Some updates to the concept

It's been a long while since I have spent any time here on the blog, and while I have continued toying around with the idea of the Dreamwalkers story, I have made little progress. A big part of that is that my focus changed: I got extremely busy at work for a while; then I started spending more time playing WoW again; then school stuff kept me busy; then I started dating and traveling (long distance thing). I did find time to start learning to play guitar, which has been fun, and I have been reading a bunch—mostly comics, but some real reading too ;)

Another reason for the long absence from the story was that I wasn't happy with the logic behind the meteor delivery system (and the resulting random nature of crystal deployment). At first I argued that it was like the Yarin using a random sampling process to get their subjects—which would, of course, be wise. But, in the end, I decided that it just didn't work. So, I thought about other ways of getting the crystals to Earth, and I think I have settled on one that wasn't planned by the Yarin at all (although they are still part of the story).

I also came up with a more viable reason for the villain to have an issue with the kids. His motivation is now very clear. I plan to post some more details at some point, but I want to write a bite more before I do. I have had a bunch of content written for a while now, but with these changes, I have a lot of rewrites. So, off to work I go!

Dreamwalkers—concept, continued: The Origin of the Crystals

I have already shared that the crystals came from a meteor that was on a collision course with Earth, and you know that no one seems to know what blew the meteor out of the sky in the first place. This part of the story is likely to never even make it into the book (at least not the first set of stories), but the crystals do have a deeper origin than just "came from outer space."

An alien race called the Yarin, who live on a planet about 18.8 light-years from Earth, have been studying humans for generations. While they have only made one stealthy trip to our system, they did return to their home with several dozen human specimens from around the world. These humans were initially little more than lab rats to the Yarin, but were eventually provided with a secure communal living area so that they could live reasonably normal lives while still remaining as test subjects. None of the original humans remain, but their descendants are still on the planet of Yarix.

The Yarin discovered the essence within the human body—something they do not have. After years of experimentation, they developed a way to focus a body's essence through a device that is black and crystalline. This is not a naturally occurring crystal it's a technology that is crystalline-based. When developing the technology, the Yarin found that even with the crystals, the essence was only able to leave the body while the body was unconscious. This proved troublesome for testing and the Yarin began to induce sleep in order to study the essence further. A second complication arose when the Yarin discovered that each Essence was much more powerful than the human it inhabits: when an essence was free of the body, it displayed abilities that took the Yarin by surprise. They were not ready for what they had let loose on themselves. There were many death—both Yarin and human—and the program was shut down.

Years later, the Yarin Science Consulate discovered that their star, Draconis, was dying. It would still be able to support life in the system for a few thousand years, but there was nothing they could do to save it. H0ping to find a way to revitalize their star, the Yarin turned once again to studying human essence. While none of the humans remaining on Yarix possessed a power that could help, the Yarin were determined to find one that did. They constructed a device that could deliver thousands of crystals to Earth. To lower the chance of their exposure, they constructed the device to look like a meteor. It was designed to shatter shortly before entering the Earth's atmosphere, so that the crystals would be distributed across much of the planet's surface. While they could not control where each landed, they hoped that more would find their way into human hands than not. Along with the crystals, the Yarin sent a Science team to earth, disguised as human, to search for one or more powers that could help save Draconis—and Yarix, along with it.

Dreamwalkers—concept, continued: reluctant heroes

As I had mentioned last time, these characters are not really the hero types. I would actually consider them reluctant heroes—or some, even antiheroes. My central cast of characters may be the heroes of my story, but they don't want to be. Calista Hart (17), Josiah Wakeman (17), and Tristan Wolfe (15) are three teens from Norristown, Pennsylvania. They all attend the same school but all travel in different circles. They each acquire a crystal—I'll get into how when I discuss their individual stories—and they begin dream walking. At first, they think they are simply dreaming; they wake up each day believing that what happened overnight was a lucid dream. However, that all changes when they witness the villain of the story, Robert Porter (34), committing a murder. The next day they learn that the murder really occurred and realize that everything that has happened while they were asleep was real.

A couple of other dreamwalkers take this as an opportunity to do some good and try to become real heroes, but the central characters are more interested in helping themselves than in helping others. However, when the villain starts coming after other dreamwalkers, they realize that they will have to work together to survive. This doesn't come easy to them: They haven't fully mastered their powers individually, and they sure as hell don't have any clue how to fight as a team. But, fighting as a team is what it will take, and they will need to work together to develop their powers so that might have a chance at defeating Robert.

I am still determining the exact number of core team members that I want to have. Right now I am planning for the three I have already listed, but there is potential for me to add one or two more depending on the direction I decide to take the story.

