Bonus Features for
The Story of Candour
Can’t get enough of Candour? The story has only just begun! Here you’ll find fun bonus features about the creation of Candour and its neighboring kingdoms.
The Story of Candour is the first book written in a series. All the novels take place in the same world, but operate as stand alone books. Tell me which story you’re interested in hearing next!
Become a Beta Reader
The first chapter in The Story of Candour for years was actually a epilogue of sorts. I originally had it as the Prologue in the book, but chose to remove it because I thought it might be too much of a spoiler. But now, you can read the original introduction to Candour below!
Hear the music
that inspired Candour!
Listen
art
I spent a lot of time in the world of Candour and Veracity while writing this book. Below are some of my notes and sketches that helped fuel my writing!
Sketched Map (featured in the book)
Watercolor Map (alternative map version)
Inspiration Board from my office
First Candour artwork/ Inspiration for Lilibet’s canvas
Watercolor Painting of various kingdoms
Watercolor/Sketch of Ricewyn’s hut
Sketch of Ardor’s layout
List of work rotations in Ardor
Notes for final battle scene
Editing/Writing Notes sneak peek
Below are some behind-the-scenes facts about Candour. Click on the picture links to see my inspiration boards for each of the main kingdoms featured in The Story of Candour. Enjoy!
Lilibet originally had a gray cat named Basil, but he got cut because he didn’t add much to the story. And we didn’t want to worry about getting him out during the final battle.
In the original version of the story, Ricewyn was actually presented the role of the Shepherd of Veracity, a major political position. He ran because he didn’t think he could handle it.
The kingdoms throughout The Story of Candour were comprised of 5 different stories I was writing. With the concept of the festival, I realized I could tie all of them together into a book series.
Candour was spelled in the traditional way (Candor) almost until publishing. We changed it because of the popular Divergent series.
My 2 closest partners for the book vehemently opposed naming one of the kingdoms ‘Atrocity’ but I kept referring to it by that name so often, it finally stuck.
I began The Story of Candour in 2009 during my final year of college. I didn’t finish writing it until 2015 and it wasn’t published until late the following year.
Up until the final version, Torion was the one who got Lilibet to safety during the final battle. But we decided Lilibet and Ricewyn needed to be together while searching for and defeating Amet.
‘Ricewyn’ is a name I entirely made up. The rest of the names of the book were gathered from pouring over Baby Name websites for hours and hours to find ones I both liked and had applicable meanings.