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Kalisto’s Crystal Palace and Raphael Sinclair’s Wish
I’ve always loved greenhouses and snow globes. At first blush, they seem like disparate creatures.
Greenhouses are huge buildings made for growing things. Their walls are made of glass but their boundary is permeable. Traversable. You can go in. You can go out. They have fresh air. They contain things that are both stationary and fixed, but they’re also alive.
Snow globes are small object d’art. They are whimsical. Magical. They contain a tiny setting, forever frozen inside an impermeable glass dome. Inside, nothing is alive. In fact, nothing moves at all – except for the glittery crystals that gives the sphere its name. One can peer into it, but never enter. Its miniature world is off limits.
I knew I wanted to juxtapose these two places to create one of the settings in White Heart of Justice, but I had a problem: my main character, whose touch kills plants, flowers, gardens, and greenery, wouldn’t be caught dead in a greenhouse.
Enter London’s former Crystal Palace, built in 1851 to house the Great Exhibition. When I stumbled upon references to this place, I knew it would serve as a better inspiration for my setting than any mere greenhouse. Sure, it was a greenhouse, but it was so much more. Constructed with the purpose of impressing the world with British achievement, it contained exhibits devoted to machinery, manufacturing, fine art, and popular entertainment.
Well, I don’t write British historicals and my scene wouldn’t be dealing with machinery, manufacturing, art, or even pop culture. Instead, my scene was going to deal with preparation. In fact, the scene I was writing is the scene that happens in all sorts of novels, especially those involving journeys. I call it “GEARING UP.”
I knew the exhibits in the Crystal Palace of my imagination could be anything. Because Noon is heading somewhere icy in this book, she needed to gear up in a place that could sell her all sorts of outdoor weather gear, as well as teach her how to use it.
Basically, Noon needed “Fantasy REI” with hints of snow globe and greenhouse. Here’s a snippet from the scene that occurs when Noon and her Guardian Angel, Raphael Sinclair, arrive at the Crystal Palace:

I paid the cab driver his fare, and we climbed out. In front of us, on a high windswept hill on the outskirts of north New Babylon, was the Crystal Palace. We made our way up the steep stone steps that led to its entrance and I imagined how enticing this building might look during spring. With its great glass dome full of wintery winds nestled atop a hill full of grass and flowers, it would, no doubt, look like an enormous snow globe set on a colorful perch, a veritable beacon to would-be adventurers, Haljan hunters, and other wannabe travelers dreaming of something different. Today, however, there was little difference between the gray sky behind the building and the gray atmosphere within it.
Just outside the entrance was a fountain, but instead of water, this one sprayed snow. At its base was a sign:
Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. Make a wish and swish. All proceeds benefit Kalisto’s Hunters’ Widows’ and Children’s Fund
Beneath the sign was a cup for offerings. I looked up and suddenly my pulse and signature skyrocketed with the snow. High above the fountain was the wispy outline of a yeti—a snow beast. Its face materialized from the snow with black eyes the size of the cab we’d just climbed out of and an open jaw at least half the size of Timothy’s Square. It swooped toward us, teeth gnashing, just as Rafe dropped a coin in the cup. He waved his hand in the air and the snow yeti slowly dissolved. A mist of cold, wet snow rained down on us.
“Did you wish for an umbrella?” I said, wiping my cheek with the hem of my cloak.
“Nope, I made a serious wish.”
I gave him a dubious look. “Uh-huh. Let me guess. You wished that Kalisto would have a nose warmer with whiskers inside?”
He shook his head.
“Levitating snowshoes?”
Same response.
“Hot chocolate, at least?”
Rafe didn’t answer. Instead he locked his arm with mine and led me toward the iron-doored entrance. On the way, he sang softly:
“I wished I could kiss your gap-toothed smile.”
When he saw my reaction, he stifled a laugh.
“It would be bliss to do so awhile.”
He stopped abruptly and turned me toward him, keeping a hold on my shoulders.
“But you’re fierce and you’re fiery and oh so wisery.”
He lowered his head close to mine and then said sotto voce:
“So it’s certain you’d yell, ‘Go straight to hell!’”
The wind buffeted us from every direction as the snow continued to fall from above. Suddenly, I was acutely aware that Rafe was holding onto me. He stared at me and for a single second I wondered if he’d meant it when he’d said he wished for something serious.
“Wisery?” I said finally, stepping back. “Only you could come up with a word like that, Rafe.”

BBC – Crystal Palace, A History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2004/07/27/history_feature.shtml
Crystal Palace Foundation: http://www.crystalpalacefoundation.org.uk/crystal-palace-history/
So how about you? Do you like snow globes or greenhouses? Do you like outdoor adventuring or just reading inside? Would you want to gear up at a place like Kalisto’s Crystal Palace? What wish would you make at the fountain outside? Do you think Rafe will get his wish?
Thank you to Rachel and everyone here at Bitten by Books for hosting me for White Heart of Justice’s Release Day Party!

Read a 4.5 star review of White Heart of Justice by clicking here.
Buy a print copy of White Heart of Justice from Amazon by clicking here. Buy a Kindle copy of White Heart of Justice from Amazon by clicking here.
Books in the Noon Onyx series in the order they should be read:
Dark Light of Day
Fiery Edge of Steel
White Heart of Justice

About Jill Archer

Author Bio:

Jill Archer writes dark, genre-bending fantasy from rural Maryland. Her novels include Dark Light of Day, Fiery Edge of Steel, and White Heart of Justice. She loves cats, coffee, books, movies, day tripping, and outdoor adventuring.

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