Of innocence and purity

A friend didn't want me to explain the song, "Me and Mrs. Jones" to HER friend. Her argument that while she herself was innocent, her friend was pure. And then, that got me thinking.. The differences between innocence, purity, chastity, virginity, naivete'..and how our society confuses these terms, often using them interchangeably within prose, poetry and verbally.
I will speak about purity and innocence.
I'm often drawn to how the 'innocent' character is portrayed in any story I'm reading.
In one of my cat fantasy stories, my lynx boy is part of a prophecy that whoever wields the evil weapon he carries, will become corrupted.
Because my lynx is purehearted, he is one of a few who can carry the infernal weapon without being influenced by it. This, of course, makes him a target by the mortal, immortal, divine, and infernal worlds.

What's the BIG Idea? Part 1

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..

What ideas make a story? Part 2

I'm reworking a short story within my cat epic fantasy milieu, so I'm excited by a lot of renewed interest in the Middle East and its past and present! *that's why I immensely enjoyed that documentary "Islamic Art: Mirror to an Invisible World" (2011)* 

Whatever misconceptions you have about the Middle East, drop them! If you love hearing about Middle Eastern cultures and how they have affected every level of modern society, watch this documentary! You don't have to be an art grad as I to appreciate BEAUTY and HISTORY.

Now, about the story..

**Please find and watch this documentary**

What ideas make a story?

I mentioned in last post about an awesome (most documentaries are!) documentary I recently viewed and a wonderful article about how a short story is borne in "bits and pieces".
*Check last post for documentary title and magazine issue/page*

"The Contract" (my childhood fascination with royal lines, and my distaste towards politics)

"I Guard the Gate" (my love for Ancient Egypt, angels and dimensional portals)

"White Ministrant" (my interest in Middle Eastern culture, modern and ancient. Also, my first foray into writing a creature-feature)

"Firefly Crown" (a continuation from "The Contract" story arc, or, far into the storylines' future as well as my first post love scene. I also feel this is a "Masterpiece Theatre" - Alistair Cooke hosting, but with cats)
Onto the next post..

Cat fantasy epic..part 2

I just finished a documentary on Islamic art called: "Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World" (2012).
It reflected Islamic art through the following countries: Egypt, Israel, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran, Spain, Mali and India.
I am also re-reading an article in The Writer Magazine called: "Making short stories from bits and pieces" by award-winning author, Linda McCullough Moore. (The Writer/August 2012/pg 28-29)

Why am I fascinated by ancient art that continues to beguile scholars and the world?

Why am I reading an article on the technique that got me published over the years in the first place?

There is an agreement I made with myself: when drafting a piece, I need to know what kind of information I will reach for to electrify my writing.

I can't remember exact influences and inspirations in that moment and time, but I try to give a snap statement to encapsulate what space the story means.
Here is a list of my published stories and what I state within parentheses.

"Su Ling" (after a Tang Dynasty short story and that particular form)

"The Merchant's Daughter" (social commentary and I wanted to write from a vendor's point of view)
Onto the next post...