Retrospective, Book One of the Primrose War · 7:41pm Oct 3rd, 2020
Wow, it's been a ride. Can you believe it's been four months and a few days since the first publishing of Chapter 1 of The Primrose War.
Book one is done. From their antagonistic beginnings, I've been happy to have my readers along for the ride of watching Rosewater and Collar as they navigate the tricky pathways of politics and intrigue in the cities of Damme and Merrie.
The inspiration for these cities was the real world city of Amsterdam, which at some point was called "Amsterdamme", or Dam on the River Amster.
The Merrie river flows through the divide between these two cities, so different in culture and heritage, but they have it in common. Damme, home of the stolid and stoic ponies of the northern half, and Merrie, the home of ponies who take life like a river, fluid and ever-moving.
I took some inspiration from the dutch language as well, Netherlandic (one of the names), and I know I'm butchering a lot of the language where it appears, but I do love the language. The native tongue of both cities is Dammerlandic (Or Merrielandic, if you're a Rose), and some of the oldest histories are still in that language, though those who still speak it are usually in the upper class of nobility, and even then it's more rare.
But I think most of my inspiration came from the person I started sharing this with waaaay back when I first started, almost two years ago, on this story. Carapace. We've thrown enough words back and forth on this story to write three more books beyond what we've already planned. So many ideas tested, discarded, or modified and kept.
Some of the grounding of the story came from my long-time friend and editor, Minds Eye and he's helped to keep me on an even keel and encourage me to take editing breaks here and there.
Without these two people, Primrose War wouldn't be what it is today.
And I want to thank my readers, and especially hypervelocity, for continuing on with the story. I know an OC only story was a gamble, I knew it when I started, but I haven't been disappointed. Far from it. I've been overjoyed that I've kept so many readers steadily since chapter one.
It makes me giggle when I see the chapter with Rosemary and her friends enjoying a frisky night gets a few more views. It makes me grin when I see another view on chapter one, and giggle even more when I see that another 25 total views get tacked on.
I've also learned a lot about story writing, pacing, and the value of a good draft. All in all, I think this is a very successful project so far, and I very much have enjoyed writing it.
So thank you all, and I'll see you next week for Interludes: Life in Bits and Pieces.
Hehe I remember when we started up. I just sat here asking questions about culture to brainwork you, and then we both accidentally'd two entire cities, their cultures, multiple characters and side characters and relationships, the difference kinds of love ponies share in Merrie and the value of family held as sacred between the cities. For me personally, I've gone from the original 29 chapters drafted and now 15 in this rewrite, and a greater definition to the mind and character of one who has ... really become my favorite and I'd like to get more art of because my big dorky faux lazy boy needs more love.
Yay for book two \o/
Onward to Book 2, where I'm sure nothing bad will happen!
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I know some of the broader strokes later on, but you and I have been in the same boat most of the way, just reading each chapter as it comes.
So far so good in Book 2, but there is that bit where Rosewater sorry, just wanted to tease Noble a bit. Hi Noble! Congrats on finishing this book.
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Hi, Minds!