Map making... for Adrift

Adrift I and II are sea faring adventures that cover a few oceans and continents. Thinking about the books and comments made from my first published book, readers seem to like maps to follow. So now I am trying to create a map or perhaps charts to follow the story.

Creating maps for a fantasy is not as easy as it sounds, but when you write fantasy and create your world, you need to have a map in your head. Otherwise, not only your characters and readers will be lost, but you might find it difficult to keep track of time and distance travelled. In Exiled: Autumn's Peril, even the phases of the moon are set to match the time taken travelling. Not that in a fantasy world the moon or moons need to keep pace with any familiar time frame, but it helped mapping distances and times.

So, back to the charts. I work in pen and ink, then scan to the computer, tweak, rework things, sweat, swear a little, and then hope for the best. I have maps for the first five books. Each book has additions and subtractions to the map depending on places travelled. It was fun to do. Now I am trying to do something different, charting an ocean voyage AND cross country journey.

 

It is all fun.