Ariadne's Web: Easter Eggs

Greetings and salutations!

I planned on writing about the use of the pentagram in The Elemental Pentology, but as I've recently observed Ostara, and I'm aware those following other religions (or not) will mark Easter soon, I thought I'd do another small detour to talk Easter Eggs; not the chocolate variety.

This post will contain some mild spoilers, not enough to betray the detail of my stories, but maybe enough to suggest how certain things may happen. But, regardless, I'd love it if you read on!

Easter Eggs are defined, in a creative sense, as being references to a character, a secret code, a cryptic message, a special surprise, or clandestine quote, hidden by the author for readers to find. Which, as a woman who has always loved having one or more matryoshka in my home, such an idea really appealed to me.

And I love knowing there's so many more layers in what I've created.

I honestly don't know any other way to write. I've always paid a great deal of attention to my choice of word, of what attributes (physical or otherwise) I give my characters, of the locations I select. There is meaning behind so many aspects of my creative worlds that it would be easier to find what isn't a representation of something more. That's not to say everything always means something - sometimes the walls are just white, the sofa just black, the fixtures just chrome. But... combined together, perhaps there is something more there... perhaps.

And, I guess, that's the point. I want to put consideration into my selections, I want to really consider what choices I make, but I don't want to become so ensnared by it that it becomes too academic an exercise. I want some fun. I want some flexibility. I want my readers to interpret things their own way.

Sometimes.

In The Elemental Pentology, I needed to create a fictional book in order to convey a theme of redemption with the use of feminine rage and power. There are many such books already out in the world, but I didn't want to date my work (though, I acknowledge, I've done so in the use of specific vehicles... something I plan to edit at a later date), and I didn't want to worry about copyright. So, I created Path To The Dark Moon, my next book due for publication. This allowed me far more control over the narrative, and also allowed me to use even more Easter Eggs in how I approached the whole thing.

Not only is Levka - the Goddess of Fire - using Path To The Dark Moon as a text to teach from within Torrefy, in her guise as Leonie Etincelle, English Lecturer, but she is in the book. Kind of. There is a character from the Pentology in the book - Armel - who is there and named. And Levka knows Armel, all the deities from the Pentology all know Armel. Armel even asks about the rumours of the return of the Quintet in the book. And, one of the main characters in Path To The Dark Moon is Lilith, who, it is revealed, is Levka in another form.

So, this book within a book, is real within their real world, telling a story that is fact in a fictional world... it's a labyrinthine spiral. And I adore it!

This use of characters across books, across worlds, is something I'll keep doing. I did it in the Pentology, as some characters died only to reappear later because the Pentology isn't written in a chronological manner, with time woven and bent over and again.

I have created an alternative history of the world, and my work will fit within it, while also utilising the known accepted history. The friction caused between these two threads, and how I can play with them, provide me with so much material, and so many moments of pure joy. There's real happiness to be found in that moment when everything just works... and I sit at my desk and laugh. Some may say that laugh is more of an evil cackle, but... hey, I never said I was writing happy tales. There is darkness in my black heart, and that won't change.

And while The Menagerie is not as overt in the use of characters already seen, there are certainly characteristics of people we've already met, and ones who I've got prepared for future work.

Of course, there will be some Easter Eggs which no-one will ever figure out. They're personal to me and unless I decide to explain, they'll likely turn to ash with me. Some are phrases only close friends are aware of, and know the meaning behind. But, as is the case with most Easter Eggs, that doesn't remove the enjoyment for people who are unaware of it being a hidden clue.

That's what is so good about them. I love finding them in work I read / watch / listen to. And I love creating them in my own work. I'll continue to craft such gems because I get such a kick out of placing them into my work knowing that those layers, one day, will get unravelled.

And if not, then, that's ok too.

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Next time...

I plan to continue my updates about this series - I've much more to reveal! My focus for the next blog will definitely be around the use of the pentagram as a key symbol.

Thank you for reading.

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