Growing Up with Locust Woods

I've always been wanting to tell stories from a very young age, writing entire stories by hand and drawing the characters and scenes side by side, always visualizing what I felt the need to tell. This, alongside my constant bookworm status as a child laid the foundation for Locust Woods, the series I began working dutifully on since I was twelve years old - in mid-spring 2016.

Like almost any book-obsessed twelve-year-old in 2016, I was a huge fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians. This, alongside my pre-teen fascination with wolves, especially in relation to humans, and the wildness of nature, were the most prominent, and most early inspirations for what became Locust Woods today. The main characters, Hugo Lamb and Luna (a wolf-like creature, and just a simple wolf at the time) had divided up Percy Jackson's own personal powers. Hugo was to gain a golden sword that would glow, and Luna would gain the ability to manipulate water. Thus, the almost ten years worth of character development and world building began.

Early 2016

In the beginning, I knew I wanted Hugo and Luna to be related in some way, but I was unsure how - their powers were named at the same time, inspired from the same thing, so surely they should have stemmed their abilities from the same source? I also knew that wherever they existed, it was a world that felt separate from our own - either a magical one that humans rarely entered, if ever, or a section of some deep, wild and vast woods; a section that was almost forgotten.

What were Hugo and Luna's powers for, and why did they have them? They had to be more than just two unlikely friends defending and protecting this space together. What drove them to use their abilities and work towards a goal? Ever so slowly, I developed a short story that would probably be twenty chapters at most (now, the series is looking like it will be five long novels). In this earliest version of Locust Woods, there is a baseless, undefined aggression from the wolves against the humans - was it based on fear, or hate? What had humans done, or had been misunderstood for, for the wolves to be behaving this way?

It was an early decision for the wolves to be unsure of Hugo's presence, no matter their standpoints in this loosely put together conflict. Early reasoning for the aggression was that some kind of eclipse, whether solar or lunar, had caused some monster, or some sickness to form, and humans had to do with it in some way, whether it was one cruel human that caused the others to be part of the blame, or if the humans that had also been calling the woods home were departing from their wolf friends as the eclipse happened - blamed for being at the scene of the crime, and that some other kind of entity, wolf or not, had caused it to happen. This monster or sickness I envisioned had caused the older wolves to be mysteriously killed off, leaving only the young and a few spare "village elders" who miraculously survived. Now, they wait, afraid and unsure, for the next eclipse to come.

I was unsure where Hugo and Luna should step in into this plot. Was there a war already forming between the humans and wolves, or were the wolves planning on forming one by the time of Hugo's arrival? Either way, the eclipse does happen again at some point, and it's revealed who/what had caused it - something that Hugo and Luna were seeking out together in order to help ease the tension between their people, despite outrage on both sides. The pair slowly realize that they are not so different after all. Still, I had not figured out how much humans played a role in this early version, as the majority, if not all scenes, took place inside these strange woods that Luna called home.

Whenever the war or cause of the eclipse is rid of, there was an early, now removed, idea that Luna gets hurt to the point where Hugo cries over her, and it is revealed that she returns into a human, that these wolves had been cursed in their human lives - for unknown reasons, of course. I can't fully remember my ideas for this from back then, but it was clear from the very beginning that I wanted these wolves to show some signs of humanity, and this characterization of these wolves eventually became central to the over-arching plot. Once Luna is revived in her human form, she and Hugo hug and unite together to bring peace to the land and work together to ease the curse away.

Late 2016 - Early 2017

I so, so deeply wish that I kept this specific sketch, because it absolutely affected everything that has to do with the Locust Woods we have today (Don't throw away your sketchbooks no matter how awful you think your art is guys </3 not worth it!!!).

In the sketch I'm describing, I had drawn a woman with black hair, an eye silver, another gold, and she had donned a golden cloak that glowed brightly, slightly covering a gray dress that had white, triangular stripe-like markings that covered her shoulders - a status symbol of some type. A sign of leadership.

This woman was once called Kaloni, now named Queen Cosima of Aione, goddess of light. If not for this drawing, Locust Woods would never be where it's at today, and that's because Kaloni is our first goddess, and thus a beginning to explaining the events I had been developing and rearranging in my mind.

The gold and silver eyes - the sun and moon - it suddenly clicks together that Luna's water abilities is in relation to the moon, Hugo's golden light of the sword in relation to the sun. But why? Why does Kaloni have the sun and moon in her eyes, and why is it that Hugo and Luna are the sun and moon? I didn't want Hugo and Luna to be demigods, it felt both overdone and in too much relation to Percy Jackson. Also, Hugo and Luna already had established roles in my mind: Man and Beast; the separation yet similarity between them.

