Today marks #4more days until Outsider is out (you can still pre-order it though!). Yesterday marked the one year anniversary for my blog and since I’ve got two things to be happy about I decided to share the love by providing another list!
The first list was for Niko, and and the weird random facts (and books, and jokes, and music videos) that went into creating book one.
So now here’s a list of all the fun facts you may not know about Harm, book two of the Outsider Chronicles.
Try, try, try again
I hate writing sequels. While the first book is all fun and games and blazing on through while you create a whole new world, the second book is about building upon the foundation that you cobbled together (especially if you don’t outline like me) and trying to make sure it all makes sense. That means a lot less fun.
Harm had two false starts before it finally got going.
In the first one (which lasted a torturous thirty pages) Roosevelt was in it but not Songhay, she was also twelve and lived with her mother. Her name was originally Evan.
In the second, equally false, start, Songhay was in it but not Roosevelt. He was supposed to steal from Niko but attempt number two died an even faster death than attempt number one (fifteen pages… ) and that scene never happened (it probably wouldn’t have ended well for him anyway).
Now they’re together!
What’s in a name?
Niko is taken from the Japanese word for smile (yea, I know the irony) not Nicholas or any of it’s various incarnations.
Roosevelt loosely translates to “rose field” in Dutch
Songhay’s name comes from Songhai which was an empire in western Africa spanning from the mid-15th to the late 16 century
Media
If you remember from the last list, I get a lot of inspiration from books, movies, and music. Here’s what went into Harm.
The false names that Ben, Niko and Jared used in their attempt to get into the city (Hanna and Wyatt Reeves, Jamie Brennan) pay homage to The Demon Lexicon Trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan, and Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves.
Roosevelt was very (very, very) loosely inspired by the characters in Wet Moon by Ross Campbell
Meet Trilby, fave Wet Moon character and hair inspiration
Songhay and Roosevelt’s roof hopping antics are inspired by Parkour, specifically the French movie B13 (I would suggest watching this from 1:17)
I decided to burn down the slums after listening to Fire in Freetown by K’naan
Songhay is a fighter because I love watching MMA
The theme song for Harm is Rigamortis by Kendrick Lamar
Locations and Locales
In Harm, there are very few settings but I wanted each one to be as distinctive as possible to showcase the wide gap in resource allotment between the slums and the cities. So while the slums are very gritty and grimy, the Greenery is just the opposite.
The slums are based on the favela’s in Brazil and the townships in South Africa – but you probably already guessed that already. 🙂
The slums surrounding Cherai are broken into four sections, Aker, New Mill, Orange County, and Freetown
All three cities have a nickname. Cherai’s is the Black City.
The Greenery, even though it only makes a brief appearance in Harm is heavily influenced by the design style of Art Nouveau and was inspired by Clamp’s manga trilogy Clover.
Well that’s it! A little something to tide you over in the coming days before Outsider is a officially out.
In the meantime, would you care for a little giveaway?
knrwrites 