10 Things You Might Not Know About Larimar: Gem of the Sea by Christine E. Schulze

A fearless captain and a mysterious girl who walks on water. An underwater city and a destined deadly curse. What could possibly go wrong?

10 Things You Might Not
Know About Larimar: Gem of the Sea

1. Larimar is
   the first book I’ve ever published an audiobook edition of! The audiobook
   edition released on April 20^th, 2023, which also happened to be
   my birthday. Auditioning various narrators and getting to hear how they brought
   each character to life was a fantastically fun time. I ultimately went
   with Jocelyn Duford, who not only does a great job with each character but
   has a beautiful singing voice. Since the book contains two little songs
   that I composed, listening to Jocelyn sing them is an added gem (pun
   intended!) in the audiobook. I actually still have a few free review
   copies of the audiobook, so if you read the rest of this post and the book
   sounds up your alley, feel free to reach out at fadbooks@authorchristineschulze.com to
   request a copy to listen to and review.
2. While Larimar is now a novella, it was originally
   published as a short story. I’ve since added in extra chapters and scenes
   and fleshed out the characters. This allowed it to stand on its own and
   become an official book in The Amielian Legends (more on
   that below).
3. One of the main inspirations behind the book was
   the larimar gemstone. Back when I wrote the original short story version,
   I was obsessed with rocks, gems, and minerals. Honestly, I still love
   rocks and gems, collecting them, and learning any history or lore behind
   them. Did you know that larimar stone was originally found in 1916 but
   wasn’t named until it was rediscovered in 1974 by explorer Miguel Mendez?
   He named the stone after his daughter and the Spanish word for sea, “mar.”
   What a cool stone to inspire my underwater city and race of elves! 
4. A lot of the characters in my books are inspired
   by real-life people that I know. In the first draft of the short story
   version of Larimar, Jorah was called Michael, after a friend
   of mine from grade school. Larimar and the other characters aren’t
   inspired by anyone in particular, but these days, my boyfriend Isaac and I
   say that Jorah and Larimar are “us,” our book couple. Except that he would
   be Larimar and I would be Jorah, both in terms of personality and
   appearance. Jorah is light-skinned with green eyes and golden hair, and
   Larimar has brown skin and black hair. Swap the genders and you have me
   and Isaac. I also dedicated the sequel story to Isaac and me, as that one
   was very much inspired by us.
5. Say, what? There’s a sequel? That’s right!
   So, Larimar is part of The Amielian Legends,
   which is my series of stand-alone books all set in the same fantasy
   universe. They are each individual stories about different characters and
   kingdoms that can be read in any order. That being said, Book 8, Narwhals
   in the Stars, is the only book in the series to follow characters from
   a previous book. Larimar and Narwhals are
   both adventures about Jorah and Larimar. They can each be read separately
   on their own, but in reading both, you get both their backstory and where
   their lives ultimately take them together.
6. Another inspiration behind Larimar is
   my favorite gaming series, The Legend of Zelda. Tears
   of the Kingdom just released (at the time of writing this, I’ve
   played it non-stop for three days), so best believe I’m taking every
   chance I can to hype up Zelda and the way it’s inspired
   my writing since I was a kid. One big inspiration was the idea of a world
   filled with many diverse races with their own powers and abilities. The
   Larimar Elves are no exception. They live and breathe underwater but can
   also live on land. And they are one of my dark-skinned elven races, since
   diversity is important to me in fantasy (more on that later too). Zelda may
   not be as big an inspiration to Larimar as other books of
   mine (like Prelude of Fire, in which characters go on a quest
   to collect seven prism shards and can perform magic spells through magic
   songs), but it’s still left its mark on Larimar. In fact, the
   world of Loz where Larimar and many of my books take place, was named
   after “Legend of Zelda,” as an homage to the series that inspired
   me so much as a writer.
7. Speaking of which, Larimar takes
   place in the Lozolian Realm, which readers visit in many of my other
   books. And the cool thing about that is you might see some crossovers. For
   example, the Larimar Elves are mentioned in The Gailean Quartet,
   a completely separate series.
8. Larimar reflects
   one of my passions as an author, which is to include a diverse cast of
   characters. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to see more diversity in my
   favorite genre. No one taught me to be that way. I think it’s just
   something God put in me, and no one taught me to NOT be that way. My mom
   knew I preferred dolls who looked different than me because I thought they
   were pretty, and she didn’t try to make me get a blonde doll just because
   it looked like me (I would’ve likely protested anyway, as I was pretty
   strong-willed). As they say, if you don’t see something, write it
   yourself. So, I started writing books inspired by favorite stories
   like Narnia and Lord of the Rings, but with
   more diverse races. 
9. Larimar will
   eventually be part of an Omnibus. Two omnibuses editions for The
   Amielian Legends are in the works. The first will contain Books 1
   through 4, and the other will contain Books 5 through 8. Each omnibus will
   also include a bonus story. If that sounds pretty cool and you want to
   know when the omnibuses are ready to release, consider joining my
   newsletter at https://www.authorchristineschulze.com/newsletter.
   You also get a couple free stories with the newsletter too.
10. Last but not least, Larimar is a
    fast-paced adventure both on the high seas and under the seas, perfect for
    those looking forward to the new The Little Mermaid! To
    find Larimar and read it for yourself, in audiobook,
    ebook, or paperback form, you can go here: https://www.amazon.com/Larimar-Epic-Fantasy-Adventure-High/dp/B0BQ9LM6YF