TheAriesAtlas
asked
Rin Chupeco:
I see that you answered another user's question indicating that both Japanese and Middle Eastern culture and philosophy are the resounding influence behind The Bone Witch, but are the terms that you used in TBW (e.g. hua, asha-ka, cha-khana - pretty much all of the ones that are italicized) made up or did you pull those from one of the influencing cultures that you mentioned?
Rin Chupeco
A little of both! I'm Chinese and also studied Japanese culture, so I took a lot of influence from those. There's also a bit of Zoroastrianism involved because the whole Legend of Blade that Soars and Dancing Wind is that with a Chinese naming aesthetic. Using the examples you gave:
hua - "flower" in Chinese
asha-ka - "asha" is "truth" in Zoroastrianism, and "-ka" usually is attached to female names and means "scent" or "perfume"
cha-khana - "cha" means tea in Chinese, "khana" is my invention
(I was never taught the pinyin / English phonetic spellings of Chinese words though - that happened long after I graduated school- so with these I usually just went for what looked natural to me when writing it down!)
hua - "flower" in Chinese
asha-ka - "asha" is "truth" in Zoroastrianism, and "-ka" usually is attached to female names and means "scent" or "perfume"
cha-khana - "cha" means tea in Chinese, "khana" is my invention
(I was never taught the pinyin / English phonetic spellings of Chinese words though - that happened long after I graduated school- so with these I usually just went for what looked natural to me when writing it down!)
More Answered Questions
Carter Llewellyn
asked
Rin Chupeco:
Do you ever play horror video games? The Suffering kept making me think of the mid 2000s games like early Silent Hill and Fatal Frame 2, and I was wondering if you had played and were inspired by any of them. I'd also like to say that your books are darker and creepier than many of the horror novels I've read that are aimed at adults, and are some of the best novels I've ever read.
Ashley
asked
Rin Chupeco:
Greetings! I am a book reviewer for a popular reading blog (readingforsanity.blogspot.com). I reviewed "The Girl From the Well" on our site. Would you be interested in sending me a copy of the newest installment, "The Suffering," in exchange for a fair and honest review? Contact me at ashley_honeydew@hotmail.com. Thanks for your consideration! I'm excited to hear from you.
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