A word on the question of how I come up with the “fascinating names.” I’m a conlanger – that is, I write constructed languages. I’m not necessarily the most skilled conlanger, because I never studied linguistics formally, but nevertheless I’ve written two conlangs for my extraterrestrials to speak. You can see this process evolve in The Termite Queen, where Kaitrin has to construct a language in order to make her communication with the termites accessible. My names are all constructions based on the words of this Shshi language. I suspect they make the books difficult to read for some people, but it can’t be helped. You can read more about my constructed languages at http://remembrancer.conlang.org.
Is there a particular myth or legend you would love to use for one of your novels?
I’ve pretty much incorporated all the myths that I intend to use, except the conclusion of the Quest for the Golden Fungus, which remains unwritten.
complete one of these medieval epics and deal with the serious topic of the madness of Hercules.
In later volumes, we will get a descent into the Underworld as well as Orpheus and Atalanta characters, Centaur myths, and finally an adaptation of the Quest for the Golden Fleece (under the name of the Quest for the Golden Fungus).
The fun part for the author comes in figuring out how to adapt the myths so they can work within the context of Shshi culture.
If you wonder how that can be done, you’ll have to read the books and find out!
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