☆ Guest Post ☆

10 Relatively Random Facts About The Republic Series & Its Characters!

Hi there, everyone! I’m Archer Kay Leah, author of LGTBQA+ romance and an avid lover of getting lost in strange worlds, especially when they’re big, complicated, and fantastical. My heartfelt thanks to Addison for hosting me today, and to all of you for joining us! ❤️

For this stop on Soulbound‘s tour, I’m sharing 10 random things about The Republic series as a whole, including its characters, their society, and bits of real life that inspired certain details! So welcome, and here we go…

(#1) Since Soulbound features Mayr and Tash, I’ll start with a fact about Mayr: His role in the series was supposed to end in book 1. I can’t say he wasn’t planned, because he was… for one scene; two or three at most. For awhile, he didn’t even have a name. He was to show up for dinner, then scamper off.

Oh, he scampered alright — right into his own book, Four (book 2), then he made appearances in Blood Borne (book 3), and carried on into this fourth book. This isn’t the end of him, either: both Mayr and Tash will appear throughout the rest of the series, here and there, with the final book being theirs. So, a trilogy… go figure! Never underestimate the power of a persistent, attention-hogging character.

(#2) The series is inspired by real-world historical times, but with made-up elements thrown in to make it a high fantasy rather than a historical. Their world draws inspiration from the late 17^th, 18^th, and early 19^thcenturies, as well as aspects of the Middle Ages, although there’s overlap there with the other time periods. Occupation, clothing, building materials, weapons, and politics are heavily influenced by these time periods.

One really awesome thing about working with the series? Things can change in their society during the course of the books, such as clothing trends, the types of weapons they’re using, and so on. It doesn’t have to be static!

(#3) The soil in the republic is red, inspired by that of Prince Edward Island. (The red hue is due to a high quantity of an iron-oxide — rust — which is also the same reason why Mars appears red, especially from a distance.)

(#4) Their wedding customs are based on the tradition of handfasting, blended with a more Pagan way of doing weddings and inspiration from other cultures. Instead of binding only the hands with ribbons during the ceremony, those getting married are bound by the entire forearm, with the ribbons crossed and looped around in intricate patterns, binding them in a complex way. And during the ceremony, the individuals getting married wear red, not white, blue, or another colour. Rather, it’s the wedding party and guests who wear white — unless they’ve reached certain levels in the priesthood, then they get to wear their religious vestments, which may be all red (highest level of priest) or white and red (mid-level priests). I always love when a bride chooses a non-white dress for their wedding, especially those who wear red — it’s so vibrant and beautiful, which is why I ran with it in this series.

Bonus fact: there’s also a ceremony for divorces in the series, which is similar to their weddings. In that ceremony, however, the ribbons are tied on, then cut up the middle with a ceremonial knife.

(#5) The number “4” is incredibly significant in the series, attributed mostly to the fact that their religious pantheon consists of four goddesses, whose impact is deeply woven throughout their society. It’s considered a sacred number, and lucky, but it’s also a magical number, connected to the four primal elements: fire, water, earth, and air, which underlie the magical system that made its debut in book 3. The goddesses themselves are tied to those elements.

(#6) Tash (real name Halataldris) was named after the legendary bird that hangs out with their Goddess of Love. While Halataldris the bird is white and silver, he’s actually what happened after I played with the idea of mixing a Phoenix, peacock, and an eagle. I then crossed all of that with the well-known concept of a white dove symbolizing peace and love, so that Halataldris is known for his magical abilities and their positive effects on mortals. He’s big, grand, and terribly vain, with the ability to change shape into any kind of bird he wants. He’s also cunning and sly, with a habit of sneaking into the aviaries kept by the Goddess of Protection… but that’s a different story that’ll come out in a later book!

(#7) Speaking of Tash… he notices food more than Mayr does. Actually, he notices it more than most of the characters so far. He’s not a foodie, and apparently his cooking skills suck, but he has a fine appreciation for the scents and tastes of really awesome edible goods! (This character trait literally just happened as I was writing Soulbound, though I have my guesses as to where the inspiration came from. Oh, woe, the dangers of reading!)

Bonus fact: I’ve mentioned mead in the series as an homage to several of my dear friends who make their own mead!

(#8) In Soulbound, two new characters are introduced: Stick and Stuck, who are guards that work with Mayr. I wanted a team of characters whose names had the same play as Frick and Frack (which were also the names of two cats who lived with my friends across the street growing up). I eventually came up with Stick and Stuck: one is tall and skinny as a stick, while the other tends to get stuck to the people and causes she really grooves with. They’re very close friends, fantastic at their job, and usually humorous, making them delightful to write.

(#9) The nickname for Ress’s sister, “Lally”, was inspired by actress Lally Cadeau, who played Janet King in the TV show, Road to Avonlea. I grew up watching the show and still absolutely love it to pieces. (Felicity and Gus FOREVER)

And, finally….

(#10) There’s a scene in Four, when Mayr and Tash enjoy some private time in one of the temple’s altar rooms, and it’s one of my absolute favourites. The scene has several points of significance to it, not just with regards to their relationship, but in the idea that sex can be a sacred act and it doesn’t lose any of that sacredness in a same-sex relationship — it’s fully recognized and equal, regardless of gender or orientation. Since then, I’ve come across a comment that touched on this scene and made reference to Hozier’s “Take Me to Church,” which is a fantastic connection for so many reasons, even though I hadn’t heard the song until well after the book was published.

Though here’s where the fact comes in: this scene was inspired by sex magic. Instead of going the route of spellcasting, however, the scene is more about worship and connecting to Tash’s patron goddess by way of an offering. Though with a little effort, it could easily have gone the magical route, too… except that’s best left to the characters who have the magical abilities in the series!

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Thank you so much for reading, folks, and I hope you enjoyed the post. I love hearing from readers, so feel free to share your thoughts, questions, and musings!