Guest Blogger: Stephanie Julian

The winner of Stephanie's book is: Amber! Congratulations, Amber. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Stephanie. Thanks to everyone who participated!!

At last month’s RT Booklovers Convention in Orlando, Florida, I gave a talk on worldbuilding, “Beyond Celtic Fairies and Greek Gods,” with Jessica Andersen, Lynne Connelly and Melissa Mayhue.

I first came up with the idea when I decided I was going to RT and knew I wanted to get my name out there other than only at the book signings.

Being a relatively shy person (no, really, I am), public speaking is so not my thing and I hate making small talk. But I love to talk writing.

And I love to write, particularly paranormal series. Seduced by Danger, the sixth story in my Magical Seduction series from Ellora’s Cave, was released Friday and in it you’ll find many of the characters from the previous books, along with the main couple, Michael and Cara.

I love writing series because it allows you to revisit favorite characters, to catch up with them every now and then and see what they’re doing.

And I adore writing paranormal series. There’s just so much more you can do with paranormal. You aren’t bound by the traditional rules of nature, except those you choose to follow and the ones you create yourself.

I chose to play with an Etruscan mythology in my books, mainly because no one else was. And my dad’s family is from Italy. It was a natural fit. And I didn’t want to do the traditional Greek gods. I wanted to do my own twist. But how do you find that twist?

When I started cruising the Internet for information on Etruscan mythology, I discovered the wild and wonderful world of speculative non-fiction. Sites dedicated to theories on who really built the sphinx and the pyramids and crystal skulls and the Piri Reis map.

I was fascinated by lost civilizations (yes, I mean Atlantis but also Ra and the Lost Mines of Murabeca and etc.), artifacts unearthed in Middle Eastern deserts that appeared to be ancient electrical equipment and cryptozoology.

I felt like I’d hit the goldmine of idea. The very nature of their being sparks little ideas that grow into big ideas.

Here are some of my favorite places on the Internet to find weird and wonderful ideas.

Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/
The mythology section is divided into six geographical regions: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Oceania. Each region has clearly defined subdivisions. The folklore section contains general folklore, Arthurian legends and folktales from many lands. There is also a bestiary, legendary heroes, image gallery and genealogical tables of various pantheons.

Crystalinks Ancient and Lost Civilizations
http://www.crystalinks.com/ancient.html
Good jumping off point if you’re looking for something to kickstart your creativity.

Pib Burns Cryptozoology
http://www.pibburns.com/cryptozo.htm
Want to read about weird creatures? Here’s the place to find some.

World Mysteries
http://www.world-mysteries.com/index.html
Another weird stuff site but full of interesting tidbits to make you go hmm.

Skeptic’s Dictionary
http://www.skepdic.com/
The other side to some of the weird stuff you’re going to find on the other sites.

Rick Richards
http://www.rickrichards.com
A little bit of everything here, from Jesus to Mayan temples with lots of pictures.

www.stephaniejulian.com

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