For the end of Tempest, and the Supernova Duology, here's one last Q&A and a longer thank you. I know author's notes at the end of chapters can be annoying and I know people skip them (I do too) but if you want to read the big thank you it's at the end of this.
How old are Lily, Niall, Jack, and Haidan?
At the time of Tempest Chapter 25, before the seven year jump in the epilogue, Lily is 18, Jack is 17, and Niall and Haidan are 19.
What's the story behind Lily, Jack, Niall, and Haidan's names?
I love this question because it's actually a complete spoiler. Most of you picked up that Lily's name is entirely water-themed, but the rest of them are all elemental in their own right, because as you'll find out when you read the rest of this Q&A, I'm a complete dork and I love it.
Lily Nerida Morgan: Lily, derived from the flower, can mean passion, purity, but also rebirth. Nerida is of Greek origin meaning sea nymph, or mermaid, and Morgan is of Welsh origin meaning sea chief/defender/protector, and sailor/captain, and also has the connection to the myth of King Arthur's sister Morgan le Fay.
Jacinta "Jack" Sage Garcia-Slater: Jacinta means precious stone. Sage is an aromatic plant, and the term 'sage advice' is sound, intelligent advice from a wise/experienced person sometimes used ironically or sarcastically. Garcia means brave. Slater is a nod to slate, as a nod to earth, like the element.
Haidan Tariq: Haidan means fire, and Tariq means bright or morning star - all of Arabic origin. The sun is also a star, is it not? He's a literal phoenix - by both name and nature. I do quite love Haidan, he was one of my favourite characters to write.
Niall Guthrie: Niall, originally Gaelic/Irish, means cloud (some say it means champion, but I first read cloud so I went with that. There was no connection to the musician). Guthrie is Gaelic, Scottish origin from what I could find, meaning windy place. His middle name, Patrick, wasn't an elemental nod but more a personal one, named after my late aunt.
Can you make a map?
What I should have done was photographed it landscape, but I drew it portrait for some reason. Here's the map of Trawalla, Widderin, and Tyrill! You can see the two clearings where Lily jumped off a waterfall and stopped a tsunami, where Haidan's house is (marked by flame) and Jack's house (epic tree) and Lily's home (marked by a lily) and Niall's home (wind and snowboard). That black banner at the bottom of the picture are my leggings, fun fact #LegReveal
LADY OF THE LAKE/IT IS AN ELEMENTAL STORY OMG!!!?!?
So, funnily enough, the element aspect of T&T wasn't planned at the beginning. When I first began writing Typhoon, Lily was originally going to be a Siren, but as I kept going and adding more detail, I realised it wasn't going to make sense with any siren mythology - I'd accidentally created something bigger than I intended. As I was writing my mind thought further ahead - Haidan, Jack, and Niall were formed to be personified elements.
Haidan is a phoenix, fire personified. He isn't necessarily the centre of attention but he's a comfort and a warmth to everyone (like a hearth). Jack is earth, a powerful witch, and keeps everyone grounded with her attitude/nature. When writing both their POV's, some of you noticed it when I wrote in Lily's POV with water metaphors, I also used earth and fire descriptors for Haidan and Jack. Niall is a nymph and sprightly, buoyant, and flies everywhere even though he can't see where he's going (like the wind does) - the reason he's legally blind is based on a reality; if you look into a gust of wind your eyes water to the point your vision blurs.
Lily became a retelling of Arthurian Myth. I'm a nerd when it comes to mythology and legends, I love a good old fashioned story, and Lily became that. Anyone watch the show Merlin? Or the film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword? In both retellings, they depict a woman under a lake that holds Arthur's sword Excalibur, and both also show Excalibur as the sword in the stone. I merged the two (Freja's STONE cold corpse in the lake, Arthur drawing the enemy's sword from her body) and then, with her abilities, went from there.
A Lady of the Lake is a water-blessed individual that has died and been brought back. They need three counters to balance their power for the world's sake; earth, fire, and air. With the four of them, they are the four elements. Lily can control water in all forms no matter the size; ice, droplets of water, or humidity.
