Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Blog, page 27

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Chapter 5

A reminder note: If you want to know how to enter your name for the weekly giveaways, please see the November 30 post for details. I'm going to sound like such a broken record by the time all is said and done, but I don't want any of you to miss your opportunity.

And yes, you can go back an answer questions from days you missed for points!

Now for Chapter 5 . . .

PART ONEChapter 5
I have realized that if I keep writing up these read-along posts as long as all of these others, I’m going to end up with a total read-along word count as long as the novel itself! So, I’m going to cut back a little. Sorry, imps! But there will still be plenty of random little tidbits, hints, insights, etc. Just a little less wordy . . . .

Moving on!

Dame Willowfair: Foxbrush’s mother, the owner of Hill House, is scarcely mentioned throughout this entire adventure. She is a recluse to the max, and scarcely enough of a personality to be even enigmatic. The practical reason for this was that I didn’t want to deal with one more character as I was drafting this book (secret’s out!). But it also led to some interesting little tidbits of information which will be revealed in Shadow Hand. So keep your eyes open for future mentions of Foxbrush’s mother.

Contrasting coffees: When constructing a novel, one of the most important steps is establishing strong, individualized characters. And one of the best ways to establish a character is to contrast it to another character, allowing each to add to the substance of the other (just like in art, they say to define your lights by your shadows . . . you artists out there will know what I mean). Throwing two dissimilar personalities like Leo and Foxbrush into contrast with each other is always fun, and I enjoyed writing those little moments like the different ways they take their coffee. Could there be any two more dissimilar young fellows?

Poor Foxbrush: I know Foxbrush is the character everyone loves to loathe . . . but I must admit, I kind of like him, myself. This little scene where he asks if he can join Leo on his outdoor adventuring proves, I think that Foxbrush longs at least a little to be part of his cousin’s life. Perhaps he even longs to be as adventurous and daring.

In fact, perhaps there is more to the little milksop than meets the eye.

A boy climbed one path and a girl, some distance off, descended another. This little scene leading up to Leo and Rose Red meeting once more is one I have used several times as an example for why the omniscient narrative is, in a word, awesome. I get criticized by modern CBA novelists on a regular basis for my use of this narrative voice, which is considered dreadfully out of fashion at the moment (despite the brilliance and popularity of such novelists as Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett). But if I did not take the omniscient narrative and step outside an individual character’s point-of-view, I would not be able to observe the scene from this sky-high vantage and watch my two protagonists on their collision course. It’s fun, it’s scenic, and it paints a dynamic picture that would not have come to be if I had limited myself to a strict third-person narrative.

So, despite criticisms and dismissals, I will continue to write in this narrative voice and glory in the freedom it gives me. And I will continue to urge other young novelists to give it a try, to see what magic they might create from an omniscient point-of-view. 

Hints: There are little hints as to Rosie’s identity . . . or, not her identity so much as simply what she is. For instance, we are told several times over that she is surprisingly strong. She carries her buckets without apparent strain, even though they are quite large for her little child’s frame. And she hauls Leo up over the rise (and later knocks him flat on his back) without any effort at all . . . which certainly impresses our young hero! So much for her being “just” a girl.

It was interesting for me to work with a female character like this. So many heroines are defined by their appearance, their charms, the talents. But Rosie’s face isn’t seen at all, not until the very end of the book. She doesn’t have any apparent talents or charms. Indeed, her great skill is her strength, which is singularly unfeminine. And yet, Rose Red is not at all mannish. She was a challenge to work with, but so interesting the whole while, and I quite loved her.

Questions on the Text:

1. What are your thoughts on cousin Foxbrush at this stage in the story? Love-to-hate him? Feel kind of sorry for him? Jury still out?

2. Which of Rose Red’s characteristics make her most interesting to you? How is she like a typical heroine? How is she unlike?

3. Why do you think Leo was so ready to give up the monster hunt?

4. Any favorite lines?

Q&A

Allison Ruvidich wants to know: "My question is: how old is Leo at the beginning of 'Veiled Rose' and at the beginning of 'Moonblood'?"

Leo is eleven at the beginning of Veiled Rose and approximately twenty-two at the beginning of Moonblood. (I had to do a little bit of math there to figure that out!)

Meredith wants to know: "Since Faerie kings and queens have three lives, is it safe to assume the Dragon King does as well? By this I mean, will he be a prominent villain in another book, or can we expect to meet new villains in each and every novel to come?"

Good question, Meredith! But actually, the Dragon is not a Faerie. As the series progresses and we learn more of him and his Sister, you will see that he is a being very different from Faeries and mortals both. He is an entity much more powerful and doesn't need three lives.

(SPOILERS) But I will say that when he is dead, he is dead. When we see him killed at the ending of Heartless, that's it for the Dragon. But we will see much more of him in the series because I am going back and telling many stories of the world before the Dragon's death and all the events leading up to it. Basically, I started the series at the climax, and now I am going back and around to so that my readers will eventually be able to see his death (and Aethelbald's claiming of Una as his bride) in the context of the whole.

Sarah wants to know: "Will we ever see any more of Una? I know her story is kind of over, but I'm curious about what her life is like now."

Not for a while if ever, I'm sorry to say. I have tentative plans of bringing her back in much later on (many, many books from now). But the fact is, poor Una was so HATED by so many people when Heartless first released, I feel a bit gun shy when it comes to writing about her again. She might make an appearance or two in some novellas, however, so keep an eye out for those! And like I said, maybe many books down the road . . .

Jemma wants to know: "Is Beana's name Leta?"

Actually no! Though I'm not surprised many people have thought so . . . However, there are several important "Ladies Aiven" who will be featured in the Goldstone Wood series. I hate to giveaway spoilers, so if you'll excuse some crazy vagueness, I'll tell you this--because of things that happened to Lady Leta in Dragonwitch, the family of Aiven becomes an object of interest to . . . a certain Faerie race.

Wow, that sounds terribly enigmatic! But stick with me until Book 9, and things will begin to come clear, I promise.

Rebekah wants to know: "If Veiled Rose ever becomes a movie (and I suppose all us imps hope for that), how would you want Rosie's veils to be handled? I mean, you have her taking off her wrappings all through out it, but never tell us WHAT she looks like until the very end; and you can pull that off because in a book you don't have to describe her. But in a movie you couldn't do that. So, anyway, what would you want them to do?"

Wow, that's a tough question, Rebekah! I've never seriously thought about these books becoming movies. I've always figured they were too complicated and interconnected to really do well on the big screen. But I suppose I would prefer to simply never have Rosie unveil herself at all. Or if she does, have the lighting be such that we don't see what she looks like. I think the secret of her appearance is that important.

But this is why I prefer novels to movies (and why I don't go in for the so-called "cinematic writing techniques" popular in modern fiction). You can do so much MORE with a novel while playing with the reader's imagination!

Rebekah also wants to know: "Will Rosie have a role (however small) in 'Shadow Hand'?"

Um . . . a very small role. Very, very small. Important! But very small.

But if it makes you feel any better, I do intend to write a novel about her after she becomes Queen Varvare! The beginnings of that novel have been brewing over the last year, and it's starting to look really exciting. (And yes, Lionheart will be in it too.) I think when it comes together it will be surprising and satisfying to readers. But in order for it to work its absolute best, I need to go back and tell Vahe and Oeric's story first.

If I have not answered your question, I do apologize! And please do alert me if I've somehow skipped you. I want to answer all of these questions, but it's all too easy for me to let one or two of them slip. So don't hesitate to give me a heads-up if I need it!

And thanks for all these great questions, Rebekah, Jemma, Sarah, Meredith, and Allison. And all of you who have asked questions so far. It's a lot of fun to get to speculate and discuss some of these things . . . and to drop hints of future plans. . . .

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Chapter 4

Let me quickly get this business out of the way: For those of you who may be jumping on board this read-along today . . . if you want info on how to enter your name in the weekly  giveaways, please read the November 30 post.

EXTRA NOTE: Sorry I haven't gotten to yesterday's questions yet. I'm going to try to catch up on all the questions for tomorrow's post!

And now that's done, and we can pick up where we left off . . .

PART ONEChapter 4
The man she called father: Did anyone else, when reading the narrative, notice that Mousehand is never overtly referred to as Rose Red’s “father?” He is referred to in the text as the man she called father. When speaking of him, she calls him her “old Dad.” But does that mean he is her actual biological parent? Foreshadowing . . .

I believe somewhere in this novel the name of Rose Red’s real father is mentioned. Keep your eyes open for it.

Imaginary Friend: I like how we are told that Rose Red’s Imaginary Friend is a prince, and that the explanation for this is because Rose Red is a romantic child. But that this prince—who is imaginary—appears in the form of a wood thrush. It really couldn’t get much more convoluted! But it makes perfect sense in her mind, and she never bothers to question it. Of course her imaginary friend is a prince, and of course the prince is also a wood thrush! Why would this not be?

But she does question the reality of the wood thrush. While she doesn’t quibble about interact with it—even, in her loneliness, engaging in heartfelt conversation with it—she still carefully refers to it as “imaginary.” As though she is afraid of losing her own, reasoning mind. She doesn’t have much else going for her, and she certainly is surrounded by her share of strange entities: a talking goat, this imaginary friend, and the mysterious Dream.

No wonder she is so desperate for friendship with a “real” boy like Leo!

The town bells ringing: While it is small, this section speak of Rose Red listening to the town bells ringing out “fetes and feast days, weddings and funerals,” is a tiny nod to Quasimodo from Notre Dame de Paris, by Victor Hugo. Or rather, more specifically, to the French-language musical. In the novel (which is fantastic, by the way, and which I did prefer to Les Miserable . . . am I allowed to say that?) Quasimodo is the bell-ringer of the cathedral, and it is his duty to ring out all the various ceremonial bells. In the stage play, there is a sad, strangely exciting, and moving song called “Les Cloches,” in which Quasimodo sings out the all the various ceremonies for which he rings the bells. And he names the bells as his only friends. It’s a song that brilliantly illustrates his own lonely isolation.

Rose Red is a similar type of character to Quasimodo—isolated for some fault in face or form, always hiding from the eyes of others. Longing for connection with the world at large. So I included this tiny little nod to Quasimodo in general and that song in particular here, in the first scene we see from Rose Red’s perspective. Thus I used bells emphasize Rose Red’s seclusion and her craving for human contact.

I want a real friend: I do think it’s a bit telling about Rose Red as a character that, when the wood thrush tells her something she doesn’t like to hear, she responds immediately with, “I want a real friend.” I don’t remember if, when I originally wrote it, I meant for her to sound sad and pathetic. But when I read it this time, I heard her voice in my head as quitepetulant!

The nanny: At last we meet the mysterious nanny whom Rose Red has mentioned several times. And it turns out, it is possible for a girl like her to have a nanny after all—a nanny goat.

