One of my favorite places to go on the internet is The Internet Movie Database. When I look up a movie, I almost always click on the "Did You Know...?" trivia link. That's probably what inspired me to come up with some trivia about my book.
WARNING!! There are spoilers mingled in with the trivia.
-- My very first draft of Eldala started with "It was a dark and stormy night." You can read a little of the first draft here.
-- I used actual people (mostly actors) as inspiration for my characters. You can find links to them here.
-- Eldala started as a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel. I was supposed to write 50,000 words in 30 days. By day 17, I had 53,000 words.
-- My boys and I ended up in the local newspaper. A Phoenix reporter was doing an article on NaNoWriMo and found out what I was doing. She asked if she could send a photographer to our house. (For more on that story, see "Our One Day of Fame.")
-- Teleria is based on the country of Wales. When I found the castle I had used for my story, I discovered that it's Conwy Castle and it's in Wales. (For more on that story, see "My Fantasy Country and Castle.")
-- I first read the word Teleria in The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (part of the Prydain Chronicles). It was the name of a queen. When I looked it up, I found out that it's Italian for kitchen linen.
-- Brandon drew the map. (You can see the original map here.) Both of my boys came up with names. I do remember that Joshua came up with Korisan and Rahnak. Brandon came up with the name Arathor, and also the words "gurithent" and "harakan."
-- The name Korisan is based on the Star Wars planet of Coruscant.
-- I went through my world atlas to find names for places, people, and Baraca clans. Indonesia is a gold mine for fantasy names.
-- I never thought I'd have to make up a language.
-- The first time Arathor speaks the ancient language, I just said some nonsense words out loud. I added the exact meaning later. “Kel-lema menan-dai kah-gish tehai” roughly translated is "Wall of fire, surround my enemies." Kieran uses the same phrase at the end with Ciara.
-- "Jedzah mar kavah" means "heal the wound."
-- I made up the word Eldala and Malazia. I've since discovered that Eldala is not original. There's a book out there called "Storm Over Eldala."
-- Jessa's name was originally Mikayla and her character was originally based on Miranda Otto. Later I changed her to Madeline Stowe. It took several tries to get the woman I wanted. When I saw her in a J. C. Penney ad, I said, "There's Jessa!"
-- I once dreamed that I kissed Kieran. The beard felt weird. When I told my husband about it, he just laughed. Good thing he's not the jealous type.
-- I asked a friend what it was like to kiss a guy with a beard. Joe has never had one.
-- If I ever meet Steven Waddington (Kieran), I am totally going to freak.
-- Kieran was originally a potter. Then I changed him to a carpenter. I'm glad I finally changed him to a blacksmith - you know... big, muscular...hot.
-- I actually watched a DVD about a group of smiths making an iron rose.
-- Several years ago, we were at a Renaissance fair and I found an iron rose bud. I keep it in my antique secretary cabinet.
-- My mother painted the cover. Her signature is in the sword. My brother was a model for the hands.
-- I worked on the novel from 2005 to 2007. I first published it in 2007.
-- Brandon made up the gurithents and the harakan.
-- My husband described the sword fights. Some are based on fights from Ivanhoe (with Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe), Ever After, and Dragonheart.
-- Joe also wrote the blessing Arathor speaks over Kieran when he steps down and makes Kieran the king.
-- The battle with the Zagorans was inspired by a battle in the last book in the Prydain Chronicles, The High King.
-- For inspiration for medieval times, I watched A Knight's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Ivanhoe, and Ever After.
-- The scene where Jessa helps Kieran get ready for battle is based on a scene in Last Samurai. I love that scene.
-- I know more about medieval life than I ever cared to know.
-- I hadn't realized I would have to plan populations until the 3rd draft. That was also when I expanded the map.
-- Kieran and Jessa's tattoo is an actual tattoo I found online, minus the crown. You can see it here: Tree of Life.
-- Besides Kieran and Jessa, my favorite characters are Sahbel and Dorinda. I kind of like Gilrain, too. Stefan... I just wish he'd grow up.
-- I still cringe when I think of people reading the romance scenes.
-- While I wrote, I sometimes listened to music -- the soundtracks from Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings, Open Range, and Last of the Mohicans were my favorites.
-- To get myself in the mood to write the scene where Jessa thinks Kieran is dead, I listened to the songs from the dying scenes in Beauty and the Beast and Eragon. I was literally in tears while I wrote it.
-- I apologized to my characters on a regular basis, especially when I had to write the scene I just mentioned.
-- My kids want me to turn Eldala into a movie. I don't think so, but you never know what God is going to do.
