THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SCARLET. Read at your own risk.

Last year, a few of my giveaways were for specially-annotated ARCs of SCARLET, filled with behind-the-scenes info on Book Two of the Lunar Chronicles. Now that the book’s been out for a few months, I thought I would post what those notes were here, so you can all have an inside look.

So grab your copy of SCARLET and prepare yourself for some fascinating Lunar Chronicles trivia!

Scarlet: Annotated

p. 8: Émilie’s name was originally Sophia, but I changed it in the third draft because there were too many S-sound names (Scarlet, Cinder, Sophia…). This mention in the second paragraph is the only time the new-Sophia is ever mentioned.

p. 13: See the inspiration photo I used for Wolf here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235062516/

p. 26: Wolf says that he saw Scarlet’s gun handle when she climbed up on the counter, which is true. What he doesn’t mention is that he can also smell the cleaner that she uses on it.

p. 38: The town of Rieux is based on a real town called Rieux-Volvestre, which was a suggestion from my French editor.

p. 41: See the inspiration photo for Scarlet’s house here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235108221/

p. 52: “Gard3.9” – Gard is short for Garden.

p. 73: The netscreen implanted in the guy’s bicep is probably my favorite cyborg detail of the whole series.

p. 76: The fight announcer calls Scarlet a “tender morsel,” which is a reference to the Little Red Riding Hood story.

p. 84: Most of the details from the sewer scene came straight from an episode of “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe, which I had to get off Netflix for this purpose.

p. 88: See the inspiration photo I used for the warehouse district here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235065332/

p. 94: In the ARC of Scarlet, it mentioned that the Rampion had guns that could be used in case of combat, but I deleted them in copyedits because I realized guns would make things too easy for the characters in Books 3 and 4.

p. 94: See the inspiration photo I used for the Rampion here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235460757/

p. 114: A lot of my research on wolves was conducted at Wolf Haven in Olympia, WA, a great organization that is working to conserve these beautiful animals. Learn more (and adopt a wolf of your own!) at http://www.wolfhaven.org.

p. 123: In early drafts, Wolf’s tattoo was “LSO962,” which he told Scarlet stood for “The Last of Society’s Outcasts.”

p. 126: As with Cinder, this book changed a lot during revisions. In the first draft, rather than being kidnapped, Scarlet’s grandmother was being kept as an indentured servant in America, and Scarlet and Wolf had to get money to buy her freedom (which he then won in a fight). Also, Wolf had amnesia. Scarlet’s father didn’t make an appearance until the third or fourth draft of the book.

p. 141: See my inspiration photo for Queen Levana here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235062493/

p. 161: Scarlet’s gun’s make and model is a “Leo 1272 TCP 380.” I took the gun name from a real gun manufacturer called Taurus, but changed it to Leo because that’s Scarlet’s astrological sign (her birthday is August 17). TCP is gun terminology meaning “tubing-conveyed perforating.” Whatever that is.

p. 192: I named Michelle after the Beatles song, which has some lyrics repeated in French. “Michelle, ma belle, sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble.”

p. 242: This is the scene that’s changed the least since the first draft, except it originally took place in the back of a semi-truck as Scarlet and Wolf were being smuggled from Canada into America in order to save her indentured-servant grandmother. Now on a maglev train, it remains one of my favorite chapters of the entire series.

p. 252: The missed question was: “Did Linh Cinder use her glamour on you in order to obtain the invitation to the ball?” Kai’s (truthful) answer is that he has no idea.

p. 272: I spent hours combing through the Google Maps streetview of Paris to write this chapter.

p. 274: I considered setting the Pack’s headquarters in the Paris catacombs, before deciding on the opera house.

p. 275: Again, hours were spent on the web site of the Palais Garnier, exploring their virtual tour, in order to get the details for this scene.

p. 275: See the inspiration photo for the opera house’s lobby here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936235460860/

p. 283: “The Queen’s Army,” the short prequel to Scarlet, tells more of the history between Wolf, Ran, and Thaumaturge Jael. Read more about my prequels here: https://www.marissameyer.com/books/short-stories/

p. 306: “Ze’ev,” a Hebrew name, and “Ran,” a Norse name, both mean “Wolf.”

p. 318: See my inspiration photo for the secret operation room here: http://pinterest.com/pin/165999936236705007/

p. 386: This scene originally took place in a fountain outside the opera house, until I realized that what I thought was a fountain on Google Maps was actually a subway entrance! I was very glad to later learn about a real fountain in the lower levels of the opera house. Changing the location was a pretty simple fix.

p. 436: There really are lava tubes below the surface of the moon. In my world, in addition to using them for soldier training grounds, Lunars also use them to travel in between the biodomes where they live (you’ll see more of this world in upcoming books). Regolith is also a real type of rock that covers almost the entire surface of the moon.

p. 443: Ironically, while tomatoes became a very important symbolic element between Wolf and Scarlet, I think raw tomatoes are gross. =P