Hello there!
Today is the second #QuestOfFriday this October and I thought it would be cool to give a little world-building insight into the series and give a heads up about something fun happening next week.
As you may be experiencing, it’s definitely fall in the Northern Hemisphere and specifically October which some people like to call “Spooky Season” (I promise I’ll say something you don’t already know in a second). Whether you’re all about Halloween or think it an evil, pagan intrusion, the concept of Spooky Season and how modern culture celebrates Halloween reveal a deep fascination with the dark, macabre, and frightening. October tends to be saturated in it and that’s always been a fascinating experience for me, because I really come alive writing at this time of year and find myself staging quite a few story scenes in this season and month. Quest of Fire, in particular, has several passages set in October, though if you flip through the books, you won’t find the words “October” anywhere. That was one of my conscious choices in world-building within the series to not use real-world English month names. The name for October is derived from its Latin designation as the 8th (octo) month, which is where it fit in the ancient Roman calendar until the calendar reforms of Julius and Augustus Caesar put forward a twelve-month calendar that relabeled October as the tenth month. Since Latin and the history of Rome don’t explicitly exist in the Lowlands (there are analogs but not one-to-one conversions), I came up with a novel name (pun intended): Fylleth. It’s full moon in Old English, primarily because of some things that go on in The Gathering Dark during that month.
In fact, many of The Gathering Dark‘s most harrowing moments take place in Fylleth; as do Shadows at Nightfall‘s, and The Unending Light‘s. Part of that is inspiration from the crisp autumn air and part of it because fall is symbolic of change and a descent into winter which is itself portrayed as a time of hardship, loss, and death. Often things begin to go downhill in Fylleth. There are moments when all seems lost for the protagonists. But my writing and especially that done in Quest of Fire isn’t about reveling in the dark (even if the dark is at times deep and replete with monsters). It’s about showing that no matter how the dark gathers, the light is unending.
That’s my hope, that through traversing the harrowing trials with the dark heroically navigated till the dawn sweeps away the shadows, you the reader will experience that victory and carry it into the real world beyond. I long to help others better stand amidst and against the dark. More simply put, I definitely see the value of showing readers “darkest just before dawn” scenarios.
That’s why if you haven’t picked up the Quest of Fire series or only read select entries, now is a great time to dive deeply into it and as the story world’s darkness deepens and the real world seems focused on the dark, find a story that reminds the light isn’t ended and the True Light can and will see you through to the brighter tomorrow.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
-John 1:5
I know that was a pretty brief world-building insight and almost a chat on theme and tone. That being said, if you would like to join me, Lord willing, I’m scheduled to have a booth at the WV Book Festival on October 24th! It will be my 10th time at the festival and my booth is situated right beside the used book sale so it’s the perfect spot to stop by, chat, and load up on discounted books! (The order there is flexible of course). I hope I’ll see you there and I hope you keep safe and enjoy your Fylleth this year with an eye to the light beyond the dark.
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