Beana: Beana is quite possibly my favorite character in this book. She’s one of my favorite characters in the series, though her own personalstory has yet to be told. She is a character about whom I’ve been writing since I was seventeen. I wrote a novella which I called Lord Aiven’s Daughter, in which she was the star. That story was the longest work I’d set in Goldstone Wood up to that point, and I was so pleased to discover what I could do with pen and paper! Until then, most of my longer works hadn’t been very successful. (For those of you who know the series, other characters featuring in that story included: Eanrin, Oeric, a fellow named Capaneus, his brother, Melesio, and the Lady Life-in-Death. Lumé and Hymlumé were prominently featured as well, though they did not possess those names at the time, and were simply the Lordly Sun and the Lady Moon.)

Beana’s inclusion in Veiled Rose was something of a whim. I started drafting the first version of this story, starting from Rose Red’s point of view. That version started with the first line, “Rose Red did not want the old man she called father to die. Unfortunately he did not consult her opinion on the subject. He just died.” It was very sad. I had her go about making some small preparations for his body and then figuring out what to do next. And she had to milk her goat.

The goat struck me as a possible source of comfort to my grieving little heroine. So I had her start talking to her. At first, the goat replied with nothing but goaty noises—“Bah!” specifically. But suddenly, when Rose Red asked her, “Where else could we go?” Beana turned to her and responded, “Practically anywhere.”

I was startled. I stared at what had just happened on the page, completely taken aback. I had not intended Beana to be a particularly extraordinary goat. She was just a goat! Someone for Rose Red to talk to. But now she has an opinion? And a contrary one, at that!

Intrigued, I decided to let the scene play out, and continued writing it in a way that felt natural. And Beana completely stole the scene, and my heart! And I decided to let her be (SPOILER) a Faerie knight, just like Eanrin. And I even decided to let her be the heroine from Lord Aiven’s Daughter, cast in a very new role.

Of course, that original scene between Rose Red and Beana has long since been scrapped, and only a few lines made it into this version. But the heart of it is still there . . . Beana herself.

Tethered in the yard: In light of the above revelation, it is pretty funny to me to see Beana introduced into the series as a goat tethered in the yard! LOL.

“Hen’s teeth!” Here we see Rose Red’s euphemism for the stronger “Dragon’s teeth.” I think later on somewhere Beana scolds Rose Red for saying, “Dragon’s teeth.” Doesn’t want her charge using naughty phrases! I like Beana. She may be a goat, but she did her best to bring this girl up right.

That Other: I did slip in a small reference to (SPOILER!) the unicorn, though it doesn’t come into the story until Moonblood. While I didn’t have room in this story to deal overtly with the unicorn, I figured it was far too important to not at least mentiononce or twice. So when Beana considers the dangers of leaving the mountain, she thinks of “that Other unlike all others.”

Into the Dream: In Heartless, I introduced a mode of writing dreams that included a present-tense narrative. This was done to create a sense of “outside time.” When Rose Red enters her dream, we once more return to the present-tense narrative from book 1, and we watch her pass over landscapes that look just like those in which she lives. But inside her dream, other things live, other things move. Inside her dream lurks the person she refers to as her Dream. But who may not prove to be a dream at all . . . indeed, he may prove to be a nightmare.

I find working with the Dream World—and, subsequently, both the Death of Dreams and Lady of Dreams Realized—challenging. And rewarding. But challenging. Because it is a realm outside of nor mortal life, and constantly changing depending on the mind of the one dreaming. Rose Red’s dreams are straightforward. She pictures landscapes like those she encounters every day. But even these humble dreams can be invaded by the Death of Dreams himself.

I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but Golden Daughter deals in large part with the Dream World. So it’s interesting for me to go back and look at these early glimpses of that world as seen through Rosie’s eyes and, later on, through the eyes of the Death of Dreams, who lives and moves in that realm. Helps remind me of what I’ve already done and established.

Princess: The Dream always calls Rose Red “princess.” I debated about this for a little while, just as I debated mention “that Other.” After all, Rose Red’s identity and status are not ultimately revealed in this book. Would it be more frustrating to readers for me to include it here but not compete it, or more frustrating for the second book to come out of the blue? My books are not normally so dependent upon one another as Veiled Rose and Moonblood are, and there were definitely some unique challenges. Again, I decided in the end that it would be better to introduce the them so that everything was properly established for Moonblood. Some reviewers have taken issue with that, rating the book down because of all the “unresolved plot threads.” *shrugs* Can’t win them all . . . .

The shining white bridges: I had to smile at that reference. Those famous bridges of Southlands, connecting the baronies which are separated by deep, forest-filled gorges . . . some say they were built by Faerie hands. Do you want to know who built them? Do you want to know where they came from and why?

Because I’m going to tell you quite soon now . . . 

“She will take your own two hands
To save your ancient, sorrowing lands.”

Let me kiss you: The Dream urges her to let him kiss her and end their differences. But readers of Heartless have heard that suggestion before . . . 

(SPOILERS!)

It was interesting for me to try and introduce the Dragon in a new way for this book. Because several of the major events in this story parallel events in Heartless, I knew I ran a serious risk of the two stories sounding repetitive. I wanted to make certain that they felt completely different to the reader. And one of the most important things was making certain the Dragon, while remaining consistent with the established character from Book 1, also felt like a new character full of new possibilities.

In the original version of Veiled Rose—the one my publishing house rejected—I actually didn’t bring the Dragon in so soon. He didn’t appear until midway through the book, when he set upon the Eldest’s House seemingly out of nowhere. We learned over the course of several following chapters that it was Rose Red he sought.

In this version, however, I decided that I needed to take the Dragon in a different direction. So what was the opposite of the surprise visit Una experienced in Heartless? A long, slow manipulation. A twisted form of “courtship,” if you will, with the Dragon trying to befriend and influence Rose Red over the course of her life. All in her mind, of course—he doesn’t appear in any physical sense until much later. This is a battle for her soul, and it goes on in the privacy of her head and heart.

It was fun for me to experiment with this new approach for the Dragon, which also opened up other possibilities for him in later books. For the most part, the Dragon is much more explosive and action-oriented than his sister (more on her later), but he can play the subtle manipulator when need be. He’s just not as good at it as his sister is . . .

Question on the Text:

1. For you bookish types out there . . . there are tons of little “literary nods” to various great works of literature throughout Veiled Rose. The mentioning of the bells is an example. Can you find any others? Remember, these links can be overt or subtle. They can even be consciously and unconsciously done! That’s the fun of literary analysis. Perhaps you can see a theme or connection which I might have missed?

2. Rose Red tells the wood thrush that she wants a friend that “everyone knows and everyone sees is my friend.” What does this say about her as a character? And, for those of you who have read the book before, how do you think this wish motivates her as the story progresses?

3. So how many of you, when you first read Veiled Rose, were surprised when Beana started talking? Or did you figure, “Eh, it’s a fairy tale! Of course the goat talks”?

4. When Beana warns Rose Red not to take Leo back to the mountains, she also reminds her what might happen should Leo see the monster. And poor Rose Red hopes that perhaps he “won’t see it.” What monster is she talking about, do you think?

5. Any favorite lines?

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Chapter 3

Welcome back to the read-along!

Quick reminder, if you want to ask questions, please do so in the comments, and I will get back to them as soon as can be, posting my answers either in the next day's post or at the end of the week (depending on how crazy my schedule is). And if you're wondering how to get your name entered in the weekly giveaways, check out the November 30 post.

Now, we left off yesterday with our strange little heroine vanishing. What will happen next?

PART ONEChapter 3
Vanished: We open this passage with a rather baffled Leo, turning this way and that  in his efforts to find the mysterious girl. But she truly seems to have vanished in midair! Only then does our hero realize that she probably knows a whole lot moreabout the mountain monster he seeks than anyone else he’s talked to. So, determined to find her, he sets out in pursuit, scrambling up the mountainside in what he hopes will prove the right direction. He doesn’t even know her name at this point to call after her!

But he is starting to realize that she is not like the other girls he knows—all the “pretty little Starflowers and Daylilies and Dewdrops.”

Hmmmm. I’ve had two Starflowers and one Daylily as major characters in my stories. Maybe it’s time to start finding space for a Dewdrop as well. Though I can’t say I like the name quite as much.

Up the Mountain: In his futile pursuit of the girl—who won’t be found if she does not wish to be—Leo climbs much further up this particular mountain than is maybe a good idea. Indeed, he climbs even beyond the tree line, up in the bare rocky slopes where the air is cold and thin. Though this isn’t the tallest mountain in the range, since the narrative describes the sister mountains as looming above him.

Poor Leo begins to realize that he’ll probably be out after dark. That he might not know the way home at all . . .

“I led you up the mountain.” Suddenly, the girl appears above him and motions for him to follow her. She even claims that she led him up here, though Leo hadn’t caught a glimpse of her during his climb. Still, he did somehow manage to follow her . . . Perhaps she led him by some means or method of which he is unaware? Again, there is a lot more to this girl than meets the eye.

Which is where the veil symbolism comes into play . . .

But I won’t deal with that here and now. Veils are such an important symbol in this story, I’m sure we can find a better place to discuss them as things progress. But do consider them, not just as a prop or an article of clothing, but as a symbol in this little tale.

Power switch: I do like how swiftly the power has switched from Leo to Rose Red. Leo has gone from trying to chase the annoying girl away from him to doing everything he can to keep up with her, even to the point of allowing himself to be manipulated by her. Perhaps the power hasn’t switched at all . . . perhaps it’s only Leo’s perception of power. After all, he never could make her leave him alone or control her in any way in the previous chapter. She has a mind of her own. But she can lead him, even without him realizing it, and she can convince him to do things he doesn’t even particularly want to do anymore. So it looks like Rose Red might be the dominant one of these two after all.

But is that even the case? After all, she is obviously so eager to please him . . .

The Path: Here we get the first indication of what types of abilities our heroine might enjoy—including the ability to see a Path which our hero cannot. Readers of the Goldstone Wood series will guess that this Path might be a Faerie Path, even, existing not in the mortal world, but in the Between. Leo, as a mortal, would not be able to see it or use, certainly not on his own.

But a girl with a little fey blood in her veins might be able to perceive things in the worlds beyond. And once more, she leads Leo in ways he cannot understand.

The Circle of Faces: The legend about the giants turned to stone is an interesting one. If the story is true—which it very well might be—I would imagine those giants lived in the Far World of Faerie, and not actually in this mortal world. But when they were turned to stone in their world, it could easily have had a ripple effect into this world, thus forming these mountains.

It’ll be interesting to see, as the series progresses, if the giants ever wake up . . . though the text does say that they have “crumbled into mere mountains,” which might mean the giants are beyond recall. Who knows! There are a lot of books to come. (I will admit here and now that I don’t have any specific plans to wake up these giants. But I never know where exactly this series will take me, so it might happen one day. It’s an intriguing thought.)

Maw: Oh, dear. I have a pet peeve against the word “maw” because it is SO TREMENDOUSLY OVERUSED in fantasy fiction. And here I’ve gone ahead and used it in one of my own books! Sigh. Well, I’ll just be extracertain it doesn’t creep into any more of my manuscripts . . .

Let that be a lesson to you, writers all. Beware your own pet peeves.

The wolf’s head cave: As many of you may already know, Goldstone Wood started out a series of short stories and novellas set in this world. One of the earliest stories I wrote was “The Legend of Two Brothers,” which is described by Leo in this chapter (more on that in a moment). One of the others was “Maid Starflower and the Wolf Lord,” which eventually turned into the novel Starflower.

