MY WRITING PROCESS MEME--- The Earth Tigers
I was tagged in this meme by webserial author Nick Bryan, whose story, Hobson and Choi, is also available on Jukepop serials. Nick's post can be found here, and his serial is well worth checking out!!
The authors at Jukepop are incredibly talented and very supportive of each other, and I want to give a big thanks and a shout out to Nick for inviting me to play today. :)
Now on to the questions and The Earth Tigers.
1. When and where is the story set?
The Earth Tigers is set on a planet whose dominant life forms are primarily arthropods. The sparse human tribes are fairly primitive (though they do have tools and woven cloth) and the major civilization in the planet's history was arachnid, built in cooperation with human assistants. The timeline is well after a major war has reduced the spider's population and driven a rift between them and the humans. Now, the giants are waking, and the spiders need to reforge the old bonds to be ready for their return...The only problem is, in the interim, the humans have developed a bone-deep hatred for all spiders.
2. What can you say about the main characters?
Horatch is a T'rant scout. He is, most simply, an enormous tarantula. His former mate, whom he still harbors a deep love for, is the leader of his people. Horatch leaves her and his city on a quest to find a human to offer the Old Ones when they return. He hopes that his success will cement his people's future and win him a permanent place in Niatha's affections.
Milyi is a human girl who had difficulty fitting in. The only thing she excels at is dancing, and she does that all wrong according to her teacher. Though she, like all of her people, harbors a terror of spiders, her grandmother's plans to marry her off leave Milyi just rebellious enough to listen to Horatch instead of squishing him on sight.
Saku steps on a bee hive while hunting and is fatally stung. He is rescued from certain death by Angel, a monster Wisp who carries him to her city far to the north. Though she is his savior, Angel also stings him repeatedly, using her toxins to control and warp Saku's thoughts until he like many before him, vow to serve the Wisps in their war against the spiders.
3. What is the main conflict?
Ultimately the conflict in The Earth Tigers is Spider versus Wasp. I've modeled the "villains" in the serial on the tarantula killing Pepsis wasps. The T'rants and their Great Ones (monster sized tarantulas) battle the Wisps for the loyalty and assistance of the humans, whom they both need in order to maintain their dominance over the planet.
On a personal scale, Horatch vies for Niatha's love with her current mate Metacha, a much stronger and larger male with a seriously bad attitude. Milyi struggles to find her real place in the world, adrift from her own people and thrust into a group of others that are hostile and competitive.
Poor Saku labors under the influence of Wisp venom to spread the wasps' Truth to the rest of his people and lead them into the grip of the Wisps and away from loyalty to the spiders and their Great Ones.
And as always, more to come! The Earth Tigers is updated weekly on the blog, wattpad, textnovel, goodreads and jukepop.
The Infectious Phaze:
Below are links to more authors who will answer the above questions about their own serials. Check them out as well. :)
TR Goodman was born after a volcanic eruption with a love of scifi and fantasy. Armed with a pen and sonic screwdriver, he now writes his own stories.
Website: http://www.trgoodman.net
Serial post: http://www.trgoodman.net/2014/06/blog-hop-abigail-abernathy-and-my-serial-writing-process/
Jennifer Beasmoney is a fellow Jukepop author. Her serial, Innerworld--The OtherWorld is going strong over there.