May
Saturday Salon – A Far-Off Land
One of the best parts of writing fiction is having free license to just make stuff up. People, places, times, gadgets, creatures, and more!
Of course, here at The Ballroom Blog, we are mostly writing historical romance — and we try to use the real historical setting as best as we can research it. But we still get to make stuff up. All those dukedoms and earldoms, for instance. All our characters, of course. Perhaps a village, like Spindle Cove. And every once in a while, we have an excuse to make up an entire country!
That’s the fun I’m having right now, as I work on the new book, ANY DU–
Oh, wait. I may not have announced in the Ballroom that I have a new book contract! Well, I do! I’m so excited to be working on Spindle Cove Book 4, which will be releasing in 2013. It’s called ANY DUCHESS WILL DO. Huzzah! Much rejoicing in the Dare household.
As I was saying…
As I work on the new book, ANY DUCHESS WILL DO, I have the exciting challenge of creating a fictional country. (The book takes place in England, but I have visiting royalty as secondary characters.)
Up until now, the closest I’ve come to this was letting Colin from A Week to be Wicked spin yarns about being the long-lost Prince Ampersand of Crustacea. That was fun in a different way. I didn’t have to make anything make sense! Quite the opposite. The more absurd, the better.
Now I’m trying to create a plausible fictional country. Right now, I’m modeling it off some alpine principalities (shades of Crustacea) that were at different times part of the Austrian Empire, part of Germany, or part of Italy. Mostly I’ve chosen this region so that my fictional land can have some strategic importance in the Napoleonic Wars. But also because…
Tirol Castle, near Meran, Italy
Lovely, no?
If you were creating a fictional country of your own, where would you put it?
Are there any fictional lands in literature you wish you could visit? Narnia, the Shire, Genovia, Oz…?
And if anyone has names for my fictional alpine principality, I’d love suggestions!
May 19, 2012
10:15 am
Congratulations, Tessa, on the new book deal! That’s great. I can’t think of any fic. places I would want to go. But, my favorite place to go is Ruidoso, New Mexico. It is in the mountains. The main mountain is named Sierra Blanca. It’s a beautiful place. We’ve been going on vacation there for 30 years.
May 19, 2012
10:51 am
Ooh, Susan – I wasn’t familiar with Sierra Blanca, so I went and googled it. Beautiful! What a lovely place for vacation.
May 19, 2012
7:47 pm
Oh, that sounds beautiful!
May 19, 2012
12:02 pm
Congrats on the new book, I am sure it will be for the “keeper” shelf.
Can’t wait to read it!
I would put my island in the Mediterranean sea. It would be small country, with some castles along the sea. The main sources for income and all would be from mining, fishing and farming. The mines have given them riches. So, that they could take their riches and sail to other ports for trade, if they wanted. They are little known, because before now, they were happy enough on their own.
As for fictional lands to visit (not live there, mind you) are Narnia and the Shire. If I was to live in the Shire, I would be happy not to leave and go on adventures like Frodo and the gang did. I would also like to see Fairybook land of the Grimm’s and Charles Perrault Fairy Tales.
As for a name of a place – I could call my fictional place “Merdonia” — I looked up Mer and Donia and it means Sea Rules All. I was wondering why “Donia” was in a lot of fictional lands. I found out the name means “rules all”, which is perfect for a kingdom. The Mer part is because they are in the middle of the sea.
May 19, 2012
12:14 pm
Jamie, that’s awesome! I think you really need to write the Merdonia Chronicles! I know I want to spend time there!
May 19, 2012
7:48 pm
I agree too! Great name & great location!
May 19, 2012
12:25 pm
As for your name, I think it would be the funniest and most unusual for Colin to not be far off from the truth. He could even do a “I told you I wasn’t making that up.”
You could either do an actual Prince Ampersand of Crustacea or just change it a little. I looked up Alpine (because you said the country was in the Swiss Alps area) and got this as part of the definitions – 7. (n.) Alpine
(cap.) a member of a Caucasoid people found in central Europe and characterized by heavy body build, medium complexion, and straight to wavy hair.
It does fit Colin’s description, even though he was talking about the sea. SO – you could have the Duke of Ampersea or something. His bodyguards could be like the Caucasdoid people. It could be a combination of what Colin said in his tale.
May 19, 2012
2:02 pm
Hah! That’s a really funny idea, Jamie. I’m not sure how much Colin will be in this book, but if he makes an appearance, there will need to be a Crustacea joke, I’m sure.
May 19, 2012
12:40 pm
Congrats on your new book deal Tessa!
