Thursday, December 15, 2011

Your Mission: Write! By Mathis B. Rogers

If you are on anyone's "Fun Forwards" lists online, you no doubt received the "First Pictures from Mars" photo sent from either Spirit or Opportunity - I can't remember which one got there first - of the red planet with Wal-mart on the left-hand side of the photo. I can almost assure you that the Wal-mart Planning Committee did not send it out. I must admit that I am surprised that we were not bombarded with reruns of "My Favorite Martian" on TV or new shows concerning people living or life on Mars.

As a writer, what does this adventure do to your imagination? If you are not interested in Sci-Fi probably nothing. Some of my characters have been to a few parties on Mars and had a good time, but weren't really impressed with Mars, itself. It's dry and dusty. Not much different than the South Plains of West Texas. We do have a few trees here. There are none on Mars.

In July of 1994, the Shoemaker Comet hit Jupiter. If you've watched reruns of Bewitched, you know that Witches and Warlocks do not like the image that Mortals portray of Witches at Halloween. Therefore, in my story, Halloween Night, the Witches Council created a virtual ski resort at the location of the impact. Almost all Witches and Warlocks spend the entire week of Halloween at the resort, so if any of your friends ever disappear during that week, you'll know they're hanging out at Jupiter's ski resort.

The Moonbeam Lounge is the place to hang out after skiing on the slopes. Members can also workout in the gym and relax in the hot springs. Ice-skating on the frozen lake between the Moonbeam Lounge and the Starlight Restaurant while the moons of Jupiter reflect off the snow, also make for a fun, romantic time on Jupiter. Mortals are not allowed at the resort, so if you take one, they will turn to stone. It's a three minute flight to Jupiter from Hayden, Vermont, where my main character, Shane Jordan, lives. But after a conflict of trying to decide what to do about something, he gets so angry that he tears down his great-great grandparents four-story mansion with a gust of wind and makes the flight in two minutes.

In The Golden Locket, another story in the fantasy collection, my main character doesn't find out that he's a Warlock until he's 29. He has acrophobia. What would it be like to be able to fly and be acrophobic? He does okay until he leans up against the "wall" and falls off of Cloud Nine.

It's surprising what "Fun Forwards" and things I see in everyday life can do to get my over-active imagination really going. 

What gets your imagination flowing?

Your Mission: Write!

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