Behind the Scenes of Writing The Jewel of Berlin

Writing The Jewel of Berlin was a bit of a crazy experience. I’ve had a lot of blessings and blunders along the way, and below you’ll find a few facts about the making of my debut novel! 

Fact 1# Isak Wasn’t Supposed to be named that

That’s right! Isak Musselman, Sigmund and Eva’s con-artist friend, was never supposed to be named Isak Musselman. The name I gave him was going to be a placeholder until I had time to brainstorm a new one. In fact, he shares a name with my editor and with someone he knows that both actually exist. However, it stuck so well that I forgot and now it gets a little confusing whenever we chat about my characters. 

Fact 2# Siegfried?

 

Yet again with the names! I love the TV show All Creatures Great and Small, and some of Sigmund’s characteristics were based on my favorite character, Siegfried Farnon. Yes, originally I debated on what to call Sigmund Brynner and Siegfried was in the running in honor of Mr. Farnon. But after some research proved that Sigfried was really more of a Scandinavian name, I landed on a close compromise: Sigmund. 

Fact 3# Based on a Dream

This one is a bit strange. Most of my better writings have been inspired by weird dreams I’ve had, and TJOB is no exception. I had a very dystopian-ish dream about a very normal girl getting pulled into a very serious resistance operation that operated out of a library that looked like it came out of Tatooine. Sounds just like TJOB, right? Fast forward a few weeks, and I took the basic idea of the dream I had, a girl getting into the resistance, put it in a different time period, and TJOB was born. 

Fact 4# So. Many. Questions

When writing a book, it’s a great idea to have some friends who’ve already gone through the process. For me, that friend was a wonderful young author named Mae McKoy. We’d known each other previously, and throughout the process of publishing TJOB she was a constant help answering my questions and helping me find resources. In fact, she’s credited in the back of TJOB as a result of all her help! Even better, she now has made a YouTube video to help young authors find what they need! 

Fact 5# I’m not a Historical Fiction author

That’s crazy to read out loud, friends, because technically I am now! But not originally. When I got really invested in writing around the age of eleven, I wanted to write Fantasy. In fact, I wrote a LOT of stories set in a fantasy world I created, and I still love reading and writing in that genre. I have always been a history nerd too though. Several years ago I wrote my first full-length project which came from another of my weird dreams, and the premise of it was a violinist with a German accent working in a theater. Obviously, there was no question as to what genre that fit into, so I dropped my fantasy projects and wrote historical fiction for the first time. As to the era, I simply picked one of my favorites to learn about: WWII. 

So what fact surprised you the most? Let me know in the comments!

Follow the Light!

-L.E. Levens