Hi Skylarverse readers and thanks to Skylar for the opportunity to visit today (and putting up with my eleventh hour blog content). As the post title says, I’m Emily and you’ve probably figured out that I’m a writer. A reader, too, and sometimes more one than the other, but most definitely a writer.
One of my favorite aspects of reading and writing is words and word arrangements. I like to think I’m clever and I have a slightly quirky sense of humor, both of which I often incorporate into my stories in hopefully subtle ways. I’m not, however, a good blogger. I’ll ask your forgiveness in advance!
But about this particular blog…last night while I was scrambling to come up with a topic (one of the reasons I’m a bad blogger), I kept turning “Skylarverse” over in my head. “Skylarverse” filled the void left by my lack of ideas. At some point the syllables separated and meant something else and I had this “Eureka!” moment of envy at Skylar’s cleverness.
Skylarverse = Skylar’s (cyber) Universe, in the sense of her web space and her created worlds.
Skylarverse = Skylar’s words (verses)
And I confess I am in awe over the possibilities. Why didn’t I think of that? I’ve created universes for my stories (sometimes very tiny tunnel-vision universes, sometimes sweeping expanses of space) but I’ve never named them anything so clever, with such a wink-and-nod deftness of phrase. My failing is possibly a result of my “big picture” weakness. I have very limited scope in my mental vision. My critique partner and sometimes co-author, on the other hand, is very far-seeing.
She (Elise Logan) and I recently released MORE THAN A MAN, a futuristic romance spin-off from a world I peeked at in a short story several years ago. Elise read the short (2600 words) and loved it. She gave me very dirty looks for stopping at 2600 words. When she and I were brainstorming topics for a free read two years ago, we came up with an outlandish concept that would NEVER work. Too silly. Gingerbread man shapeshifter? Far-fetched, over the top, and no doubt someone had already done it before.
I don’t remember which of us caught the “Eureka” moment of linking our half-baked idea to that old short story (“Wednesday at the Manporium”, available in DREAMS AND DESIRES VOL. 3 from Freya’s Bower) but I’m willing to bet credit goes to Elise and her far-seeing eyes. Together, she and I took a single word (Manporium, in case you’re wondering) and built a world from something as small as a surface scratch.
So…you can see now my obsession with “Skylarverse” and my love of words. A single word can carry so much potential and so much meaning, some of that meaning not even immediately apparent. When I sent Abigail to Manporium (way back in 2007) to buy the man of her dreams, I had no idea she would light the way for Noelle (MORE THAN A MAN) to create Aya. Even Noelle’s happy-ever-after was shaped by a single word. I’d tell you what it is but that would be giving too much away.
Can you think of a single word or turn of phrase that has changed your life?
~Emily Ryan-Davis~
The SkylarVerse 