Prossia by Raphyel Jordan
Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.
As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”
Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference.
"A teenage alien girl might endanger her comrades in-arms due to an unknown secret she keeps while fighting in a galactic war. Herself."Where were you, when you had to grow up?
For a seventeen-year-old Goolian named Aly, it was on another planet called Argutas, a world where she had to "adjust" in order to fit her new surroundings. Daydreaming got replaced with nightmares. Sparring got replaced with killing. Singing to adoring crowds in her father's store turned into shouting for cover. This is what fighting in the war has given Aly, ever since her tribe was drafted. This is the sacrifice she makes while defending galactic order against the Cyogen.
However, there's a danger lurking right among the allies and friends Aly has sworn to protect. It's worse than any Cyogen weaponry, or any being known in the galaxy. It's wrath has the potential of crumbling enemy forces, and bringing allied troops to their knees.
That danger is Aly, herself, and the best part is this: she doesn't even know it. The people she trusts the most are secretly monitoring her condition on the battlefield, and there's no telling what they might be willing to do if Aly accidentally unleashes the power that might jeopardize the safety of everyone around her. Then again, these are the same family and friends who are oblivious to the role they play in an even larger conspiracy blinding the entire known world.
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Raphyel stopped by today to talk about world building (specifically with ailens and science fiction).
You know what? The real world's boring. I
mean, seriously. Look outside. Did you just see a dragon or UFO fly by? No?
Then I rest my case. And if you said yes. . . maybe it's time to talk to a
professional.
One of the reasons why we're seeing sci-fi
and fantasy films strike it big in the box office is because people love being
able to get lost in a world beyond imagination. It's our natural human nature.
Classical stories like Homer's epic poem, "Iliad," centuries beyond
centuries old, is a strong evident to that statement.
Human beings love to imagine the what-if scenario.
What if there was magic? What if I had superpowers? What if aliens actually did
exist? With those small sentences, with those few words, galactic governments
have been put on the brink of peril, wars between elves and goblins have been
raged, adventures that have challenged the test of time have been born, and
that was exactly how "Prossia" was created.
After having a basis for the story in mind,
I asked myself, "What if I wrote a story about aliens?" Sure, that's
simple enough, but that thought would branch off into more avenues and streams.
·
What if they lived on a single
planet?
·
What if it was an entire solar
system?
·
What if the aliens were spread
across an entire galaxy?
·
What if there weren't any even
humans around, like so many other stories?
Did you see what happened? Did you see that
snowball-turned-avalanche coming down the mountain? When I asked myself if my
story was going to be about aliens, I was already challenging myself to explain
why these people's world was the way it was, without even realizing it.
And granted, universes aren't made over
night, so creating the Prossia Universe has been a very long process. The other
challenge of the universe comes from the fact that this is indeed a science
fiction story. Meaning, I can't just say something is the way it is by magic.
This genre requires a little fact, as much as feasible. So, when I made my main
character, Aly, come from people who had infrared vision, had super reflexes
and agility, and could form energy out of their hands, I actually had to
explain that Aly has infrared vision because it helps her see approaching
threats. I have a separate file listing the anatomy of my aliens, from what
type of cartilage and muscle tissue would be possible for Goolians to move the
way they do, to the extrasensory perceptions they have when it comes to their
ability of using fusion to create a ball of plasma.
And that only covers one of the current
nine races! What about the other aliens and their designs? I wanted them to
look a certain way, but there had to be a reason why. Humans and other animals
look the way they look due to Earth's size, its closeness to the sun, the ecosystems
it has, and tons, I MEAN TONS, of other factors. So, it's only natural other
life-forms would evolve to fit their environments as well. That is, after all,
one of the key functions of life. Seriously, look at how diverse the biology on
our very own little rock is.
So, more questions:
If
we must adapt to our surroundings, what if I make aliens that can adapt to
their surroundings through an advanced acclimation process? If that were the
case, wouldn't that mean what took us millions of years to do capable of being
done much sooner? And how much sooner am I talking? Am I still talking millions
of years, or just a few thousand?
And still, the questions continue, and
guess what else, so does the world I find myself lost in. Maybe some people
would think such world building is just wayyyy too much trouble. I, on the
other hand, think it's totally awesome. Being an artist and a writer, I like
being able to create, so what's cooler than creating an entire galaxy!?
To think that I studied Civilization, Psychology,
Ethics and Values, Biology and Ecology just so I could have some ideas for
Prossia's Universe. Now, I'm not saying that's what all writers should do in
order to build their worlds. I was just fortunate enough to be in my college
years while I was writing "Prossia," and I needed to fill in some
class electives. :P To me, researching is good, and the deeper I go into a
universe, the better. Still, in the end, none of this could've happened if I
asked the one thing that humans love to ask. "What if--" . Why don't
you ask the same question? Who knows what wonders you'll bring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And as an added bonus we have a giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Contest closes March 11th!
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And as an added bonus we have a giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Contest closes March 11th!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can find Prossia:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.
Author website: http://www.
Novel Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Great job Vicki! Thanks for participating in the tour. We really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for being part of my blog tour, Vicki. You're awesome!
ReplyDelete