The idea of the wolves being humans under a curse slowly began to drift away, but what were the wolves, really? I had to figure out the importance of the wolves, why humans and "wolves" hated each other, and what happened to Luna's people to make it so that there were only a few elders amidst those younger in age.

Late 2017 - 2018

During this time, I slowly figure out Kaloni's story and purpose, alongside the early concepts of the worlds and roles of the other gods and goddesses that take part in Locust Woods. The main villain was created, and while they retain the same placement in the story, their defining role in each character's lives and defining role in the plot changed overtime, slowly solidifying as the story grew.

The monster that appears in the story begins to take on a more solid form instead of an unseen threat, but I was still unsure if the monster was the one to cause sickness, or if there should even be a sickness at all. I also still had to figure out why the monster was there - who sent it? Was it the main villain, or another with self-interests in mind?

It was over this near year-and-a-half where I was developing a better understanding of what Luna's character is for in relation to Hugo, and her relationships with her pack. Her people's culture probably took me the longest time to work out - I haven't been completely satisfied with it until recently - but I knew from the very beginning that I wanted their people to be separated by different packs, yet still united together as one. So, there was to be a head alpha of all the packs, and each pack would be led by their own alpha that would report of the goings-on to their superior in timely meetings between all the packs. It was a very political ordeal and there were tensions and fighting amongst the packs, but there was nothing specific at this time that defined what their wants as a society were. All that I knew was that Luna, like Hugo, felt like an outcast.

Luna had stories of the gods to tell, though no one believed in the gods anymore - or rather, they almost refused to. There was no defining reason as to why Luna was the one to talk about the myths of old, but as most didn't want to listen and they believed her to be weak-bodied and weak-minded, she was differentiated from her own group, so she liked to depart from her packs territory when she could, and practice her abilities in secret.

How Luna meets Hugo has always remained the same - it begins with Hugo encountering the monster, being rescued by his mother's spirit, and dragged into the woods by his mother. She leaves her son at the shores of a lake, where the water seems to be moving unnaturally, and disappears as the sun rises. Luna, in her fear, pins him to a tree with her water abilities, and a flicker of innate recognition passes between them; both in disbelief that they were encountering the other, not yet knowing what the other fully was to them. Though, what happens in the surrounding scenes and how they treat each other has varied some.

Hugo and Luna have always felt some kind of connection towards each other, but they could never properly describe it until it's revealed to them. I eventually figure out the exact scene where Hugo and Luna discover what makes them so different, and I have stuck with it ever since, though the buildup and surrounding scenes have changed.

At this point in development, I began calling the series "Moonstruck Water", in relation to Luna.

2019

Listening to music, like I always do for inspiration, I envisioned the beginning stages of the most absolute, key central part of the story. I began building on this piece by piece, connecting the dots, and I had a thought: why do these gods exist, anyways? Why create a whole new mythology all by myself, did the wolves create these gods? Where did it come from, how old was this world I was writing? What role did humans play in it, was it their world too? I built upon it, developing the culture of what resides in Locust Woods.

A good portion of the key characters were either altered or completely dropped at this point, some returning to the plot as something new entirely. Others began to take on a whole new role that pushed the narrative, and I first began to realize why it was important for me to write the story I was writing, but it wasn't shining clear yet what I was trying to convey to my audience. Kaloni's name became Cosima, and other deities names were changed as well. The villain became more real, more of a threat. The fantasy world of Locust Woods was becoming more full and vibrant with each passing month.

A true, intricate story was beginning to develop, but it was not yet stable. I still needed some more time to develop Hugo's and Luna's more personal stories - among other characters. How did they grow up, what were their relationships like with those close to them before they met each other, what all led up to them meeting in this specific way? I slowly developed Hugo's personal story in this way, giving his tiny and old hometown the name of Locust, for a summery yet lonely and unusual vibe, and the woods in his backyard the name of Locust Woods. I was still trying to figure out a proper series name at this time, not wanting to fully let go of Moonstruck Water since Luna was such a central part to the plot, but also wanting something more that pulled it all together.

I figure out the beginning stages of Hugo's complicated family history, like who his mother was and why she was the one to save him from the monster before he enters the woods for the first time - the monster now given a name: Destiny. Still, there are some loose ends that need to be tied up.

