Holidays and World Building by Diane Burton

 

Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian readers. I grew up in the Detroit suburbs and have fond memories of the amazing celebration of our combined holidays—U.S.’s Independence Day and Canada Day. Dad would pile us all into our red Ford station wagon and drive us over to Windsor, Ontario. We’d watch the fireworks on the Detroit River from a riverside park. Back then Windsor was a lot safer than Detroit. We’d spread blankets on the grass, bring out the popcorn and pop, and settle down to wait for the display to begin. The Windsor orchestra would play patriotic tunes. Then the best—the 1812 Overture complete with cannons booming and fireworks flaring in the night sky. So, Happy 4^th of July and Happy Canada Day, everyone.

Our combined celebration reminds me of world building, one of my favorite things to do. Whether it’s in a science fiction adventure or a romantic suspense, readers want to be grounded in that world. Holidays can be used to give more information about where your story is set, without an info dump. In my book Switched Resolution, third and final book in the Switched series, the main characters are given the privilege of serving as honor guards at the opening of the Founders’ Day ceremony. Participating in the commemoration of the brave people who settled and tamed the wild planet is a great honor. But since their ship has been stolen by renegades, the officers must go after it. They are no-shows at the ceremony. Bad news all around. Disrespectful to boot.

If you’re describing a holiday, be sure to include the foods available. At Tulip Time, a week-long celebration of Dutch heritage in Holland, Michigan, food trucks offer a variety of foods, including many Dutch specialties. In your celebrations, are there parades? Carnivals? Is it serious or was it at one time? Has it disintegrated into an excuse for frolicking and getting high? Or is it religious? Play with the concept and see what fun you can have, rather, what your characters can have.

 

Enjoy this holiday weekend. Stay safe and have fun.

 

Blurb:

Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. Does the reserved Marcus have what it takes to imitate his smart-aleck twin? Despite help from his love, Veronese, Scott’s already been outed by two of Marcus’ best friends.

When rebels steal the ship with part of the crew aboard, Scott has to rescue them and retrieve the Freedom. The stakes increase when he discovers the rebels are heading for Earth. They know he’s a fraud and they want Marcus. The safety of the Alliance of Planets depends on Scott and his allies.

Switched Resolution, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.

Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

 

 

Festivals & World Building by Diane Burton

Today is the first day of Tulip Time, a festival in West Michigan. This post originally appeared here in 2017 with a few changes to bring it up to date.

Each year, Holland, Michigan celebrates their Dutch heritage with the Tulip Time Festival, except last year because of covid. I remember when my sister and I drove across the state to watch our siblings in their high school marching band in a parade. We saw President Gerald Ford (when he was a representative) riding in a convertible and waving to the crowd. Now we go to watch our grandchildren.

In past years, Hubs and I would spend a day savoring Dutch food, like boerenkool stamppot (mashed potatoes and kale), gehaktballen (meatball and gravy), saucijzenbroodjes (like pigs in a blanket), and olibollen (a big deep-fried ball covered in powdered sugar) or Hollandse boterkoek (almond flavored shortbread) for dessert. Makes me hungry thinking about all the wonderful flavors.

Oliebollen

 We would also shop in the Marktplaats where vendors displayed Dutch souvenirs, like hand-made wooden shoes, tulip decorated mugs, and just about anything with a Delft design. And, of course, windmills. Dancers in the street wearing wooden shoes (and multiple pairs of socks) is always fun to watch. The best part of the day was watching a parade of children dressed in Dutch costumes, accompanied by marching bands.

Celebrating heritage or founding comes easily for us in the United States. We’re such a young country, and most of our citizens come from all over the world. Many of my own ancestors came from The Netherlands, so I especially enjoy Tulip Time. Since I’m a “melting pot” like so many in the U.S., I could easily join in festivities for German, Polish, Irish, British, Scottish, Welsh . . . you get the picture.

As part of the world building for our stories, we should think about celebrations and festivals—secular and/or religious. Where did the inhabitants come from? What do they hold dear? What are their celebrations like? How long do the festivities last?

In my Switched series, the planet Serenia was founded by a group of colonists called the Intrepid Ones. Like most world-building, I knew so much more than what appears in the book(s) where small but significant details are dropped into conversations or the narrative. The reader doesn’t need to know as much as the author, but I made up an entire scenario about the Intrepid Ones: who they were, how they arrived, what they found, why they left their home planet.

It made sense to me that the Serenians would hold an annual celebration to honor those who settled their planet. At the beginning of Switched Resolution, the crew of the starship Freedom are supposed to serve as an honor guard at the opening ceremonies for Founders' Day. Not good when the captain and officers don’t show up. They had other priorities, like retrieving their ship stolen by rebels.

Hmm. I wonder what foods they served during the festivities.

Blurb:

Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. Does the reserved Marcus have what it takes to imitate his smart-aleck twin? Despite help from his love, Veronese, Scott’s already been outed by two of Marcus’ best friends.

