[AugustinaII]

@Koshka

Wow, those details sound amazing! I love how the moon really dictates their calendar and religion.

Sounds awesome!

[AugustinaII]

@Halliejean

The question mark is amazing punctuation since in my opinion it really draws the reader into the story. 😀

Ooh, some doodles on your map would look epic! I always end up doodling on stuff – or just writing notes to myself.

I think my favorite character is probably the villain. There are a lot of ways a villain can behave, so there are a lot of things to explore with them.

As for a favorite trope, not really.

@Koshka

Ooh, that series sounds interesting! I’ll have to look into it.

A map style based on folklore sounds great! A howling really does look like a pointy mountain.

It’s neat that your calendar is lunar-based. Much of the problems we’ve had with calendars (i.e. the 445-day long “year of confusion”, 45 BC) are because people have tried to have calendars based off both the solar and lunar cycles. If your world is fantasy, how many moons do you have and how long is a month? 😀

I’d love to try a hand at your map! That sounds great!

[AugustinaII]

I already planned that if Hollywood asks to make my book into a movie I’d refuse. 😀 lol The problem is, I’m pretty sure it would both mess up the plot and introduce a plethora of things I wouldn’t be comfortable letting young readers see. (There’s some violence in my book, but on the whole it should be kid friendly).

So, they’d definitely diversify the cast because it’s mostly male right now (while adding more female characters isn’t bad, it completely changes the dynamic of the cast, opening up for romance which isn’t one of my side plots)

Definitely cut down side plots and side characters (that’s not a bad thing :D)

Cut out the philosophy sections entirely (it’s one of the main points of the book, but I don’t think Hollywood would want to spend slower scenes proving the existence of God)

Change the story question(s) and make the book entirely different

[AugustinaII]

@Koshka

Well, I’m not sure what theme is my favorite. Certainly something to do with forgiveness. I love developing a character’s trust in a story, but I have to be careful not to make it a soliloquoy about trust in God. XD

Ooh, those are lovely themes!

I agree about the jellybeans. It’s hard to have discipline with something that good. 😀

Ooh, your map style sounds intriguing. I’d love to learn more about it, and if you ever want me to help give you tips or even draw a map for you I’d love to. 😀

Another good place to get tips for drawing maps is to look up youtube tutorials. Apparently a lot of people draw fantasy maps for games.

@Elishavet

I’ll have to share my book. 😀

Ooh, a map with little trees. That sounds so satisfying . . .

It’s pretty crazy how fast the gospel spread! And the Spartans are very interesting because their very culture was ascetic. Yes, they were cruel, but they were a pretty good representation of an ideal pagan society.

What survived and what didn’t survive . . . exactly! We can really learn from old cultures – that’s why history (and fantasy) are so important.

Killing off your favorite characters – did I mention that this is a dangerous obsession of mine? I think I have like a quarter or a fifth (way too many) of my characters die off.

@Hallie

My favorite punctuation? Actually I would say the absence of commas. If you’ve noticed, a major part of my writing style is that I don’t put commas after the introductory phrase. I really enjoyed the writing style of De Bello Gallico (I just read it in Latin), and I think that a quicker approach to the beginning of the sentence makes it more engaging. (By the way, do you find it annoying?)

My first tip for writing a map, before even getting down to actually writing out what your country looks like, is thinking about the cultural style of your map. Do the mapmakers in your fantasy world orient their maps to the east? Do they draw them from the side, instead of bird’s eye view? Looking at old maps can help you understand how a map would turn out without good data. Actually, read this article to get a good idea of what type of map you even want or need: http://ianjamesross.com/journal/2016/8/24/did-the-romans-have-maps.

These are my tips, but they work for me because I like my maps to be culturally significant (a commentary, rather than a literary or historical perspective.) If you don’t want that, you should probably start out by looking at the mapmaker’s guild. It’s a forum online that’s got a lot of inspiring maps.

