Misty D. Waters: The Origin of #ARCHETYPE

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Origin of #ARCHETYPE

Wow! September really flew by, didn’t it? We’re already approaching the October 1st ARC giveaway, which means I need to do something to entice you, right?

Last month was fun for me, because I got to show off the fantastic characters I created for ARCHETYPE. I only wish it were time to intro the new guys from PROTOTYPE, because man do I have some favorites in that one. And not a single one of them were planned ahead of time. They just showed up, waved their arms, and inserted their way into the novel with a ton of personality.

But this isn’t about them. *back kicks the onslaught of needy characters*

Over the next few posts, leading into the October 1st signed ARC raffle, I’m going to give you a little bit about the World in Archetype.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Emma woke me from a dead sleep with the beginning of her story. I ran straight to the computer with what is now the 3-line pitch and at least a page and a half of the beginning.

But she didn’t literally come out of nowhere. Before I became a writer, or even imagined myself in this career, I used to tell myself an episodic tale every night to shut down the brain so I could sleep. That tale came from a collection of What If questions and images I’d seen as a child.

What If the population soared out of control? To the point where we had to regulate the # of children born per family?

What If this happened during a time in which we could literally choose the sex of our unborn children? Think Gattaca.

What If (because Mother Nature always has a way of evening out the playing field) during this time infertility becomes a genetic, worldwide problem and causes a shortage of women who can actually bear children?

Combine those with a couple movie images I’ve never been able to erase from my mind:

Luke Skywalker in a tank of water from The Empire Strikes Back.