Thursday, December 14, 2023

Keep an Open Mind When Worldbuilding

Posted by: Deborah A Bailey

 The idea for my Hathor Legacy series came to me after I watched a PBS documentary on U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After they went into the details of how FDR was infected by the virus that causes polio, I wondered what would happen with a virus that would fundamentally change the person who became infected.

Instead basing the story on Earth, I chose a settlement on a distant planet. Survivors of the infection would be left with PSI powers.

In book two of the series, Hathor Legacy: Burn, I went into more detail. The Guardians (the PSI security force) were descendants of settlers who were infected by a virus unleashed when the planet was terraformed.

Though the Guardians are not like the other humans on Hathor, they have their own culture and hierarchies within that culture.

Once an individual develops PSI abilities and becomes a Guardian, they’re forced to leave their family and give up their family name.

Nadira (the heroine) has to fight convention when she decides to continue her relationship with Jonathan Keel (the hero). Yet, her mother, Minona also fought against the established order.

As with any group, there will be outliers, but with the Guardians, if too many of them push back, it could destroy them and completely rip apart the fabric that holds the society together.

Novacorp needs them to hold on to their control, and yet the Guardians are strong enough to overpower them. At the heart of the story, conflict and tension exists between two groups that need each other for survival, yet don’t trust each other. And ultimately this conflict directly impacts the relationship between Nadira and Jonathan.

That’s how I got from FDR to the Guardians. Certainly not what I expected when I sat down to watch that program!

You never know what ideas will assist with your worldbuilding, and where they might lead.

The three books of the Hathor Legacy series are available on all major online booksellers including Amazon, Apple, B&N and Kobo.

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