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Art by Amy Hermance
Writing the characters’ background stories is a bit like unwrapping Christmas presents. You have a pretty good idea what’s inside, but you don’t see it for yourself until you open it up. Tom Brown gives me a scene from the character’s past- sometimes a scribbled summary, sometimes a conversation over the phone, sometimes text messages sent back and forth. Then it’s my job to visualize the scene. I have a picture to paint: What does the character look like back then? Who else is around? How do they speak and feel? What do they think? How is the weather, the scenery, the atmosphere?
The stories are mainly about how the characters became Dreamweavers, and how they turned into who they are. Why is Elyssa always ready for a fight, while Nadia never is? How come Patrick dresses both like a samurai and a cowboy? Does Darius care about anything at all? Those are the type of questions Tom and I are trying to answer for the readers. After all, there is only so much you can fit into an 8-minute episode, and it’s our job to fill in the blanks as best as we can, to add more depth to the characters on the screen.
The stories are fun to write, mainly because the characters have incredible diversity. With a ninja, a druid, a pirate, a knight and a samurai gunslinger, I have my hands full, and I’m sure Tom is already sharing my caffeine headache from too many nights in front of the computer.
In the episodes, you watch the magic unfold around Illia. In the stories, we try to show you the magic of times past. The magic of once upon a time.
Hande Barutçuoğlu is an accomplished writer from Turkey. She resides in British Columbia, Canada where she practices Veterinary Medicine on small animals. On her off time she's the Mind's Eye official short story writer. The Mind's Eye team could not ask for a more talented and kindred spirit. Below is her first two installments of the short story Nadia: A Peaceful Protest
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