This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the world building of their books and share their experiences in creating the world for their characters.For more information on this feature,click HERE.
Today,Liesl Shurtliff stops by at Daydreaming Bookworm to discuss about the world building of her MG debut,Rump,which is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.Thanks so much for stopping by,Liesl! :)ABOUT RUMP:
In a magical kingdom
where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of
everyone's joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems
to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold.
His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and
she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a
curse.To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.
ABOUT LIESL:
Liesl Shurtliff was
born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the mountains for her playground.
Just like Rump, Liesl was shy about her name, growing up. Not only did it rhyme
with weasel, she could never find it on any of those personalized key chains in
gift shops. But over the years she’s grown to love having an unusual name—and
today she wouldn’t change it for the world!Before she became a writer, Liesl graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music, dance, and theater. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and three young children, where she still dreams of the mountains. Rump is her first novel.
LINKS:
GOODREADS
WEBSITE
Liesl's Guest Post:
An Insight of the Characters' World:
RUMP: THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN
by Liesl Shurtliff
When I started to write a
retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, I decided I wanted to stick pretty closely to all
the major events of the original tale, the unique shift being in the
point-of-view character. My Rumpelstiltskin was going to be a loveable hero, so
how could I explain all the strange and horrible things he does in the original
tale? The world of Rump plays and intricate and vital role in accomplishing
this seemingly impossible task.
Names
From what I recall, my very
first idea for this story was that names would be at the center of Rump’s world. That made total sense to me. In the
original Grimm’s tale of Rumpelstiltskin, it is his name that is the key in the
end, though we don’t know exactly why or how. Some folklorists believe that
Rumpelstiltskin was a demon that wanted the baby to feed upon, and discovering
a demon’s true name gives you power over him. This answer seems logical enough,
but I wanted to defy logic. My Rumpelstiltskin had to be loveable.
So the first thing I
realized about this world was that names were intricately tied to a person’s
destiny. Your name affects your future, how people judge you and treat you. A
name might reveal social status or a particular power or virtue. It might also
reveal weakness or the sorrowing of a parent. Though it’s magnified in the
world of Rump, this is not wholly unfamiliar territory in the real world. Names
have always held great meaning and power in many cultures; I just took it to
another level. With Rump in particular, his name reveals a gap in his identity.
His mother died before she could reveal his entire name, leaving him with a
rather embarrassing portion. This is the starting point for the entire story.
Magic
Names were the easy part to
work with in this world. It was an obvious choice from the beginning, but what
about the magic of this world? As I considered other aspects of the tale, such
as spinning straw into gold, I had to consider a magic system. Who could use
magic? What were the consequences of its use? I felt the more specific and
concrete the answers, the better. For Rump, the magic of spinning straw into
gold is deeply rooted in his family history, as are the consequences of that
magic, which don’t reveal themselves right away. And without giving away too
much, Rump’s magic is also connected to his name.
Magical Creatures
Though I did not want to
create a high fantasy world full of elves, dwarves, centaurs, mermaids,
dragons, etc. I wanted Rump’s world to be magical beyond just the use of magic.
That is, I wanted some magical
creatures. This part was slower for me, probably because it intimidated me. I
like magical worlds, but they also need to have some basis in logic in order
for them to be satisfying, and I don’t like to make things up just to add
flavor and intrigue to the story. Anything that pops up in my story, in the
end, must have a necessity. So the pixies and gnomes and trolls that Rump runs
into along the way are all entertaining in their own way, but they also each
play roles in moving the story along and even bringing about the resolution.
Building the world of Rump was challenging, but so rewarding
as I found those moments of connection between the fantasy and reality. That’s
when a fantasy world really comes to life.
GIVEAWAY!!!
Liesl is giving away a signed copy of RUMP and a bookmark to one lucky INTERNATIONAL winner!Enter using the rafflecopter below and check the Terms And Conditions on the widget for the rules.Good Luck! :)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