2020-2024

Over the years, I become more attuned with myself as I grow up, slowly figuring out and struggling to accept that the whole reason why I felt so different, so alienated (like how Hugo and Luna were made to be different and alienated; "special", yet placed into a role they didn't ask to be in and having to make do with the expectations others put upon them), was because of my late-diagnosed autism. In a whole new light, it dawned on me that I had unintentionally created an entire world, full of rich character writing and world building reflecting it, where I was processing what that experience was like for me, separated into each individual, each poetic metaphor - and that Hugo himself had taken on my feelings towards my own singularity in the world the most. I began to recognize my self worth - a central part of Hugo's character development - instead of focusing so much on what others were saying about me, or even my belief on how others were viewing me.

I was constantly putting others before myself, people pleasing, always worried about how I was being perceived because it felt as if almost every other day I was being misunderstood, feeling misplaced, but instead of thinking that I was being misunderstood, I had the idea that I was "messing up". I had to pull myself out of it, to stop dwelling on whether I was "good" or "bad" for others, feeling outcasted as I was, and instead define whether I was being good for myself instead of trying to achieve the un-reachable, un-definable perfection that I thought others needed to perceive me as.

There were loved ones there for me that tried their best to make me understand that I was perfect and loved just as I was, just as there were for Hugo, but I realized looking back on my previous writings that Hugo and I shared the same, indescribable ache that had settled in our bones, making home in our souls.

That ache of hyper-empathy, the want of and need for connection, seeking it out in the arts and storytelling, in the stars, in nature, yet feeling as if you aren't human. Feeling as if you were more like Beast, than Man. Different and afraid. Shut in a cage, unsure if you were the one to put yourself in it. That is something that can't be helped by anyone but yourself, and your own efforts for self-recognition, self-love, self-worth. Listening inwards and choosing to love and accept all that you may be for yourself and others in spite of the fear that comes with it and what others may think - and also being brave enough in order to pursue that which makes you whole.

That is the part that Hugo Lamb wrings out of me when I write him.

I realized that I was writing what I needed to ease the ache I had when I was younger and more afraid, and Hugo, Locust Woods, was my medium in doing so. I realized it was my hope to ease the same indescribable ache in others. This expanded my storytelling to a vast degree, and I began to see my self in everything, little by little. I began to see why I had gotten so many hyper-fixations and special interests on stories and characters - especially characters that reflected that same quiet ache I felt - that had to do with humanity and the concept of "good and evil" and the poetic themes that come with it. I began to include the storytelling beats that lead up to the awe and recognition that I had felt in the stories that I grew up on, the stories that I resonated with, and so Hugo also began to resonate with those stories, even becoming as artistic and story-influenced as I am - becoming a way for Hugo and Luna to connect, further developing their individual character writing and the story's depth.

And so art history became a central part, a central use of metaphor, for the story of Locust Woods, influencing the poetic theme, that outlasting resonance of being human all throughout history, and what being human could even possibly mean. What was so different between mankind and beast, when we often see ourselves reflected in their own social dynamics? One of the things that truly separates ourselves from beast is our pursuance of creativity in the arts, so what if the arts had been shown to beast?

Thus, Luna's species, now called the Aplechians, became a more defined, human-like species that wolves had descended from, and they were taught and shown the arts by the stars. But the stars were dying out, as were the gods, and both Man and Beast were near-reduced to conformity in their own separate realms, slowly separating themselves from that which makes them whole. They needed to find and redefine that connection between each other and those that they came from.

Which is why the creature named Destiny, is renamed into Fate.

Present

From then on, I've been putting the last remnants of Locust Woods together, tying the knots between plot points and characters alike. I'm finding and recognizing the pattern of the story I'm weaving together, renewing the frayed ends, connecting the strings and blending the colors so that my audience, too, will ache at the sight of it, feeling the rhythm of it resonate in their own souls, giving them a peace of mind and also an awakening. A recognition, a relation from one to another, a relation of Man to Beast.

There are still some small tiny details to kink out, but now that I have a deeper understanding and acceptance of how I have viewed the world and why I've made the connections I have made within it, the poetry in all things as I seek out my relation to it, it feels as if the scenes are pouring out of me.

Now, I'm in the beginning stages of working on the outline for Locust Woods: Moonstruck Water. I'm currently unsure at the moment if I want to outline the entire series before working on my first draft, or at least get a rough yet solid idea down for the remaining books, but I do know that the time to let Moonstruck Water be poured from my heart is soon, and that it is a story that is going to need to be heard.

I can't wait to share my journey in writing this with you, thank you for reading <3