Author Emma Michaels On Her Inspiration for "Society of Feathers" Series
Tomorrow I'll share my thoughts on Emma Michael's novel Owlet: Society of Feathers Book 1, but first I had to share with you a post she wrote on what inspired this series...
The dream that inspired me to start drawing Iris had her reaching out for an owl, catching a piece of its soul and flying away. After some time I came to realize that the owl was simply a part of herself that she was reaching for, a piece of freedom. The idea of a human with a part avarian soul then started to fascinate me. How would it affect their day to day life? Would it make differences in the small nuances that make up a personality?
I thought back to my research on ornithology when I was younger and realized that it wouldn’t be a physical difference because anatomically speaking hardly any traits could carry over. It would be smaller things that would matter. Birds have different personalities and it is a mystery how their emotions and thought processes work. So I decided to have some fun playing with the ideas over time. I would see someone on the street or someone who I knew and ask myself what bird they would be. I won’t lie, I think there were a few instances where I burst out laughing in public and everyone looked at me wondering what was wrong. Admit it, when you see a man who is so pompous and swishing from side to side as he walks and peacock pops into your head with their attitudes, graces and unadulterated self grooming, you might laugh too.
As I wrote Owlet the Stryx expanded past just being a concept into being a culture of its own. It has a history, it was rich with knowledge others had forgotten because different aspects of national history meant more to them than the individual countries. I then thought about what a young Stryx might be taught in school and realized that as half avarian souls they would love different aspects of culture like songs, legends and stories.
The more I wrote, the more fascinated I became and the more detailed the world I had created started to be. Now, it is as real to me as the lands in literature I have loved. Creating the Stryx wasn’t just writing, it was an adventure and I loved every minute of it. I can hardly wait to get more in depth and have more revealed to you in book two where you get to find out more about the illustrious Eyrie who work as a council for all Stryx!
Emma Michaels is the author of the ‘A Sense of Truth’ and ‘Society of Feathers’ series. Her goal with her latest YA novel 'Owlet' is to give others what she did not have growing up; a strong female protagonist with asthma. While her previous aspiration was to be a lady knight she realized that not being able to run more than a few feet might become a hindrance so turned to writing instead. Her day jobs include being a cover artist, marketing consultant and silk screen designer.
To view other blogs on this tour October 1 - December 31, 2012, please visit Emma's blog