A'mara Books Update

Wow. Last week was a real literary trip! Apparently, my talking about my literary process and what I research was extremely exciting!

At least enough to be featured on a Whaleshares online show and by the brand new TALP (The Alexandria Library Project). This is what TALP said about me:

“If you are a writer, we strongly advise you to check out this publication as it can teach a thing or two to any single one of us!” They go on to say that what I was doing “should be studied by the masses! It shows you how publishing-worthy (sic) novels are born!”

What huge compliments!!! Thanks to everyone who made that happen!

So, here’s more of what has happened this week at A’mara Books!

Over 11,000 new words

Okay, I know I said I was going to be focusing on the next collection (Acting the Part) and Rise of the Neví, but it didn’t quite happen that way…

Instead, I pulled up a story that I’ve been wanting to fix up for awhile now – one that takes place in Terrenden’s ancient history – 1200 B.T.C.E. (Before Terrenden Common Era), so about 2000 years before the Rebound of Power collection. In fact, it talks about the very first stella (village healer) – named Stella - and the ancestors of the A’mara. A time when the portals were very important in saving an imperiled race on the island continent of Velantia. As such:

A’mara Dawn gained nearly 11,500 words to bring it to a total of nearly 38,000 words. I anticipate another 4-5,000 words before I do a read-aloud edit stage to try to polish it up. Maybe epublish it in August if I can get it done by then…

Of course, in going back to ancient history – very little technology – except what Stella has brought in over the centuries – I had to do some more...

Research

A’mara Dawn starts in modern day England (where I lived for many years – in fact, I named Velantia after Valentia Road where I was living in Reading at the time) which caused me to write the whole thing in British English rather than American English as I normally choose.

This led to a short crisis that I took to Facebook because in all the time I lived in England, I never lived in a block of flats! Nor did I visit people who did… So, I needed to know what to call the entrance hall. Apparently, a “foyer” is the best term for the type of building Katja (an American) and Rachel (British) are living at the time of the story’s beginning.

(I was planning on this being a one-off, but it’s told me otherwise… as such I’m having some difficulty naming the second (and maybe third) novellas for this set. The new titles could be either immediately before or immediately after the title A’mara Dawn – which will be the title for the set.)

I also had to research other aspects of historical matters such as:

Underwear!

And no, I’m not even using it in a sensual, R-rated sense in this book! Simply the fact that the ladies have to dress in appropriate clothing for where they are and are mystified by the lack of underwear! Although dresses very quickly developed to help support the bust, most people did not use a special device to support the breasts until corsets – and the modern bra was only developed in the early 20th century!

Panties (US) or knickers (UK) were not used until the 19th century and even then were crotchless. So, no, ancient Velantia would not have had these things. Sure, they had underskirts and things to help preserve modesty, but the seamstress skills necessary for such fitted items (no elastic, after all) would have made modern undergarments pretty much impossible.

(Did you know that Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain – invented the modern hook closures used in our bras now?! Cool man, huh?)

Saddles!

Although I’m very familiar with modern saddles, having had a few riding lessons over the years, I went through a bunch of pictures of middle ages type saddles to work out how a couple would tandem ride.

Apparently, there were two main ways – the lady might sit halfway onto the man’s lap and otherwise ride side saddle (not entirely appropriate for people who have just met – and women who are used to riding astride in our modern world) or for the woman to sit behind the man on a “pillion” - sort of a bolster. Again, this didn’t seem quite appropriate in my story.

The third method seemed to be that they simply squeezed together in the saddle – which weren’t always as fitted as our modern saddles are anyway – so that’s the option I have gone for. Makes the most sense in the situation where a tandem ride wasn’t necessarily planned for.

Gaelic!

Stella is Irish, and a bit of a hedgewitch in modern thought. My knowledge of Gaelic is extremely limited except to start to get to grips with pronunciation. (I mean, really, a language where “mh” and “bh” are pronounced “v”??? And I thought Welsh pronunciations were hard!)

Anyway, I wanted a little bit of Gaelic to create her “so may it be” finish to any of the spells she casts. (She’s a really awesome woman with an extremely high sense of ethics, so you don’t need to worry.)

