I wanted so much from Dolor and Shadow, but mostly, I wanted to transport readers back to the tenth century. I wanted them to taste the meat and drink of the Norsemen. I wanted them to smell the cold winters and feel the winds whipping over the harsh tundra. I wanted them to experience all of this without any effort on their part.

Building the world of Dolor and Shadow was nothing shy of arduous. I spent months pouring over Google maps, weeks reading through the food timeline. I spent those same weeks researching medieval cooking and the influence of tenth century trade. I monitored countless YouTube videos capturing the terrain, climate, culture, flora, fauna, and lifestyle of Norway until my mind was numb. Years reading Wikipedia articles on the history of Norway, Europe, and England. Months of studying ship building and sailing terms for the Viking longships. I collected all of this information, rewound it all back one thousand years, and replayed it all through the elves’ point of view. This is only a fraction of the work I did to bring to you the world of Dolor and Shadow.

I don’t want you to just read Dolor and Shadow. I want you to experience it. I want you to see it as I see it.