stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2015-12-01 07:49 am
stevenpiziks) wrote2015-12-01 07:49 am
BLOOD STORM and Charles Lindbergh
I recently read a biography of Charles LIndbergh. After he flew across the Atlantic and landed safely in Paris, he became a superstar. Hugely and even frighteningly. He couldn't walk down the street without summoning crowds of people. His finances were always in disarray because people wouldn't cash the checks he wrote them--they saved them as souvenirs. Fans snatched clothing off his body, tore his shirts, and ripped the pockets off his pants. He spent months and months touring the country in The Spirit of St. Louis, and whenever he landed, he had to have guards keep crowds away from the plane to stop Lindbergh-hungry crowds from tearing the vehicle to pieces and carrying chunks of it away. And, of course, Richard Hauptmann kidnapped Lindbergh's baby son, crushed his skull, and buried the body. (It was this case that lead Congress to create the law making kidnapping a federal crime.)
Lindbergh, a crushingly introverted man, found all this attention painful at best, terrifying and soul-crushing at worst. And I can't imagine the horror of losing his son to a lunatic kidnapper.
Lindbergh was (is) considered one of the great American heroes, and it occurred to me that he wasn't unlike Danr. Like Lindbergh, Danr didn't set out to be a hero. He just did want needed doing. And it seemed to me that word of a half-troll saving the world would get around, and when there are vanishingly few half-trolls in the world, it would be really, really hard to hide who your identity.
So Danr was forced to deal with being a shy young man thrust into the hero's limelight. Royalty want him to dine wtih him. People give him gifts. Crowds recognize him on the street and want to snatch his trademark straw hat. And everyone wants him to tell his story over and over again.
But fame has its downside. Not everyone likes half-bloods. Quite a lot of people find them repulsive and think they should be banished--or worse. (You might find some autobiographical material here.) Danr is barely able to handle the downside of fame himself, but what will happen to Aisa if they get married? Will people hate her as much as they hate him? On the other side, will his fame put her in danger?
This isn't anything celebrities on our world haven't dealt with, but BLOOD STORM is epic fantasy, and we have magic to pull on the tapestry of our story. Some really nasty people blackmail Danr into visiting a truly dangerous part of Erda to find the power of the shape, the magic humans lost long ago. Danr doesn't want to go--until he realizes he might learn how to change into a human and avoid all the problems fame and his half-blood status have brought him.
Sure . . .
BLOOD STORM goes on sale today!
Lindbergh, a crushingly introverted man, found all this attention painful at best, terrifying and soul-crushing at worst. And I can't imagine the horror of losing his son to a lunatic kidnapper.
Lindbergh was (is) considered one of the great American heroes, and it occurred to me that he wasn't unlike Danr. Like Lindbergh, Danr didn't set out to be a hero. He just did want needed doing. And it seemed to me that word of a half-troll saving the world would get around, and when there are vanishingly few half-trolls in the world, it would be really, really hard to hide who your identity.
So Danr was forced to deal with being a shy young man thrust into the hero's limelight. Royalty want him to dine wtih him. People give him gifts. Crowds recognize him on the street and want to snatch his trademark straw hat. And everyone wants him to tell his story over and over again.
But fame has its downside. Not everyone likes half-bloods. Quite a lot of people find them repulsive and think they should be banished--or worse. (You might find some autobiographical material here.) Danr is barely able to handle the downside of fame himself, but what will happen to Aisa if they get married? Will people hate her as much as they hate him? On the other side, will his fame put her in danger?
This isn't anything celebrities on our world haven't dealt with, but BLOOD STORM is epic fantasy, and we have magic to pull on the tapestry of our story. Some really nasty people blackmail Danr into visiting a truly dangerous part of Erda to find the power of the shape, the magic humans lost long ago. Danr doesn't want to go--until he realizes he might learn how to change into a human and avoid all the problems fame and his half-blood status have brought him.
Sure . . .
BLOOD STORM goes on sale today!