When rebels steal the ship with part of the crew aboard, Scott has to rescue them and retrieve the Freedom. The stakes increase when he discovers the rebels are heading for Earth. They know he’s a fraud and they want Marcus. The safety of the Alliance of Planets depends on Scott and his allies.

Switched Resolution, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.

Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Below is the reason for taking the easy way out by rerunning an old post. Typing one-handed presents a challenge. At least, it isn't my dominant hand. 😊

Twins by Diane Burton

According to Wikipedia, twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy. They can be identical (one fertilized egg that split in two, same placenta) or fraternal (two eggs, two sperm, separate placentas).

For years, scientists have studied twins. They look for commonalities—genetics, health, behavior, and tastes in music, food, sports, etc. They also study the differences in identical twins. Each year, twins gather in Twinsburg, Ohio for the Twins Days Festival. With so many twins in one place, this is an excellent time for researchers to study twins. The big question is which influences a person more, heredity or environment.

Back in the 1990s, I took that concept (studying twins) quite a bit further. In my science fiction romance, Switched, an unethical scientist from an alien (but human) world separated Earth twins before birth. He left one twin in the biological mother and transplanted the other twin in a mother from his planet, Serenia. (Think “beaming” the fetuses from one mother to the other.) When the authorities discovered what he was doing, they shut down his project and imprisoned him. That didn’t help those twins that survived—one on Earth and the other on Serenia.

When I wrote Switched, I made a lot of assumptions about twins. I assumed if a twin discovered the truth, she would want to find her twin and biological family. Since the project was an embarrassment to the authorities, they buried all information, including where on Earth the twins came from. But, if a person is driven to discover her origins, I imagine that person would do anything to find out.

That’s how Switched begins, with the Serenian twin beaming down (from a starship) to Earth to meet her twin. In a glitch, the Earth twin is beamed aboard the starship. With another glitch, not only does the starship leave Earth’s orbit, it ends up in another part of the galaxy. Until the starship returns to Earth, each twin has to take her sister’s place. In doing so, they discover their similarities . . . and differences.

As a mother, I wondered what the biological mother of the twins felt. In the days before ultrasound, the doctor relied on manual examinations and heartbeats through a stethoscope. But mothers have instincts. According to a pediatrician I wish I’d had for my kids, a mother’s instinct trumps an MD degree every time. Would the mother know when one of her twins disappeared? How would she feel at the birth when only one child was born? It wasn’t hard for me to imagine the answers to those questions.

Then, I wondered if she met the Serenian Twin would she recognize that he was not the child she birthed and raised? You know I had to use that in the third book in the Switched series, Switched Resolution.

Switched was published in 2001, republished with updates in 2011. Switched, Too was released in 2012 and Switched Resolution in 2013. Although my great-uncles were twins, no other twins occurred in my family. I used information about twins from the internet. A friend of mine has twins, so she became a source, too. Little did I know that twins would show up in my family again.

That’s when I learned firsthand about twins. I even got to go with my daughter-in-law for an ultrasound. How fantastic to see the two, each in his own placenta. From the beginning, one fetus was larger than the other. We joked that it would be like the movie Twins with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. We were almost right. When the boys were born almost three weeks ago, one weighed 8 lbs 1 oz; the other weighed 5 lbs 11 oz. They were three and a half weeks early (not uncommon with twins). If you add the two weights together, no wonder my DIL was so uncomfortable, especially since they were standing upright.

A question I’ll never figure out is do twins communicate in utero? Were they aware of the other? Once they were born, and put into separate layettes (probably not the right word) in the hospital, did they realize they were separated? Obviously, when their mother held both together they were close enough to be aware of the other. But when one had to be transported to a children’s hospital and stayed there five days, did the other twin miss him? That sounds like a good idea for a paranormal story. 😊

As the boys grow and develop their own personalities, I’ll be watching to see if my guesses (and internet research) were close to reality.

Switched

As if being kidnapped by aliens isn't bad enough, Jessie Wyndom discovers they grabbed her by mistake. She wise cracks past her fear especially when she learns she was part of an experiment separating Terran twins before birth. Her twin just took Jessie's place back in Ann Arbor, Michigan while she gets to twiddle her thumbs on an Alliance of Planets starship. The only good part is the hunky captain. Except. He's so unemotional he could be Mr. Spock's double.

Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by the free-spirited female from Earth. Problems with the starship prevent him from returning her to her home. Fate brings them together. Treachery tears them apart. Is their love strong enough to reunite them?

Switched is available for 99 cents at Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iTunes ~ Smashwords

Switched, Too

Down-sized astronaut candidate Scott Cherella leaps at the chance to go into space. He just has to pretend to be the captain of an Alliance of Planets starship. His lifelong dream quickly becomes a nightmare when sabotage erupts. To save the ship and crew he has to depend on an uptight, disapproving colleague.

