Gone Mother

Yjoulai (pronounced ee-shu-lie or ee-ju-lie) is the planet where River Redstone exists and the goddess of the Hyalurites. Much like Earth, Yjoulai is a dense, carbon-based planet rich with diverse flora and fauna. In the Suncatchers universe, the last one hundred years have experienced increasingly chaotic weather changes. This leads to two things:

  1. The minds of River Redstone are forced to create new systems to support life as the city becomes the last inhabitable place on Yjoulai. Met with mass migration and dwindling resources, the city grapples with expansion - with some also considering how to keep humanity alive.

  2. The Hyalurites belief of sustainability turns cruel, forcing the citizens to partake in something that once was only permitted by the priests themselves.

The scientific and religious communities are at odd with one another by the time everything comes to a head. And Yjoulai’s strange silence becomes even deeper seeded into mystery.

Inspirations for Yjoulai

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to see the parallels of Yjoulai and Earth in 2026. The obvious crises of climate change is a much quieter thread in the story, but it is the spark that creates motion in the universe.

My idea of hell is Alabama in August 24/7 for the entire world - and that is the setting for about half of the book. Hot, humid, sticky, gross. But not quite hot enough to kill everything. The scenery is inspired by north Alabama, a place where the Appalachian foothills live and is breathtakingly green. But even in its beauty, the area does have issues with invasive species, like kudzu (which is a stunning blanket of green that kills everything beneath it). Yjoulai has honeysuckle, magnolia trees, lightning bugs, and all my other favorite things in its depiction.

River Redstone should tell you exactly where the city is, but imagine it sprawling into east Tennessee, west Georgia, and of course mid-Alabama. Huntsville as an inspiration also made sense for the city’s tech-forward thinking. It’s surprising to me how many people don’t really know about Hunstville and the arsenal, but there are some freaky rabbit holes about the place.

Another inspiration for Yjoulai is Edgar Cayce’s map. It’s a very loose interpretation, but when you get to the other locations in the book, use that map for reference!