Lovers and Beloveds
Page 44
Thank you.
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Appendix I: Tremontine Calendar and Measurements
The Tremontine "wheel of the year" begins on what we call Halloween. It contains eight "spokes," somewhat like our months; spokes are between 44 and 47 days long, and follow the seasons:
Fall's Ending: Begins on Harla's Day, the midpoint between the fall equinox and the winter solstice.
Winter's Beginning: Begins on Eddin's Day, the winter solstice.
Winter's Ending: Begins on Amma's Day, the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
Spring's Beginning: Begins on Pagg's Day, the spring equinox.
Spring's Ending: Begins on Neya's Day, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
Summer's Beginning: Begins on Nerr's Day, the summer solstice.
Summer's Ending: Begins on Venna's Day, the midpoint between the summer solstice and the fall equinox.
Fall's Beginning: Begins on Farr's Day, the fall equinox.
Years are reckoned from the founding of the kingdom, held to be the death of Temmin the Great. Years since that date are "Kings' Year," "Year of Our Kings," or "KY" for short; years before that date are "Before the Kings," or "BK."
Otherwise, time and distance are named as they are in our world; neither you nor I have the time to keep referring back and forth to imaginary measurements. ("Just how many oomphlats are in a d'for'glon, again?") For instance, a Tremontine week has seven days; a day has 24 hours.
Money is in base ten:
1 gold = 100 silver = 10,000 copper
I don't care if this makes it sound like D&D. Neither you nor I have time for intricate money schemes, even if intricate money schemes are more plausible than the logic of base ten. Actually, Intricate Money Schemes is the name of my Pink Floyd cover band.
I have taken one other liberty, and that's with the names of the days of the week. They are:
Ammaday (Monday)
Farrday (Tuesday)
Eddinday (Wednesday)
Nerrday (Thursday)
Neyaday (Friday)
Vennaday (Saturday)
Paggday (Sunday)
There is much more world-building nonsense in the wiki at MeiLinMiranda.com, though it's going to have to be rebuilt; most of what's there is from the first draft of this series.
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Appendix II: Pronunciations
I hate it when I don't know what the heck names sound like, and so I assume you do too. Thus:
Allerach: ALL-er-ock (The "ock" is a German "ach" sound)
Alzeh: AL-zeh
Amma: AH-mah
Ansella: AN-sella
Barle: BARL
Bordigalle: BOR-DIH-GALL (equal emphasis)
Gian: JEE-AHN (run together in one syllable)
Inchar: in-CHAR
Issak: ISS-ak (not Isaac)
Leute: LOY-teh
Naister: NAY-ster
Ouve: OOV
Tremont: TREH-munt
Vakale'le: vah-kah-LAY-LAY
Valmouth: VAL-muth
Whithorse: WIT-horse (not white-horse)
If it's not here, it's pronounced as written (example: "Allis" is "Alice").
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Acknowledgments
I must first thank eumenides on LiveJournal. She was the first reader who made me believe I might actually be able to write my own stories.
The original version of this book was only the story of Warin and Emmae, and a very clunky, fairy-tale-like story it was. Until my dear old friend Manoki got hold of it, and started asking me question...after question...after question! That Darn Manoki (as she became known) wanted to know everything about the world these characters lived in—and I mean everything. As I answered her questions, I gradually got the first draft of this series. I'm still answering her questions! Manoki has been my most consistent supporter—I love you, kiddo. After fourteen years of online friendship, we've really got to meet!
My editor Annetta "Nettah the Edittah" Ribken has been my rock. Working with her has been one of the best educations I've ever received. She was the perfect editor for this story, and I have Twitter to thank for finding her. Now you've found her, and if you need an editor, you should contact her.
Karen Wehrstein has also added invaluable insights. Many of the final touches on the book were a result of some long, thoughtful, exhausting conversations. Thanks for sticking with it, Karen!
Alice Fox has brought my characters to visual life now for nearly two years. Her consistent ability to take the descriptions I give her and send me back the exact person I envisioned is uncanny.
MCM is Canadian. This annoys me, as Canadians get free health care AND free ISBNs. He also designed the book block. He is awesome. Go watch him write live some time.
My "non-existent beta group" suffered through this entire volume. I thank them for not dying of shock when the story took a different shape from the draft they expected, and for giving me critical feedback as we progressed.
All of the readers at MeiLinMiranda.com who have encouraged me for two years now—I love every single one of you crazy people.
Perfumer Elizabeth Barrial of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab knows me from Adam. Well, she probably knows of me from the BPAL.org forum, but you know what I mean. Nevertheless, I have to thank both her and the wonderful, generous members of BPAL.org for leading me literally by the nose out of the long twilight of my illness and into my real, fabulous self that I've been hiding for far too many years.
My best friend A encouraged me and patiently listened as I "talked story." Thanks, sweetie.
Special thanks go to Daniel Gudlat for wiki duty above and beyond the call, and Northwoodsman for compiling the definitive Tremontine calendar. Eddin is proud of both of you.
My husband and children sat through two years of Mama scribbling at all hours of the day and night. I forgot to cook, I forgot to sleep, I forgot appointments. I obsessed and talked to myself. They loved me anyway. I love them more than they can ever guess.
But the biggest thanks go to those who made this book possible: the forty-eight people who bought special $25, $50 and $100 packages to fund the editing and production of this book. All these people expected in return was the story you've just read. I know ONE of these people in real life. I am humbled and so very honored by their trust. Here are their names—if some look unusual, it's because they've requested I use their "screen names" from MeiLinMiranda.com.
Listed in alphabetical order:
Andrea
Anna aka the paradox
Alyxe Barron
Bert Belknap
Brandon, aka V
button-nosed_turtle
Rebecca C.
Benjamin Dunn
TeKiesha Elliott
eric the girl
Lawrence Evalyn
Rachel Feldman, aka BCT
Gia Greenheart
giom
Goforbroke
Daniel Gudlat
Nevin Hillegass
Jackie aka applejax
Jo Guthrie
Katie
kawaiikune
Krey
Rebecca R. Kurth aka BekaShmeka
kwee the warrior
Heather Kittae Lee
Ashley MacDonald
Sean Manning
J. McIlwain
Megan aka the Which
MsGamgee
Northwoodsman
RandomTym
Samaris
sarianna
Saudadina
Scarth
Amanda Schloss
scrapper
Sarah Schumacher
James Sheppard
ShEriNik
Chris Shull
Leslie Sinak
Stormy (Our Official Spokesmodel)
temporaryglitter
Tolovana
Vandole
viruslife
You have changed my life, and I will never forget you.
MeiLin Miranda, Lovers and Beloveds