1. O4S was originally going to be four books, not six
The first and most obvious bit of trivia is that we had originally planned to publish four books—four sons, four book, yeah? But Book III ended up being a beast. What was originally going to be Book IV looked like it was going to end up being pretty hefty too. So Book III became Books III and IV, and Book IV became Books V and VI. We hope you find it worth the extra volumes. (I will post Book V- and VI-specific trivia eventually, so I’ll try not to touch on them too much in this post.)
Additionally, we were going to kill a major character in every book when there were only four books, but there are still four worlds, so I guess now we could say we kill a major character in every world?
2. The theme of home
A theme that has emerged in the series is that of home—we have established that in the O4S-magical universe, home and hearth is a powerful, magical advantage. Starry Wisdom was not able to infiltrate Four Mothers without inside help. Home, as you all know, is where the heart is. It’s the place most of us are yearning for, that we are constantly fighting to get back to. In Kate’s mushroom trip, she kept coming back to Bill’s house, the place where, in her new life, she felt like she had family. But home can also be a prison. Leopold is stuck in the palace throughout most of Books III and IV, unable to leave without permission. Bill, in Book V, is trapped in a dreamlike version of his house. JD also, in Book V, finds himself in a nightmare version of his house when he squares off against Rostov.
Also, as a famous Kansas girl once said, there's no place like home.
You know I can't resist a Wizard of Oz reference, with both Coyote and my husband being Kansans.
3. Where flap the tatters of the king Did I ever mention this title comes from the poem in Robert W. Chambers’ book,
The King in Yellow? I know I mentioned it in the Book II trivia, but not Book III. My bad. So here it is again:
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa.
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa.
—"Cassilda's Song" in The King in Yellow Act 1, Scene 2
Coyote and I caught some flak for using such a long, ungainly title, but that’s the great virtue of being an indie author. We can respond, “Too damn bad,” and simply carry on. We can’t imagine it being called anything else.
4. Lucky Strikes I had Alyssa smoke Luckies because I’m a big
Mad Men fan and that’s what Don Draper smokes. Also, I always liked how, in
Mad Men, Don frequently carries his cigarettes in his breast pocket, so the bullseye is over his heart. Felt apropos for Little Miss T-Minus and Counting.
5. The O4S dispatch location Is off Front Street in Kansas City, because I used to work in that area, and always thought it had a cool/creepy vibe.
6. How do all these constructs, dimensions, ley lines and stuff work, anyway? My husband asked me to include this one. Coyote and I envisioned the multiverse of O4S as a series of bubbles. In our stories, dimensions include our own humble Earth, as well as Carcosa, Corbenic and Cerulean. Each dimension is a separate bubble, with surface tension that expands and contracts. Where the dimensions rub against each other, gates can occur. Since the bubbles do expand and contract, conditions can change—as we saw with the gate Emily and Bill used to get to Carcosa, the opening is not always accessible. Sometimes they have some level of predictability, sometimes they don’t.
A locus is a nexus point between multiple dimensions. Notice, I am careful not to use “naturally-occurring” with any of these items, since, in the O4S-verse, you can have magicians, like Solomon or the geomancers of Corbenic, who can manipulate gates, ley lines, etc.
Constructs are basically pocket dimensions. They are smaller bubbles that can be erected on the surface of a larger dimension. If constructed properly, the construct siphons energy from a planet’s ley lines. If you have the right tools and the right magician(s), you can erect a truly impressive construct, like the Order’s Great House on the Field of St. Matthew, which was constructed using the fully assembled Staff of Solomon. It has flora and fauna and night and day. Corbenic’s imperial palace, Four Mothers, is another great construct. Both are highly mutable—walls can move and change, expand and contract. Constructs tend to take on a life of their own and display something of a personality. They also change as they anticipate the needs of their inhabitants, as the Order’s Great House turns itself into a fortress when the Order is under attack.
Jack and Bathory, who were not geomancers, tried fooling with the locus and the ley lines in Excelsior Springs, with decidedly mixed results. Using blood sacrifices instead of ley line energy, they managed to build the Other Hotel, which is technically a construct, but a poor one. It is a twisted reflection of the abandoned Royal Hotel.
Ley lines are like the veins of a planet. They are its energy, its life force, its chi. Geomancers specialize in manipulating the lines for their own purposes. They can create gates, wormholes, and all sorts of cool stuff. The Staff of Solomon that everyone is fighting over is uniquely suited to manipulating the lines, as well as parting dimensional walls—and beyond.
