A - Ankulen

Several of the author blogs that I have been following have been blogging through the alphabet with one or another of their books. I've decided to join the bandwagon and do it as well.

(If you want to know who, the ones I can name off the top of my head are the "Inkpen Authoress," the "Penslayer," and I think I saw "Scribblings of my Pen and Tappings of my Keyboard" doing one as well. I'm pretty sure you can find all three blogs on my sidebar.)

The book I've selected is The Ankulen (which I'm sure you've gathered from the title of this post.) The Ankulen is the next book on my publication list after Do You Take This Quest?, so you'll probably be hearing quite a bit about it in the months to come.

A - Ankulen

Pretty obvious, isn't it? I'm starting with the titular object that pretty much defined the series.

The Ankulen was originally a cheap, plastic, yellow bracelet that Gpa had given me one Sunday. (My grandpa is constantly giving my sibs and I strange things.) Amused, I put the bracelet on and wore it for the next few days.

At the time, Grub 1 (my cousin's online name) and I were trying to come up with a play for us to perform at the next family get together. Our last play had been well received, so we were encouraged by the success and wanted to continue our career. So when I came outside wearing the bracelet, we had the brilliant idea of adding it to the play. It soon became an important element.

I don't remember why I named the Ankulen what I did. It was quite likely just some syllables that I threw around, G1 liked them, and it was thus named.

When I novelized the play, I decided to change the appearance. Now it looks more like the picture above. Solid gold, big purplely-pink gem. It's also covered with a vine pattern, but I neglected to draw it in the picture.

Ankulen is pronounced an-koo-lin with the emphasis on either the first or second syllable. It really didn't matter which one. I used to care, but Microsoft Mary kept mispronouncing  it on my Kindle, so I've given up the fight.

So, what is the Ankulen?

Well, simply put, an Ankulen is a piece of jewelry that brings imagination to life. It doesn't have to be a bracelet, sometimes it's a anklet, a necklace, a ring, a pin, a key chain, or even a pair of earrings. My personal Ankulen is an amethyst ring, and my sister's are a pair of earrings. Jen, the main character of The Ankulen has the bracelet. Owners of an Ankulen are called Anka or Anku, depending on whether they're a boy or a girl.

So thou mayest, henceforth, call me Anka Kendra, if thou wouldst like.

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Oh, and a question, since you guys seem to have liked my Rowa post, would you like me to post more often about my various worlds? I wouldn't go as long as I did with the Rowa, probably doing only one or two aspects of a culture/world a week.