Things got planned, quotes were done, there was…. Music. Things are starting to get rolling for the Last Prophecy, despite needing some serious overhauling, but all for the good of the next book in the series; the Well of Youth. This will be the first full length book in the series, and technically the first book of the Last Prophecy series. So there is much excitement as these plans get under way. Even if it mostly consists of me clapping my hands giddily while wrapped in my tiggy blanket drinking tea.
One of the things that happened was I had some feedback regarding the Hidden Monastery and some of the factual information in it.
I thought sound was what caused avalanches?
No, funnily enough it is not. It’s caused by seismic activity, be it skiers, snowmobiles or in the more extreme explosions.
As per Wikipedia;
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalanche)
An avalanche (also called a snowslide or snowslip) is a rapid flow of snow down a sloping surface. Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack (slab avalanche) when the forces on the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradually widening (loose snow avalanche). After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they entrain more snow. If the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type ofgravity current.
Slides of rocks or debris, behaving in a similar way to snow, are also referred to as avalanches (see rockslide[1]). The remainder of this article refers to snow avalanches.
The load on the snowpack may be only due to gravity, in which case failure may result either from weakening in the snowpack or increased load due to precipitation. Avalanches that occur in this way are known as spontaneous avalanches. Avalanches can also be triggered by other loads such as skiers, snowmobilers, animals or explosives. Seismic activity may also trigger the failure in the snowpack and avalanches. A popular myth is that avalanches can be triggered by loud noise or shouting, but the pressure from sound is orders of magnitude too small to trigger an avalanche.[2]
Being the good little academic I am I can tell you several days of research went into the accuracy of what I was writing about. Nothing would infuriate me more as to misadvise someone of the fantastical things that can and will happen in my stories. The same can be said of many of the things I write, I was recently studying limestone caves, and have now moved on to survival in the extreme cold.
I do write fiction, don’t mistake me, however it should be believable fiction, and this is what grounds me to the writing, so that when the unbelievable happens in my stories there is an element of research into the practicality of what I’m writing about, to ensure you believe it too.
Using magic to explain away details that don’t fit into reality works well in a magic thriving world, but this world is different, and any concept of magic has been done away with as science marches its presence forward into this new and fascinating world.
There are still a few things that aren’t entirely explainable, but that’s also true of our world here and now, after all, what’s life without a little mystery?
E. J. Dawson 