Ooh I love your novel! Who to trust? A pertinent question. I’d love to read it. 😀

Ooh Daren’s issues with self-esteem (because she has only one hand) will affect her relationship to these people in interesting ways. 😀 Maybe she even feels like they are her judges.

[AugustinaII]

@Elishavet, I also write fantasy with no magic! However, since it’s set in a Roman-esque time period, it’s not easily understood to be fantasy. 😀

About the matters of Allegory, I completely agree.

Your books sound so interesting! I look forward to hearing more about them.

So, the books are not set in Rome or in a modern Rome. They are set in a world which resembles our own from about 8 BC to 8 AD. There’s three different nations, and I modeled the technology, language (Latin and other languages spoken by Rome’s neighbors), customs, politics, art of warfare, etc. after the three stages of Rome (kingdom, Republic, and Empire). There’s also a tribe that died out that is inspired by the Greeks and their love of philosophy, and another tribe that is based on the Gauls, Germans, Britons, etc.

Yes, in my opinion Brittania is my favorite part of Roman culture. I love the old Roman names of British cities: Calcaria, Aesica, Aquae Sulis (Bath), Londinium (London), Eburacum, Portis Dubris (Dover), etc.

I draw a lot of portraits, but lately I’ve been having fun drawing maps. The first is of the world Logos is set in, and the second is of the first invasion of Britain by Iulius Caesar (it’s in Old Roman Cursive, in case you wonder.)

My favorite thing about Latin is how concise it is. You can say much more in one word in Latin than you can in English. Also the pronunciation sounds awesome.

For the questions:

1. A pet rabbit. It’s the easiest to take care of. 😀
2. Classical, definitely. My favorite composer is Grieg. I’m willing to listen to all music, but you’d better be ok with me analyzing every song I don’t like.
3. I like pepperoni, but I’ve never had pepperoncini on my pizza. Pinneaple is good though!
4. I know from experience that I cannot answer that question . . . XD. I love all my characters.

@Koshka

I can relate to intense work on a single chapter. Some chapters are like that – they make or break the entire book.

Yes, themes! What’s your favorite theme?

For the titles, I think no. 1 sounds best. It’s so hard to choose titles! They can also make or break the book. 😀

Yeah, jellybeans are good. 😀 I love picking through searching for all of the flavors.

Have a great day and thanks for the welcome, Elishavet and Koshka!

[AugustinaII]

Thanks for the welcome! @Elishavet, I also write fantasy (no magic)! The thing is, it’s set in a world modeled after Rome and the nations of that time period, so it’s not as easily understood. The three nations in the world are modeled after the kingdom, Republic, and Empire of Rome, so they share similar technology, language, virtue, custom, religion, etc. to whichever stage of Rome they were modeled on. There’s also sundry tribes and etc., which are modeled after such things as Greeks, Carthaginians, and Germans/Gauls/Britons.

It’s cool that you draw coloring pages for your church! I often draw portraits, but lately I’ve been drawing maps because they’re so relaxing. So actually, if anyone wants me to draw a map for them . . .

My favorite part of Latin is it’s conciseness and brevity. And my favorite part of Rome is Britannia. 😀 I love the old British city names: Calcaria, Aquae Sulis, Londinium, Portis Dubris, etc.

For the questions:

1. Rabbit because it’s the easiest to care for ;D
2. Classical. I’ll listen to any music, but others probably won’t be able to stand my analysis of one’s I don’t like. 😀
3. Pepperoni belongs on pizza, but pepperoncini is too spicy. Pineapple is great!
4. I’d have to ask my characters . . . 😀

@Koshka, I agree that it’s very important to know when to spend a long time on something. Some chapters make or break the book! And theme is very important.

For the titles, probably number 1? It’s pretty hard to choose titles, but the first ones seem the clearest.

Yes, I love jellybeans! Especially picking through a bag looking for every flavor. 😀

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