Ask the Author: Catherine Witzaney
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Catherine Witzaney
I've always enjoyed stories about tiny people, ever since my parents read me The Borrowers when I was a kid. I was reminded of this when I saw the Studio Ghibli adaptation of The Borrowers, called The Secret World of Arrietty. This planted the seeds in my imagination for what would later become Wingless. In fact, in very early versions of the story, there were humans present alongside the tiny sprites! But as the story grew, I ended up focusing entirely on the tiny characters to the exclusion of humans entirely.
For the magic system, I wanted something connected to the elements, but not strictly bound to them (I didn't want to just copy the the "bending" in Avatar the Last Airbender). What emerged from my brainstorming is the mashup of superpower-style abilities being tied to specific elements for their power.
As for the cultural side of things, I like to base my fantasy cultures loosely around real-world cultures. For instance, Bat Sprite society was heavily inspired by Ancient Sparta, which was a great martial power for a time, but was also complex, with a lot of brutality and strife. The class divisions within the Bat Colony were partially inspired by similar divisions in Spartan culture.
For the magic system, I wanted something connected to the elements, but not strictly bound to them (I didn't want to just copy the the "bending" in Avatar the Last Airbender). What emerged from my brainstorming is the mashup of superpower-style abilities being tied to specific elements for their power.
As for the cultural side of things, I like to base my fantasy cultures loosely around real-world cultures. For instance, Bat Sprite society was heavily inspired by Ancient Sparta, which was a great martial power for a time, but was also complex, with a lot of brutality and strife. The class divisions within the Bat Colony were partially inspired by similar divisions in Spartan culture.
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Mar 26, 2024 09:35AM · flag