The wolf’s head cave first appeared in that short story version of Starflower. It is (SPOILER ALERT!) an opening from the Netherworld into the mortal world, and is quite deliciously creepy. So, though I had only the most vague plans at the time to write the Starflower novel, I remember the short story while writing Veiled Rose and particularly remember that cave. So I decided to lift it out of the short story and put in here as a nice lurking place for the as-yet-undisclosed villain of this story.

Sadly, the cave never made it into the novel Starflower. Because I had placed it so far down in the southern mountains of this country, I felt odd to pick it up and shift it north to be closer to the Place of the Teeth where all of that Starflowerdrama takes place. I suppose I could have said that, because it’s not really of the mortal world, it could shift. But that felt like cheating. So Starflower had to make her epic flight through the mountains without the creepy addition of the wolf’s head cave . . . all because I thought it would be a fun thing to add into Veiled Rose. LOL!

The cave had also been part of the short story “Legend of Two Brothers,” which is mentioned in this chapter and which forms a significant part of the storyline in book 5, Dragonwitch. So, I had an opportunity to bring the cave back for a little cameo come Dragonwitch, which was fun. And maybe I’ll find another story in which to give it a moment prominence later on.

The Names:  As I said above, the “Legend of Two Brothers” was one I played around with for quite a few years before putting it down in this novel. There are several little stories about Etanun and Akilun tucked away in various notebooks (which I still have somewhere . . . up in the attic, maybe?). They didn’t go by those names back then. I gave them the much more allegorical names. Something like StrongArm and StoutHeart, I think. Not those names exactly, but something rather similar. When it came time for their little moment in Veiled Rose, I decided to give them names based on  my half-invented Faerie language. Thus they were rechristened.

I admit, I sometimes wish now that I had given Etanun a different name. Several people have complained about how much “Etanun” and “Eanrin” look alike . . . and it’s true! But since Eanrin hardly features in this book at all, I never noticed the similarity until long after Veiled Rose was in print, while I was drafting Dragonwitch. Whoops. Sorry, readers! My bad.

Ashiun is another unusual name, and one I’m not quite sure I like. It’s based on Asha, which is “hope” in my Faerie language. According to my half-invented Faerie language, the form of the word that would make for a pluralized name—a name that incorporates more than one person—would be Ashiun. Thus they became the Brothers Ashiun, which means the Brothers Hope (nice and allegorical if you only know the Faerie language!). But even then, I thought “Ashiun” sounded odd, and I almost changed it.

But then, when Leo said, “Ashiun!” it seemed so natural for Rose Red to answer, “Bless you,” that I couldn’t bear to change it after all. Oh, what we do for the sake of a giggle!

I like the little fun-poking at these odd Faerie names: “Leo preferred the legends of his own kingdom in which the heroes had names he could pronounce . . .” Heheh. And, of course, all the Southlander names are made up of English words, so none of my English readers, at least, have trouble pronouncing them either. A blessing in a fantasy novel!

Leo the Dramatist: Because I decided to tell the legend itself via Leo’s perspective on it, I didn’t get to use the more prettily-written story . . . which features instead as the prologue of Dragonwitch! But I enjoyed “translating” it into Leo’s boyhood memory of the story he had been taught, complete with his sound-effects.

“She came bursting from the Far World in a great POOF!”
“Poof?” The girl looked unimpressed.
“You know what I mean.”(p. 37)

Leo definitely displays his flair for the dramatic in this scene! It’s no wonder chooses the future profession he does later in the story . . .

Near and Far: This interlude is particularly interesting in that it is the first solid information about several important aspects of the Goldstone Wood universe. For instance, Leo explains to Rose Red about the Far World of Faerie—which he declares isn’t real. So we first learn (at least, I think we first learn. Remind me, imps, did I talk about the Far World and the Near in Heartless?I might have, but I don’t have my copy on hand for reference) about the two different worlds which are separated, we learn later, by the Between.

Halisa, Asha, and the Houses of Light: We also learn about the sword, Halisa—which Leo also calls Fireword, which is its Southlander name—and the Asha Lantern. And we hear about the Houses of Light as well, though Leo doesn’t call them that. He describes them simply as “enormous halls with doors opening east and west. And when the older brother shone the light of his lantern inside them, the glow remained for years afterwards.” I don’t think we see anything of these great houses again until Dragonwitch. But here they are established for the first time as part of the lore of this world. A fun connection!

The Dragon: We also are introduced—or reintroduced for those of you who have read Heartless—to the Dragon. He is, of course, one of the most important characters in this novel, so I had to start getting references to him in early. (Besides the curses of “Dragon’s teeth!”)

The Dragonwitch is also given an introduction in this book. I don’t believe I mentioned her in Heartless, but she is one of the oldest characters in the Goldstone Wood world, and I knew I wanted to start giving her references early in the series in order set up for her novel. So she is introduced here with Leo’s story, and later on makes a chilling appearance . . . but you’ll have to wait for that bit.

Leo also introduces the important point about Faerie kings and queens possessing three lives . . . which comes back as a particularly important storyline come Moonblood! So pay attention to that little tidbit.

“What’s the good of a story that ain’t got a happy endin’?” Heh. This is a question I faced over and over again back when Veiled Rosefirst released, and I was foolish enough to read reviews. Not everyone liked how I chose to end this book, that’s for sure! But, as Leo says here, “Maybe it does have a happy ending. At least, when it’s actually complete . . . there might be a story out there somewhere to make it happy.”

Maybe there is. Or maybe a bunch of stories. As Leo says, “I suppose you have to read all the legends together to know for sure.” I suppose you’re right, Leo. I suppose you’re right . . . 

This little section also got me into some trouble later on with Dragonwitch. (SPOILERS!) I don’t want to write something that’ll give anything away for those who haven’t read Dragonwitch yet . . . but for those of you who have, you should be able to follow what I mean! When I wrote the ending of that story, my editors complained. They said that Rose Red, in this section of Veiled Rose, had implied that the ending of Etanun and Akilun's story would be different. That certain characters would have a “happy ending,” and that a “happy ending” had to mean . . . well, not what I chose to make it mean.

But I would argue that the story of the Brothers Ashiun does have a happy ending. One which I think even Rose Red would approve should she ever learn it.

“Plan my assault”: Though Rose Red suggests that Leo will have to enter the cave in order to discover whether or not the monster is inside, Leo says that he should probably “retire and plan his assault” first. Is our intrepid hero making excuses again?

When Rose Red once more mentions her “nanny,” Leo suddenly relaxes. He believes that she must be making up having a “nanny,” so perhaps she’s making up all this nonsense about monsters as well.

Because Leo is already realizing that he would much prefer pretending to be a hero than actually being a hero. Oh, this boy! He has such a long way to go.

Names: Leo and Rose Red finally exchange names at the end of the story. Names are an important theme in my series—not so much in this book, but in later books very much so. So I like this little interlude where they finally share their names with each other.

The funny thing is, neither one of them has given the other a real name. One of them has purposefully withheld the truth. The other does not know the truth . . .

Questions:

1. Leo and Rose Red are very different people, displaying very different strengths and weaknesses. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Of the two, who do you think is the stronger character? Who has the most control in this relationship?

2. For those of you who have read the other stores in this series: When Leo and Rose Red exchange names, neither one of them is actually telling the truth. Since names are such an important symbol in this series, what do you think this little exchange then means for these two characters? What do you think it reveals about the two of them? What does it foreshadow?

3. So my big fear in sharing Leo’s version of the Brother’s Ashiun story was that no one would be able to take it seriously should they ever encounter it in a more serious form later on in the series. Now that Dragonwitchhas released, what do you readers think? Did you find the prologue of that book a little harder to swallow having already heard Leo’s dramatization of it? Was it made more interesting because you’d heard a little about it before?

4. Any favorite lines?

Q & A

Caitlyn wants to know: "At the beginning of the chapter it mention's the Wolf Lord's ghost (I've read this book before). Is the Wolf Lord in this book later, or do we meet the Wolf Lord in another novel?"

SPOILERS: Yes, the Wolf Lord does make an appearance in this book later on, briefly. And in my fourth novel, Starflower, the Wolf Lord is the primary antagonist, and he is quite creepy. You should check it out!

Caitlyn also wants to know: "Why does every character either have an animal's/flower name attached, just curious?"

The reason for this is that when I wrote Heartless I really wanted the cowardly prince to be named "Lionheart" for the sake of the dramatic contrast. It then became something of a game to make all of the characters in his realm have names that matched his: King Hawkeye, Maid Starflower, Captain Catspaw, etc.

I have to admit, if I could go back and do it over again, I probably wouldn't have tried this! Coming up with "Southlander" style names is a bit frustrating, a constant battle with cheesiness. I even named a character "Darkwing" in my fourth book, Starflower. After it was in print I realized, "Oh, no! Everyone's going to think of Darkwing Duck!"

And now you'll all think of Darkwing Duck too. Or maybe not. Maybe Darkwing Duck was before your time, and I'm simply dating myself but am otherwise okay . . .

Anyway, Southlander names are a bit of a hassle. But I'm committed now, so there's no turning back. LOL.

Allison Ruvidich wants to know: "My question is, so far the first six books of the series follow, more or less, a general plot arc, with a similar cast of characters. In future Tales of Goldstone Wood books, do you plan on going in a whole new direction, or can we expect to see familiar characters in them?"

Oh, yes, all of the stories will continue to be as heavily connected as ever. There will be new characters--just like in Dragonwitch, when our main protagonists were an entirely new cast, but Eanrin and Imraldera carried on from the previous books. Book 7, Golden Daughter will be featuring both new and familiar characters, though the main heroine--the titular Golden Daughter--is new. The major characters of Book 8 have been referenced in the first five of my published novels, some by name, others by association. You'll continue to see dramatic connections, and each book will make the previous books appear that much more complex. Book 7 sheds some interesting light on events in Book 1, etc.

But the main character who continues through all the books planned (so far) is Eanrin. He doesn't appear very much in Veiled Rose, but in all of the other novels, he plays a pretty significant role.

Now the novellas are a different story altogether. Because those are little shorts, they will for the most part be stand-alone tales set within the same world (and Eanrin won't be in most of them). Goddess Tithe is heavily connected with Veiled Rose, but the next novella will be much more stand-alone.

Though I'll give you this hint: the next novella features Akilun . . . Etanun a little bit too, but mostly Akilun.

Anonymous (Hi, Anonymous! Do you want to give us a name to call you by? I don't mind calling you Anonymous, but it seems a bit unfriendly . . . I might just pick a name for you. Maybe Southlander name . . . heheh.) Anyway, Anonymous wants to know: "Heartless and Veiled Rose time period overlap each other. Was it hard to write that way?"

Yes and no. These early parts of Veiled Rose weren't difficult because they didn't need to coincide with anything in Heartless, so I could pretty much do what I wanted. I needed to make certain that Leo's age matched up with Heartless and with (SPOILERS!) the timeline of his five year exile from Southlands.

