Hey internet! Today I’m delighted to be hosting a post on the blog tour for Indigo’s Dragon, a new title from up and coming publisher Accent YA. Read on to see how Sofi Croft, the author, used mythology as her inspiration for writing her adventure stories:

Sofi Croft on Using Folklore & Mythology as Inspiration

Fairy tales, folk tales, myths and legends have been told and retold countless times, gaining and losing elements with each retelling. They have changed over time, morphed into different versions and inspired entirely new stories.

I love using folklore and mythology as an inspiration for my writing. Indigo’s Dragon features several well known creatures from mythology, reimagined in my own way. There is a griffin inspired magpie-cat, a kraken inspired giant cephalopod, a yeti that is probably more of a hairy boy (or is it?), and dragons that … well you’ll have to read the book to discover their secrets.

In the sequel, Indigo’s Demons, there are many creatures borrowed from Slavic mythology, and in the third book of the series, Indigo’s Deep, I was inspired by the drawings of sea monsters found on Olaus Magnus’s Carta Marina (a map of northern Europe published in 1539).

As well as the creatures in Indigo’s Dragon, the story itself was also inspired by folklore. I love reading Polish and Baltic folk tales and one in particular, the Dragon of Krakow, captured my imagination.

The Dragon of Krakow lived in a cave in Wawel Hill, on the banks of the River Vistula, and spent most of his time terrorising the population of Krakow. Stories about the dragon have been told since at least the 12^th century, and as with most stories of that age that are many different versions. All of the ones I have read end with the dragon being killed; sometimes slain by a prince, but more often poisoned by a tailor or shoemaker using a sheep stuffed with sulphur.

I took the end of this story and used it as a starting point for my own. I thought ‘What if …?’ and then I continued the story, weaving in other threads and twisting it into another tale. I have found myself using this technique several times. In Indigo’s Deep I played with the legend of Jūratė, Kastytis and the Amber Palace, and in the book I am currently writing I have been inspired by the incredibly freakish Baba Yaga who, in the old tales, rides in a mortar and lives in a house with chicken legs.

Like living things stories grow, evolve and reproduce, and I believe by using folklore and mythology as an inspiration writers can help to keep the old stories alive while creating something new.

Indigo’s Dragon (Indigo’s Dragon #1) by Sofi Croft is a children’s fantasy novel full of adventure, mystery, monsters and dragons.

Publication Date: 23^rd June 2016 (Accent YA)