Jamie Foley's Blog, page 15

Ends 12/19/2014: Giving away 3 autographed copies of Sentinel

Do you live in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Australia? Do you like free stuff? How about a shiny new copy of Sentinel personally autographed just for you?
If so, enter the new Goodreads giveaway for your chance to win one of three copies up for grabs!



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The Chicken Palace

Finally he pulled out onto the road and hit the accelerator harder than was necessary. Where to grab dinner? There was the one with the good noodles. No, he thought. Then she’ll make me eat the vegetables that come with it.
The neon red sign of the Chicken Palace blurred closer. Fries count as vegetables, right?
The…

Giveaway: Personally autographed copy of Sentinel

Want your very own copy of Sentinel signed by the author with your fabulous name? Enter this giveaway on Goodreads for your chance to win!



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The inspiration for Altair

Maroon Bells National Forest, Colorado
When I was a kid, we would visit Colorado to skiing every year until my little sister was diagnosed with leukemia (she was miraculously healed and is now one of the greatest joys in my life).
One year we went to Aspen, Colorado, and I immediately decided that aspens were my favorite…

Levi’s original name

Grand Master Levi Emberhawk’s original name was Ja’korun. Everyone was going to call him “Jak,” but when you’re reading, it seems too similar to “Jet”… both three-letter names beginning with the letter J.
I thought “Jak” fit him so well that it remained his name all through the development process, right up until I started…

Map of Jade Glen Serran Academy

Okay, this is super rudimentary. It’s my first sketch of the campus of Jade Glen Serran Academy. This was just a quick brain dump a couple years before writing Sentinel.

This map is based off of the campus of KAA3, one of Kanakuk Kamp’s Kids Across America camps. Previously called “K-Klassic,” I worked there as a…

Jet black? Jet fuel? Jet-puffed marshmallows?

What is Jet Valinor named after? A color? A plane? Ooey gooey s’more deliciousness?
Ignoring the fact that I just like the name, Jet’s name refers to two things: his black hair and eye color, and his dark personality.
However, there’s nothing special about having black hair and eyes in Valinor; almost everyone does. There’s also nothing…

What’s a Sorvashti?

Sorvashti’s name came about one summer when I worked as a photographer at a camp called Kanakuk. (By the way, the design of Jade Glen Serran Academy is based on the layout of the KAA3 campus—Kids Across America.)
Another camp staff member named Vashti was part of the medical staff. Every time I went to the…

Valinor and The Lord of the Rings

Like every classically-trained nerd, I have read The Lord of the Rings. Valinor, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, is a land where only immortal beings are allowed to live (and of course, some of the mortal main characters of his novels).
Personally I just thought it was a beautiful name, so I chose to use it as…

Teravyn’s root beer

Teravyn Aetherswift’s obsession with root beer was inherited from my great grandmother, Alma, who always had a mini fridge stocked full of A&W root beer.
I was every bit as loving and possessive of the stuff until I stopped my habitual coke drinking for health reasons. (In Texas, every carbonated beverage is called ‘coke,’ m’kay?) But…