Just a short update this month. While researching, I came across a piece of information about octopus blood. It is called haemocyanin, which is a copper-based protein. Apparently, it is better at transporting oxygen in cold conditions than haemoglobin. It also has a higher viscosity than human blood.
This is an example of how I sometimes learn things that can be added to lore I’ve already established. In Far Removed, I noted that knyads have blood that is dark purple, almost black, and I mentioned it tasted of iron. At that stage, I had taken inspiration from marine mammals which have a high concentration of haemoglobin and myoglobin in their blood. This allows them to store oxygen efficiently in their bodies. Maybe knyads have a protein in their blood that has a combination of copper and iron in it? It’s quite possible that it even contains elements that aren’t found on our periodic table. I’ve come up with a new name for the protein which is inspired by octopus’ haemocyanin, and is mentioned in the sequel.
With all this talk about blood, you may worry about my knyad characters. There is more action in the sequel, certainly. But it is not all grim. There are some very heartfelt moments, too, and though I’d never advertise my books this way, I admit there is some chemistry between certain characters. A chemistry that has nothing to do with copper or iron.
I love the way my world-building keeps expanding as I learn new things. I like to leave room for readers to speculate on subjects even I haven’t yet investigated.
The article on octopus research can be found here.
Featured Image: I took this photo of an octopus at the Two Oceans Aquarium and colourised it in Photoshop.
C B Lansdell 