Goodheart, a young prince on a mission to restore peace to his homeland and save his people. He is told by a god that James is the key to succeeding in his mission, although he is surprised to learn that James has no idea how to help him, and doesn't even fully know who he himself is. Evan was originally an elf, before I decided to not have a pre-existing fantasy race in the story, and turned him into an alien called a Voarn – although he still looks pretty much like an elf. I preferred to have my own race and own backstory to his people, rather than re-making what everyone knows about elves. While James is practical and cynical, Evan's strong faith and religious beliefs causes them to clash initially.

The third protagonist is Sam Hawkings, who has connections to James's past, and is more than meets the eye. So, spoilers to say any more!

Here is a map of the main continent the first couple of books take place on. The first book starts in Tyken Town, and the second book goes to Toolin and Riondon (with the third book going to Hath-Ba, a spaceport, where the characters will go off-world):

Swords with space technology, how does that work?

Another good question, mystery question asking voice. When civilisations have interplanetary travel capabilities and advanced technology, it would make sense that guns and laser rifles would beat swords and staffs in an instant. That's still true, but there are other factors in this galaxy.

Thousands of years ago, there was a great war across most of the galaxy. Military weaponry had expanded so much that entire planets were destroyed in what was known as the Great Wars, giant ships tearing through the galaxy and wiping out millions of people. Think of a big World War but across an entire galaxy, bigger than any war ever seen. The war greatly crippled the galaxy, and it became known as The Break.

During the period afterwards, known as The Aftermath, several new laws were passed. The manufacturing of firearms and weaponry were greatly restricted. All weapons were created inactive, and needed a separate Trigger Switch in order to make it fire. These Trigger Switches were heavily governed, and the vast majority of people no longer had access to firearms on a general scale. These restrictions gave way to the popularity of other weaponry, such as swords and staffs, and over the millennia these became standard weapons. Advanced firearms still exist but are mostly used by military organisations, high-level governments and police forces.

Some military organisations still use swords as their main weapons, but combined with shield magic and other shield technology. Many use pistols, rifles, as well as swords. And of course, magic users can use magic.

Swords themselves greatly advanced also, with minor shields on them and capable of cutting through many metals and structures, and able to withstand many heavy blasts. A skilled fighter with a sword can be a formidable opponent against someone with a rifle.

Here is how the map of the galaxy looks, with the major planets named (It might not make much sense at a small scale):

And there are gods involved too?

That's right, good memory. Many gods roam the galaxy, and many live in their own realms. Each of the 14 Universal Gods have their own realm, and are each the source of a class of magic. There are cracks and portals in our mortal plane that can allow people to travel into the godly realms, but they are dangerous places to visit. As there are many religions, there are many gods for each of them. Although some races worship an Angel, thinking them as a God. There are many variations of what people think are gods.

What makes it different to other fantasy worlds?

So as I've previously mentioned, there is a big mix of different concepts that aren't usually seen together, and as with all stories, this one is unique specifically because it was written by me. As authors we use our own personal history and experiences and everything that's made us who we are in the present moment, and whether we realise it or not, everything adds up to the exact story that we write. Any other person would have made this galaxy greatly, or slightly, different.

And....?

Ok here is something big that makes this galaxy unique. The realm known as Heaven is empty. All Gods and Angelic beings are stranded in the mortal realm (with some Gods still living in their individual realms). A very very long time ago there was a great war between angels and demons, and a big showdown between the Lord of the Gods and the Great Devil. In this instance the Devil won, and gained control of the galaxy. (This was my younger self thinking: what if God and the Devil had a fight, and what if the Devil won?)

After a long time, the galaxy became unstable from all the chaos and breaking of societies, and the Devil eventually left to conquer more worlds in other galaxies. All remaining angels used their power to restore the galaxy, and in essence remade it from the beginning, but severely diminished their own power in the process. This was the start of the current galaxy, the start of existence, which no one actually knows is the second version of the galaxy to have been. So there are many angels and gods that could enter the story at any point. The angels, along with the Lord of the Gods, became chained to the mortal realm, living as immortals.

There's a lot more to all of this but I won't get too carried away with everything, and just give a glimpse into things.

Keeping track of everything.

I know that all sounds like a lot to handle. I have been working on all this for a long time, as I mentioned. Growing up, I filled about 6 or 7 notepads with details and drawings and notes, and a huge stack of A4 papers, all with the ever-changing story that was constantly developing.

In recent years I switched to a digital format, and went from several Word documents to creating my own Wiki pages. I use a free service called PBWorks, which allows me to create pages and link words and pages together. Currently there are 143 separate pages in the wiki. It's all a lot bigger than I thought it would get, and it covers a history that starts from the beginning of time and hundreds of years after the end of the book series. As you can probably tell by now, I don't have much of a life or many friends and have spent far too much time developing this world!

I also use Evernote on my phone, where I write down all the ideas and thoughts I get at any point, and check them when I'm writing and add them to a big To-Do list to add into the story later. I highly recommend having a notepad of some kind, as ideas and thoughts can occur at any point, and you don't want to lose them! Even something like a list of cool names to use later is good to have, so when I have a new character I can look over the names list and see if any suits the character.

If your world is huge and you need to manage everything, then I recommend getting your own Wiki too. Or even just a few Word documents that keep track of things.

How do you manage your worlds?

Here is an example of one of my Wiki pages:

Ongoing

So that's a brief glimpse into the galaxy of Island Legends. What do you think of it? Did any of it make sense? Does it make you want to hear more or read the books in the series?

I'm almost done with the first draft of the second book, and hope to have it fully finished in the upcoming months. The first few chapters of The Awakening of James Island are available on Wattpad, with the rest only visible in the published version. The first half of the second book, Echoes of the Past, is available on Wattpad, but they're from a very old draft and I won't be updating them until I get through the entire book.

The first book is around 75k words, and the second book is looking to be around 150k... so it's much bigger and a lot more work to get through!

Any more questions left? I'd love to discuss anything and everything that you'd like to bring up.

If you're still reading, thank you very much for your time and interest. I hope you've found this post informative, and even inspirational.

You can find my books on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alex-Pilalis/e/B00W9SKR40

Just search 'Alex Pilalis'.

The unedited and older versions of many of my books are still available on Wattpad too.

Thanks folks, and enjoy the rest of the party! 

  ★ ★ ★

ENTER THE WATTPAD BLOCK PARTY GIVEAWAYS BY CLICKING HERE:

Shortened Link to Blog: https://goo.gl/oCHaqH

OR HERE:

Regular Link to Blog: http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-iv.html