The Aurelian Archives

There are more than 50 characters mentioned by name in Volume I and II of The Aurelian Archives. Unfortunately, we’ll never have the opportunity to really know most of them, and many that we do know have untapped stories in their heads we’ll only ever hear about in passing. (Remember Hayden and the wounded gursa/skinnydipping incident? The time Reece danced with Scarlet on Sterling Eve? When did Gideon forge his revolver?) 

This summer, readers of TAA will have the unique opportunity to vote on the characters they’d like to know better…characters they love, characters they hate, maybe even characters they’ve only heard about in passing. At the end of voting, Courtney will pen a short story for each of the three TAA characters with the most votes - a sort of “deleted scene” that will take place prior (but not unrelated) to the events of Palatine First. The scenes will be released gradually and available for free eBook and PDF download on aurelianarchives.com. 

We understand the list can be overwhelming; if you need to get your bearings, check out this page and read up on who’s-who in TAA. But beware of possible spoilers!

Participants can vote once daily for their character of choice. Voting ends 12 p.m. US central time on June 15th, 2013. 

Get voting!

Full character list | Vote here

Note: In some cases, characters will have cameos in a deleted scene even if they were not selected. Alternatively, several characters’ scenes are attached to settings hitherto unexplored in TAA, i.e. Panteda. However, every story, regardless of the individual character, will be relevant to the Archives’ main story line, world, and characters. Please keep this in mind when voting.

Several characters have been paired off. These characters’ roles were intended to compliment each other. The Ailey or Ashdown twins would feature predominately in eachother’s stories regardless of which twin won. In the same way, tutors from The Aurelian Academy have been grouped, as any and all of their stories would tightly revolve around The Owl itself. 

Mmk, I had a few requests for this, so without further ado —

— a list of stuff I use, be it to jog my sluggish brain or just for fun, or even because it’s on occasion useful. Not everything works for everybody, but here are some links pulled right off my toolbar. My method is 90% about having Pillsbury funfetti icing and Dr. Pepper on hand, but I hope this list helps SOMEBODY. 

Words

The Phrontistery - “an online dictionary of rare and obscure words”;  more for head-jogging than actual use, and I might be the only one who reads rare three-letter word lists for fun, but there you go

Tip of My Tongue - you know it.

Otherwordly - if you love beautiful words

Character & World Building

The Writer’s Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters - I’ve had this for years. Some of it’s ehh, but mostly it’s a fun way to wrap your head around a character who’s supposed to be, say, haughty. What kind of facial expressions would a haughty character make? I’m iffy about adjective dumps, but it’s just a nice tool to oil your cogs. 

Behind the Name - the etymology and history of first names

Behind the Surname - see above

30 Days of Worldbuilding - a thorough challenge for building those non-bland fantasy worlds

Archetype: The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Psychology - exactly what it sounds like; handy for characterization and understanding body language

Different Types of Noses - I love noses. A character’s nose is, to me, the most important aspect of their face. Obviously, I’m not going to say someone in the Epimetheus has a Nixon nose, but I still like referring here just to look at the different shapes.

Publishing

From the Write Angle - a good writing/publishing blog, but especially handy for publishing newbies b/c of the glossary

Book Blogger Directory (SF & F) - a directory for bog bloggers who specifically review Science Fiction and Fantasy

Writing

Seventh Sanctum - writing challenge generator, for prompts and when you just need a kick in the pants

Writing Excuses - an ongoing podcast with a few of my favorite authors, only 15 minutes long an episode and useful in the extreme. A few recent topics they’ve hit: Narrative Rhythm, Cliffhangers and Icebergs, Side-Character Arcs (!)

Rainy Mood - because this makes me wistful and mushy (also, it’s great for blocking out the sounds of the city when I’m trying to write)

Instrumental playlists (just a few of my favs) - 1 2 3 4 5

Happy writing! xCourtney