Condensed Acknowledgements

If you made it here, it should come as no surprise to you when I say that I wrote an extensive "Acknowledgements" page at the end of my book! As I'm sure you can imagine, it's longwinded and opinionated. ;) And it contains many internet links that will not carry over into a fanfiction . net posting. So I'm going to do my best to condense it here for your information.

If you care to read the unabbreviated version, you can find it on my live journal page: autumn6435 . livejournal . com as Acknowledgements. I have marked it as Mature Adult, but only because livejournal will only show the entry title when an entry is tagged that way, rather than the whole entry. Since it is nearly 5,000 words, I'm trying to cut back on how much scrolling people have to do over on that page. But, while there is some mention of my opinions about intimacy, it obviously contains no explicit sexual material, violence, or profanity. :)

The reason I felt the need to create this type of resource was for the simple fact that I was unexpectedly able to incorporate so many parts of my life into this story as I wrote. And since I truly believe this information has the potential to change people's real lives for the better, I want you to be aware that it exists and have references to learn more if you care to. Please know that I'm including this simply for informational purposes. This is not meant to be advertising or propaganda in any form, and none of these authors have any idea that I integrated their techniques or philosophies into my creative work.

I'll try to keep this organized by simply mentioning the technique or concept, how it appeared in my story, and a way you can learn more if you want.

Female Fertility. Appears in the many lessons Arya gives to Eragon and Willow about the workings of the female reproductive system and the female menstrual cycle. An awesome book to learn more is Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. That book also touches on Lactational Amenorrhea Method, which appears in my story as the delayed return of female fertility that occurs as a result of a certain approach to breastfeeding. Another good book on how to make this happen for you is Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by Sheila Kippley. Weschler's book also teaches about the Shettles method, which is one way to attempt to influence the conception of either sex baby.

Natural, Pain-free Childbirth. Also appears in the many lessons Arya gives Eragon and Willow about how childbirth should be gentle and comfortable. There are tons of amazing books about this. Here are some of my favorites: Childbirth Without Fear by Grantly Dick-Read, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin, and Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method by Marie F. Mongan. Another awesome resource is A Child Is Born by Lennart Nilsson and Lars Hamberger. It contains amazing visual depictions of pregnancy at every stage. Those pictures are how I always visualized the babies looking whenever any of the Riders use their minds to reach them.

Breastfeeding. This comes up in my story so much. Here are some of the many different aspects of breastfeeding that I talk about in my book: on-demand, unscheduled approach to nursing; extended breastfeeding (nursing into toddlerhood and beyond); tandem nursing (nursing a newborn and toddler at the same time); the breast crawl (when a newborn 'crawls' to its mother's breast and latches itself on); nighttime nursing; engorgement; hand expression. I drew my inspiration for the Urgralgra approach to breastfeeding from a hilarious article I read about breastfeeding in Mongolia, where they truly do nurse into early childhood, revere breastfeeding and breast milk, and attribute the strength of their greatest wrestlers to long, illustrious breastfeeding careers. You really need to go see my other Acknowledgements page to follow that link and read that article. So funny! But beyond that, the best book on all of the above facets of breastfeeding is La Leche League's The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 8th Edition. Other great resources: Adventures in Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flower and Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma J. Bumgarner.

Placenta Encapsulation. This might have been surprising or even shocking to some readers, but it actually does happen in the real world, just as it did in the Urgralgra culture. I've never read a book about it, but I learned a lot by reading at placentabenefits . info (remove the spaces for your URL). Women have their placenta prepared in a special way so they can simply swallow capsules during the weeks of their post-partum (after pregnancy) recovery. That's slightly easier for most people to accept than simply consuming it raw, as Arya and Willow do, but to each her own! I had my placenta encapsulated after the birth of my third son and truly did notice a huge difference in my recovery.

Plant-based Diet. Christopher Paolini wrote the elven race (and eventually Dragon Riders) as herbivores. I simply kept it for congruency. But it was easy to write about since I was a vegetarian for over six years (recently I have eaten more meat, but it is still a sparing part of my diet). Best book I've ever read about the benefits of a plant-based diet is The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. Very scientifically based and compelling, if you've ever considered learning more about eating more plants!

Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET). Huh?! I know, I never called it that in my story, but this is referring to the whole section surrounding Willow's strange allergic reaction to Varhog and all of the treatments that happen to reverse it. That too was based on real-world techniques. Allergies are more far-reaching than most westernized doctors realize, and it is possible to be allergic to other people. Anyway, I wish I knew as much as Arya about this topic. The field of energetic healing and Chinese medicine is vast and ancient. I actually know very little about it, but what I do know I learned in a book by the woman who developed the aforementioned method, Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad called Say Good-bye to Illness. Very interesting and potentially life-changing for people with unresolved allergic conditions or unexplained medical conditions. Info also available at www . naet . com.

Elimination Communication. That's just how we sometimes refer to it in the good old United States, but I realize that many of my readers are from all parts of the world, so this might be a practice as familiar and natural as anything to some of you. This is the practice and approach the Urgralgra have in addressing their babies' pottying needs. And it's actually very common in cultures worldwide not to use diapers or nappies on their infants. I've done this with all of my sons. Very fun and very fulfilling. And they've all been "potty-trained" (though I never had to traditionally potty-train them) by around two years old. Good book: Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke. Good website: www . diaperfreebaby . org.

Sleep Sharing. The way Urgralgra view sleep and how it should be shared as a family, especially when young children are involved. Sometimes called co-sleeping or bed-sharing, this simply refers to the practice of keeping babies (or young children) near parents at sleep times. Again, a very common practice worldwide. Lots of great books and websites out there. Search any of those topics online to learn how to do it safely and enjoy all of the benefits of keeping little ones nearby at night!

Baby Wearing. The Urgralgra, and therefore Arya and Willow, all eventually rely on this method to carry their babies around and fly with them on their dragons. It's another very common, age-old practice worldwide. It's smart and convenient to tie a baby to your body! There are myriad ways to accomplish this. The variety of slings, wraps, carriers, and other devices available to strap a baby to its mother or father's body is endless. There are tons of resources for this too. You could start here: babywearinginternational . org.

Baby-Led Weaning. There is only a very brief mention of this in my story, when I write about how Arya introduces solid foods to Brom as he grows. This is a very common-sense approach to doing just that. Great book: Baby-Led Weaning by Gill Rapley.

And last but certainly not least, it should come as no surprise to anyone who read my story that I'm a religious person. As I've shared in my profile, I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I don't mean to be preachy, and I know that many spiritual beliefs might be held by the representation of readers from all around the world, so I'll simply summarize how my beliefs appeared in my story and allow you to learn more from there if you want. In no particular order:

· Love

· The concept of a Heavenly Father—or Father of our Spirits—and a Divine Son and Savior, Jesus Christ

· The concept of an Atonement, performed by Jesus Christ to redeem mankind from sin and death

· The eternal existence of our souls and that our bodies have spirits that existed before our life and will continue to exist after.

· Priesthood authority or power (the power responsible for creating the universe, our earth, and life within)

· Eternal families

· Immortality and eternal life

· Faith and Prayer

· The importance of marriage between man and woman and families

· The Law of Chastity (abstaining from sexual intercourse before marriage, only having sex with your lawful husband or wife, and remaining completely loyal after marriage)

· The sacred nature of the procreative power and that it must be reserved for marriage so each new life created will have a father and mother to care for and raise it

· Choice and Accountability, or that our choices in life will determine what our existence after will be like

· A spirit world where righteous spirits dwell in peace and wicked spirits wait in a type of prison after their mortal death

· Miraculous occurrences, such as life being restored after death or the appearance of heavenly beings to mortal men on earth

· Resurrection, or the permanent binding of our spirits to our physical bodies

· The purpose of our earthly lives as an opportunity to gain a physical body for our spirit, as a time to be tested and tried, and as a time to find joy in our families

· A force that opposes all good (aka Satan or the devil)

· Repentance and forgiveness

· Compassion and mercy

· The concept of foreordination, or where a spirit might be prepared for a certain calling during their mortal life before entering that mortal life

· Receiving blessings or rewards for righteous living

I have many other spiritual beliefs, but these are some that found expression in my story. In my opinion, these particular truths have the most potential to change someone's life forever. You can learn more about my beliefs or my church at www . lds . org or www . mormon . org. A book I love and believe to be as true and important as the Bible is The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ and this book touches on many of the doctrines mentioned above.

Anyway, my friends, I know this still ended up being long, though it's one-third the length of the full version! :) If none of this matters in the slightest to you, fine by me! I hope you still enjoyed The Cycle Continues and will share it with others who might likewise enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading!

Until we meet again, in this life or the next!

Much love,

~Autumn :)