As a writer, one of the hardest things to get over is that everything has already been invented. Coming up with a storyline, a monster, or whatever that someone else hasn’t used is impossible. That hindered me from writing for a long time. I wanted to create a unique story with characters that the world has never seen before. Now when I look back, I snicker at my younger self. There may be minds able to create creatures completely different from those already existing in folklore and mythologies, but mine isn’t one of them.

Like most fantasy writers, I use mythology and folklore as sources of inspiration for the mythical creatures and legendary characters in my world. When I need a new “monster” or a piece of background mythology for my story, I flick through national epics and folktales, pick a character or a tale that intrigues me and fits my world and twist it to support my plot.