Storybook Plan

The main theme of my story book is going to be the end of the world - as someone knows it. This means my stories will not necessarily be about the end of the entire planet or universe. It could be the end of a civilization, community or even just way of life. Most of what I find and am interested in seems to be the destruction of some sort of island community. But even if an island is almost completely removed from the map, stories about the island or the people live on. I'm reminded of a quote and a whole idea from Terry Pratchett's book Going Postal:  "Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?" (web source here)

This page is information about earthquakes/eruptions in New Zealand and Māori tradition. Also of interest is the mythology of Whakaari.

Another story to potentially use is the eruption of Laki in Iceland in 1783. For Iceland, this eruption was a bit like the comet that killed off the dinosaurs - plants died. The animals that ate the plants died. Then the people that ate those plants and animals started to die. This more than decimated the population.

The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelee is another one that was basically world ending for the folks on that island. This took place on Martinique and while the deadliest portions of the eruption took place over a few days, this eruption actually last for about 3 and a half years. 

 A third item of interest is Krakatoa. This is another one that is on an island, and really ended things in the surrounding area but, not everywhere. And volcanoes rebuild themselves.  

There is also Pompeii and Herculaneum. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and buried them in ash. They're now living history and many thousands of people still live in the shadow of Vesuvius. Naples is far bigger than Pompeii could ever imagine. 

Finally there is the Minoan Eruption on Thera, now Santorini and the possible basis for the Atlantis myths. I again have people on an island, but here I have an entire culture that is buried by this eruption. 

Story telling styles I am most likely to use are 3rd person, with dialogue. I write that way a lot already when writing a story. I am interested to maybe try and do at least one story as a sort of diary entry/first person sort of thing - I find it harder to do that unless I really have an idea I can run with.  I can't imagine having a central story teller at this time, I feel this would be an anthology of stories that are connected because they are about volcanoes. I could change my mind and have some sort of narrator type character but I'm not sure what would look like for me yet. 

 

Ruins on Santorini

(Image information: Archaeological site in Akrotiri, Santorini (ancient Thera), by F. Eveleens, September 1991)