Behind The Scenes Inspiration

One thing I particularly like as a writer is when people show interest in the inspiration behind my writing. I enjoy sharing the anecdotes or fun facts that have worked their way into my stories. So it was with great interest that, as part of the background work for our current audio project, Adrian Tchaikovsky's Tales of the Apt: Spoils of War, that I turned to the notes Adrian has kindly shared with us. 

These are not just any notes. These are the notes he had written when working up the world of the Apt as an RPG (role-playing game). And what a treat they are to read! After a few short minutes, I was completely lost in the richness of his descriptions, seeing in my mind's eye the world of the characters whose stories I've read in the book. 

I had intended to write notes for myself as I went along, but I became so immersed that note-writing was forgotten.  There is so much detail. Everything is covered - food, terrain, history, science, magic.  They have been inspirational not just for my own writing (eg: I really need to make better notes when world-building!), but also on how to better portray the characters Adrian has created. Reading the stories is one thing, but having the author's personal notes backing them up is quite another.  We're very lucky to have access to them and we are really looking forward to being able to share the audio version of Tales of the Apt: Spoils of War with you later this year. 
(posted by Tracey)