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A Goodreads user asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Hi! I'm in love with the Ascendance Trilogy, and as someone who enjoys writing, I have a question: How did you come up with the names of the areas in their world? (ex: Drylliad and Carthya) For some reason, I struggle with finding names for fantasy settings! Are they inspired from anything or were they created just be imagination?

Jennifer A. Nielsen Hi Tree, thank you! For those names, I just made them all up, combining the sounds of letters until it sounded like a place. If you have trouble, try this: Look up actual place names and start changing the name letter by letter until it becomes unique. Sort like Toledo → Toledon → Toredon → Taredon.

Jennifer A. Nielsen Hi Tree, thank you! For those names, I just made them all up, combining the sounds of letters until it sounded like a place. If you have trouble, try this: Look up actual place names and start changing the name letter by letter until it becomes unique. Sort like Toledo → Toledon → Toredon → Taredon.

More Answered Questions

Gaby

Gaby asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Hi, Jennifer. I love the books I had read written by you so far. My favorites are The Ascendance Trilogy and A Night Divided. Just a quick question. Is there any way I can have a book signed by you? I live outside USA so sadly I cannot attend any of your signings.

Eleanor Pearlstein

Eleanor Pearlstein asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

Esther

Esther asked Jennifer A. Nielsen:

Where did you draw your inspiration from sage? Do you have any other books that helped you? Basically, I'm looking for books like TFP.

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Jennifer A. Nielsen

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