Origins, inspiration, and the development of characters, places, and ideas in Jamie Foley’s novels.
Grand Master Levi Emberhawk's original name was Ja'korun. Everyone was going to call him "Jak," but when you're reading, it seems too similar to "Jet"... both three-letter names beginning with the letter J. I thought "Jak" fit him so well that it remained his name all through the development process, right up until I started [...]
Okay, this is super rudimentary. It's my first sketch of the campus of Jade Glen Serran Academy. This was just a quick brain dump a couple years before writing Sentinel. This map is based off of the campus of KAA3, one of Kanakuk Kamp's Kids Across America camps. Previously called "K-Klassic," I worked there as [...]
What is Jet Valinor named after? A color? A plane? Ooey gooey s'more deliciousness? Ignoring the fact that I just like the name, Jet's name refers to two things: his black hair and eye color, and his dark personality. However, there's nothing special about having black hair and eyes in Valinor; almost everyone does. There's [...]
Sorvashti's name came about one summer when I worked as a photographer at a camp called Kanakuk. (By the way, the design of Jade Glen Serran Academy is based on the layout of the KAA3 campus—Kids Across America.) Another camp staff member named Vashti was part of the medical staff. Every time I went to [...]
Like every classically-trained nerd, I have read The Lord of the Rings. Valinor, in J.R.R. Tolkien's work, is a land where only immortal beings are allowed to live (and of course, some of the mortal main characters of his novels). Personally I just thought it was a beautiful name, so I chose to use it [...]
Teravyn Aetherswift’s obsession with root beer was inherited from my great grandmother, Alma, who always had a mini fridge stocked full of A&W root beer. I was every bit as loving and possessive of the stuff until I stopped my habitual coke drinking for health reasons. (In Texas, every carbonated beverage is called 'coke,' m'kay?) [...]