THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

Four images. No plan, only trust.

This book began the way my drawings begin: with a feeling, a colour, a movement wanting to become form. Four illustrations lay on the table.

I discovered a ship that rose above the water, where above and below were barely distinguishable. During the voyage — which turned out to be the act of writing itself — I rechristened the boat 'the Ascension'. The second image appeared at first to be nothing more than an abstract form and negative shape, until I became aware of the rocket.

The all-seeing eye, which became the eye of the wise dragon Dali, emerged from my creative well as the third image. And last came the strange, exploded, sweet-seeming yet deadly little bird: the red-bullet-bird. It's all in the name — you'll discover that soon enough. ;-) The images demanded a story.

As a visual artist, I am accustomed to working intuitively. Paint flows where it will. But a book? A book demands chapters, chronology, and characters who must remain consistent. I discovered that intuitive writing means: first letting everything come into being, then piecing it together until it all fits.

For months I wrote the way Sinne sails: without a compass, on feeling alone. Omaria emerged on its own, as did the Camp. Characters I had never invited simply wandered in. I was carried along and allowed to be both the writer and the reader at once. A delightful voyage, for me too. The astonishment when something happened I hadn't foreseen! My notes in the margins were like a rudder that offered direction without dictating the destination.

Then came the confrontation: 450 pages of chaos. Beautiful chaos, but chaos nonetheless. Timelines that didn't add up. A narrator who sometimes forgot who he was. Technology in places where time had stood still. The inconsistent behaviour of Mara, the witch, nearly drove me to madness. The idealism ('let the story tell itself') collided with the reality ('a reader must be able to follow').

That collision became the most beautiful part of the entire process. Just as Sinne must navigate between Omaria's freedom and the constraints of the Camp, I had to navigate between intuition and structure. The book became a mirror of its own theme.

The four images are still here. The intuitive heart still beats. Now in a form that can be shared. Welcome to Omaria. Welcome to the Camp. Welcome to the space in between. I am blissfully happy that I can finally share it with you.