Quick Things:
- The Book Wyrm’s Hoard published this lovely review of Thieftess (she’d never read my books before and now says I’m an “auto-buy” author!) – please check it out, enjoy, share, leave comments, all that good stuff.
- I was informed this morning that I need a root canal and/or crown. (yes, I cried in the chair, but I don’t think the hygenist noticed.) Just the consultation for this procedure is $400 and it’s not covered by my insurance. If you’ve ever considered supporting me on Patreon, now would be an excellent time to do that.
(All these methods are also still validas well – except GFM)
And now, for your deep dive. Happy Thursday! 💜
Dearest Squad,
In late October 2023, I got the rights back to the Woodcutter Sisters series.
In December, I met with my team to talk publishing strategy.
We discussed everything from schedules to our promotional approach. We chose book sizes and cover concepts, color schemes inside and out, stickers, t-shirts, and translations. I went broke making it all happen. But I am so happy with the amazing things we managed to achieve.
My Art Director Cait Greer and I went over all the things we knew readers wanted to see in books: Chapter titles. Tables of Contents. Maps. Both black-and-white and color ads for my merch, my Patreon, and recommended titles by fellow authors in the back. Author photos and bios. Cover copy. Blurbs.
We made all of this a reality.
I knew the map would be a challenge, but it was time I sat down and drew a (Mercator projection?) of this world I built…because Thursday Woodcutter was about to receive a flying ship in which she would “sail” all over that world.
The original map on which I loosely based Arilland was conceived in the early 1990s by me and my friends Casey, Margo, and Chris (mostly Chris, because he was the artist). In high school, the four of us co-wrote most of a novel called The Legacy. It was about two warring countries: Aria and Llandyr. The huge cast was loosely based on all of our friends, but the fantasy storyline was completely our own. When one of us got tired of writing in the notebook, we’d pass the story to someone else. It was so much fun.
For the record, I have all those original notebooks and permission to finish writing The Legacy. I also have the poster board on which we drew the original map of Aria and Llandyr.
“Arilland” is what I imagine the original country was called before the separation.
Now if Arilland is the First Age of Faerie, Aria and Llandyr would exist in the Second Age. The Glass Mountain and The Goblin and the Treasure take place in the Third Age of Faerie, after reunification. And all of this happens long after the Wizard War, the time of the dragons, when the ether was split, allowing beings like demons and unicorns (and more?) to cross over from parallel dimensions.
Yeah. When I say 1000 years of Faerie sprang into my head after I wrote the first line of The Glass Mountain, this is what I mean.
But Arilland was only ever one country.
When Cait and I were putting the finishing touches on the map in Thieftess, I realized: I don’t actually have a name for The World. Literally, the planet.
Which inspired follow-up questions in my science brain: how knowledgeable are my societies? I assume they are at least as advanced as Galileo (1564-1642). Overall, I try to keep my vocabulary and references restricted to the mid-1800s or before—in my mind, this is “the age of fairy tales,” considering Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875); the Grimm Brothers (1785-1863); Perrault (1628-1703); and Andrew Lang (1844-1912) and his wife, who collected tales from all over the world dating from long before their time.
So the folks in my books should know there is an earth, that it’s round, and that it’s probably a planet revolving around the sun, even though we don’t discuss it at tea parties. But what do they call it?
Enter the etymology of Earth and the investigation of its origins. Or Terra, as it is called by some. Literally: Land.
“Just write ‘The World,’” I told Cait when it came time to label the map. “I can always think of something later.” But really, though, “The World” is as good a name as any.
In this fairy tale World, I write these Legends of Arilland.
Works for me…
xox
Princess Alethea
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