Weekly Inspiration 10/11/2013

One or two of you may have noticed that I missed three weeks of weekly inspiration posts (and this one is going up two days later than it should). I've had a bit of excitement going on about the McClellan residence lately - not to mention at least one of those Friday nights I was just feeling lazy. To catch everyone up, I launched my new Powder Mage short story "Hope's End" a couple of weeks ago. I then announced that Orbit had bought three more books in the Powder Mage universe. Finally, I got to let the world know that my mentor Brandon Sanderson has given me a blurb for Promise of Blood.

That's all out of the way, so...

Certain things spark the creativity in all of us. Perhaps a smell associated with a powerful memory, or a long walk in the park or a drive through the countryside. Maybe a newspaper article, or a book we read. For me it’s often visual – a piece of fantasy art or a tv show or movie.

**If a piece of art or photograph is your work and you’d like it removed, please let me know and I’ll do so ASAP.

This picture is magnificent. It's how I imagine a road in northern Adro looks in the late spring. A wonderful view all on it's own, I feel like the clouds make it seem particularly cold. Found here.

While there are fortresses in the Powder Mage universe, medieval castles have long been out of style and aren't central to the setting. That doesn't stop me from loving them.

Found this very cool piece of digital art on DeviantART. I even approached the artist, Wouter Florusse about doing some art for my website. Sadly, but not surprisingly, he was a bit out of my price range. If you have a minute, go poke around his DeviantART page. I particularly like his piece "Crossing the Fords."

This is how I see the mountains that separate Adro from much of the rest of the Nine - they seem to stretch forever into the distance, making you feel insignificant and isolated. I love flying across certain sections of the Rocky Mountains in the US for this same sort of view. Not sure of the photographer, but found here.

The Charwood Pile Mountain Range that stretches along the western edge of Adro looks a bit like this (in my head). The slabs of rock would be a little more horizontal, like a petrified wood pile for giants, but these are pretty close. No idea where the original came from, but I found this picture on Reddit.

I love mountains. So sue me.

Apparently Montana looks like this? Wow. Forget all the complaining in the comments about saturation and contrast filters in the comments, I think this is a fantastic picture. Whenever driving through the mountains with my parents as a kid, I always imagined what it was like to hike along the ridges and the valleys and explore every bit of the terrain. This picture makes me do the same.