Sara asked Michael E. Dellert:

There are many details - such as the names of places and people in the story and the role of the Drymyn in society - that seem to have historical reference. Is this accurate? If so, how did you conduct research for the story?

Michael E. Dellert Wow, great question. There's a long version answer, but the short answer is: I wanted to write a story set in a very "used universe" kind of a setting, and I wanted that setting to be very Irish-Celtic in flavor. So I read as many primary sources (or translations of them) as I could lay hands on, and I did a lot of comparative linguistic research, and I studied the Dindsenchas ("the lore of places") of Ireland to learn the history of toponyms (place-names), and the ancient law-codes to understand how the culture was structured and what they considered important. All of this gave me a good long list of names for people, places, and things that have an authentically historical basis, even if I've fantasized them a bit in the translation. Thanks for the question!

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