Letter to Callisto

It looks like Callisto has received her first fan mail from online.

I've enjoyed sharing her story with everyone.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QL999X5

The World of Stormfall

It's been a while since I've posted an update, so I thought I might provide a little insight into the future of the World of Stormfall.

As those who follow my blog might know, I completed the 6th draft for Book 4 from the Stormfall Chronicles this past December. Since then, I have been working on a couple of early, rough drafts which continue Callisto's story in the Wolves of Stormfall series, before I complete the final edit for Book 4. To help piece how this all fits together, I've composed with the attached timeline and guide.

The Stormfall Chronicles is an epic fantasy, following a range of characters and storylines. Central to that story are the experiences of Lynette and Baxter, but there are many more in both the human and fae world who play a role in these events. Book 4 will bring this original story arc to its conclusion. It is now in its final round of edits, and will be ready to release in the coming weeks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZCZ139M

The Wolves of Stormfall, on the other hand, follows the story of the werewolf Callisto, who appears in Books 3 and 4 of the Stormfall Chronicles. The first book in this spin-off series was released on Kindle Vella last year, and will be released as an eBook and paperback on Amazon shortly after Book 4 from the Stormfall Chronicles goes live. I also recently completed the first, very rough draft to Book 2 of this spin-off series, as well as the first draft to a short novella that serves as a prequel to Callisto's story. Book 3 of this series is also part-way through its first draft. I'm expecting Books 2 and 3 from the Wolves of Stormfall to be released first on Kindle Vella. I haven't decided what I want to do with its Prequel.

Sixth Draft for Book 4 Complete

The sixth draft for Book 4 of the Stormfall Chronicles is finally done. The text now stands at 122,000 words long, up from 118,000 at the end of the fifth draft.

It took longer than expected, with my two oldest daughters in college now. They're back for winter break this next week.

I'd like to give the text one more proof-read before cutting it loose for publication. Almost there.

Author Interview on Hella Vella

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Azrielle Lawless of Hella Vella this past weekend.

https://youtu.be/4H1bgvqg0RA

Hella Vella has both a Facebook Group and a YouTube channel that highlights Kindle Vella authors and their Vella stories.

Many thanks once more to Azrielle for the opportunity to reach out to Vella readers.

The World of Stormfall

I had a question posed about the different languages and names used in the Stormfall Chronicles, and where they might come from. I would best describe the world of Stormfall as being a sort of parallel universe to our own. There are similarities and differences to our own world. Many of the places, languages and cultures have analogs to our own, and I have therefore employed personal names and a similar language pallet to illustrate these similarities.

The City States of Trevio, for example, are organized in a manner similar to the Italian city states of the Middle Ages - although with a military tradition which resembles that of ancient Rome. Many of the individual names, such as Petrus, Sergius, and Julian, were likewise drawn from Medieval Italian sources.

For the fae, I wanted to provide a familiar touch-stone for readers. As some will be aware, J.R.R. Tolkien created two distinct languages for the elves of Middle Earth, one modeled after Finnish and the other around Welsh. To provide this touch-stone for the fae in the Stormfall Chronicles, I therefore chose personal names and a language pallet which was primarily drawn from Welsh. Names like Arwel, Delyth, Glynis, and Maidoc are all traditional Welsh names. Similarly, the name of the "darrow" tree was selected to be similar to the Welsh "derwen" or "oak" tree. Again, the goal was to provide a familiar sound pallet and reference point for readers, not to directly duplicate Welsh legends or fables.

Another example can be found among the giants. I wanted to evoke a sense that the dialect of the common tongue which the giants used in conversation had drifted from that spoken by most of the world - human or fae. The idea was that the giants had less contact with the other races during the preceding centuries, and their pronunciation of the common tongue had essentially been frozen in an earlier state. The giants therefore speak in a dialect reminiscent of Scots in daily use, or exercise their own tongue when among themselves. For their own language, I chose a sound pallet modeled after Scottish Gaelic. Similar, but not identical to.

The Empire of Bateria, meanwhile, borrows from the Byzantine Empire as a template, with personal names which can be traced back to Byzantine, Greek or Macedonian origin. An obvious example of this is Callisto's use of the nickname yah-yah, drawn directly from Greek, to refer to her grandmother.

There were a few exceptions. A few completely made-up names. There are also a few names which were drawn from specific reference sources in legend. Sybille or Sibyl, for example, was the name of an ancient Greek oracle at Delphi. Similarly, Callisto and Makednos were the names of two of the children of Lycaon in Greek legend. Lycaon of course, was cursed by Zeus and transformed into a wolf - from which the term lycanthropy was later derived.

Again, the objective was to provide familiar reference points, providing the world of Stormfall with a greater sense of depth - not to precisely duplicate a particular society, culture or time period. There were intentional similarities, but also intentional differences. A parallel world, but not a duplicate one. The juxtaposition of different societies or different time periods, for example, allowed for contrasts to be drawn which would not otherwise have been possible. Which kingdom or empire represented "proper" or "civilized" society was often a matter of perspective. That contrast was intentional.

Interview on New Zealand Author’s Website

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow author and book enthusiast Christopher Candy:

https://www.christophercandy.co.nz/blog/author-interview-jw-golan

Chris is a New Zealand author of illustrated children’s books, for those who are interested in checking out his website.

https://www.christophercandy.co.nz/

Many thanks again to Chris for the opportunity to reach out to him and his readers.

Fifth Draft for Book 4 Complete

The fifth draft to Book 4 of the Stormfall Chronicles is finally done. The text now stands at 118,000 words long, up from 114,000 at the end of the fourth draft.

My two oldest daughters are still wrapping up their spring semester, so it will be a couple more weeks before they can begin beta-reading the final text.

It's definitely getting closer to being publication-ready. Time to start thinking about cover designs as well.