My husband got me a fountain pen for my birthday, and I’ve been scribbling everywhere! The ink is called “English Roses”. Appropriate, right? I really am English Scribbling! HAHA oh, I’m cracking myself up…
I’ve scribbled pages and oodles of notes for book 2 of Aren’s story. There are conspiracy theories and love quadrangles and stars and little “omg” moments as my simple story starts erupting with back story (I particularly enjoy the segment where Aren talks to a stuffed bear. He’d rather you didn’t know about that, so it won’t be in the book.) I write a lot of back story and character history that will likely never get printed.
Fun fact: Uniting the Heavens started out at over 800 pages before the heavy editing began.
If only you knew of all the things Aren and Dane get up to. I might mention the pigeons in book 2. Who knows…ANYWAY, I’m babbling again. I wanted to write about the Tiedan lullaby that Aren sings to Selina in Uniting the Heavens. If you can’t read it in the picture (and I know I spelled lullaby wrong…I was very sleepy), it goes like this:
Sweet little child, close your eyes,
and dream of the stars in Alaric’s skies.
If you lay awake and tearful,
the faeries of Tiede will come and steal you.I’ll watch over you, my heart, in peaceful slumber.
Your wishes I’ll turn into prayers.
In fire and water, your soul will find respite
until death catches you unawares.
To which Nianni (the Priestess who hails from the Kailen Islands) says, “You Tiedans are a morbid people.”
How right she is. We all know how babies fall out of treetops and what happens when “I lay me down to sleep.” I did more research and found this macabre undertone in lullabies occurs in many cultures. (Check out this PBS article for the headline alone: Why are so many lullabies also murder ballads?)
But babies don’t care about the content, do they? It’s more the parents’ voices in that sing-song melody. It’s soothing, comforting. So, when Aren is singing to Selina, I wanted to capture that same moment. In the story, Selina might be 5 or 6 years old—too old for lullabies, but regardless of the trials she’s going through, and despite the fearfulness of the lyrics, Aren’s haunting and melodic singing voice brings Selina comfort.
There’s your English class analysis of that little lullaby.
So, are Tiedans a morbid people? No more so than any other House in Cordelacht.
Want to Fievel* the writing tools? Mark purchased all of these at The Goulet Pen Co. (Thanks for the recommendations, Eric!)
- Fountain Pen: TWSBI Eco
- Ink: Noodler’s English Rose (I’m totally getting Midnight Blue, as would be appropriate in Tiede.)
- Notepad: Clairefontaine
- To “Fievel,” as in Fievel Mousekewitz from the movie An American Tail; being far away from another, yet sharing a common experience which makes the space between insignificant. See also the lyrics from the song Somewhere Out There from the movie’s soundtrack. “And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.”