Cool, ain't it? I'm such a nerd haha.
What inspired you to write the story?
Honestly? In the beginning it was just an idea in my Short Stories book. Someone commented they wanted to see more and I began to write, plan, plot, and fall in love with Lily and her story. As I began writing it I started to become inspired by everything I could gather. I put a lot of myself into these books and when I read back, I can tell exactly what was going on in my life in some chapters. In the end, the story inspired itself.
Are you religious/Muslim?
I'm not Muslim, no. I know a fair amount about religion from teachings, I went to a religious school, and also from my own research for writing Haidan's character. I hope anyone who is Muslim could identify themselves with Haidan, I hope I wrote him well. I was also in a church community for my youth but I left last year after a decade of attendance.
Will you do other books like this? Not exactly the same, but supernaturally based?
I do love a supernatural story. I've always been a big reader of fantasy and paranormal tales and it definitely shows with my work. The werewolf trilogy, the supernatural duology, and the next one I'm uploading, SIREN BAY, is an Australian based mermaid novella - the first chapter is out 7th March 2020!
Do you have any other books planned after T&T?
Yes! I'm writing SIREN BAY right now, and after that I plan to finish Her Rise, the fantasy story of two women (a sharp-tongued royal and a sword-wielding noble). There are two stories after those I'm eager to start but one requires a little more work before I start to write it out. There's a whole bunch of ideas I have stored away! I have several drafted out and ready to go, but I'll usually write the first chapter out and put it in my Short Stories to see what people think before I churn out a novel.
The two I'm eager to write are; a Stephen King's Under the Dome meets Norse Mythology crime mystery fantasy novel WIP; and a LOTR-inspired adult fantasy standalone about three powerful women (a saviour, blacksmith, and an empress) with wars, sex scenes, swearing, and lots of sass.
Will you write more in the T&T world?
Not right now. There's definitely room to write something; I could pull a Rob Thier with his Storm & Silence series and create several books spanning the seven years of adventures Lily, Jack, Haidan, and Niall have across the world - that did cross my mind. I could write about their kids, or even one about Freja the First, but while there's definitely room to write something I haven't planned out another book, and I don't want to drag out the series when I think it's ended quite beautifully. Currently, there are a few other books I need to write first - SIREN BAY and HER RISE being first.
THANK YOU
The past two and a half years I've written this book have been the most difficult of my life so far. It's been such a roller-coaster of emotions and events I'm exhausted and need a three-year nap, but I'm grateful that despite everything I've created T&T.
It's been the thing that's kept me grounded through the new diagnosis of a chronic illness, losing my aunt to Parkinson's and a friend to Leukaemia, not to mention losing my job due to my poor health, and my circle of friends is now incredibly small after many stepped away as soon as I became sick.
I'm still medically unfit to work. In the time I've written T&T I've been on more medications than I can spell and it's been utter agony. Having a chronic illness, to most, is just a set of words some cannot fathom - I thought the same - but now it's my reality and, to put it bluntly, it sucks but I'm clutching the good things so tightly.
I'm a lot like Lily. I've had grief, loss, despair and pain follow me around for years, but I'm still laughing. I'm still joking. I'm still looking forward to the brighter things. I've had good days - today is one of them. I've written two books despite being chronically ill and I'm damn proud of that.
Thank you for loving T&T so much, for all your love of Jack's sass, Haidan's faith, Niall's quick wit, and Lily's strength. It's reached 550K and Behind Closed Gates, my first book on Wattpad, has now reached a million reads this year.
Milestones are important, whether they're big or small. This week there are a few; NSW Australia is officially bushfire free after 200+ days of burning. It's been 2 years since I was diagnosed. I finished writing a book series. A dog jumped at my face and split my lip open. I painted my nails red. I made someone laugh - and today is a good day.
Thank you - I hope you chase your milestones like stars.
With love,
Elizabeth H. Blake x