Real Life Inspiration

What started out as a back story for a character for MisCon has turned into a series.  This is what happens when you start writing, your daughter likes and adds to it, and then like a snowball downhill it grows.

My main character, Juba Seedcrone, lives in a world which is fairly primitive (by our current standards) and she travels by horseback in a circuit around the country, assisting with planting and associated rituals to the goddess.  This is all well and go, but how do I make her journey through the country come alive?

You take a look at the pictures you take while hiking in the wilderness.  Those twisty, narrow paths emerging from the woods into an open field.

Narrow tracks on the side of a slope. 

Open fields looking out onto rugged hill sides, knowing you have to ride around, not over.

Rocky outcroppings which are harsh and unforgiving.

Wide vista were you can see for miles.

Trails through woods, rocky and with tree roots to trip up the unwary, going through lush green trees, dotted with wildflowers on either side.

So the countryside of Panterra is modeled on the terrain of Montana.  I spent several years BC (before children) trail riding and working with horses, so I think I can write convincingly about horses.  I have more than a passing knowledge of plants and gardening, growing seasons, saving seeds and the like.
But my hikes over the past couple of years will come in real handy for descriptions of the countryside Juba is riding through.  And since I have hike in all seasons, I think I can describe the changes to the landscape on her long circuit around Panterra.

This should be interesting and fun.