-- The dedication at the beginning... "To my one true Eldala..." isn't just for my husband. It's mostly for God. Without him believing in me, I couldn't have written anything.
WARNING!! There are spoilers mingled in with the trivia.
-- My very first draft of Eldala started with "It was a dark and stormy night." You can read a little of the first draft here.
-- I used actual people (mostly actors) as inspiration for my characters. You can find links to them here.
-- Eldala started as a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel. I was supposed to write 50,000 words in 30 days. By day 17, I had 53,000 words.
-- My boys and I ended up in the local newspaper. A Phoenix reporter was doing an article on NaNoWriMo and found out what I was doing. She asked if she could send a photographer to our house. (For more on that story, see "Our One Day of Fame.")
-- Teleria is based on the country of Wales. When I found the castle I had used for my story, I discovered that it's Conwy Castle and it's in Wales. (For more on that story, see "My Fantasy Country and Castle.")
-- I first read the word Teleria in The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (part of the Prydain Chronicles). It was the name of a queen. When I looked it up, I found out that it's Italian for kitchen linen.
-- Brandon drew the map. (You can see the original map here.) Both of my boys came up with names. I do remember that Joshua came up with Korisan and Rahnak. Brandon came up with the name Arathor, and also the words "gurithent" and "harakan."
-- The name Korisan is based on the Star Wars planet of Coruscant.
-- I went through my world atlas to find names for places, people, and Baraca clans. Indonesia is a gold mine for fantasy names.
-- I never thought I'd have to make up a language.
-- The first time Arathor speaks the ancient language, I just said some nonsense words out loud. I added the exact meaning later. “Kel-lema menan-dai kah-gish tehai” roughly translated is "Wall of fire, surround my enemies." Kieran uses the same phrase at the end with Ciara.
-- "Jedzah mar kavah" means "heal the wound."
-- I made up the word Eldala and Malazia. I've since discovered that Eldala is not original. There's a book out there called "Storm Over Eldala."
-- Jessa's name was originally Mikayla and her character was originally based on Miranda Otto. Later I changed her to Madeline Stowe. It took several tries to get the woman I wanted. When I saw her in a J. C. Penney ad, I said, "There's Jessa!"
-- I once dreamed that I kissed Kieran. The beard felt weird. When I told my husband about it, he just laughed. Good thing he's not the jealous type.
-- I asked a friend what it was like to kiss a guy with a beard. Joe has never had one.
-- If I ever meet Steven Waddington (Kieran), I am totally going to freak.
-- Kieran was originally a potter. Then I changed him to a carpenter. I'm glad I finally changed him to a blacksmith - you know... big, muscular...hot.
-- I actually watched a DVD about a group of smiths making an iron rose.
-- Several years ago, we were at a Renaissance fair and I found an iron rose bud. I keep it in my antique secretary cabinet.
-- My mother painted the cover. Her signature is in the sword. My brother was a model for the hands.
-- I worked on the novel from 2005 to 2007. I first published it in 2007.
-- Brandon made up the gurithents and the harakan.
-- My husband described the sword fights. Some are based on fights from Ivanhoe (with Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe), Ever After, and Dragonheart.
-- Joe also wrote the blessing Arathor speaks over Kieran when he steps down and makes Kieran the king.
-- The battle with the Zagorans was inspired by a battle in the last book in the Prydain Chronicles, The High King.
-- For inspiration for medieval times, I watched A Knight's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Ivanhoe, and Ever After.
-- The scene where Jessa helps Kieran get ready for battle is based on a scene in Last Samurai. I love that scene.
-- I know more about medieval life than I ever cared to know.
-- I hadn't realized I would have to plan populations until the 3rd draft. That was also when I expanded the map.
-- Kieran and Jessa's tattoo is an actual tattoo I found online, minus the crown. You can see it here: Tree of Life.
-- Besides Kieran and Jessa, my favorite characters are Sahbel and Dorinda. I kind of like Gilrain, too. Stefan... I just wish he'd grow up.
-- I still cringe when I think of people reading the romance scenes.
-- While I wrote, I sometimes listened to music -- the soundtracks from Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings, Open Range, and Last of the Mohicans were my favorites.
-- To get myself in the mood to write the scene where Jessa thinks Kieran is dead, I listened to the songs from the dying scenes in Beauty and the Beast and Eragon. I was literally in tears while I wrote it.
-- I apologized to my characters on a regular basis, especially when I had to write the scene I just mentioned.
-- My kids want me to turn Eldala into a movie. I don't think so, but you never know what God is going to do.
-- The dedication at the beginning... "To my one true Eldala..." isn't just for my husband. It's mostly for God. Without him believing in me, I couldn't have written anything.