Flying Horse Books
Researching
Historical Fantasy
Initially
my flying horse books weren’t historical. Most writing advisors tell aspiring
authors to write what you know, so I set my novel in the Sierra Nevada
foothills. My online readers, however, didn’t like it. They told me it wasn’t
plausible. I protested that Percy Jackson worked with Mt. Olympus at the top of
the Empire State Building, but no, they were adamant. Then one of them said my
setting description reminded her of her grandmother’s farm in Wales. From
stories I’ve read, I have an impression of those Welsh mountains as rugged,
cloaked in mist, the kind of place where all sorts of beasts could exist—even
flying horses. It seemed the perfect solution.
But I’ve never been to Wales. And the novel was already half
written in modern voice. First, I had to educate myself about the place and
time I would be writing about. The Grey
King by Susan Cooper gave me a feel for Wales. Internet research and
interviews with people who had visited or grown up there helped, too. I had to
meticulously go through my novel and erase all modern references. I changed
‘turned on the lights’ to ‘lit the lantern’ and things like that. On my third
run through I was dismayed to still find a reference to ‘zipping up his
jacket.’ I changed it to ‘threw on a cloak’ and it was fine.
There’s more to a historical novel, though, than details
like that. The setting must be vivid to place the reader in the correct time. I
made the annual Aerial Games a festival where traveling merchants set up tents
and people came from a wide area. I researched areas of Wales and settled on
Gwynned mainly because I found a town in medieval Gwynned that matched the name
of a town in my story! With coincidence like that, I knew I was on the right
track. The setting became even more important in the second book, when one of
the main characters leaves the flying horse town and heads into a more
populated area. I had to fill that area with flora and fauna, towns, and landmarks that would have existed in the
1300s.
One item that threw me was the role of women. In my book,
women become riders of the flying horses right alongside the men. Both men and
women become grooms, too. No gender inequality at all, but in medieval times
women weren’t so free. They also didn’t wear trousers. I decided to put them in
divided skirts—skirts cut and sewed up between the legs so a woman can ride
astride. That gives the book a modern taste that irritates a few readers, but
most accept it. The books are, after all, fantasy.
Language was another research issue. After I decided to use
bits of Welsh to flavor the story, I had to decide which words to use and how
often to use them. Medieval Welsh words were easy to find on the Internet since
so many gamers use them. It was harder to figure out whether the word I wanted
to use was Northern or Southern Welsh. Names also challenged me. Most truly
Welsh names are unreadable to English speakers. I decided to give my characters
somewhat familiar names like Davyd, Emma, and Evan. I gave the horses the more
Welsh-sounding names, choosing names that reflected the horse itself. For
example, one of the horses in On a Wing and a Dare is Wynne. That
name is derived from Gwyn, which means white or fair. Wynne is a white horse.
For fun, see if you can find out the meanings of other horse names in my books!
The nice part about using a real place in history as your
setting is that it’s easy to recreate the world in subsequent books. In a
completely fictionalized world, events occur that cause the writer to rethink
government and education, for example. In my books, I look up what existed in
Medieval Wales and go from there, taking liberties if I need to since it’s
fantasy.
All in all, I’m happy with the world I’ve built in my flying
horse books. I will continue to bring readers into that world as I begin a
second trilogy early in 2015.
Discover Linda's books!
ON A WING AND A DARE
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Book Blurb: Flying
horses…a love triangle…poison….Welcome to Tremeirchson.
In Tremeirchson, a barn leader’s children are expected to follow their
parents into the sky, becoming riders of the magnificent winged horses that are
the medieval Welsh village’s legacy. Neither Emma nor Davyd, however, want to
follow that tradition.
Sixteen-year-old Emma risks losing her family by following her heart.
Eager to take her place in the air, she longs to ride a forbidden winged colt
born in barn of her father’s biggest rival. She also dreams of the rival’s
sons, not sure which she truly loves. Bold and exciting, Evan will someday lead
his father’s barn. Davyd is quieter, more dependable, with an ability to get
things done. Her father disapproves of both boys and pushes her toward an
ambitious newcomer. He also insists she ride the colt he’s picked for her.
Davyd, also sixteen, is plagued with a secret—he is afraid of heights.
Refusing to become a rider means public humiliation, his parents’
disappointment, and lifelong ridicule from his brother, Evan. He reluctantly
prepares to join his family aloft in the Aerial Games that provide the entire
village with its livelihood and tries desperately to think of an alternative.
As Tremeirchson’s barns prepare for the Rider Ceremony, winged horses
suddenly start dying. Shocked, the adults hesitate, mired in tradition and
politics. Is it a disease or poison? Accidental or purposeful? Someone must
discover the answer and act before all the winged horses in the world are gone
forever.
