(Shameless) product placement
11 Aug
Silly Berries … three of ’em!
4 Aug
“Karia” in contemporary Inamali
Syllabaries sound a bit like some kind of a treat, don’t they?
But they’re actually a way of writing a language. Sort of an alphabet for languages that are written syllable by syllable.
That’s how Inamali, one of the primary languages in the series, The Day Magic Died, is written. But I had no intention of ever writing anything using an Inamali syllabary. Then along came the map.
There’s a map that Karia finds in the first book, The House in the Old Wood, that has some writing on it that looks sort of like what she identifies as Old Inamali. You’ll find out in the second book, Karia’s Path, that this is written in another language altogether.
I asked the artist who drew the map for the first book to draw that map for the second book. She agreed to, but I needed to give her the words, written the way I wanted them written.
Oh.
I had no idea how the words were supposed to be written.
“Inamali Ili, Inamali kri” in contemporary Inamali
So this weekend I sat down and created three syllabaries: One for contemporary Inamali, one for Old Inamali and one for the other language.
I did that because the three languages are related, with Old Inamali serving as a sort of transition from the other language to contemporary Inamali.
I’ve included some examples here of what contemporary and Old Inamali look like.
“Inamali ili, Inamali kri” in Old Inamali
The phrase is one you’ve encountered in the first book. You’ll find out what it means in the second book. And the completion of the syllabary, so the artist can draw the map that will accompany the book, is another step toward having the second book ready to be published.
What do you think?
What’s Karia’s Path about?
29 Jul
There’s no road where Karia is going. No one has been this way for years – if ever. In order to find a way to destroy magic, she’s willing to plunge into and through the dangerous marsh alone, if necessary. But it’s not necessary.
From the start, she’s accompanied by her fat faerie friend, Generality, who always has a wisecrack handy.
Then she’s joined by a young man who’s not shy about declaring his reasons for following her – though it’s a bit much for Karia to take at the time.
And in their hour of greatest need, the little band is aided by a sorcerer, who turns out to be an ideal teacher for Karia. For if she is to destroy magic, she must study its ways, discover how to use it, and learn how to speak its language.
In the end, Karia’s path forward comes down to one simple question … a question of trust.
Now you can find your way …
20 Jul
Did you get lost in the Old Wood?
Well, now you can find your way. Kristen Lang has drawn a map to accompany The House in the Old Wood.
Don’t have the book yet? Here you go …
Books Two, Three and Four coming along
2 JulWhere have I been?
Writing. Not writing blog posts, but writing more of The Day Magic Died series.
As I told you June 21, Book Two, now tentatively titled Karia’s Path, is out to a few critical reader for their input. I’ve heard back from two of the four. One gave me two-and-a-half pages of notes, which is very helpful. She even spotted an issue with the storyline, which gives me an opportunity to fix something I overlooked before I make it available to all of you.
The other critical reader I heard back from? Well, she got so caught up in reading Book Two that she neglected to take any notes. She enjoyed it that much. That’s great, but I sent her back to look through it again and mark it up.
So, two of four down, but three to go. No, I’m not going to rush them. I know you want to read Book Two, but I want to be sure the book is ready for you.
Back in June I also told you I was making progress on the revisions of Book Three, The Hall of the Prophetess. Well, guess what? I finished the revisions, and it’s now awaiting proofreading.
So what am I doing now? You guessed it – I’ve started on the revisions to Book Four, The Legacy of the Dwarf. Because to write epic fantasy fiction, you gotta have a dwarf, right? Well, maybe not. Anyway, I’ve just started. In fact, all I’ve done so far is write a new Chapter One. And I was just looking at it, and it seems kind of flat still.
Ah well.
At least everything is still on track to release Book 2 in September and Book 3 in November. I’ll keep you updated.
by Ian Fallis 
Recent Comments