Pro-Tip: Hire a professional! The story of how my real-time sketch (below) became this glorious final map on the left.
Map of Eisen & Hulblich
I'm actually quite proud of my map, knowing I've never been much of an artist. Some parts turned out pretty nice, like the top left section of Calderra to Daegan, and the Euloren Woods (which I now think looks like a mangled slab of uni sushi). But the rest of my sketch just did not hold up to the image I had in my mind.
My map grew as the story grew. It was first simply two little markers on opposite sides of a mountain, as I always knew I wanted to connect Millthrace to Nerikan. As the story evolved, I added the cities of Brennan and Illsbrook. Seeing the story take shape I decided to pencil in places that are merely referenced, though not actually visited such as the Euloren Woods, Ulm, and of course Edwin's much revered University.
This was never intended for publication. It was merely for my benefit to remind me where each character was at the moment. I was working full-time and still in grad school while writing the first draft of this adventure, so I often spent long periods away from ODE, and would have to refresh myself with the world upon returning. The map helped. A lot.
There were flaws of course. There still are. The eastern side of the mountains should be a much wider and more desolate land than the west. Travel time of Brennan to Millthrace or Brennan to Illsbrook should be relatively brief, while travel along the Merchant's Trail from Millthrace to Illsbrook should be a long arduous trek. I don't think my map or my artist's final map reflects that properly, but that is my fault for not pointing that out properly when I first hired him.
Speaking of him, his name is Chaim Holtjer, and I've never met the guy. I searched out map-makers of the app Fiverr and found quite a few. But most of them used software that made the maps appear cartoonish and videogamey (new word. Copyright, me). There were a few who did actual pencil and ink work, but their work was nearly indistinguishable from Tolkien's famous maps. I and other fantasy writers owe a lot to Tolkien, and anything we write will most certainly have nods to his works, but I did not want my maps to look exactly like his. Then I found Mr. Holtjer who is an artist living in Norway.
There are two things I hate about my map, and those happened to be the two things Chaim does best: trees and mountains. Remember that uni sushi I mentioned earlier? My Euloren Woods look like sea urchin gonads simply because I am too lazy to draw the individual trees. But look at Chaim's! They are so simple yet gorgeous! I don't know how else to say it but his trees have character.
Same with his mountains. My mountains are inverted V's, while his are three-sided sun-shaded peaks of perfection. And just like the trees, they are simple yet complex.
I was so happy with his final product (a high res digital image) that I contacted the artist and asked to purchase the original physical copy. He was kind enough to send the original from Norway to the American mid-West.
And then it got lost in the mail.
Yep. The original was gone.
He sent me the tracking, but somewhere along the international shipping lanes, the map was lost. I waited weeks and weeks before finally giving up hope, while also thanking the stars that we have high resolution digital copies!
It was only months later, after I had moved on that I came home from work to find a package waiting at my door. The size and shape of the cardboard form could only mean one thing. My map had found its way home!
It's framed now, and hanging above my computer as I type this. And my goodness it is beautiful. So thank you Chaim Holtjer for sharing your artistry with me! And if anyone reading this is in need of a map-maker, I highly recommend him.
Ode Note #3: this book is a prequel. I had written an entirely different novel with completely different characters. A main character from ODE made an extended cameo in this other book. I became fascinated with this character's backstory and decided to flesh it out. That backstory became ODE.
My map grew as the story grew. It was first simply two little markers on opposite sides of a mountain, as I always knew I wanted to connect Millthrace to Nerikan. As the story evolved, I added the cities of Brennan and Illsbrook. Seeing the story take shape I decided to pencil in places that are merely referenced, though not actually visited such as the Euloren Woods, Ulm, and of course Edwin's much revered University.
This was never intended for publication. It was merely for my benefit to remind me where each character was at the moment. I was working full-time and still in grad school while writing the first draft of this adventure, so I often spent long periods away from ODE, and would have to refresh myself with the world upon returning. The map helped. A lot.
There were flaws of course. There still are. The eastern side of the mountains should be a much wider and more desolate land than the west. Travel time of Brennan to Millthrace or Brennan to Illsbrook should be relatively brief, while travel along the Merchant's Trail from Millthrace to Illsbrook should be a long arduous trek. I don't think my map or my artist's final map reflects that properly, but that is my fault for not pointing that out properly when I first hired him.
Speaking of him, his name is Chaim Holtjer, and I've never met the guy. I searched out map-makers of the app Fiverr and found quite a few. But most of them used software that made the maps appear cartoonish and videogamey (new word. Copyright, me). There were a few who did actual pencil and ink work, but their work was nearly indistinguishable from Tolkien's famous maps. I and other fantasy writers owe a lot to Tolkien, and anything we write will most certainly have nods to his works, but I did not want my maps to look exactly like his. Then I found Mr. Holtjer who is an artist living in Norway.
There are two things I hate about my map, and those happened to be the two things Chaim does best: trees and mountains. Remember that uni sushi I mentioned earlier? My Euloren Woods look like sea urchin gonads simply because I am too lazy to draw the individual trees. But look at Chaim's! They are so simple yet gorgeous! I don't know how else to say it but his trees have character.
Same with his mountains. My mountains are inverted V's, while his are three-sided sun-shaded peaks of perfection. And just like the trees, they are simple yet complex.
I was so happy with his final product (a high res digital image) that I contacted the artist and asked to purchase the original physical copy. He was kind enough to send the original from Norway to the American mid-West.
And then it got lost in the mail.
Yep. The original was gone.
He sent me the tracking, but somewhere along the international shipping lanes, the map was lost. I waited weeks and weeks before finally giving up hope, while also thanking the stars that we have high resolution digital copies!
It was only months later, after I had moved on that I came home from work to find a package waiting at my door. The size and shape of the cardboard form could only mean one thing. My map had found its way home!
It's framed now, and hanging above my computer as I type this. And my goodness it is beautiful. So thank you Chaim Holtjer for sharing your artistry with me! And if anyone reading this is in need of a map-maker, I highly recommend him.
Ode Note #3: this book is a prequel. I had written an entirely different novel with completely different characters. A main character from ODE made an extended cameo in this other book. I became fascinated with this character's backstory and decided to flesh it out. That backstory became ODE.