It was difficult, however, to write the overlapping scenes. Obviously, Leo's experiences in Parmuvir are a major part of his life and story, so I couldn't skip over them. The climax of his story is directly involved with his dealings with Una. But I needed to try to find away to make those overlapping scenes feel fresh and interesting in the context of this story. I couldn't simply rewrite what I had already done.

Telling those scenes from Leo's perspective did make for an interesting change. Most of Heartless is seen through Una's eyes, but Leo's perspective is quite different. That definitely helped! But, yes, those parts of the story were quite a challenge.

All of Rose Red's story, however, was pretty smooth sailing. Other than making certain the timeline matched up, I could go where I pleased with her narrative.

Anonymous also wants to know: "Will Rose Red be in Shadow Hand? Say yes!"

Oh, you really want those spoilers, don't you?

Well . . . Rose Red is important in Shadow Hand. Not vitally important, but important to one character in particular. I'll tell you that much. Other than that, I hate to say.

(SPOILERS!) I will tell you that I do plan to write another book about Rose Red after she becomes Queen Varvare. And yes, Lionheart will be in that book too . . . but that will probably be a few years yet. I need to write the story of Vahe and Oeric first. And Beana.

Sara wants to know: "Ooh...how much of the next book is foreshadowed in that snippet of a poem?"

Quite a lot of it, actually! And those of you who have read Dragonwitch will have an even better idea what it's talking about.  But there's much more to the poem and much more to the book as well.

Athelas Hale wants to know: "Leo really is a very realistic little boy. Was there someone that you based him off of?"

I grew up with three brothers, so young Leo is a combination of all three of them. If I had to pick one brother he is most like--probably my middle brother, who is the most clownish, the most charming, the most handsome, and, by way of interesting contrast, the most insecure. But really all three of them inspired me.

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Chapter 2

Moving right along now with Chapter 2 of our read-along! Remember, you can read the November 30 post if you have any questions on how to get your name entered in the weekly giveaways. And I am ready and willing to answer any questions you might have (as soon as I can).

Now, what did Leo see in the forest the day before . . . ?

PART ONEChapter 2
Excuses: It’s too rainy to play outside. Really, it’s much too nasty, and who wants to go out in all that mess?

But a hero wouldn’t let such things stop him.

I do appreciate that Leo recognizes the excuses he is making in this scene. In fact, his guilt at what he suspects may be cowardice does eventually drive him out of doors and back up the mountain . . . again, character foreshadowing! As time goes on and the stories develop, Leo continues to make excuses for his actions. But will he always be as sensitive, as aware of his own cowardice? Or will years of excuse-making dull his perspective?

Long Algebraic Equations: Okay, we knew from chapter 1 that we would never have anything in common with  Foxbrush. But seriously, the kid  amuses himself by solving long algebraic equations! What is wrong with this child?

Various games and toys: I like seeing some of the toys and games Leo has with him up in the mountains. Chess, for one—did you notice in chapter 1 what he intended to do with the chess pieces?—and now marbles. Reminds me a bit of Felix’s “game of sticks” referenced in Heartless. I think Leo and Felix, had they been closer both in age and geography, probably would have gotten on really well together. Have I mentioned any other toys for characters? I don’t remember. Keep your eyes open for them.

Heroic References! Did you see? Those of you who have read later in the series? Did you see the foreshadowing? But of course you did! It seems a bit random when read out of context with the rest of the series, but now that those later books are either out or soon to be out, it’s kind of fun, I think! Sight-of-Day who stood up to the Dragonwitch . . . Maid Starflower, Southland’s most beloved heroine, who battled the dreadful Wolf Lord . . .

And best of all, the enigmatic reference to King Shadow Hand, who bargained away his own two hands to a powerful Faerie queen for the sake of protecting his kingdom. Now there is a story worth telling, don’t you think?

Here is a snippet from the “Ballad of Shadow Hand” as can be read (if you’re a Southlander) in Eanrin’s Rhymes for Children. Leo had an illustrated copy growing up (as you will earn when the novel Shadow Hand releases). It’s a much longer ballad, and I can’t share it with you in its entirety here. But I thought you might like a taste of the story young Leo knew, and the hero to whom he compares himself:

O! Shadow Hand of Here and There,
Follow where you will
Your fickle, fleeing, fiery Fair
O'er woodlands, under hill.

She'll not be found save by the stone,
The stern and shining Bronze
Where Crooked stands the Mound alone
Thorn-clad and sharp with awns.

How pleasant are the Faerie folk
Who dwell beyond your time.
How pleasant are your aged Kinfolk
 Of olden, swelt'ry clime.

But dark the tithe they pay, my son,
To safely dwell beneath that sun!

A Miserable Hike: Poor Leo, hiking through the rain. It’s cold up in the mountains too, despite how far south this country is.

Personally, I rather like a good explore in the rain, or at least in the drizzle. I grew up in England, so you either learn to love the drizzle, or you spend your life sulking. My brothers I spent many a happy later afternoon with Wellies on our feet and slickers over our shoulders and hats on our heads, tramping up hill and over dale, watching for goblins and generally enjoying ourselves. So I can’t help but think Leo’s a bit of a wimp as I’m reading this.

Though, I must admit, cold water down the neck is neverpleasant. And I can’t stand having wet socks! Maybe I should be a bit more sympathetic.

The odd tree that bent at a right angle three feet up: That description made me grin. The girl I shared an apartment with for a few years after college—dear friend, Charity—used to take me hiking with her on a favorite trail of hers nearby. And there was one tree, about four miles in, that seriously was bent at a right angle, three feet up from the ground. I think we took pictures of each other sitting on it, for it did make a perfect little perch! Can’t find the pictures now, sadly. Fun to see that tree making an appearance in these pages. I had forgotten about it.

For all it lacked features, stared accusingly back: Heheh, that made me chuckle. Poor Leo is so sick with guilt, even the inanimate objects seem to mock him! You can see where this boy’s heart is. He really does want to do the right thing, and when he fails, he is so wracked with shame.

Monsters . . . Dragons eat them! Again, foreshadowing? Possibly?

Probably not. It’s just Southlander slang, or rather, “my world” slang.

I remember my editors and Bethany House were concerned about me using “blast” as a euphemism in Heartless. While doing the final round of editing on that book, they asked me to change that word to something less potentially offensive. So that’s when, “Dragon’s teeth!” was born. Which eventually morphed into a variety of expressions: “Dragons blast it!” “Dragons eat it!” and “Dragon’s teeth, and tail, and gizzard!” and even the occasional “Spitfire!” though I think that one is considered pretty heavy language.

And there are a couple of phrases more specific to the various people groups. The “apparition” in this scene exclaims, “Silent Lady!” for instance, which is a distinctly Southlander expletive. In my current work-in-progress, the three major people groups I’m writing about worship the sun and the moon, whom they call “Anwar” and “Hulan.” So there is a lot of “Anwar’s elbow!” and “Anwar blight it!” tossed about. Hulan is usually used in gentler contexts, such as, “Hulan bless me!” or “Hulan love me!”

I’ve had a lot of fun with the expletives, oddly enough . . .

The apparition: Imp Hannah (with help from Missy!) did a fun cosplay photo shoot of herself dressed up as Rose Red, which is featured on Dame Imraldera’s Library. I think she’s a little older version of Rose Red than we see in this scene, but the costume is spot-on! Imagine coming upon such a figure unexpectedly in a dark wood. I don’t blame Leo for being frightened!

I ain’t no ghost: Here we get the first indication of Rose Red’s characteristic speech pattern. She’s a humble country maid, raised very solitary up in these mountains, so it struck me that she would have a more rustic speech pattern. Indeed, when I first wrote this book, I gave her a much stronger accent and drawl than this version! But my editors didn’t like it at all and wanted me to take it out entirely.

But I really felt like it added some fun dimension to my heroine—who, granted, is already quite unexpected. I hated to lose her speech pattern completely, so my editors and I went back and forth for a few drafts before finally hitting on a compromise we both liked. On the whole, I think readers have enjoyed Rosie’s way of speech as well, though I believe I read a few critical reviews—back in the day when I still read reviews—complaining about it. Oh, well! Someone will always find something to criticize. I think it’s cute, though, even now several years later.

"If you aren’t a ghost, what are you?” “I don’t know.” Another telling phrase! She doesn’t know what she is, and neither do we . . . for most of this novel! Poor little thing. It’s hard enough growing up not knowing whowe are or who we might become. But to not even know what you are? That’s really tough.

Nothing but a girl!Leo could hardly be more disgusted had the apparition turned out to be a flesh-eating zombie or something along those lines. A girl. How dull. How disappointing and dull. And more than a little sexist on his part, the little pill. He’s got a lot to learn about girls and general and thisgirl in particular.

But in the meanwhile, he does absolutely everything he can to chase her off and make her leave him alone. He has a monster to hunt, after all, and he doesn’t need a girl tagging along behind him. He even tries to scare her off, baring his teeth and threatening with the beanpole. What a brat. But Rose Red is not so timid as all that.

Leo’s Playmates: It says a lot about Leo, I think, to see what he thinks of his so-called playmates. He doesn’t mind them because they’re easy enough to bend to his will. A bit of a controller our young Leo, isn’t he?

But you’ll notice that he doesn’t consider himself able to control Foxbrush. Interesting, that. Something worth tucking away into the back of your mind . . .

“My nanny.” I do like that when Rose Red refers to Beana as “my nanny,” Leo instantly thinks she means a child-care/babysitter type of nanny. He’s certainly not a country boy, this young adventurer of ours!

But Rose Red isn’t lying, as we’ll see in another few chapters.

“I’m good at fighting monsters! That is, I beat my cousin at wrestling all the time . . .” What an inflated ego our Leo has too! And a bit of an exaggerator, though I won’t say liar, because that would be unkind. He does make me laugh, though. So tough and determined, and yet . . . what does that bravado hide?

Hunting the monster: When Rose Red (who, I realize, has not yet given her name at this point in the story, so I do apologize to those of you who are reading it for the first time during this read-along!) realizes what Leo is actually up to out here in the woods, she suddenly seems to be afraid. Is she frightened of the mountain monster? Has she seen it perhaps? Does she know some truth about it which Leo has not been able to  discern from overheard rumors and whispers?

And so the plot thickens . . . and Rose Red disappears!

Questions on the Text:

1. For those of you who have read the whole series . . . how many different expletives can you count from the Goldstone Wood world? Do please list them!

2. Have you ever been frightened of something, but even more ashamed of your fear? Can you tell us about it? Can you tell us what you did? Which proved a stronger motivation, the fear or the shame?

3. What were/are your first impressions of our heroine, having now met her? Do you think our intrepid Leo may have met his match?

4. Our Leo is a brat. He really is. But I find him kind of a loveable brat at the same time. At the very least, amusing! What were/are your thoughts on him as of this chapter? Like him? Dislike him?

5. Any favorite lines or passages in this chapter?


Q & A

Stacy C wants to know: "Did your publishers give any specific reasons for not liking the first version of "Veiled Rose"? I couldn't imagine the series without it!"

My publishers felt like the original version read more like a looooong prologue to Moonblood and not enough like a stand-alone novel. They read Veiled Rose and Moonblood right at the same time, and Moonblood was/is the more exciting of the two, so I think they wanted to just jump directly into that excitement.