I toyed with several sets of words, but finally went for “Mar sin bíonn sé.” (Which the Irish spell-check liked okay.) This translates to “so it is.” according to Google Translate – a site I use very frequently… mostly to check my Swedish when talking to my cousins on Facebook. (And just like with spell-check, I’ve been known to have – and win – arguments with Google Translate!)

I am well aware that “so mote it be” would be slightly more appropriate and has a different translation, but I wanted to stick with something a little less controversial – as well as something that was easier on the tongue.

Will more Gaelic come in? Don’t know yet. Stella hasn’t really used much in a couple hundred Earth years, so she’s a little rusty.

Medieval horses!

I wasn’t too surprised to find out that Spanish horses such as the Andalusian and the Barb had a huge role to play in the horses that knights used. Hence, I think Velantia probably had a bunch of Andalusian horses turn up at some point (I love that breed!) – perhaps that’s why the official name of the capital is Castel Velantia… It’s okay to have a bit of a mashup on this land because it is of mixed ancestry.

Map-making - again

I also spent time building the map of Velantia and continuing to think about what happened to this amazing place… The main clue is that the future name of this land is Vendaria – after the volcano so prominent in the eastern part of the island. Unfortunately, very little remains in the 850s TCE – a few ruins here and there, but by and large it’s gone. But its part to play on Terrenden is far from over.

Don’t forget!

I’m still offering 1 Steem Basic Income share for any newbie (100 SP or less) who asks me a question which prompts an “Ask the Author” post! I’m thinking about putting these into a Dbooks ebook all its own, actually.

Please catch up!

Rebound of Power – Meet Iyva, a homeless teenager in Irola with a strong connection with the leya. Totally untrained, her power rebounds catastrophically, leaving her close to death. A Nameless hero saves her life, but hides. Anyone would be proud to teach her, but will she choose the safe, trustworthy A’mara or the shady ones who teach her what she wants to learn? Can she trust her hero… the Nameless One?

Friendship on Fire - Meet Marc’la, a breeder of prized caballus in Kasago. Her heart has long lived in the past – before her uncle died. Her friends have long since given up on trying to match her up with anyone. The thick walls around her heart are firmly cemented by pain and grief. When Ek-ul, her uncle’s student, suddenly returns to visit, he uncovers all the pain she had tried to bury in her work. Can Marc’la forgive him? Can anyone get through her walls?

Courage to Trust – Meet Zukie, a widowed mother and gardener in Iloren whose confidence was shattered by an abusive husband. Zara is unwilling to let it go and is determined to get her twin sister more-happily married, but Zukie resists, frightened to try, lest she end up miserable again. When Zukie bumps into Akeld, she ends up embroiled in A’mara business and in serious danger both physically and emotionally. Can she find the courage to trust again?

Elect to Change – Meet Jenna, an elections manager and masseuse in Gaskarii who has a strict rule – never massage an A’mara! Her best friend Tirry has never known Jenna to have a prejudice, but when Tle-sun is called in to oversee their elections, Jenna is hostile to the very existence of this handsome A’mara. But then, Tirry doesn’t know what Jenna knows… A’mara break hearts. Still haunted by dreams from her past, can Jenna let go of the fear to open her heart to something beautiful? Can she elect to change?

Ocean of Empathy – Meet Ardin, an artisan on the beach of Varkevand who has a good reason to distrust A’mara. Simply being a survivor of the disaster that orphaned him has made him a target of the Neví, something that Kami and Moxara wish to rectify. Yet, their unwelcome attempts are repulsed by Ardin who wants nothing more than to be left alone. Together, can they unravel the mystery in time? Can Ardin open himself up to be healed? To love?

At which point, the Rebound of Power collection will be completed.

Image Credits:

Cover art based on image from Pexels – creative commons, no attribution required.
Shaze based on a katana from Pixabay – creative commons, no attribution required.
Shaze chapter ender from Wikipedia Commons – used within terms of license – sword adapted for use as a shaze.
Grass texture for maps from Pixabay

All maps/editing by myself on GIMP and Photoscape, both free programs.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Although the penalty of knowing me in real life is that you will influence the creation of my characters; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.