Storm Glass
(The first book in the Opal Cowan series)
A novel by Maria V Snyder
To my sister, Karen Phillips, for all the advice, support
and good times (BFF). This book has a definite sister vibe!
Author Note: Mixed Up Weather by Maria V. Snyder
I’ve been receiving a bunch of questions from my readers about why I chose Opal to be my next protagonist, how did I think of the idea for her glass magic, and what’s up with the weather stuff? I hope everyone is comfortable—this is going to take a while. I can wait while you get something hot/cold to drink ;)
For the first part of that question, I must admit it was my editor's idea. After Fire Study, I wanted to write a different book—one not in the Study world (I had been writing about Yelena for eleven years—I like her, but come on—enough already). My editor really wanted another Study book to keep up the momentum. She mentioned Opal as a potential character.
I liked Opal and she surprised me by how valuable she became in Fire Study, but I couldn't think of a story idea with her. I was explaining this to my editor in Austin, Texas, during a World Fantasy Convention, and was literally in mid-sentence (she claims I was in mid-whine—but don’t believe her) when the idea for Storm Glass popped into my mind. At first we were going to title the book Glass Study or Crystal Study, but I wanted a new title since I had a new main protagonist.
Most of my readers know I don't plan my stories in advance. I do have a general idea for a book and will write a synopsis for my editor to approve—but the finished book usually doesn't match the synopsis at all (at least, not yet). Writing is a discovery process for me and it’s what I love the most about it.
The second part of the question is why glass? In Magic Study I had a kidnapped victim named Tula who was in a coma.
Yelena needed a family member to help her revive Tula so I needed to invent a family for her. I created parents, an older sister, a younger sister and a younger brother (gotta have options). Then the question arose—why would Tula be all alone at night?—with two sisters, she didn’t sleep alone. The answer was the family owned a glass factory and had to keep the kilns hot all night—so a member would baby-sit the kilns, shoveling coal when needed. Usually two together, but Opal wasn’t feeling good and Tula sent her to bed. (Note: Opal’s original name was Gale—but my editor suggested I change her name because it was too close to Goel—a major character in
Magic Study—I got Opal’s name from the
Pickles comic strip).
So Tula’s family was created to back up her reason for being alone. I thought I was done with them. Oh no, they appeared in Fire Study. Completely unplanned—Yelena, Moon Man and Leif were in Booruby and I remembered Tula’s family also lived there and I thought it would be interesting to get them together. First for Yelena to get caught up on the political gossip about this Daviian Clan, but then Opal’s talent revealed itself to Yelena and to me ![]()