(SPOILERS!) In the original version of Veiled Rose, the relationship between Rose Red and the Dragon was not so dominant. Or rather, it wasn't set-up for at the very beginning of the novel. I also did not have Rose Red's journey down to the Netherworld. All of her adventures took place in the Near World of mortals, facing the Dragon in the Eldest's House. While it was fairly suspenseful, it didn't have the excitement and otherworldliness of this version.

My publishers also STRONGLY disliked a whole cast of theatrical performers that I originally had Leo travel with when he was becoming a jester. I had thought he should have some training, and gave him a minstrel troupe to take him in. But my publishers just hated those characters. Which made me sad, because I really liked them! But I revised, and Leo's journey became much more solitary in this version. It's okay . . . I'm planning to reuse those minstrel troupe in a later book, so they'll get their moment of glory.

Other than that, the plots of the two versions are very similar. And you're right . . . I can't imagine the series without Veiled Rose either! I'm very grateful that BHP allowed me to revise it into a story they liked.

And you know what? A little extra  dose of humility never hurt a writer . . . LOL.

Anna wants to know: "How do you make everything tie together so perfectly? Do you know what is going on many stories ahead, or do you just choose a character in your book and make a whole new novel about them?"

This is a question to which I don't have a very clear answer. I tend to have several stories in my head at once, and I plan accordingly. But when I say "stories in  my head," I mean vague notions of what those stories might possibly be. There's a lot of flexibility involved.

In the case of Rose Red's brief appearance in Heartless, I added that in after having written both Veiled Rose and Moonblood, thinking it would be fun to have that connection in place. I probably wouldn't do a connection like that now, since I try not to introduce characters that don't contribute to the story in significant ways. But it worked for that book, and it's a fun little glimpse at what's to come.

Otherwise, I will say I am sometimes very surprised myself at how the connections work out. I am beginning to put together notes for Book 8, and just the other day realized an important connection that goes all the way back to Book 1 . . . something I had never before seen, but which will make such a fabulous difference. Sadly, I can't be more specific than that right now, since I really hate to give away spoilers. I'll say this, though: It has to do with Eanrin and his nephew, Diarmid.

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Chapter 1

Hey, you're back! Glad to see you.

Quick reminder, if you have any questions about how to get your name entered in the weekly giveaway, please read the November 30 blog post. And if you have any questions on the text, go ahead and post them in the comments, and I will get to them as soon as possible.

And now, back to our story . . .

PART ONEChapter 1
Parts: Some of you might be curious as to why this novel (like all of my subsequent novels) is broken into parts while Heartless was not. The answer is simple enough: time jumps. Veiled Rose involves several major time jumps through the course of the story, and I felt that breaking it into parts would help to smooth those jumps out. As though the entire novel was made up of several smaller novels. You'll notice that each section has its own rise and fall of action and mini climax as well, further creating that sense of multiple-novels-in-one. It is quite different from Heartless in this respect.

But I think the difference was good for me as well. It helped to further establish Veiled Rose as its own, unique story and not just a "sequel to Heartless."

A boy hero: The chapter starts out focused on young Leo, the hero of our story. Part of the reason I did this was because the first version of Veiled Rose started out focusing almost entirely on Rose Red. In order to break away from that one and write this version fresh and new, I flip-flopped the protagonist focus.

Leo is such a fun character to write about anyway! He made these first few chapters come to life.

They said a monster lived in the mountains: What an intriguing idea for any young boy with a sense of adventure! A monster right there on hand to be battled? Who can resist that!

I like how this chapter immediately sets up Leo's desire to be a hero, establishing that dream and that urge right away. This, of course, sets up for the dramatic contrast of what is to come . . .

"Silent Lady!": This made me smile, this little piece of Southlander slang. Have you all read enough of the series to understand this reference yet?

Oooh, foreshadowing! When Redbird suggests various monsters Leanbear might have seen, she says, "A troll? A goblin? A sylph?" Not only is she much closer to the truth than Leanbear realizes, she also foreshadows another exciting part of the story to come much later. Keep your eyes open!

Foxbrush, the self-styled cherub: What an odious foil to annoy our intrepid hero! Leo doesn't have much of a companion in his know-it-all, sickly little cousin, despite the fact that they are forced to be playmates. The two boys couldn't be any more dissimilar, at least as far as Leo can see. (Though do remember, dear reader, we are seeing Foxbrush entirely through Leo's eyes. There mightbe a side to the story we have not yet considered . . .)

At this point, however, Foxbrush is quite the spoilsport, insisting there is no monster and refusing to hunt it. Thus Leo declares him "no better than a girl," throws his sack of chess pieces at his head, and abandons Foxbrush to his books (Economic Concerns of the Trade Merchant's Status . . . ugh! Even that title is painful to read!).

Mousehand: Leo will need to be armed, of course, before he goes a monster-hunting, so he demands that the old gardener, Mousehand, arm him. Mousehand is one of those classic "old men" from literature who seems to know much more than he lets on. The sort of old man who is bound to give the hero useful advice which will be, for the most part, ignored. Which makes for better fiction, but for some rather stupid heroes. Leo is a case in point.

Mousehand is indulgent of the intrepid Leo and arms him with a beanpole. The same beanpole which we glimpsed in the prologue: "This was the beanpole of all beanpoles, mighty in purpose and fell with use."(p. 8) It is a beanpole with a destiny . . .

What Mousehand sees: When Leo asks the gardener if he has seen the mountain monster, Mousehand replies: "What I've seen and what others've seen ain't likely to be the same thing."

This isn't a no. Nor is it a yes.

But it's definitely foreshadowing!

Leo's trek: So Leo goes on an a nice explore, and I can't help but think of my own childhood and teenage years when I read this scene. I know I was heavily inspired by my own experiences. My husband often teases me about how vividly I remember my childhood, but I must say that I am very grateful for the memories. They come in handy when writing scenes such as this.

My brothers and I used to enjoy exploring the woods around our house. Later on, when  I was just a little older than Leo is in this scene, I would go by myself, carrying notepads and sketchpads, seeking the adventure of woodland solitude. Not that it was ever quite as adventurous as what happens to my hero.

"Baaaaah!" Not exactly the bloodthirsty cry of a monster, but still, the bleating Leo hears while out alone in the forest is startling enough. It's only a bit disappointing to discover the source: a shaggy nanny goat.

The veiled vision: But when Leo turns from the goat, he catches sight of a strange apparition, a figure cloaked entirely in veils. He doesn't wait  to find out more, but races back along the trail, making for home as fast as he can!

Monsters in theory are a lot more fun than monsters in practice.

Questions on the Text:

1. Do you have a "cousin Foxbrush" in your own life? What do you think that person's perspective on you might be?

2. Many children have "tramping through the wilderness" adventures. What were/are your experiences with this kind of play? Are there woods near your house? Do you have a secret fortress or secluded hideaway?

3. If you haven't read the book before, any guesses who/what the veiled figure might be? And why the veils? If you have read the book, what were your original ideas about this character (before you learned the truth)?

4. What were your favorite lines of the chapter?


EXTRA NOTE: For those of you are an e-book reader, my publishing house is running a special right now. Heartless is available for free on Kindle, and Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower, and Dragonwitch are all available for 1.99. Might want to take advantage of that.

VEILED ROSE Read-Along: Prologue

Dear imps, welcome to the second Goldstone Wood Christmas read-along! I can't believe it's already been a year since we read Heartless together. But here we are again, ready to dive into Veiled Rose.

A few things before we start: If you have any questions on the text (or the series, though try to keep things Veiled Rose focused), feel free to ask them in the comments below. I will try to answer them in the next day's post, though I may end up having to wait and do a bunch of question-answering at the end of the week.

There are going to be giveaways at the end of each week, so don't miss out on those! You can check yesterday's post for details on how you can get your name entered. Winners will be randomly selected, but there are a number of things you can do to get your name into the raffle several times over. The more times your name is entered, the better your chance to win.

And I think that's all I needed to cover. So let's dive into the story!
 Prologue
Wow, it has been a long time since I read this book.
 
Well, maybe not that long. After all, it's not really that long since I wrote it. I drafted this version of the story in a little more than two months during the summer of 2010. So three years (and a bit) ago now.
 
That was insane.
 
You see, I had already the year before written an entirely different version of Veiled Rose. A lot of things were the same: the veiled girl with a goat companion—her friend Leo who turns out to be the prince—her rival, the beautiful Lady Daylily. And, of course, the Dragon. I'll probably make mention of that other version (possibly even share snippets from it) as we read this book together. I really enjoyed writing it, and was very proud of it when I sent it to my agent. She also loved it. So I passed it on to my publishing house.
 
And they hated it.
 
In fact, they wanted to skip it entirely and go directly from Heartless to Moonblood. Which, as those of you who have read the series know, was a mess. Though I made an attempt to write Moonblood as a sequel to Heartless, it just doesn't have the background it needs without Veiled Rose.
 
So that's how I ended up writing this version of Veiled Rose in two months. We were getting pretty late in the production process of Moonblood when I begged my publishers to allow me to rewrite Veiled Rose instead. Reluctantly, they agreed.
 
Much of the book we will be reading is recognizable from the original draft. But, to make it a more suspenseful and exciting story, I decided to keep more secrets this time around. For instance, we don't know what Rose Red looks like until the end of the book. In the original version, you find out in the first chapter. We also don't know who Leo is until mid-way through the story. In the original version, we find that out within a chapter or two as well.
 
I also increased Lady Daylily's role in this version, which I think was a good decision. She was all right in the original version, but she was very much a background character. In this version, I brought her forward and gave her a chance to shine in all her conflicted glory.
 
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll get into all of those details as we go along! For now, let's focus on this opening . . .
 
The Dedication: My David Rohan is, of course, my handsome husband, Rohan. I really could not dedicate this book to anyone else. You see, Rohan was courting me, proposing to me, and planning a wedding with me during those two months when I had to write this entire novel. If any of you have ever tried to write a novel, you will know that it is hard work, no matter the time frame.
 
Two months?
 
And I've already been paid for it?
 
"This is madness!"
 
As a result, I spent a good portion of those two months raving mad. And yet Rohan still loved me, still proposed to me, and still planned a wedding with me. I basically finished the manuscript, sent it off to my publishers, and hastened to the wedding ceremony! Through it all, Rohan was a rock, always patient, loving, and there for me. He has continued to be just as patient and loving through our marriage. So yes, this book is dedicated to him, and he more than deserves it.
 
The First Line: Hill House, though abandoned, had remained unscathed during the years of the Dragon's occupation.
 
When I finally received word from my publishers that they were going to let me go through with the rewrites—and then was told the timeframe I had in which to do it—I nearly panicked. But when I sat down and opened the blank document, this sentence immediately formed in my mind. I wrote it down, and the rest of this prologue came together in a heartbeat. It really was a blessing from God!
 
Hill House: The house itself—home of Leo's aunt and cousin where he is sent to spend his summer holidays as a boy—became the perfect place to introduce the new story while still tying it back to Heartless. It's funny to me now, but I think Hill House itself was a huge reason this book works! It had not existed in the original draft, which began on the grounds of the Eldest’s House and stayed there for much of the book. But by uprooting all my characters and setting them in this whole new location, I was able to get a fresh look at all of them and their storylines.
 
