Writing Resources

Today I wanted to mention some writing resources that I use for Like A Flame! I was raised by someone who loves books, so prepare for both books and websites!

Books:

• Ultimate Bug-opedia: All of my faeries have distinctively different wings so this gave me a really good top down of popular (and unpopular) bugs with wings to put in my setting. Basil, Aspen, and Oleander’s wings did not actually come from the book, I decided those on my own, but it really helped me give a scope of variety for unnamed and minor characters, like Magnolia. I purposely got a children’s bug book because I wanted colorful pictures and easy to digest concepts.
• Herbalist’s Primer: This is technically for tabletop RPGs, but it’s got some really cool niche plants plus “magical effects.” I don’t use plant magic in this setting, but it reminded me of how many plants there are and their history leading us to…
• The Master Book of Herbalism: This is what I use for naming conventions for the faeries in my setting. It has two major sections, Diseases/Symptoms and Herbs. The herbs section has both lore and usage. It does not go into meaning of the plants, but gives me a starter base of some frequent plants.
• Floriography: This thing is my name meaning bible. It has beautifully drawn Victorian inspired art of many flowers and the meaning from the Victorian era, when every flower meant a different thing, as well as some bouquets! It is not all encompassing, but the art is stunning and definitely gets into some of the vibe.

Websites:

• List of Plants with Symbolism Wiki: This is even more floriography but breaks down by color and usual symbolism. I also use this for naming conventions because I LOVE to have name symbolism in my work.
• Behind the Name/Surname: Seattle is a place of immigrants so this really lets me pick and choose surnames that fit both the heritage and a meaning to reflect their arc or where they come from.

I also use an inflation calculator cause this was almost 140 years ago so I base costs on today’s prices and then reverse engineer it. This probably isn’t the most accurate way to do things, but it’s what works for me.