I am wondering what sources everyone uses when researching their faire personas?
I sort of made up the name Aelynn for RPGing (not sure if it is a documented name anywhere or not), and she became the lead female character in the book I am writing. I love the name so I decided to also use it for my faire persona, but I will be nothing at all like the one in the book.
I am still looking for a surname though. My character is Irish Celtic (I am still figuring out what era she's from), but I know so little of my own family history (I do have Scottish MacDonald in me), so I can't draw on that to help. I need some resources for researching... books, websites, etc. Anyone have any good suggestions?
Hi Aelynn, Great name BTW! My suggestion would be to ask other authors. My dad is an author and he helped me to come up with my personas. I told him what I was looking for and the next thing I know, he sent me the first 6 chapters of his new book based on my pirate persona (LilyRose). Brainstorming together got both of our creative gears going and was a whole lot of fun too:)
The Scottish MacDonalds have some history in Northern Ireland. One branch became the Earls of Antrim. Here's a good place to start your research:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_MacDonnell_of_Antrim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_MacDonnell_of_Antrim)
Dunluce Castle, the seat of the Earl of Antrim, is only a few miles from one of my favorite places in Ireland, Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. http://www.northantrim.com/temporary_map.htm (http://www.northantrim.com/temporary_map.htm)
The academy of Saint Gabriel (http://www.s-gabriel.org/) has a lot of research available online that is easy to access and use.
Best of luck!