Some few of you might recognize the name from the famous novel, The Haunting of Hill House . I had just read that novel at the recommendation of some friends a few years before . . . and was SCARED OUT OF MY MIND. I'd never read a horror novel before, and while it was fantastically well-written and I appreciated the genius, I have solemnly vowed to never, never, never read another horror novel again.
 
But I liked the name “Hill House,” which suits the naming scheme I use for Southlands. So literary hauntings and several sleepless nights aside, I went ahead and bestowed the name upon Leo's summer getaway.
 
Use of Time: This prologue sets up for the rest of the novel to be told in backstory. A bit of a daring choice in current fiction, which tends to be very focused on the here and now. It isn't until the last chapter of Veiled Rose that we catch up to Leo again and find out why he was climbing the mountain to begin with. So the whole novel is basically to explain the prologue!
 
Like I said, a bit daring. But I really like how it works. It creates a sense of full-circle, which is very much needed in Veiled Rose. Otherwise, this novel feels too much like the in-between-book . . . a sequel of sorts to Heartless, a set-up for Moonblood. Because of this time loop, however, Veiled Rosebecomes an entity unto itself.
 
The nameless hero: We don't even know the name of this young man as he climbs to Hill House. I like that little added level of mystery. Who is he? What is he doing there? We must turn pages to discover answers to these questions. Good fiction is all about leading your reader forward with questions. If you feed them too much information right away (even down to a character's name sometimes), what is the point of continuing the story?
 
Little hints: There are plenty of little hints and foreshadowing about the character as we follow him up the hill. The line, "Lately, he felt far lonelier in a crowd than when left to himself" is a huge indication of isolation and even shame. Yet another question to tempt the reader to keep turning those pages!
 
The beanpole: What the heck is with the beanpole? I'm sure this was a common question among those reading the book for the first time! But here we have yet another hint about the story to come, a story that begins in childhood and the realm of imagination.
 
After all, when we were children, we tended to see the importance of humble things far more readily than we do now as adults. Perhaps this hero needs to return to that childlike wonder. Perhaps he needs the beanpole, not because of what it is, but because of what it means. To the child it meant heroics and adventure and great deeds!
 
But is this man a hero, a doer of great deeds? He does not seem to be anything of the kind. So he seeks out the beanpole, a symbol of what he once wished to be. And perhaps he hopes to reclaim a little of that lost ideal . . . 
 
The Dragon: Of course, the BIG question this selection leaves us with is, What went on with that Dragon????
 
If dragons aren't a reason to keep reading, I don't know what is!
 
Questions on the Text:
 
1. Not much to ask questions about here. So instead, why don’t you tell me about a time you had a crazy deadline. What did you have to accomplish? In what timeframe? How did you get through it?
 
2. What was your favorite line or lines of this selection?

Getting Ready for the Read-Along!

The Veiled Rose read-along starts tomorrow! I am very excited to dive into exploring this book with you. Whether you're a new reader or a die-hard Goldstone Wood Imp, I hope you will find the upcoming articles interesting, insightful, and just plain fun.

Just like last year, there will be giveaways at the end of each week and a grand finale giveaway on the final day. Here are some details about those:

Giveaway Prizes
Because this is the Veiled Rose read-along, we will be doing Veiled Rose prizes. Every week of the giveaway, on Sunday evening, I’ll be selecting a name to receive a signed copy of Veiled Rose.

On the final day of read-along, I’ll be hosting a Facebook Party in the evening. Everyone who attends will have an opportunity to win a copy of Veiled Rose and of Goddess Tithe, not to mention a nifty Tales of Goldstone Wood mug.

Giveaway Rules
To get your name entered in the weekly giveaways, you can do a variety of things:

1. Answer questions. There will be anywhere between 2-5 questions to go along with each chapter. For each question you answer, you will get your name entered into the giveaway. So, if you only answer 1 question all week, your name will be entered once. If you answer 3 questions a day every day of the week, you will get your named entered 21 times! So you’ll have that much more of a chance of being a winner.

2. Ask questions. For every question you ask me, you will have your name entered 1 time.

3. Submit a fan art. This has to be fan art inspired by one of the chapters covered during the week. For each piece of fan art (new fan art only, please) you will have your name entered 10 times.

4. Share about the read-along. If you post the read-along banner and a link to your blog, facebook, or twitter, let me know and send me a link to where I can see it. Your name will be entered in the giveaway 2 times for each instance. This can be done every day if you like (though you might not want to overwhelm your followers!).

So that's all you need to know! Grab your copy of Veiled Rose and get ready for fun times.

#32 Author Scavenger Hunt Stop #18 – Shannon Dittemore Interview

Welcome, scavenger hunters! If you've been following since Stop #1, you are more than halfway through the hunt now. Congratulations. But there are bunches of wonderful authors to meet still, and I am here to introduce you to a particularly exciting one.

But first, a little bit of a recap for all of you, especially those of you who might be just jumping on board. To participate in the #31 Author Scavenger Hunt and get your name entered for a chance to win an iPad mini, you need to collect all of the clues. Each blogger/author will have posted this clue--which is a word or phrase, clearly marked--on his or her blog. You need to collect all of the clues from all 30-plus stops, put them together in order to form the complete phrase. Then go to the final location, where you will be given a place to enter the phrase (and your contact info).

So be certain to keep following the clues, dear readers!

But first, I want to introduce you to

Shannon Dittemore
Shannon is the author of the Angel Eyes Trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband, Matt, imagining things unseen and chasing their two children around their home in Northern California.
ANGEL EYES was Shannon’s debut novel and the launch of a young adult supernatural trilogy. It was published in the summer of 2012 by Thomas Nelson. The sequel BROKEN WINGS hit shelves in February, 2013 and the final novel in the trilogy, DARK HALO just released in August! You can find out more about Shannon on her website: shannondittemore.com or follow her facebook page! Shannon is here today for an interview, and I hope you will all enjoy getting to know her and her writing a little better. Enjoy!
InterviewWelcome to the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog, Shannon! First off, would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee? 

Shannon: Thank you so much for having me, Anne Elisabeth! It’s such an honor. A little about me, huh? The first two words that come to mind are wife and mother. Most days, those two roles fill my hours. I have a five year old and a nine year old and a husband who’s fabulous with both of them. As a family, we’re very involved in church overseeing the youth and young adult ministries. My husband is also a coffee roaster, so to that question, I’d absolutely have to say coffee, but I’d never turn down a lovely cuppa. Oh, and I’m a die-hard 49ers fan. Forgive me, I just felt that needed to be said.


 What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller?
 Shannon: I love that you used the word storyteller. That’s exactly what I’d say I’ve always been. For years, I thought I’d be on the stage. I wanted to act. But after getting married and starting a family, I found I didn’t want to give up more evenings with my husband and children than I had to, so after a frustrating season I found myself asking God, “How can I tell stories from home?” Yeah, I know. And that’s when it hit me. I really could tell stories from home. That night, I paced the house with a fussy three month old, singing and praying, and by the time morning had rolled around, I’d come up with the bare bones of Angel Eyes. Tell us a little about your Angel Eyes trilogy. How did the idea for these three books come to you? Shannon: To begin with, I simply wanted to write the kind of book I liked reading. I’d been working with teenagers a ton and reading what they were reading, so the YA aspect was natural. Writing about angels and demons was very organic for me as well. As a teenager, I traveled with our church’s performing arts team. Nearly every number featured Satan or the angels locked in combat. The invisible world has always been on the backdrop of my storytelling experience, and that had a gloriously unexpected result. So much of this trilogy is intimately me. My fears, my doubts, my insecurities. My victories even. I wanted to write about teenagers who ball their fists up and punch fear in the face. I hope that’s what I’ve done.  Now I’d love to hear about the newest novel, Dark Halo. How long did you work on this story? Was it harder or easier to write than the first two books in the series? Shannon: Those months looked a little like this: I was editing Broken Wings, promoting Angel Eyes, and writing Dark Halo. It’s a bit of a blur, but I believe I wrote Dark Halo over the course of six months. By the time I reached this last book, so many of the pieces were in place. I just needed to tie them all together. The concept of the dark halo was really the key to it—to the trilogy as a whole, I think—and the minute I had that solidified in my mind, the writing flowed. But six months is fast. Very fast and I did feel the pressure to finish strong. Can you pick a favorite character from this story? Shannon: I’m going to default to my leading lady, Brielle, on this one. She was with me from the very beginning and I was most invested in her growth throughout the trilogy. That said, in Dark Halo, her sidekick, Kaylee, steals the show in so many ways. She’s quirky and spastic, loyal and endearing. Writing her was absolutely the most fun. What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration? Shannon: Worship. There are a zillion things I could say here, of course, but it boils down to my time with God. When I’m stuck, when I’m upside down with characters who refuse to obey, it is always my time with the Lord that brings new life to my writing. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process? Shannon: Well! If we’re talking the technical side of things, my absolute favorite part is line edits. People think I’m crazy, but THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS. In this very last round, when I’m tightening and refining. And truth be told, I have the very best line editor out there, LB Norton. She makes this part fun. My least favorite part is probably wrapping up a first draft. At this point, I’m ready to move on to edits, so this part makes me antsy. All right, everyone hates this question, but . . . if you had to pick, who would be your favorite author? Shannon: I DO hate this question. It’s an impossible one to answer. So, I’ll cheat. I’ll give you a few. One of the authors who made a huge difference in how I perceived Christian fiction was Ted Dekker. So, he gets a nod. Another author, an entirely different kind of author, but one I’ll drop everything for, is Tasha Alexander. She writes the Lady Emily mysteries and I’m an addict of the worst kind. There are several YA authors I am in awe of as well. Maggie Stiefvater’s prose is inspiring and Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Game trilogy came along at a very important time for me, so I’d throw those two in there as well. So what is next on your writerly horizons? Can we look forward to more supernatural/angel stories? Or perhaps something completely new? Shannon: Something new, I think. Right now, I’m working on a detective story with a speculative twist. It’s something I’m really loving. Stretching my own wings a bit and getting outside my comfort zone has been both healthy and intoxicating. What are you actively writing right now? Shannon: I have two works in process right now. One is the detective story I mentioned and the other involves a mysterious staircase, a screwed up teenager, and trip back in time to the day of Christ’s crucifixion. Would you share a short snippet from Dark Halo? Shannon: Absolutely. Here, Brielle faces the Prince of Darkness himself for the very first time. Happy reading! Excerpt fromDark Halo“Gabrielle,” he says, stepping toward me. “Come. Sit with me.”His platform is three or four feet from mine. He crouches and then throws his feet over the edge, where they dangle a foot or two off the desert floor. He waits there, looking up at me, a twisted Romeo and Juliet kind of moment. I force myself to step back. It’s a small victory, considering how tired I am, how much I could use the simplicity of rest. But every inch I give him is a battle lost, I think. I know I can’t barter with the devil.“I said sit.” His voice never rises, his face never reddens, but I am shoved, violently shoved to the ground. I land hard on my backside, my back cracking and my left leg going numb. “Isn’t that better? Sitting. Relaxing. I’d just like to talk for a minute, Elle.”“Don’t call me that,” I say, repulsed—truly repulsed for the first time.“Your friends call you that, don’t they?” he says with a shrug. “In fact, everyone calls you that.”I rub at my leg. “You’re not everyone. You’re certainly not my friend.”He leans forward, both of his hands curling around the lip of the salt platform. “Then what am I?”I stare at the mirrors in his eyes. I need to see myself say the words. “You’re my enemy. The enemy of my soul.”His smile turns patronizing. “Do you even know what that means?”“It means you want death for my soul, and I want life. That makes you my enemy.”“Your soul is eternal, gifted one. There’s nothing you or I can do about that.”For a minute his words baffle me. “Don’t play games with me. I’ve told you what I want: I want to go home. Now it’s your turn. What do you want?”“You.”  Wow! Thank you, Shannon, for an exciting excerpt and a wonderful interview! So, what do you think, scavenger hunters? Are you eager to pick up Shannon's thrilling trilogy and dive into a supernatural adventure? Well, just keep on gathering your clues, and you might find yourself a lucky winner! Speaking of clues . . .  Here is your clue for this stop. Are you ready for it? Your clue is:BUYINGTo continue your hunt, jump on over to Shannon Dittemore's blog and find out who she is hosting today. Just click this link! But before you go . . . I am also offering a little giveaway of my own. Dragonwitch Submissive to her father's will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves--Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.

