Roma, Cheryl L.
2004

Maps and notes for an unpublished fantasy novel The Fires of Truth

DESCRIPTION: Like a map we sold a few years ago, A New Map of the World by Andrew Zingg , some map creators are driven to lay down their vision of a world that existed only in their imagination. Such are the manuscript maps in the notebooks of author Cheryl L. Roma who labored for three years to write "The Fires of Truth."

While the fate of the unpublished manuscript for Roma's novel "The Fires of Truth" is unknown we are pleased to offer two small bound notebooks that contain manuscript maps for the imaginary world she conceived. Apparently written ca. 2001-2004, the maps are part of two notebooks (Book of the Ancient World and Book of the New Kingdom) that contain research notes on real-world topics such as military formations and terminology, folk healing and folk food, and the structure and organization of royal courts.

The bulk of the notebooks contain historical timelines and numerous details Roma would have used to structure the plot of the book which seems to have had religious overtones. These include a sketch of the Palace of Seven Hills, a table of distances between locations, larger scale maps of Heden's Meadow, Woodburn, Erland's Point, and Amber Hill.

Cheryl L. Roma
(1971 -2022)

Cheryl Roma was born October 17, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Marquette University in 1993 with a B.S. in Physical Therapy. Cheryl Roma passed away on January 16, 2022. According to her obituary:

""Cheryl made and sold jewelry, climbed Mount St. Helens (where she survived a near death experience) and wrote a fantasy novel that would have been published if she'd seen eye to eye with the publisher (1)."

Roma's unpublished draft manuscript acknowledgements for "The Fires of Truth" (included) reads in part:

"Completing a book of this magnitiude was no easy task and at times, was a downright hair-pulling exercise, and there were many who have my gratitude. My family who's supported me with encouragement and Starbucks gift cards, though they probably wondered why on earth I gave up my job to spend 3 years writing a book."

(1) Online. Accessed 1/2023. https://obituaries.nationalcremation.com/obituaries/niles-il/cheryl-roma-10534376