The only time Veronese Qilana broke the rules tragedy resulted. She vowed never again. Now, to protect the real starship captain, she'll have to deceive the crew by helping the imposter. They must work together to uncover the saboteur and get the crew safely home. In doing so, they discover opposites really do attract.

Switched, Too is available at: Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Switched Resolution

Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. Does the reserved Marcus have what it takes to imitate his smart-aleck twin? Despite help from his love, Veronese, Scott’s already been outed by two of Marcus’ best friends.

When rebels steal the ship with part of the crew aboard, Scott has to rescue them and retrieve the Freedom. The stakes increase when he discovers the rebels are heading for Earth. They know he’s a fraud and they want Marcus. The safety of the Alliance of Planets depends on Scott and his allies.

Switched Resolution, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.

Switched Resolution is available at:  Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

World Building: Celebrations by Diane Burton

On Thursday, Hubs and I spent the day savoring Dutch food, like boerenkool stamppot (mashed potatoes and kale), gehaktballen (meatball and gravy), saucijzenbroodjes (like pigs in a blanket), and olibollen (a big deep-fried ball covered in powdered sugar) or Hollandse boterkoek (almond flavored shortbread) for dessert. Makes me hungry thinking about all the wonderful flavors.

 We also shopped in the Marktplaats where vendors displayed Dutch souvenirs, like hand-made wooden shoes, tulip decorated mugs, and just about anything with a Delft design. And, of course, windmills. Dancers in the street wearing wooden shoes (and multiple pairs of socks) is always fun to watch. The best part of the day was watching a parade of children dressed in Dutch costumes, accompanied by marching bands.

Each year, Holland, Michigan celebrates their Dutch heritage with the Tulip Time Festival. I remember when my sister and I drove across the state to watch our siblings in their high school marching band in a parade. We saw President Gerald Ford (when he was a representative) riding in a convertible and waving to the crowd. Now we go to watch our grandchildren.

Celebrating heritage or founding comes easily for us in the United States. We’re such a young country, and most of our citizens come from all over the world. Many of my own ancestors came from The Netherlands, so I especially enjoy Tulip Time. Since I’m a “melting pot” like so many in the U.S., I could easily join in festivities for German, Polish, Irish, British, Scottish, Welsh . . . you get the picture.

As part of the world building for our stories, we should think about celebrations and festivals—secular and/or religious. Where did the inhabitants come from? What do they hold dear? What are their celebrations like? How long do the festivities last?

In my Switched series, the planet Serenia was founded by a group of colonists called the Intrepid Ones. Like most world-building, I knew so much more than what appears in the book(s) where small but significant details are dropped into conversations or the narrative. The reader doesn’t need to know as much as the author, but I made up an entire scenario about the Intrepid Ones: who they were, how they arrived, what they found, why they left their home planet.

It made sense to me that the Serenians would hold an annual celebration to honor those who settled their planet. At the beginning of Switched Resolution, the crew of the starship Freedom are supposed to serve as an honor guard at the opening ceremonies for Founders' Day. Not good when the captain and officers don’t show up. They had other priorities, like retrieving their ship stolen by rebels.

Hmm. I wonder what foods they served during the festivities.

Blurb:

Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. Does the reserved Marcus have what it takes to imitate his smart-aleck twin? Despite help from his love, Veronese, Scott’s already been outed by two of Marcus’ best friends.

When rebels steal the ship with part of the crew aboard, Scott has to rescue them and retrieve the Freedom. The stakes increase when he discovers the rebels are heading for Earth. They know he’s a fraud and they want Marcus. The safety of the Alliance of Planets depends on Scott and his allies.

Switched Resolution, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.

Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Holidays

Recently, we’ve celebrated three holidays—Columbus Day, Halloween, and Veterans Day—and Thanksgiving is upcoming, unless you’re in Canada and have already celebrated that holiday. That got me thinking about holidays the characters in our books celebrate. And that’s a part of world-building.

If you have a fantasy world and/or a futuristic one, have you given holidays a thought? Do the people worship a deity? Is a day of the week set aside for worship? What about honoring explorers or the original settlers of the planet or territory? Annual celebrations?

Did the explorers bring their religion and celebrations with them from their former homes? Do they worship a single deity or multiple ones? Your story, your world.

In Switched Resolution (the 3^rd book in my Switched series), an annual celebration honors the Intrepid Ones—those stalwart souls who left their dying home planet and settled on Serenia, so named because it was their hope for their new planet.

In The Chameleon (2^nd book in my Outer Rim series), the people on the hero’s planet honor a female deity they call The Matriarch. One day a week is set aside to honor her.

As you write your stories, keep celebrations in mind. 

Diane Burton writes romantic adventure . . . stories that take place on Earth and beyond. She blogs here on the 13th of each month and on Mondays on her own site: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/

For more info on her books, visit her Amazon Author Page.