But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta's tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.

And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice...and for the one person who can wield it.   If you'd like a chance to win an autographed copy of  Dragonwitch, be certain to enter your name in this giveaway. Happy scavenger hunting, all of you! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd52423/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway




    

Cover Reveal: UNTIL THAT DISTANT DAY

Dear imps, you probably all have at least an inkling how excited I am about this cover reveal! This book is my mother's first new novel in seven years, and it is by far my favorite thing she's written. It is an incredible story, and I cannot begin to say how excited I am that she has elected to publish it via Rooglewood Press. And now I get to share the beautiful new cover with you!

But first of all, I must share a little bit about my mother herself.


Jill Stengl is the author of numerous romance novels including Inspirational Reader's Choice Award- and Carol Award-winning Faithful Traitor, and the bestselling novella, Fresh Highland Heir. She lives with her husband in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she enjoys her three cats, teaching a high school English Lit. class, playing keyboard for her church family, and sipping coffee on the deck as she brainstorms for her next novel.

And now, without further ado . . . the cover!

Paris, France 1792 Colette DeMer and her brother Pascoe are two sides of the same coin, dependent upon one another in the tumultuous world of the new Republic. Together they labor with other leaders of the sans-culottes to ensure freedom for all the downtrodden men and women of France.
But then the popular uprisings turn bloody and the rhetoric proves false. Suddenly, Colette finds herself at odds with Pascoe and struggling to unite her fractured family against the lure of violence. Charged with protecting an innocent young woman and desperately afraid of losing one of her beloved brothers, Colette doesn’t know where to turn or whom to trust as the bloodshed creeps ever closer to home.

Until that distant day when peace returns to France, can she find the strength to defend her loved ones . . . even from one another?

Coming April 25, 2014From Rooglewood Press

What do you think? I am so pleased by how this cover turned out. The model looks just like the Colette I picture in my mind when I read the story, with a strength of character in her face, as well as a dash of good humor. I love the color scheme and the fonts, and the little swirls add just a touch of whimsy (and the wrap-around spine and back cover are equally pretty . . . though you'll have to wait until spring to see them!).

Don't let the frilly cover fool you, however . . . this is an intense story that kept me glued to the page and breathless when I read it! But it starts out gently enough, with Colette introducing both herself and her story in her own, distinct manner. Would you like a glimpse of the opening?

Until That Distant DayOpening of Chapter 1

I was born believing that the world was unfair and that I was the person to make it right. One of my earliest memories is of Papa setting me atop a nail keg in the forge; I could not have been older than two at the time.“Colette, give Papa a kiss,” he said, tapping his cheek.“Why?”“Come and sit on my knee.”“Why?”My response to every order was the same, asked with genuine curiosity. I did not understand why his watching friends chuckled. Why should I press my lips to Papa’s sweaty, prickly cheek? Why should I hop down from the keg, where he had just placed me, and run to sit on his knee, a most uncomfortable perch? I felt justified in requesting a reason for each abrupt order, yet he never bothered to give me one.Mama, when thus questioned, provided an answer in the form of a sharp swat. This I could respect as definitive authority, although the reasoning behind it remained dubious.My little brother Pascoe was born believing that the world was his to command. As soon as he acquired his first vocabulary word, “No,” he and I joined ranks in defiance of established authority.Many impediments cluttered the path of destiny in those early years: parents, thirteen other siblings, physical ailments, and educational difficulties. And as we grew into adulthood, more serious matters intervened, even parting us for a time. But I will speak more of that later. For now, let me assure you that, no matter the obstacles thrown in our way, our sibling bond seemed indissoluble; the love between us remained unaffected by any outside relationship.Pascoe and I were young adults when revolutionaries in Paris threw aside the tyranny of centuries and established a new government based on the Rights of Man. From the seclusion of our little village in Normandy we rejoiced over each battle fought and won; and when our local physician, Doctor Hilliard, who had first mentored then employed Pascoe for several years, was elected as deputy to the National Assembly from our district, a whole new world opened at our feet. My story truly begins on a certain day in the spring of 1792, in the little domain I had made for myself in the kitchen at the back of Doctor Hilliard’s Paris house. Perhaps it wasn’t truly my domain, for it did not belong to me. I was merely the doctor’s housekeeper and could lay no real claim. Nevertheless, the kitchen was more mine than anything had ever been, and I loved that small, dark room; especially during the hours when sunlight slanted through the bubbled-glass kitchen windows, making bright, swirling shapes on the whitewashed walls, or each evening when I arranged my latest culinary creation on a platter and left it in the warming oven for the doctor to discover whenever he arrived home. That kitchen was my home. Not the home I had grown up in, but the home I had always craved.On that particular day, however, it did not feel the safe haven I had always believed it to be. Loud voices drifted down from the upper floor where the doctor and Pascoe were in conference, disturbing my calm. When I closed the connecting door to the dining room, the angry voices drifted in through the open kitchen windows. I couldn’t close the windows; I might smother of heat. Yet I needed to block out the sound, to make it stop.So I slipped a filet of sole into a greased skillet and let it brown until golden on both sides. The hiss and sizzle did not quite cover the shouting, but it helped. Then I slid the fish onto a waiting plate lined with sautéed vegetables fresh from my kitchen garden; and I topped all with an herbed wine-and-butter sauce. A grind of fresh pepper finished off my creation.But my hands were still trembling, and I felt as if something inside me might fall to pieces.Pascoe often shouted. Shouting was part of his fiery nature, a normal event. He shouted when he gave speeches at section meetings. He shouted about overcooked meals or inferior wines. He shouted when his lace jabot refused to fall into perfect folds.But never before had I heard Doctor Hilliard raise his voice in anger.Doctor Hilliard was never angry. Doctor Hilliard never displayed emotion. At most, he might indicate approval by the glance of a benevolent eye or disapprobation by the merest lift of a brow. Yet there could be no mistaking the two furious voices overhead. I well knew Pascoe’s sharp tenor with its sarcastic edge; but now I also heard the doctor’s resonant voice crackling with fury.I managed to slide the hot plate into the warmer alongside a crusty loaf of bread and closed the door, using a doubled towel to protect my shaking hands. Behind me the connecting door was flung open, and Pascoe burst in as I spun to face him. “Gather your things; we are leaving,” he growled. His eyes blazed in his pale face, and the jut of his jaw allowed for no questions. He clapped his tall hat on his head as he passed through the room.I donned my bonnet and sabots and picked up my parasol. “What has happened?” I asked just above a whisper.“I’ll tell you once we are away from this house.” His lips snapped tight. His chest heaved with emotion, and he grasped a portfolio so tightly that his fingers looked white.I could not recall the last time I had seen my brother in such a rage. 
_________
I hate to break off at such an interesting moment . . . but again, you'll have to wait until April to see how that confrontation continues!

In the meanwhile, you can check out the book page for Until That Distant Day, and keep checking it for fun updates between now and the release date. We also have this pretty blog button:

http://untilthatdistantdaynovel.blogspot.com/Do please share this on the sidebars of your blog, including the link so readers can easily find the book page and learn more about this exciting novel.

Big thanks to all of the bloggers who participated in this reveal!

Jessica Greyson at SafirewriterHeather Manning at My Writing DeskJillian Haggard at Covers and InkHannah Williams at The Writer’s WindowMelanie Valderrama at Mel’s ShelvesAnnie Douglas Lima at Letters from Annie Douglas LimaMeagan at Blooming with BooksKatie at Too Read or Not Too ReadRosie at Writings of RosieTammy at Bluerose’s HeartRebekah at Backing BooksMelanie at Christian Bookshelf ReviewsJenny at The PenslayerRina at Rina’s ReadingBeka at The Writer of Dream ThingsErin at Notes by OywenClara at Darling DiariesAmber at The Wonderings of One PersonMargaret at Creative Madness MamaFaye at Labor Not in VainLydia Mazzei at The Overweight BookshelfStephanie Ricker at Quoth the GirlJennette Mbewe at JLMbewe.comMiranda Uyeh at To Be a PersonDiane Estrella at That’s What I’m Here ForSerena Chase at Edgy Inspirational RomanceBrooke M at i blog 4 booksJulie Graves at My Favorite PastimeSamantha Jo at West of Newbury StreetGrace M at FictionallyCrystal G at Just Another Book Lovin’ GirlMegan at Hardcover FeedbackMeagan at The Curried NutAnd especially Amber Stokes at Seasons of Humility, who helped organize bloggers for this feature!
To celebrate this exciting reveal, my mother is offering an enormous giveaway prize. She is going to give one lucky reader ten of her backlist novels! That's right, ten print novels and novellas, including her award-winning Faithful Traitor, the bestselling Highland Legacy collection, and her three part Longtree series. So be certain to enter your name in the giveaway. And tell a friend about Until That Distant Day!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd52420/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview Feature: Rachel Starr Thomson

Dear Imps, I am pleased to introduce you to a speculative fiction author who has published SO many exciting novels, short stories, and novellas (seriously, check out her bookstore!), that I know she'll keep you stocked with fun reading for a long time to come. But she has come here today to specifically talk about her brand new series, The Oneness Cycle. And she is offering a giveaway of book 1 in that series, so be certain you check out the end of this post! But first, let us welcome . . .

