S. W. Raine

Steampunk/Urban Fantasy Author

World-Building Unveiled: The Settings of Project Elementals 2

When I first wrote The Elemental’s Guardian back in 2011 during NaNoWriMo, I had no idea how my tiny Floridian setting would turn into a worldwide search for elementals.

That’s what happened in 2013, when I wrote Project Elementals 2 and 3, when I first had this huge “what if” moment that made everything so much bigger… and so much more difficult.

I’ve always included different nationalities in my stories. I’ve had an interest in traveling the world for a long time, and as a kid/teenager, I’ve obsessed over learning about different countries—like Australia, Spain, and Japan. That obsession led me to creating multiple characters of various ethnicities.

The Elementals trilogy has no shortage of characters with different nationalities and ethnicities as Ferenc and crew leave Florida behind to travel the world.

Their first stop takes them to:

Russia

I needed somewhere cold and remote. Yakutsk and the Siberian tundra in the middle of winter sounded like the best idea, and things just went from there. But I’m also glad we’ve been bingeing Expedition Unknown on Discovery+. There was an episode where Josh Gates went to the Dyatlov Pass in the Ural mountains, and this gave me great perspective to shift what I already wrote to make it even more believable.

Next up is:

Iran

My mercenaries were originally desert bandits, and I’d referred to their leader as my “Persian Prince” long before I’d ever played the Prince of Persia video games. So obviously, I needed an Iranian desert. The desert itself played a more prominent role in earlier drafts, but as revisions went on, it was more believable to have Ferenc and crew find them in an urban setting than in the middle of nowhere.

Eventually, they make it to:

Norway

I credit a lot of how I visualize Norway to the show Vikings and the Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla video game. Too bad the characters don’t get to see much of it with the lack of daylight in the winter! I didn’t need any specific place in Norway—I just needed a big, open battlefield and a few large buildings to bring down. Having chosen Norway was more about the nationality of the characters than anything, but the beauty, however brief, does make an appearance.

As the Elementals trilogy unfolds, you’ll have the opportunity to travel the world and explore these countries alongside Ferenc and his companions.

Stay tuned for more blog posts with character spotlights, themes, tropes, and more! I can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Raine

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