Rachel Rossano Interview
www.geocities.com/crownofanavrea
February 2005

I usually have to go into more detail because what I write never seems to fall neatly into any one category. I call it Romantic Fantasy Adventure because in almost everything I write the characters fall in love; it takes place in a fantasy world; and it involves an adventure of some kind. 

I chose to call the world I write about a fantasy world because it never existed in our world’s past. Though there are many similarities between the five kingdoms and Europe in the middle ages, I am not constrained to abide by the exact rules of the time. I can create more or change what existed at the time.

I like using unusual names that exist but are hardly ever used anymore or names that I have made up by playing with letters and sounds. In The Crown of Anavrea, the meanings of the names of the characters worked into the story more than I expected them to at first. 

Eve, which means life, is the name of the girl who saves a man’s life. Labren, which means brown one, is the name the stranger gave her in place of his true name, Trahern, which means strong as iron. But I also used names that I made up by playing with sounds; for example, Labren’s friend, Atluer, and Labren’s brother, Ireic. Either way, the name has to fit the character.

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Our Love Was Meant to Be