Ilenna Stories

I have a generic heroine named Ilenna. She appears in Le Choix des Armes (Amazing Heroes II), Through the Stone Gate (High Fantasy Online), The Duke’s Left Eye (currently submitted and waiting), The Heart of a Hero (incomplete), The Stones of Ymir (written, but not stand-alone, yet), Danger Well Met (needs a good polish), The Spirit of Stone (incomplete).

My plan is to string these stories together to make a novel. There are three different Ilenna’s, though. I have a young (12 years old) Ilenna in three stories. I have an older (17-18) rebel living in the city in two stories. I have the 30 something Ilenna helping in a rebellion in two stories. This sounds like three separate women. Three novels? I have half a dozen ideas outlined and an arc for at least one of the novels.

My main problem is the lack of a hero. I started the Ilenna character as a foil to a Fafhrd type sailor. In the original story (from around 1985) she is around 14 and the older sailor adopts her. There cannot be any romance, though, so I have to wait until she is older before she meets the sailor. The older Ilenna meets a criminal who goes through a stone gateway between worlds (as in Witch World) and he is the character in Through the Stone Gate and The Duke’s Left Eye. I need a stronger hero than Fafhrd, though.

2 Comments

  1. ilenna wrote:

    hey my name is ilenna! but the i is silent.

    Sunday, July 18, 2004 at 6:42 am | Permalink
  2. Keith wrote:

    Ilenna,

    I made the name up out of my head. I wanted to have an exotic version of Elaine – a name I’ve always liked. I googled it and I think that it was a Finnish name, but not even real popular in Finland.
    I envision Ilenna to be a strong minded woman who can handle new situations. She is a growing every time I write a new story with her in it.
    My main problem with Ilenna is that she needs a foil – a man with a personality that will respect her and yet not be dominated. I am not as good a writer as I’d like and I am finding this difficult.

    Monday, July 19, 2004 at 9:54 am | Permalink