Rachel Starr ThomsonRachel is a writer, indie publisher, and editor. She's the author of the Seventh World Trilogy and multiple other books published by Little Dozen Press.
Rachel is a homeschool graduate, a dweller in southern Canada, a lover of long walks, good books, and hot tea, and a counter-cultural revolutionary who thinks we'd all be much better off if we pitched our television sets out the nearest window.
You can find out more about Rachel and her books on her website: www.rachelstarrthomson.com

InterviewWelcome to the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog, Rachel! Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee? 
 Rachel: Both tea and coffee. Until five years ago I was a diehard tea-only Canadian snob, but then I felt I should enter adulthood—I was twenty-five—so I bought a car and started drinking coffee. I think it worked . . . In my personality I’m really really typical for a writer—introverted and intellectual and very definitely ADD, though in the calm, dreamy way that doesn’t deserve an H. I like to tell myself that I can’t remember little details (like where I put my keys, or how to put a shirt on rightside-out the first time) because my mind is too full of more important things, but that’s probably not true. Being this sort of person, I’m not sure I have hobbies. I like to read, think, listen to music, drive, and nap, but not sure those qualify. I love to spend time with my close friends, learn new things, and see the world (especially Disney World, which I have seen four times and hope to see again soon. Maybe going to Disney is my hobby). Oh, and I also codirect a performing arts company and teach and speak and sing, but I don’t consider any of those things hobbies because they fall under the nebulously defined “ministry” category. (Look us up at www.solideoballet.com.)   What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller? What was your first published novel? Rachel: I have been a writer since I was little, which I think, again, is typical. I wrote a series of self-illustrated books on scrap paper which I stapled together about a character called Jonathan Gorilla. I started writing more seriously in my teens and eventually (after moonlighting as a published nonfiction essay writer) started indie publishing my own work. The first title was actually nonfiction; it’s a little book called Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord’s Prayer. The first fiction title I put out was Worlds Unseen, which you can download free as an e-book. It’s the first installment in the Seventh World Trilogy. (Yes, I know, I wrote a trilogy … typical.) 
Tell us a little about your series! What led you to start writing The Oneness Cycle? Can you give us a little summary of the series? Is it very different from your fantasy series, or do they share similarities? Rachel: The Oneness Cycle is fantasy in its own right, but it’s very, very different from the Seventh World Trilogy and other fantasy books I’ve written. The setting is modern and American in style (more or less modern—as you can tell from the technology they don’t use, I’ve been setting it in the early ’90s). It’s about a “supernatural entity” called the Oneness—which essentially is a group of people spiritually connected to each other and pitted against the demonic realm in ongoing warfare to hold the universe together. (If you can’t tell, it’s a sort of reflection on the nature of the church.) The books center around a small Oneness cell in a fishing village on the west coast, as they are attacked by powerful forces that threaten their lives, try to break up their unity, and call their very nature into question.  Now tell us a little about Exile, Book 1 in The Oneness Cycle. How long have you been work on it? Did it present any unusual challenges? Rachel: Exile is a very special book to me for one reason: it’s the first novel I wrote after 2+ years of severe writer’s block. It’s a relatively short novel, and I spent a couple of months on it. I had the idea for the opening scene (two young men pulling a young woman out of a bay, in a fishing net) and the Oneness itself, and I just ran with it. The book came together sentence by sentence, and at times was a fight to get out, but I’m proud of it and thrilled to say that it’s turned me into a writer again. (I’ve been working hard, and writing a lot, and at this point have two more Oneness books out, with a third coming this month—Hive, Attack, and Renegade.)
 
Can you pick a favorite character from this new novel?
 
Rachel: That’s a hard one because I am really fond of all these characters (and there are a bunch of them). Reese, the central character, is definitely a favourite. At the start of the novel, she’s been cut off—exiled—from the Oneness, a fate worse than dying for her. She’s just about blind with grief, but even in that dark place, she quickly learns to love the village cell and goes to battle for them when they’re threatened. Reese’s journey is at the heart of the entire Oneness series—the book I’m writing right now, Renegade, is all about her—so she’s pretty special to me.

 
What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration?  Rachel: I’m very inspired by aspects of theology and history. I don’t write straight allegory (readers will notice that God as we know Him does not actually exist in the world of the Oneness—they have the Spirit, but no concept of the Father or Christ), but I like to take aspects of my faith and turn them around in my mind and explore them through fiction. The Seventh World Trilogy, for example, was sparked by two things: the history of the Reformation and a viewpoint on the fall that I’d been mulling on, that God in a sense exiled Himself from Eden and Adam and Eve’s presence, because His holiness would destroy them in their sinful state. The Oneness Cycle, as I mentioned, is largely inspired by the concept of the church, different individuals both alive and “dead” who are one body in heaven and earth, all drinking from one Spirit. The conflict the characters face has much to do with concepts of truth, calling, power, and sacrifice. So theology as I find it in the Bible is probably my biggest source of inspiration.
 
Apart from that, I find coffee, tea, sour candy, and music really helpful. And if I’m running creatively dry, I will occasionally binge-watch something I find interesting. (But that’s difficult, because I’m honestly bored by most TV and movies.)
 
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?
 
Rachel: The writing. And the writing.
 
If you were forced to pick a single favorite author, who would it be?
 
Rachel: Argh, that is the worst question in the history of author interviews because there are just SO many. And I like them for different reasons. I just … nope, I don’t think I can choose.
 
Here’s a random sampling of writers I’ve read in the past month, though: Dallas Willard, Lars Walker, Stephen Lawhead, Malcolm Gladwell, Shaine Claiborne, Jeff Kinney, and the guy who compiled my crossword puzzle book.
 
What are you actively writing right now?

Rachel: Renegade, Book 4 in The Oneness Cycle. On the run with a dangerous cult leader named Jacob, Reese must face the worst of her demons and break the cycle of bitterness before it destroys her.

Would you share a short snippet from Exile?

Rachel: Most certainly! Here you go—and thanks very much for having me on.



Excerpt fromExile Reese stood in the midst of the shattered glass, breathing hard and staring at the object in her hand. Behind her, first Tyler and then Chris tumbled into the side room.“What is that?” Tyler blurted, pointing at the corpse on the floor, at the same time  that Chris demanded, “Why are you holding a sword?”Why indeed? She’d not thought to hold one ever again.“Didn’t think I . . . could,” she offered, aware that her trailing answer wouldn’t make sense to them. She nudged the thing on the floor with her toe and winced at the broken glass everywhere.One more mess. The creature was only a renegade—thank God. But . . .The sword disappeared, disintegrating into nothing, and she let her hand fall to her side. “I’m sorry about the mess.”Tyler lurched forward and kicked at the body, turning it over. He blinked. “It’s a bat? But . . .”Rain was blowing in through the broken window, spattering the piles of old books and quickly damping the carpet. Reese sprang into action, shuffling things aside and apologizing again. Night was falling, and it was dark. The wind through the window was cold.Chris appeared at her side with a blue tarp, which he nailed over the windowsill with a few expert whacks of a hammer. With that little bit of a rain barrier in place, he stood back, regarded Reese with his arms folded over his chest, and said, “Who are you?”She was still repositioning stacks of books, studiously avoiding looking at either of them. But she couldn’t just ignore the question. “My name is Reese,” she said.“You have a last name?”“No, we—I—we don’t use them,” she stammered. Why wouldn’t the words come out? His gaze was boring into her, and she dropped what she was doing and sat on the couch again, shoulders hunched, bone weary. Of course she needed a last name. “Danby,” she let out in a whimper. “You can . . . Danby.”She ventured a glance up. Chris was still staring at her, but although his gaze was stern, she could see now that it wasn’t angry. It was . . . protective, maybe.The lump in her throat suddenly grew until all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch, cover herself with the flannel blanket, and give vent to all she felt until she had exhausted every tear and more, until every muscle ached and her skin burned with the emptiness inside.His anger would have been hard to take. But protectiveness was a memory, too fresh and far, far too potent.“A bat couldn’t have broken that window—and I could have sworn it was something else, something way bigger when I walked in here. So what was that?”Tyler wasn’t paying attention to the exchange, and his question, to her relief, deflected the force of her grief. She considered lying, but she was too tired for that. She leaned back against the scratchy plaid upholstery.“A renegade,” she said. “Just one . . . so you don’t need to worry that others will come.”Outside, headlight beams came around a curve in the road just below the cottage, disappearing behind the tarp after only a brief flash.“That’ll be Mum,” Chris said. He frowned. “I think I hung up on her.”“A renegade?” Tyler pressed.“Do you believe in demons?” Reese asked.Chris shook his head. His forehead was creased with worry. “I’ll put tea on,” he said. “Wait this conversation. Until Mum’s in here.”Tyler looked apologetically at Reese. “Diane is good for this kind of thing.”Reese felt the slightest glimmer of humour. “For discerning crazy?”Tyler gave her a wry smile. “For helping us know what to do.” He stood, leaving the bat he had been examining on the floor. “I don’t think it’s going to get any warmer and drier in here tonight. We’d better go to the living room.”He escorted Reese through a cluttered laundry room and a small kitchen, equally cluttered but surprisingly clean, where Chris was putting another kettle on. On the other side of the kitchen counter was a tiny room almost entirely occupied by a couch and an easy chair. One wall was swallowed up by a fireplace, over which hung a massive sword—a claymore, Reese thought. A small fire was going, and the room was warm.She closed her eyes for a second. That only two hours ago she had thrown herself off a cliff in a vain attempt to drown herself seemed about as far away and unreal as hope. Strange how life could hang on and continue even when she didn’t want it to—stranger that it could bring her somewhere like this, now.And the sword. Why had the sword come to hand?The rain nearly masked the sound of a car pulling up outside the cottage, and in a moment the front door pushed open and a woman stumbled in, wrapped in a sleek rain slicker and wearing a kerchief which she promptly pulled off and wrung out. She was short and comfortably built, and her pale hair was twisted in a French knot at the back of her head. Her sharp eyes fixed on Reese immediately.“So you’re the girl,” she said. “I’m Diane. How are my boys treating you?”Reese stammered something . . . even she wasn’t sure what words she was trying to say. Mercifully, Tyler and Chris both began to talk, telling this woman—Chris’s mother, Diane—what had happened, from the rescue right down to the demon that had turned into a bat and the sword that had appeared and then dematerialized in Reese’s hand. Getting out of her rain slicker and boots, Diane listened intently and nodded, without interrupting or appearing surprised at any point.Finally she crossed the tiny room and took Reese’s arm. Her hands were weathered and heavy veined, older than the rest of her, and cold from the drive through the rain.“Sit,” she said. “I think we should all sit.”They did. Chris and Tyler looked uncomfortable, and after about half a second Chris stood up again and positioned himself in front of the fireplace. His mother didn’t chastise him.“I saw it,” she said without any more preamble. “The demon. I see things sometimes—the boys know. That’s how I knew to get up here fast.”She peered along her nose at Reese. Her eyes were blue. “And you,” she said. “You are a part of the Oneness.”For an instant Reese thought she would not find her voice, or even the breath to say it. But she did—somehow she did.“No,” she said. “No, I’m an exile.”

 ___________________ Thank you for a wonderful interview, Rachel. And for that intriguing snippet! So tell me, imps . . . aren't you all eager to scoop up The Oneness Cycle now? And here's your chance to get started on that with a lovely giveaway of Exile. Be certain to enter your name, tell your friends about Rachel and her work, and thank Rachel for taking the time to chip away at a vicious case of writer's block in order to bring the her readers more of the fantastic stories we crave.
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