Kelley's Realm of Writing: Monday Musings: Not ordinary nymphs

Monday, May 25, 2015

Monday Musings: Not ordinary nymphs

What do you picture when you hear the word nymph? I’m guessing most people think of a flighty, beautiful woman with flowers in her hair that serves Artemis and romps with satyrs in the forest. In my Arcadia series, this is partly what nymphs might be like. But since I grew up watching Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my nymphs had to be like hunters and warriors.

There are different types of nymphs and some are more serene than others. I decided to give the mountain nymphs that serve Artemis a little more substance and structure. The descriptions I’ve read about them depict them as ferocious hunters. Some of the nymphs that serve Artemis have a gentler nature. I thought about what these nymphs might be like and used the four elements to create different types of nymphs. In my story there are earth, air, fire and water nymphs. Each of these groups of nymphs can control their element. In some stories, the Oreades, or mountain nymphs, were born from the union between five dactyls and five original nymphs. So what was I going to do since I only have four elements? Well, in alchemy there is a fifth element—the aether, the air that fills heaven. The fifth nymph is the aether, but she was banished for betraying the nymphs.

I created Guardian nymphs, the elite warriors that protect Artemis’s forest. They dress in gold and black deerskin to distinguish them from the other nymphs.

I had a lot of fun creating the nymphs for this series. What can be better than a kick-ass nymph?

The first book in this series, The Bear Goddess, is available now on Amazon.

Forbidden love… Broken vows… Betrayal…

A nymph. A centaur. Enemies in love.

On the run, danger and betrayal follow Callisto and Kasin. To survive they must evade those who want to keep them apart and no place is safe.