7. Origin stories This is another instance where we were going to have four books/four origin stories. Now, we think of it as four worlds/four origin stories:
Book I - The Order and Starry Wisdom’s inception
Book II - The Eerin, and how Carcosa came to be broken
Book III/IV - The Tale of the Four Mothers
Book V/VI - Cerulean’s origin story
In the O4S-verse, the past and the present are constantly colliding. Joan and Michael’s medieval origins are still impacting their lives; the repercussions of Bathory’s decisions in the 19th century are still being felt; likewise, Clayton’s heroism at the turn of the 20th century is still inspiring members of the Order. Origin stories can explain a lot about the characters and the worlds, but origin stories can also be the lies we tell ourselves, the mythologies we build to cast our actions in a better light.
8. Buffy inspiration There is so much Buffy DNA in this series. The banter. The sass. The snark. Now and then, we reference Buffy directly, like when Alyssa tells the Bassarides boys, “Well, I sing.” (Spike says, “Well, I sing,” in “Becoming, Part 2” [Season 2 finale]). As I mentioned in the Book II trivia, “Restless” (Season 4 finale) was a big inspiration for Kate’s mushroom trip. Speaking of the mushroom trip, there’s another direct reference to Buffy there—when Kate is in the diner, surrounded by all sorts of strange, mythical critters, we mention something in the corner that’s “all slime and antlers.” When Spike sobs that Drusilla left him for a chaos demon, he describes it thus (“Lover’s Walk,” season 3, episode 8), though the chaos demon was not actually seen until much later, in "Fool for Love" (season 5, episode 7).
Then there’s the character relationships, even amongst the villains – the Mayor and Faith, and Spike and Drusilla were direct inspirations for Bathory’s relationships with Katarina, Jack, Nathan and Leto. Doug is based loosely on Giles/the Watcher (I’ve mentioned this also in previous trivia posts). Alyssa is totally a slayer. I really based her personality, her wardrobe and her scars on the alternate-universe Buffy of “The Wish” (Season 3, ep. 9). (I’m not a big Firefly fan, but I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a dash of River Tam in Alyssa as well. C'mon, "I can kill you with my brain.") Drusilla’s nonsensical, psychic ramblings were also reflected in the Oracles overall. There are flashes of Buffy’s pluck in Kate, as well as Willow’s sweetness and clever mind. And red hair.
9. Strawberry Crack
Coyote and I had always talked about writing a follow-up book to the series, exploring the fate of Cerulean under Corbenese rule. It would focus on Leo and Alyssa and their kids, but would also include drop-ins from Kate, JD and Emily and maaaaaybe Murphy. We have pages and pages of notes and even some chapters. I don't know if it will ever happen, but it's fun to think about. We came to call it "strawberry crack" because an old writer friend referred to certain scenes as "dessert writing," the scenes you are eager to write, the scenes that feel like a big, sugary treat. The follow-up book felt like all confection all the time, strawberry-sweet and irresistable as crack.
Names
Emily Hayes – Emily is a fairly conventional name and, in many ways, Emily is a conventional person. The name may mean “rival” from the Latin, which is fitting for the MJ-12 agent. In Greek, the name means “wily,” and she is definitely that. The symbol we assigned her character is that of air, and Hayes is a play on “haze,” or fog. Also, Emily starts out with her priorities confused, but they clear up.
Leopold Felix Sebastien Sarpedonne – we chose Felix because it means good luck, which Leo certainly has a lot of, and Sebastien because it means “venerable.” He goes from being the lame duck prince to being highly regarded among his people. Also, it is worth noting that Leo’s parents did NOT name him for either his grandfather or his godfather. Leo is an unconventional man for his station and society, and that was just a little touch to underscore that. Plus, Leo’s father, King Henri, did not like his own father, James, very much, so it was a little fuck you from son to father.
Christophe’s full name is Christophe Jason Laurent Ecarteur – Jason for his godfather, Laurent because it’s the French male version of my name. Because I lurve him so.
James Sarpedonne – former King of Corbenic and Leopold’s not-so-dearly departed grandfather. We named him James after Captain James Hook, gave him the long black hair and whiskers, and yeah, he’s basically a pirate. (Corbenic has pirates, OBVIOUSLY.) We thought James was a fascinating character. So much so, in fact, that I have been working off and on for six years on this whole side project/alternate timeline thingie with him as a main character. I don’t know if it would ever be publishable or not, but he’s fun to hang out with.
So there you have it, folks. I plan to post trivia for Books V and VI soon, as well as soundtracks. Please feel free to leave questions in the comment section.