I know this post was short, but it's really just a continuation of yesterday's. Tomorrow I will write about the origin and purpose of the crystals. Soon after that I will start writing up some character profiles / back stories.

Dreamwalkers—concept

A while back—well, years ago now, even—I had a sketch/idea book. I used to write little blurbs in it—just ideas for stories or brief poems. I sometimes even drew in it (although I am not a very good artist. In the end, though, it was just for me, so the quality of the art didn't much matter. A couple of months back, when I was digging around in my closet for some Advil, I came across it again. I picked it up, read a few pages, and was brought right back to when I actually had a creative outlet that was not work related. That night, after our raid was done, I read through the rest of it. I had so many unfinished ideas back then! When I went to bed that night, my mind was racing with these ideas. Some of them I started expanding on... others I realized were complete and utter crap. I couldn't sleep; all I could do was think about these stories.

The next day I decided that I was going to start expanding on some of these ideas. I started by working on a drawing that represented a poem I had written. Again, I am not the best artist, so it wasn't that great, but it was a start. Later I decided that I would be better off working on one of the many stories I had started. One, in particular, caught my attention: It was called "Dreamwalkers." Now, the original idea was just a blurb—nothing more than a single paragraph that outlined an idea for a story that would take place entirely in a dream realm. I liked the idea, but the more I thought about it, and discussed it with others, the more I realized that it was too limiting. Sure, I could write this one story, but what about after that? Would there be room to continue with these characters if I ever wanted to? Now, I am not saying that I will end up writing more than one of these stories anyway, but I don't want to write myself into a corner either. I'd like the option to continue with it if I one day have the desire. To do that, I would need to take these characters out of this dream realm and have them affecting the real world more directly. That's when my idea morphed from a world of dreams to astral projection. These dreamwalkers could be used in more than just one good story—I could now begin.

The concept begins with a meteor headed for Earth. Various global powers see it coming, but not before it is too late to do much. There is just too much sky to watch, and by the time anyone sees the behemoth of a rock hurdling toward Earth, all they can try to do is blow it out of the sky and hope that the pieces that make landfall don't cause too much damage. There is no hope of diverting its path—this is not going to be a near miss.

The story will primarily take place in the U.S., but it won't be limited to just one area of the world. This event directly affects an entire hemisphere (and indirectly affects the entire planet). Somewhere in the U.S., a military base is getting ready to fire a barrage of missiles that they hope will break the meteor into small enough pieces to not be much of a threat, but before they can fire, the meteor shatters into thousands upon thousands of pieces—seemingly on its own. Governments from around the world are confused: Who took it out? Who saved their asses? The sight is a beautiful one. The sky is filled with shooting stars. Most of the pieces appear to be small enough to burn up without making landfall. The ones that do, don't appear to cause significant damage. There are a few deaths, some fires, and some fear induced panics, but overall, the damage is low.

In Norristown, Pennsylvania, landfall occurs. What makes it to Earth is not rock-like. Instead, the surviving pieces are crystalline. The crystals look similar to pieces of pure black onyx, but they are not what they appear to be. Several residents come across them. Unaware of what the crystals are, or their origin, most take them home—after all, the crystals are of stunning beauty. Most notable of those that found crystals in the Norristown area are three teens. They all attend the same school but are not friends; they all travel in different circles. None of them is prepared for what was to come next.

Before continuing on, I must explain a part of this universe that I am creating. In it, a body is just a shell for a person's essence. Their essence, or true being, is contained within this vessel. This containment is necessary for the essence to exist in our world. Without the body as an anchor, the essence would eventually dissipate, unable to hold its form; without the essence, the body would be catatonic. Each essence has the potential for a power. When first born, a person's essence is pure, unscathed, naive, a blank slate. As the person matures, and experiences life, their essence will develop an ability that is a result of their experiences. While trapped within the body, the essence cannot manifest its power, but the power is there. Each power has three stages of development (or strength), however, the power cannot progress through these stages without being used.

The crystals are not as benign as they may look. When a person has one of these crystals close to them while they are sleeping, their essence is able to manifest outside of their body. The crystal allows the essence to remain anchored to the body even though there may be a great distance between the two. Once outside of the body, the person's essence is finally able to manifest its power. However, because these people have never used their powers before, they will have to discover them... grow into them... develop them.

While the teens are not friends, and definitely not the hero types, they will eventually come to rely on one another and will even fight for a common goal. I will get more into that part of the story next time. That's it for now, though. Feel free to chime in if you have an idea or criticism. Nothing is set in stone yet. I have a lot of writing to do, and I am still in the early planning stages.