It's Good to Be Fey

Research can take you in different directions. Sometimes the best is when you role play. Having created my own Fairy World with my book series “The Crystal Keeper Chronicles”, I try to get into the mindset of fairies. Sometimes that can be easier if you play one. Cut to the Legends of the Fey show I participate in at different Scottish Games in Northern California. Researching and developing a Comedia Dell'Arte style fairy show gives me loads of research material to pull ideas. The show is monologue based that revolves around the message of conserving and protecting the environment. Each person portrays a fairy character presenting a monologue describing their legend and message concerning the Earth. Many ideas for the fairy show come from researched fairies in different Irish and Scottish Legends.

Standing up in front of a crowd to tell about fairies gives a different spin on my research. I‘m teaching about the legends of fairies as I do in my books, except it is a more visual perspective to research. I can see people’s reactions to my dialogue and maybe even give myself a real feel for what it would be like if fairies could be truly seen. Plus, we create our own costumes from descriptions in research or our own imaginations. This helps me picture what the fairies may look like and describe them later in my books.

Through this performance research, I find new ways to describe my Fairy World. Plus, it is a lot of fun. There is a definite feeling holding an oak staff as the Woodsprite that you can’t get through normal research methods. That feeling can be used in my writing. As I describe myself to the audience in a monologue, it gives a living breathing version of what it is to see and be a fairy. Sometimes, it’s good to be Fey or at least play one.

Tiffany Turner is researching and writing her second book in the Crystal Keeper Series: The Lost Secret of the Green Man. St. Ita’s of Cill Ide: House of Nobles is a Renaissance Acting Guild that performs at different Scottish Games Living History Areas. The Website is located at www.stitas.net.