So thrilled we get more Spindle Cove books and can’t wait to find out more about Any Duchess Will Do! (the wait for ALBM won’t seem as bad by comparison 
)
I agree with Jamie-I’d place my imaginary country in the Mediterranean too. Some place nice and warm by the water. I don’t know if the climate would actually be condusive but I think it would be a lovely touch for this land to be full of villas and vineyards where they grow wine.
As for fictional lands I’d like to visit I’d probably go with Lilliput from Jonathan Swift’s Guillver’s Travels-it’d be a nice change of pace to be one of the taller people in the room for once! lol And Cordina, a fictional country Nora created for one of her Silhouette series back in the day. Handsome dashing prices-oh my!
May 19, 2012
3:01 pm
Ooohh, I almost forgot Genovia, from Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries series. Loved the movie with Anne Hathaway. Would definitely want to visit Genovia.
May 19, 2012
5:34 pm
Me too, on Genovia! In any land where Julie Andrews reigns supreme, they’re doing something right.
May 19, 2012
5:38 pm
LOL, Lisa – I love this idea of you traveling through Lilliput.
And I agree with you and Jamie both – a Mediterranean setting has it all. Sparkling sea, blue skies, rolling hills…and AMAZING food.
May 19, 2012
12:56 pm
Hi Tessa,
I agree that using our imaginations to the fullest to make up anything we want is one of the main attractions of writing fiction. One reason I’m writing both a historical and a paranormal is I enjoy extremes. With the paranormal, my imagination can go hog wild! In it have an imaginary planet name and species interacting with Humans. I’m currently working on a novella prologue for the paranormal and I’ve set it in Nottingham just before D-Day. My father did paratrooper training there before jumping into Normandy in the early hours of June 6, 1944, almost 68 yrs ago. Amazing to combine real life with fantasy. Such fun!
My suggestion for the name of your country is ‘Alpernia’ … it sounds exotic yet tied to the Alps. Besides, it’s got that small country sound indicative of a principality.
Congrats on the new book deal and as always, I’m looking forward to the new adventures. : )
May 19, 2012
5:45 pm
Amy, thanks on the congrats – and WOW, your new project does sound imaginative! That a lot of creativity at work there. Sounds fascinating.
You know, I do like the sound of “Alpernia”… hm… Great suggestion, thanks!
May 19, 2012
6:02 pm
You’re welcome, Tessa, you may use it if you like. I’d love to be able to say that I helped, even if only a tiny bit. : )
May 19, 2012
7:50 pm
Alpernia is pretty good! It sounds real enough. That, or Alpania if you want one that sounds halfway between Albania and Spain.
May 19, 2012
2:53 pm
Design your own country! What a fun task, Tessa. I’ll go for a mountainous region – Pyrenees or Alps – with a huge fairy tale castle like this:
Re. making up names: I made up a German title for a minor character and the CE questioned it because there was “no such place.” Well, duh. I’d be seriously tempted to steal from the Marx Brothers and use Freedonia. That’s a fictional country I’d like to visit, just to hear Groucho make wisecracks.
May 19, 2012
3:01 pm
Duck Soup is my favorite Marx Brothers film Miranda-love that movie!
May 19, 2012
4:21 pm
I think I may like A Night at the Opera a smidgeon more, Lisa, but it’s a close thing. Then there’s A Day at the Races…
May 19, 2012
5:51 pm
Oooooh. that is GORGEOUS.
LOL, Freedonia. It is sort of a weird situation, making up places and countries that didn’t truly exist… but then, it would be so much worse to write about a fictional character who had a real-life counterpart, who may or may not appreciate your artistic license.
May 19, 2012
5:03 pm
Yay for your new book deal, Tessa! More fabulous stories from a fabulous storyteller!
As it so happens, I’m in the very same process of making up fictional kingdoms and principalities for my next series too! It’s so much fun.
As for my favorites, Narnia is truly wonderful, but Middle Earth is my very favorite make believe land with make believe kingdoms. All that evil and good and honor and nobility and lords and ladies and horses and fabulous swords and rings, all a little medievally but not entirely, and of course good triumphing in the end in a really big way… I adore it! I’m particularly fond of the riders of Rohan, the horsemen of the Riddermark. Delicious!
May 19, 2012
5:44 pm
Ooh, aside from the Shire, I’ve always wanted to visit Rivendell. I think I can live without Mordor.
Also, Wonderland! I want to visit Wonderland.
May 19, 2012
5:33 pm
Hey there, I’m back!
I was along on a Brownies field trip today – thought there’d be Internet, but nope.
Catching up now!
May 19, 2012
7:51 pm
Real place that I want to visit that always sounds fake to me is Andorra. I think a lot of fake countries get modeled on it since it is so tucked away in a fairy-tale way.