The Inspiration Behind Atlas

When I began creating Atlas, I knew I didn’t want him to simply be the “wise owl” of Emerald Wood. I wanted his wisdom to mean something more.

Atlas represents the kind of knowledge that comes from listening, remembering, making mistakes, learning from them, and carrying those lessons forward.

As the Book Keeper of Emerald Wood, he doesn’t collect stories just to fill shelves. He preserves them because every story—whether it belongs to a Guardian, a traveler, or an ordinary creature of the forest—has something worth remembering.

To Atlas, knowledge is not about knowing more than everyone else. It is about understanding what came before so that those who come next have something to guide them.

The Need for a Book Keeper

In life, we are constantly looking for references. We look to history to understand what happened before us, and even in the present, we rely on records, stories, teachers, and the experiences of others to help us understand the world around us.

I realized Emerald Wood needed that too.

A territory with its own people, traditions, challenges, and history needed someone responsible for preserving that knowledge—someone who could teach, guide, and help others when they were searching for answers.

That is where Atlas came from.

As the Book Keeper of Emerald Wood, Atlas protects much more than books. He keeps records of the territory’s history, its discoveries, important events, maps, stories, and the lessons learned by those who came before.

When one of the Guardians needs information, or when a young resident of Emerald Wood wants to understand something about their home, Atlas is someone they can turn to.

But Atlas doesn’t believe that having knowledge makes him more important than anyone else.

Knowledge has value when it can be shared.

His role is to preserve what Emerald Wood has learned and use it to help others make sense of what they are facing today.

The Women Who Inspired Atlas

Even though Atlas is a male Guardian, two of the strongest inspirations behind his character are women in my own family—two of my aunts.

They inspired different parts of who Atlas became.

One has spent more than four decades working in education. She is wise, knowledgeable, deeply grounded in her faith, and someone who genuinely enjoys helping others. She is the kind of person people can turn to when they need guidance, an explanation, or simply someone willing to share what she knows.

From her came an important part of Atlas:

Knowledge should be used to help others.

My other aunt inspired a different side of him. She and I share many of the same interests, including a love of fantasy and stories.

There is something special about having someone in your family who understands the worlds you enjoy getting lost in—the characters, the stories, the imagination, and all the little details that make those worlds feel real.

That connection became another part of Atlas.

He doesn’t preserve books and stories simply because it is his responsibility. He genuinely loves them. He is curious about the worlds, people, histories, and experiences contained within them.

So although Atlas may be an owl living in a fantasy realm, pieces of the women who inspired him can be found throughout his character: the teacher, the guide, the helper, the reader, and the person who understands the power of a good story.

Ember carries the responsibility of leading Emerald Wood forward. Atlas carries the responsibility of remembering where it has been and where it stands in the present.