IN THE WINDS OF DANGER
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Book blurb:
Nineteen year old Nia is shocked when she is secretly
offered the leadership of Third Barn. This new barn full of flying horses will
need someone confident, experienced, and innovative, so why are both warring
factions pursuing an untried girl? Suspicious that both sides want a puppet
instead of a leader, Nia races to discover their secrets before making the
biggest decision of her life.
Some of those secrets are unknowingly buried in the
disconnected memories of a young groom named Owain. Terror and guilt haunt
Owain’s dreams – and then a face from his nightmare arrives in High Meadow.
Owain looks for answers in his past and uncovers a dangerous plot that could
doom High Meadow's future. How can he foil the plot and save his people as well
as the winged horses?
UNDER A WILD AND DARKENING SKY
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Ralf knows he must take over his father’s bakery, but is it
wrong to want some adventure before he does? New to High Meadow, he is
befriended by the beautiful and dangerous Branwen, who has her own goal—to
entice Ralf to help her steal a winged horse and return it to Tremeirchson.
Meanwhile, Ralf’s sister, Alyna, dives into barn life.
Becoming a groom to a winged foal is a lot of responsibility to the horse, to
the barn, and to her father, who idolizes the wrong barn leader. Politics,
greed, and revenge swirl around the teenaged siblings as they struggle to be
true to their family and their future.
WINGS OVER TREMEIRCHSON (a flying horse novella)
Book Blurb: Eighteen year old Neste rides a
winged horse in Tremeirchson's Aerial Games and she is betrothed to the barn
leader's son, Hoel. Life would be wonderful if Hoel wasn't so unpleasant to the
other riders. Adam, on the other hand, is handsome and nice but a terrible
rider. Together, Hoel and Adam are the perfect man. Obviously she can't have
both of them. When Neste's winged horse is involved in a terrible accident, her
life changes and she must make different choices about her future. Can she go
against her father's dying wish that she marry Hoel? Can she forgive Adam? Can
she make a life away from the barn and the winged horses she loves?
UNDER THE ALMOND TREES
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Under the Almond Trees is the story of my family
– three ordinary women in California who lived extraordinary lives. It started
with a falling tree branch that killed Ellen VanValkenburgh’s husband in 1862,
forcing her to assume leadership of his paper mill, something women weren’t
allowed to do. Women weren’t allowed to vote yet, either. Ellen decided that
had to change, and became a suffragette. In 1901, Emily Williams , Ellen’s
daughter-in-law, became an architect – very much against her family’s wishes.
No one would hire a woman, but Emily would not be deterred. She and her life
partner Lillian set out to build homes themselves. By the 1930’s women enjoyed
more freedom, including the vote. Even so, Ellen’s granddaughter Eva
VanValkenburgh chose a traditional life of marriage and children, even closing
her photography business at her husband’s insistence. When he later refused to
pay for their daughter’s college education, Eva followed the example of her
Aunt Emily and reopened her photography business. I am proud to call these
women family and honored to share their story.
Author Bio: Linda Ulleseit was born and
raised in Saratoga, California, and has taught elementary school in San Jose
since 1996. She enjoys cooking, cross-stitching, reading, and spending time
with her family. Her favorite subject is writing, and her students get a lot of
practice scribbling stories and essays. Someday Linda hopes to see books
written by former students alongside hers in bookstores.
Her first
novel, ON A WING AND A DARE, was published in 2012. It is a Young Adult fantasy
set in medieval Wales, complete with flying horses, a love triangle, and
treachery. It’s sequel, IN THE WINDS OF DANGER, was released March, 2013. The
focus of that book is the misty past of a groom and the murky future of a
rider. The last book in the trilogy is UNDER A WILD AND DARKENING SKY, May
2014. It follows a brother and sister, new to High Meadow, who become involved
in a plot to steal flying horses.
As a child,
Linda always loved to write. She took her first creative writing course in
seventh grade, accumulating a closet full of stories that she never showed
anyone until 2007. At that time, she gave the first draft of a flying horse
book to a teacher colleague to read. ON A WING AND A DARE began as a NaNoWriMo
novel in 2009. It was revised with the help of reviewers on
thenextbigwriter.com over the next two years. For NaNo 2011, Linda drafted the
sequel, IN THE WINDS OF DANGER. NaNoWriMo 2012 brought the first draft of UNDER
A WILD AND DARKENING SKY, and NaNoWriMo 2013 saw the completion of UNDER THE
ALMOND TREES. This last is a historical fiction that follows three women who
struggle for women’s rights in early California.
Linda has
also written a novella titled WINGS OVER TREMEIRCHSON, released as an ebook in
Fall 2013. It follows the story of Hoel and Neste, parents of a main character
in ON A WING AND A DARE.
Follow Linda
Ulleseit
Linda is willing to do interviews and guest
blog posts as well as have her books reviewed.
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