The short story I'm tweaking has to do with my "Tabber the Red" milieu, where, on a fantasy world, upright cats live, worship, breathe and die in their own ways.
With research that has taken me, officially, two decades to create, the idea began as a novel, which, after several attempts, false starts, and poor planning, became a short story, and soon progressed to several shorts, six of which were published.
This next story comes from an ancient time in this world, and a prophecy with a weapon forged by a god.
My inspiration for this weapon ranges from Tolkien's time-honored Ring of Power, to Moorcock's Elric of Meldibone''s soul-devouring sword, Stormbringer, and the demonic dagger, whose name escapes me, from Hickman and Weis' Death Gate.
When library books weren't enough, I found the fabulous reference Dorling Kindersley pocket-size encyclopedia series. Starting with Cats...
With all the reading and obsession I have for many things feline, I learned about caracals, which led me to more research.
Armed with fascination for the Middle East and India and the TRUE "1001 Nights" *no Disney's Alladin, please*, I began to piece together my caracals' culture, their belief-systems, as well as creating their pantheon of gods.
What formulated started with a lynx boy and a weapon..
