Loganberries

post by: Ticana Zhu

A short update today. I’m neck deep in edits and as well as … you know… #life.

Dynasty of Summer is progressing well. I finally finished editing draft six. It feels like it’s almost there… Oh yeah, haha, renaming Colors of an Empire to Dynasty of Summer. The main character sees auras, hence the first title.

Loss of Orbit, I’m considering renaming it Falling from Orbit. Falling from Orbit was the original title I’d wanted to use, but didn’t want it to be too confusing with Ava Reiss’ Fall of Ima.

In reflection, I wanted to share why I chose the secondary protagonist’s name, Kayden Loganberry. (In Falling from Orbit)

When I was six, I went to this summer day care program because both my parents worked. The teachers took us around town. Swimming on Fridays, and bowling on Wednesdays (with bumpers). We even took field trips to farms, movies, and other education places. Of course the library was a weekly stop.

We’d bring a packed lunch and eat at picnic tables outside. There were loganberry bushes that often dropped their fruit. We were told not to eat them, but of course we did! Thus, loganberries are infused with my earliest memories of reading.

And of course… if you’ve read the synopsis of Falling from Orbit. You know Rosi and Kayden were headed to a “summer camp,” but instead went to Mars. With all the books I’ve read that summer, and the places they took me, I felt miles away from Earth. And I loved it!

It only felt appropriate to honor that period in my life with a character naming!

This is not a sponsored post. Tune in October 1st, for our next post, by Ava Reiss.