Salt & Shadow: The Inspiration of Salina Turda

I’ve had a few people ask what the pictures on the site are of and it occurred to me that most people haven’t heard of this amazing place. Walking through the narrow tunnels, spiraling wood staircases, and modern glass elevator genuinely feels like you’re transported to a whole new world! I visited Salina Turda back in May 2025 and remember thinking that I wanted to incorporate elements of it into the book (The Price of Creation).

First, some background: Salina Turda is a salt mine in Transylvania with written documentation first naming it as far back as 1271 CE. Salt has always been important and this place stands as a testament to its role in antiquity all the way up to the 1930s.

When you enter the mine, you walk about a kilometer into the center of an inconspicuous hill in the middle of Transylvania. Once you’re deep into the shaft, you forget where and when you are as you make your way into various chambers showcasing mesmerizing salt striations and nearly two hundred year old machinery.

Readers of tPoC will be transported to this place when references to The Mountain and passages within/without it are made!

If you ever find yourself in Romania, I strongly suggest making the trek out to visit this hidden gem as the scale of the hidden world underneath our feet is revealed to you around every corner, down every shaft, and up and down 26 stories (wear comfortable shoes!).

https://www.salinaturda.eu/
TripAdvisor

-LFR

Hello World!

Hi!

My name is L.F.Rosales and I’m an up-and-coming author (hah) currently working on the editing/final touches of my debut novel, The Price of Creation!

I have been so humbled and touched by the interest friends, family, and even some randos have shown in my book and the creative process! I’ve never written anything or set up a site, so I’m learning as I go! I hope to update this blog with random bits and bobs that occur to me as I work on the tail-end of the creation process of my first book.

As I get updates on the parts of the business that I know nothing about, I’ll make sure to keep you all in the loop! Until I have more meaningful updates on the book, I’ll kick off this series with some background on the magical place that inspired much of the aesthetic elements of this site, Salina Turda! Make sure to check out that post!

I’m sure I’ll have more updates to come as it relates to the structure of my universe, but for now I am envisioning a series kicked off with The Price of Creation (tPoC), with a few cardinal installments like Book 2 (already researching and taking notes on it!), Book 3, and potentially some novellas in between for a few characters that I introduce throughout the series that I feel are intriguing enough to have their own one-shots that tie into a larger arc!

Can’t wait to take you all on this journey with me!

-LFR