Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

From the Ground Up + #Giveaway

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Have you ever wondered what kind of research and information goes into an author building a fictional country?

For my newest release (Happy Release Day to me!), I decided to create a fictional country for the setting of In Search of a Prince. You say Brielle Adebayo, a 8th-grade civics teacher, discovers she’s really an African princess and needs to fly to Ọlọrọ Ilé stat. Her grandfather, the king, is dying and needs her to step into his shoes.

Y’all, there was so much I had to think of when building this country. Where to set it globally, what island I wanted to mirror it after, what topographical features I would add, etc.

I also had to set the rules of the monarchy, their government system, and create a culture that felt authentic.

What I did first was pick a culture I wanted to imitate but make changes for the purpose of the story. I chose the Yoruba tribe from Nigeria. It was easy then to set my island in the Gulf of Guinea near the country but mirror it off of the Bioko Island. I then researched colonization of Africa to figure out which country I wanted to use to create the history. I chose France partly for the many years I took it in high school, and also because it was one of the countries that actually influenced certain areas in Africa.

The Yoruba culture helped for inspiration of food, dress, customs, etc. I made some tweaks because this is a monarch and Nigeria is not. I also renamed the language so that when I added words that weren’t Yoruba, no one would be confused. But wow, it took a lot of research, more than I ever imagined as questions popped up here and there.

Overall, I’m satisfied with how it turned out and learned some lessons that will help me if I ever choose to create a new country again. Today is release day which means you can now read In Search of a Prince and discover the world I created, knowing it is based on real places.

I’d like to gift one paperback to a random winner. In order to gain entry, leave a comment telling me your favorite place to travel to. Please comment by 2/4/22 by 11:59pm EST to gain entry. (US mailing address only can gain a signed copy. If you’re international, you can get a book if BookDepository delivers to you but it won’t be signed)

Toni Shiloh (60 Posts)

Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness. She spends her days hanging out with her husband and their two boys. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Find out more on her website at http://tonishiloh.com.


Comments

  2. Wow, happy release day! I’ll grab my own copy. :-) I have family spread out all over the world, so my favourite places to travel would be one of the locations where my loved ones live.

  11. I like to visit small towns the best, or at least that have that small town feel. Some of the places I loved and would like to go back to are Savannah, Mount Dora, Amelia Island, St. Augustine, Micanopy, Amarillo, and Americus.

  12. My dream travel place would be to Scotland, I’ve always wanted to go there. Out of the places I have been that I really enjoyed was a rental house on a lake in northern Indiana when I was a kid staying with my older cousins. I don’t remember where it was but there was a pier to sit on and dangle my feet in the water and all these cottages together and it just felt comfy and relaxing. There was a town nearby where we took a boat ride and got ice cream too.

  17. Over the years my husband and I have been many places around Oregon & Washington. I think the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful place!

    In May, we’ll be spending a week on Orcas Island for our 25th anniversary. We’ve never been there so it will be a great adventure! We’ll be taking a car/passenger ferry over from Anacortes WA to the San Juan Islands where Orcas Island is, plus we hope to ferry over to Friday Harbor while we’re there. I can’t wait to explore the many different things to do & places to eat. I mean after all, it is a milestone anniversary so we want to live it up big, lol! :-)

    I love hearing how an author creates a new place using what’s already here but taking literary license to personalize it. A writer’s imagination amazes me :-)

  18. I love when my family traveled to palm springs California but this year my family gets to go to Hawaii for my brother’s make a wish cause from age 5 to age 12 he was in pain with pancreatitis so they had to do a major surgery in California.

  19. I love visiting the Caribbean. The rich history and culture is always fascinating to me. I loved Barbados 🇧🇧. The sitter who used to watch me when I was a child was from there. I live in NY so the mountains are always the most tranquil places for me to visit and relax.

  21. I love visiting the Atlantic coast in Florida. I stayed in Satellite Beach a few years ago and had a great time. It’s really intersting to hear all of the thought that went into creating a country for your book.

  27. I’m reading your book and it’s wonderful!! I’m captivated!
    I like to travel to Port Aransas, Texas. My parents have an apartment there and we’ve always vacationed there since we were children!

  29. Happy Release Day! I would love to travel to North-America some day, but for now I like to travel to Germany, Belgium and United Kingdom. I live in the Netherlands, so there’s a lot of historical things to discover here too.

  30. I love to travel to the ocean. It is soothing and gives me strength and hope.
    A lake in the Adirondacks is special. Boating, swimming and fishing all day long and relaxing on the dock. This is old school and meaningful.

  31. I love the look of the new book and congrats on the release. I could see it as a Hallmark movie too. As much as I would love to win the book I prefer ebooks to hard copy so don’t enter me. (I read on the laptop).

    I hadn’t thought about all the research but I know it will make it even better for it. I love the cover.

  32. Congrats on the release! I’m from Michigan and my favorite place to travel in the upper part of the state is Mackinaw Island!

  37. I like to travel to a small town in NM which is in the mountains, I love staying in a cabin there. Your book sounds like a great read and the book cover is Stunning! I love it. Have a great week and stay safe. Thank you for the chance.

  40. I’ve enjoyed Aruba – exotic, white sand, turquoise water….
    I think I need a vacation 😂

  42. Congrats on your new release! Thank you for sharing all that info! I always wonder about it, and it’s always fun to see how much research authors put into their books. :) Also, our favorite place to go to as a family is a small town in the mountains a few hours from where we live.

  43. Due to our work schedules, our family has never travelled too far from home. We really enjoy visiting Branson, Missouri when time and schedules allow. Congratulations on the new release. I know it will be great!

  44. Congratulations on your release! I have never traveled anywhere but if I could I would have to say Texas to see my grandkids! It would make my heart happy to meet them!

  47. I would like to go to Spain again, I was there as a child so I don’t remember too much. Venice is a place where I have never been but I would like to go.

  49. Happy book birthday week! I love to travel to a community of Thomas, Davis, Canaan Valley area in West Virginia. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.

  58. I like to travel to Florida. I enjoy the warm weather. Locally I like to go to the beach since it’s pretty close.

  65. I’ve written very fictional countries in fantasy like stories but I haven’t written a country that I want to seem real… I’m looking forward to reading this one so I can see if it helps me write a realistic country in a modern love story!

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