The seed of The Fancy Deep came from the marriage of 1) an article in the Boston Globe, and 2) a trip to Japan.
The Globe story recounted the findings of a Loyola University study stating that the occurence of blue-eyed births had dropped from 1 in 4, to 1 in 6 in the last fifty years.
Don't it make my blue eyes brown
by Douglas Belkin, Oct. 17, 2006
Being blue-eyed and a bit of a genenomics junkie, this got me thinking... What would it be like to be one of the last people on Earth with blue eyes? Would people think you were different? Would they accuse you of having special sight?
At the same time, I'd been traveling to Asia quite a bit for work and the face of a girl came into my mind. She was petite, had black hair, white skin, western features and huge blue eyes. I wondered if I'd seen her during my travels, perhaps on T.V. or on the cover of a Manga book in Tokyo.
But, then the typical "I'm a character for you to write about," behavior began and I knew she wasn't from a commercial or magazine cover. She hung around. She haunted me. I couldn't get rid of her.
"Okay fine," I said. "Tell me your story so I can get some peace."
But, then she was tight-lipped. She wouldn't speak. Frustrating.
I was about to give up when I remembered the article and her story came into focus.
It's the future, but not too distant future (no battle stars or little green men)... about 2091. Aysia Martin is one of the last "blue-eyes" on Earth. People call her "future-teller" and "oracle." But, unlike what other people believe about her, her sight is cloudy, corrupted even. Not her physical sight; she's a wunderkind gem-cutter and has perfect vision. But, when it comes to the things and people that matter most to her, that shape her, Aysia is terrible at seeing the truth.
So, I sat down to write on December 25th, 2008 and 88,000+ words later had finished the first draft on April 10th, 2009.
Once I let Aysia speak, she talked fast!
