The official map for To Ashes We Run is DONE! XD
Only the lovely people on my newsletter list have seen the map so far, but it’s time to show the world! This book is becoming more real every day. I’m starting to freak out a little bit. :P
To save myself some time (and to have it look more professional) I hired Daniel’s Maps to take my map sketch and turn it into a fantasy book-worthy image. And he delivered! I can fool around in Campaign Cartographer, but I can’t make a map look as clean and perfect as Daniel did… ;)
When I received the first draft I just stared at it. It’s such a strange feeling to see a world you created take form on paper. Looking at the map of a place that’s been real to you for a long time, imagining everything that happens there…it’s a pretty wild ride.
I hope you love it as much as I do!
But first, let’s take a look at the evolution of a map.
This was the first sketch I made while writing Ashes. I used it to help keep my brain oriented during the characters’s travels. It was a basic outline of tribal territories, the other two most important topographical features to the story–the White Sea and the Khul River–and where the most important cities/clans were located.
It had a lot of extra white space and some lakes and rivers that weren’t actually in the story. And it lacked a lot of details important to the story, but those were all stored in my head. ;)
When it was time to send Daniel a sketch of what I wanted him to do, this is what I drew. Just like my first drawing, but without the unneeded space, and with all the details he would need to create a masterpiece to go with the story.
In this draft you can see all the clans and cities important to the story, and the dotted lines of the trade roads.
I penciled in some regional topography notes on the side to help him know what to make each area look like.
In the first draft I received back, Daniel had simply drawn over my sketch and inserted mountains and darker spots to represent where trees would be placed. He wanted my input and requested changes before proceeding to ink the real map.
At this stage I was a little blown away, because everywhere he had placed mountains as “making sense geographically” where the same locations in the story where I had written the characters as being in mountainous or hilly regions. I’m going to claim I have a good geographical sense now. ;) Lol
And now, the final map!
Drum roll please!!
*bada bada bada*
….
….
….
Welcome to the world of To Ashes We Run!
I’m teary, it’s so beautiful…I might need a tissue. *sniff*
This, my friends, is the land where the first izdihar Adisa, the queen of witches Raizel, and an outcast named Dieon change the course of their history.
I love these characters. So much.
Anyways, how do you like the map?!
…I love it. ;) <3
Psst! Did you know that you can now add To Ashes We Run on Goodreads?
Just B. Jordan is an award-winning author of fantasy and sci-fi. She graduated high school a year early and received her first publishing contract at the age of 18. To Ashes We Run is her most recent novel. Find it here.
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