The beginning

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." - Ravenclaw house motto

Greetings. I'm Veronica, a 23-year-old Finnish Environmental science student, speculative fiction writer, artist and explorer. I'm a huge fantasy/scifi geek, who loves literature, tv shows, great music and art - and most of all, sharing these with those around me!

This is a blog dedicated on the creative process, with the aim to inspire those also interested in the creative arts. I'm going to share my art and writing along with reviews for pieces that have inspired my own work, such as literary and musical recommendations. Many posts aim to also focus on tips on creative writing and planning. 

My history as a creator

I've been creating different forms of art as long as I can remember, in the form of drawing, writing, & multimedia (such as graphics and video). When I was 10 years old I remember running several websites on the tv show Winx Club, creating all of the content for those sites, including gifs, fanfiction, self-drawn and animated shorts, music videos, vlogs and fandubs. Already when I was a child I found myself drawn into the fantasy and scifi genre, with a strange fascination for the combination of both the mystical and scientific. The inspiration from my own creations came from several sources: mainly from literature, television, games and music, and also from real life experiences - art has always been an escape from reality of sorts. It is basically the closest humans can get to evoking magic.

Most of all I identify myself as a writer. When I was 13 years old, I began working on a speculative fiction novel called "The Enchanted Deck of Cards" which focused on a group of teenagers finding a magical deck of cards which allowed them to open portals into new worlds. I worked on the book for two years and finally published it through a small publisher called Nordbooks at the age of fifteen. The novel was originally written as a part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and I've participated in the challenge four times afterwards:

• 2009: Barely Conscious, a fanfiction based on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan
• 2011: Flawless, a fantasy novel focusing on an alternate version of Earth where humans are capable of controlling elemental magic
• 2014: Phoenix Rising, a science fiction novel focusing on an aspiring biologist who discovers that he has been secretly prepared for the colonization mission of an alien planet throughout his whole life
• 2017: Gifted & Cursed, romantic fantasy novel focusing on a girl called Zera and her journey of self-discovery through the realization that her parents have been hiding her magical talents from her.

My current project is a speculative fiction trilogy comparing elements of all my previous works, but being mostly based on Gifted & Cursed, which I consider the first draft for my first book "Fireborn" (thus the name of the blog). The trilogy focuses on a steam-punkish world with airships and elemental weapons and the sort, with the focus being on a female guard, a shady womanizing merchant turned good-natured smith, a young researcher struggling to prove herself, and an ancient rivalry of two peoples that is on the verge of igniting into full-scale war. During this writing project I have realized how much work building a believable world, a carefully-weaved plot and full-fledged characters actually requires, which is why this blog aims to shed light on the process and perhaps help my fellow creators.

So welcome, whoever you are. I hope you enjoy your stay.