Multicultural Monsters and Myths of the World

When I write fantasy, I tend to use mythology and monsters from around the world. Though there are resources I specifically use for writing about fairies or monsters which are referred to in previous posts, I might focus on a specific culture in a manuscript. For example, in my futuristic Aztec story, Thinking Outside the Flock, I did research about Mayan and Aztec language, names, animals and beliefs. When I did research for my Egyptian science fiction story, The Osiris Paradox (published in Sword and Laser) about a princess travelling through space to beseech help from her gods, I needed to do a lot of research for the religion and culture of Ancient Egypt. When I wrote the Golden Lilies, I needed to focus on Chinese culture and values. For Silent Moon, I envisioned the clan of werewolves to be living in a Scottish-like region several hundred years behind in lifestyle to the “city folk.” Not only did I need to research Scottish dress and language but also I needed to research the life in the Middle Ages. “And I dinnae ken when to begin,” as the characters would say with their Scottish dialect.

The thing is, I love research when it comes to anthropology, mythology and ancient religions. Doing research is as much pleasure as the writing. I love history, art history and there was a time I thought I would become an anthropologist in college. Below are some of the resources I have used for various stories.