I drew on numerous sources of mythology, with a heavy emphasis on Greek and Norse legends. Nydirsil is a nod to Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life that bridges nine different worlds. Odin hung in its branches nine days to learn the secrets of the runes.
Winged horses are prevalent in the international folk narrative and I worked as many as I could into Trueblood’s world. Anything with a C or K sound was a sure thing. For example, Chollima is a flying horse in East Asian myths, which I changed to Khollima. The winged steed al-Buraq comes from the Islamic tradition and I adjusted the prefix for my kheirons, il-Kheir and ele-Kheir. Kheiron is a variant of Chiron, whom the Greeks held up as the superlative centaur. I simply added feathers and held him up higher.
The Caleuche is a mythical ghost ship and one of the most important myths in Chilean culture. I’d say I discovered it by accident, but my friend Alex would say it was no wonder it found me.
I thank everyone who trusted me to weave bits of their life stories into the canon of Trueblood Cay. I thank my nephew, Ari, who took the map I scribbled on the back of a dry cleaning receipt and made it into Trueblood’s world. I thank my agent, Lorraine for being so kind to the emotional importance of this project, and my editor Mike, who was so gentle with the first draft, I thought he had a fever. I thank my weird head for being a pipeline to the Thing on the other side that comes up with all this stuff.
Most of all, I thank my husband. Tehvan is the Estonian version of Steven, which in Germanic languages is Steffen, which ends in Fen, which is the giantword for Finch, who delivered this godsdamned soul and is everything, everything, everything to me.
—Javier Landes (Gil Rafael)
Chelsea, New York City
September 2011
Gil Rafael is the pen name of Javier Landes. His short story collection, Client Privilege, includes “Bald,” which was shortlisted for an O. Henry Award and made into the 2004 movie of the same title. His bestselling works include Gloria in the Highest, The Trade, and a collection of Latin American folk tales, The Chocolate Hour. He has written articles for The New Yorker, GQ and Esquire magazines and appeared on NPR’s Moments in Time.
When not writing, Landes is a founding member of Reveno, a shelter and community outreach program for Latino LGBTQ youth in the Bronx. He’s also editor-in-chief for Reveno’s newsletter, Unavoz/Onevoice, and co-producer of the Unavoz podcast with NPR’s Camberley Jones.
A native of Queens, Landes lives in Chelsea with his husband Stef, who makes him a better man.
Visit him on Instagram or Twitter, @javierlandes
Javier Landes, aka Gil Rafael, is the creation of author Suanne Laqueur.
A former professional dancer and teacher, Laqueur went from choreographing dancers to choreographing words. She began her blog EatsReadsThinks in 2010 and published her debut novel, The Man I Love, in 2014. Her novel An Exaltation of Larks was the grand prize winner in the 2017 Writer’s Digest Book Awards.
Laqueur graduated from Alfred University with a double major in dance and theater. She taught at the Carol Bierman School of Ballet Arts in Croton-on-Hudson for ten years. She now lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband and two children.
I was going to stay out of it and let Jav have the limelight. I’ll keep it brief.
Do the scary things. Like writing a fantasy novel when you have no idea what you’re doing and you’re sure it’s the dumbest thing in the whole history of the world, anywhere, ever. Write it anyway.
Be sure to read a lot of outstanding fantasy books while you’re writing your idiotic one. Load up on Leigh Bardugo, V.E. Schwab, Phillip Pullman, Neil Gaiman and Catherynne Valente. Read all their magnificent works, just to stay aware of how you are way out of your wheelhouse. Cry a lot. Keep writing.
If you’re lucky enough to have a terrible friend who recommends Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer to you, be sure to jump on it immediately. And then have a breakdown because honestly, after that masterpiece, what’s the point of trying to write anything? She took all the good words.
I had that breakdown because I have that terrible friend. Her name is Camille and after she ruined my life, she told me what to do with Trueblood Cay: “Just write it from the heart.”
Be a valentos. Do the dumb, scary things. Do them from the heart.
Dumb and done is better than perfect.
This isn’t the most perfect book I ever wrote, but I done it.
—Suanne Laqueur
Somers, New York
December 10, 2018
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THE FISH TALES
The Man I Love
Give Me Your Answer
True Here to Stay
The Ones That Got Away
Fish Tales Four-Book Box Set
VENERY
An Exaltation of Larks
A Charm of Finches
Tales from Cushman Row
The Voyages of Trueblood Cay
FLASH FICTION
Love and Bravery: Sixteen Stories
The Voyages of Trueblood Cay Page 45
