Letia Michelle Ames
Letia Michelle Ames
The Details
Extresier
A Mosaic Of Cultures
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Garoth. A caste system, with a reliance on slavery.
~Torac Ma Ca. Once a land of barbarians and criminals, now offers rich trades and disciplined, lawful cities.
~Shanna Casí. A small halfling community in the swamps of Vashona known for their vibrant colors and pottery.
A Pantheon of Humans, Dragons, & Titans
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Conal. The Dragon Creator who first wrested the world-seed to form Extresier.
~The Bear Spirit. A constellation of stars where Conal placed the seed. Later a Bear-Titan. Also called The Mother.
~The Lady. Conal's human lover who brought magic to the people.
Globally Inspired Diverse Biomes
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Dresza. Inspired by Norwegian Fjords, with steep mountains, forests, and long winding rivers. ~The Sparse. Inspired by Idaho, Colorado, and Utah, with unique rock formations, layered cliffs, and stretching deserts.
~The Ridge. Inspired by Oregon and Colorado, with flowing waterfalls, diverse mountains and sprawling hills.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Writing is all about drafts, and the world of The Altian Chronicles is no exception. First imagined when I was seventeen, Extresier has since undergone several renderings.
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The first, as seen on the right, I sketched by hand in pencil on my dad's printer paper.
The second, featured as part of the slider below, is my first rendering in digital done in a program called Gimp.
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The fourth (I'll spare you the third) created in Inkarnate, also featured as part of the slider below, visually represents temperate zones, mountains, rivers, lakes, cities, and points of interest within the series.
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The rendering above acts as my complete vision and is my current working map for AN UNCHARTED DESTINY. Towns are denoted by diamonds. You can follow Orie and Ash's journey through slavery with the triangles. Major Cities are named in script. It should be noted, this is not a complete atlas of all settlements across Extresier, not even of the Western Continent.
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For hints at scale, The "Known" World mapped above, is roughly equivalent to Europe.
Characters
Ever-Changing Relationships
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Bella and Orie. At times Bella rescues Orie, at others, he rescues her. Sometimes they're close... sometimes not. It's all about that change.
~Bella and Eldron. I love mentor relationships-but I also wanted my mentor to be fallible.
~Orie and Ash. Siblings are your first and last friends. They're also your biggest threat...
Relatable Strengths, Fears, Weaknesses & Reactions
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Emotion makes the story, at least it does to me. I wanted to impart upon the reader the reality of grief with Uncharted, its one reason I stripped so much away from my main characters. They each handle their grief differently, as we do in real life.
Inspired By Real Life
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Though I can't point to any one character that directly relates to a real person in my life, many aspects, scenes, and reactions are inspired from real life circumstances. Orie getting in trouble for playing baseball with the almost ripe peaches was inspired by my brothers and me hitting apricots, and my grandfather's resulting ire.
Meet Bella
When orcs murdered Princess AnyaBella’s family, seized her country, and unleashed the magic locked within her world three years ago, she ran for her life. Now, longing for safety and family, Bella dreams of restoring her family’s dying legacy as she fights to keep her identity a secret. Follow her adventure in An Uncharted Destiny, book one of The Altian Chronicles.
Meet Orie
Three years ago, orcs slaughtered Orion Ruisseau’s parents and sold Orie and his brother into slavery. His priority is protecting his brother from their masters’ cursed desires. But when a prophecy hints at their demise and an attempt at freedom is thwarted yet again, Orie begins to lose hope. Follow his adventure in An Uncharted Destiny, book one of The Altian Chronicles.
Meet Imythre
The ancient daughter of a goddess, known as Imythre the Healer, enters An Uncharted Destiny as a benevolent ruler opening the gates for Altian refugees after the war. One of the last great magi, her sorcery and healing abilities come with great power, but is her benevolence as innocent as it seems?
The Story
Heavy Romantic Elements
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~Though I can't officially call Uncharted "Romantasy," it was hugely important for romance to interweave with the elements of my fantasy novel. Bella and Orie's love story grows slowly over time, with a lot of social pressures pushing them together and apart.
Beloved Tropes Turned On Their Head
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~The best tropes, in my eyes, are the ones that break the rules. Uncharted plays with forced proximity, but them coming together may be the most dangerous thing, as Orie has a dangerous secret. The novel hints at fated mates, but allows for the opportunity to choose differently.
Dark Fantasy Filled With Bright Hope
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
~It took me several beta readers to recognize that my novel falls into the "dark" realm. The themes of anxiety, PTSD, grief, were reality to me. Once I embraced the change and allowed for the darkness to surface and shine with the bright, the story got infinitely better.
Heavy Romance
An Uncharted Destiny explores the budding relationship of Bella and Orie, two wounded heroes trying to find purpose after tragedy. But pressures from guilt for failing him and her people, fear that he's dangerous with this new life-altering curse, and a god-given destiny stand in the way of them trusting and relying upon each other.
Family Relationships, Blood and Found
Prior to An Uncharted Destiny's opening pages, a war divides and destroys Bella's and Orie's families. Though each spend the novel striving to protect their little brothers, the story also forges deep connections with new characters, creating a found family that lasts the entire series.
Wounded Heroes
The characters in An Uncharted Destiny battle wounds inspired by real life. Orie deals with PTSD from being kept as a pleasure slave for three years. Bella is in a state of denial, going through the motions of her duty after the loss of beloved family members. The general theme of overcoming and striving through difficulty carries throughout.
