Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Welcome to the new edition of the OTC Blog.
This month we wanted to go behind the scene of the Raven Naelo series. And what better way, than for everyone to meet my better half... author Rachel Fischer. Our adventure all started with a DnD game in her cousin's kitchen! So who better to learn a bit more about the series than the creator herself! Here are ten questions that a lot of our fans ask us when we are at events. Enjoy!
Who is your favorite character- (other than Raven) and why? Eugor because he started it all during my first DnD campaign.
Who is your favorite villain and why? Aushade because my son Austin created the character as a Christmas gift to me when he was 12.
What was your favorite scene to write in Book One-Raven Naelo and the Artifact of the Stolen Souls and why? The Tavern fight in chapter one was my favorite. It had been in my mind for a decade and it was amazing to be able to finally write it down.
What was your favorite scene to write in Book Two- Raven Naelo and the Fall of the Guardians, and why? I love Chapter 9. It is where we start to see humanity from Aushade and find out why he became the person he is.
What was the hardest chapter to write so far in the trilogy? Chapter 22 in Book Two, Gideon's big battle scene. It has several complicated spells. It was so hard to write to appease the DnD fans and at the same time not confuse people that don’t play. It was very tricky.
Can you tell us about how Eugor was created in the first DnD campaign and how that transitioned years later into the Raven character? Eugor was the first character that I asked to make. I wanted to play a rogue and as I was thinking about a name, I thought it was funny to just reverse the letters and got Eugor. When I decided to write this trilogy, I wanted it to be tied to the world we had already created. But wanted the main character to be female. So, I decided to make Eugor a family man with two daughters. The name Naelo is loosely translated to night breeze in the Elven language.
Do you have any examples of how you created some of the other characters in the trilogy? We already discussed how my sons created Aushade and Jarz. But one character that stands out is the evolution of Izarra. Originally, she was called Thirteen and was a bard halfling. As I started to flush her out, something in the back of my mind kept thinking about my fascination with nymphs. So at the last minute, I changed her to a water half-nymph. I knew she would be close friends with Raven. And in an article, I read that half-nymphs had a fascination with half-elves.
When did you start writing the trilogy? I started with the idea of writing one book about 13 years ago. It went through several changes and then my laptop died, and I couldn’t retrieve any of my files. I because frustrated and took a break until AnnMarie talked me into trying again. So, in 2017 I started all over with one major change. It was now a trilogy.
Do you have any advice for writers? My advice is to have a solid beginning, middle, and end. And just have fun creating along the way.
Tell us about your future projects? I have my first comic book coming out later this year. It’s the first volume of five. It’s a superhero comic. Why should DC and Marvel have all the fun! We are also working on book three and hope to have it out next year.
There you have it! What questions do you have for Rachel? Drop her a message at raf.authors@gmail.com!
On behalf of Rachel and myself, we thank you for joining our adventure. Until next time, fare thee well, friends.
