Goodreads asked Brian McArthur:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Brian McArthur The Taldorian Chronicles were born over Carnaval weekend, a 4-day holiday in Bolivia. I was stuck in a hostel waiting for five of the adolescents I was helping to raise to be released from an adventure camp. Because the camp is based on the element of surprise, prior campers (such as myself) are not allowed to participate a second time, and are sworn to secrecy. As their official chaperone, I had accompanied them on the 22-hour bus ride from Cochabamba to Tarija (Yes, your butt turns to hamburger after sitting that long), and I was essentially killing time.

I started drawing a map (I LOVE maps of all kinds), and then started imaging what it might look like in real life. And then what kind of people might live there. And then what sort of things they would do. I traded some notes with my friend Shannon Dix, who sent me the first chapter on Analise. I liked it. I wanted to know what Analise did next. So I wrote some more of her story. The other characters, principally Aeron and Garret, were expressions of their homelands, and probably represent some dear friends I have. The adventures they all began to have closely mirror many of the adventures I have personally experienced in this wild ride we call life.

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