A Cast of Thousands! Well, Dozens . . .
Now that I’m done with the book, I’m busy getting it ready for publication. I’ve decided to add an appendix to add to the minimize confusion. Maps are still under construction, not by me, thankfully. You will of course be the first to see them when they arrive.
In the meantime, I worked over my glossary. I’d been using an alphabetical one by last name, but it wasn’t too helpful since I mostly needed it because I couldn’t remember someone’s last name. Doh! So I rearranged it around the main characters, in hopes of making it easier to figure out. I also got rid of anyone who isn’t mentioned by name. Y’all don’t need to know Teodora’s family tree, even if I do.
So I whittled it down to a mere 80-some names. You can marvel at them here.
I put all of the place names on a separate page. Again, I got rid of any place that isn’t named. You don’t need to know the name of Gwynneth’s lady-in-waiting’s estate, or the castle that Arian Orland’s (who? hahaha!) sister inherited.
Yes, my sanity is still mostly intact. Why do you ask?
My hope is that I can make Rise of the Storm an even more pleasant reading experience than it already is. And if someday, I want to make like George R.R. Martin and put together a huge book about my whole world, it’s all right here already!
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I take my hat off to you, Christina! Keeping the names/events/history streamlined in my urban fantasy is bad enough. And I cannot fault your goal – George R R Martin better watch out 😉
It seemed to be the only way to keep track of it all. I keep hoping there’s an easier way, but since I’m adding a pile of characters in the second book, I’ll just have to keep building on this if I don’t want to go crazy!
Had a look, but I think you’re going to have to go some to keep up with GRRM. Ken Follett does that in his books, too. Well, in the Century Trilogy anyway. Can’t remember whether he did in Pillars of the Earth or World Without End.
Yes, I’m still bogged down in the various Targaryen kings in World of Ice and Fire. Just give me another 20 years!
I thought Follett did it for the cathedral builders, but I can’t remember. I love it when authors of big epics include this stuff. That was the only thing that got me through my first reading of War and Peace- the edition I was reading had a very detailed list of characters.
Also, you’ll have your “bible” all organized for sequels … although you do realize that if you’re comparing yourself to GoT, you have to kill off half of these people.
Yes, and it turns out I’m terrible at killing people off. I keep coming up with reasons to keep characters alive. What if I need them later? My world will soon be suffering from overpopulation.