Elizabeth draws from knowledge, personal experience, and imagination in creating.
What does that mean, exactly?
Imagination. I’ve been telling stories all of my life.
It starts out with playing house, then dolls, cars, army, then expanding – creating new worlds that include elements from an ever-growing knowledge and experience base.
Knowledge. I’ve always had a passion for learning. Having a deep understanding of a subject is empowering. It is also imperative in industries such as tech where processes, tools, and trends are continuously updating, changing and evolving.
As Gretsky said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it’s been.”
Apparently, this quote is actually from Wayne’s father, Walter.
In addition to industry specific news, industry groups, conventions, and trade publications are excellent sources of information that can add to an author’s knowledge base.
Experience. I’ve had a full rich life. I’ve lived and worked in multiple locations, enabling me to see and/or experience the impact various industries have had on society
- The oil and gas embargo
Lines of cars half a mile long waiting to get gasoline – gasoline that was going to run out within twenty years. That was almost fifty years ago.
- Automotive manufacturing
Which has dragged Michigan through an economic downturn about once a decade through the latter half of the twentieth century. Seeing plants close, neighbors lose their jobs.
- Technology/Dot com chaos
We don’t need no stinkin’ business plan. Build it and they will come – not
- Fracking
Environmental impact.
- Real estate
Prop 13, bubble impact
I have gained perspectives from personal experience
- EMF Sensitivity
- Rheumatic Arthritis
- NDE
I draw from these factors when creating stories.
Spires and Spirits. I have a great deal of experience with the paranormal. I’ve also made an intensive study of the various phenomenon associated with it.
The US and other world governments have done extensive scientific research for decades. Their findings are widely available, though scattered.
Metatron’s Army. This epic is a work of fiction. However, I did draw from the Near-Death Experience for various aspects.
- Parallel universes
After I was home from the hospital, my dad came in to find me sitting up in bed. He asked, “What are you doing up? It’s late.” I told him, “Do you realize that in another universe, I died? I can feel it.” His reply? “Well, you’re alive in this one, so go to sleep.” Pretty perfect response. The awareness stayed with me. Over the years, I’ve learned to just accept it.
- Light Beings
The Light Beings in the series are totally different than what I have described in After Here: The Celestial Plane and What Happens When We Die. They are fictional characters created for this fictional story.
- The Iconoclast
This character is based on a sensation experienced but again, is totally fictional.
- Location
The only real place is a bar in Berkley, Michigan that had video games in the breezeway. A friend of mine and I used to play the games when I’d spend the night at her house. The owner would grumble it was okay as long as we stayed out of the bar – “Don’t need no trouble with cops…”
- The Weird
In the eighties, I created the warehouse bar in Perm on Catana. Gambling was the primary activity and information was the currency. In order to better bluff, I had the character – who was still evolving at that point – smoke electronic cigarettes. This is before there was any such thing. When they showed up on the scene, I was pretty shocked. I’d totally made it up! Jung’s Collective Consciousness?
A major difference: Unlike in reality, in my universe, there are no health risks associated with smoking the electronic cigarettes.
The fictional story came about as a way of coping with an experience. It evolved over decades. When it came to publishing Metatron’s Army, I was able to draw from the various fictional elements in place – but I also had to tighten the story, build the world, and bring it to life.
All in a fiction day’s work.
