Origins, inspiration, and the development of characters, places, and ideas in Jamie Foley’s novels.
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?) [...]
Darien snarled and shoved him away. "Easy for you to be all gung-ho; your name is Kyou Hayate. 'Cause you look so Malaano." Garrett smirked. "Don't be jealous, Eugene. My third cousin's brother's wife's step-niece's great aunt was Malaano." excerpted from Sentinel ... twice removed. Sound familiar? I'm proud of you for recognizing the reference [...]
I've always loved the name Darius. This guy was a involved with the famous story of a particular lion's den—you can read about it in the Biblical book of Daniel. The name also comes from a favorite book of mine as a child: Darien's Rise. In this Focus on the Family novel somehow related to [...]