Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Blog, page 36
March 29, 2013
A Darling Lunch
Today, I had the special fun of meeting an online friend/fan in person for the first! That's right, our own Clara Darling and her mom and sister drove twelve hours to come meet me in downtown Raleigh for a truly delightful lunch-date. I was so honored and pleased!
This is just after finishing some amazing desserts at Gravy, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Rohan came along as my escort, but sadly, we didn't get a picture with him. He acted as photographer instead.
What a wonderful afternoon we had, laughing and chattering about books and art and music and movies. Clara Darling is a girl after my own heart. I thought I would share these fun pictures with all of you Goldstone Wood Imps. I wish all of you could have been there to enjoy Clara's sweet spirit and company along with me! Many thanks to her, her mom, and her sister, for taking such a roadtrip. It made my day!
P.S. Ian, I know who did this drawing now . . . Your secrets are out!
This is just after finishing some amazing desserts at Gravy, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Rohan came along as my escort, but sadly, we didn't get a picture with him. He acted as photographer instead.
What a wonderful afternoon we had, laughing and chattering about books and art and music and movies. Clara Darling is a girl after my own heart. I thought I would share these fun pictures with all of you Goldstone Wood Imps. I wish all of you could have been there to enjoy Clara's sweet spirit and company along with me! Many thanks to her, her mom, and her sister, for taking such a roadtrip. It made my day!
P.S. Ian, I know who did this drawing now . . . Your secrets are out!
March 28, 2013
Fan Art Contest: The Winner!
And the winner, of the Spring 2013 Tales of Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest is . . . . .
Fey Fight by HANNAH WILLIAMS Congratulations, Hannah Williams! What a fantastic painting this is, so full of energy and character and terrifying beauty. You captured the climactic scene of Starflower, a moment of villainy and true heroism. Looking at this piece, I feel as though I am gazing through a window right into the world of my imagination.And the fans must have felt the same, because they have voted you their winner! You have officially won a free first edition copy of Dragonwitch. Email me your mailing address, and I will be certain you are sent one of the very first copies, hot off the press.However, it was a very close contest, my friends. The top three were all within a single vote of each other! So I have decided to give prizes to second and third place as well.The second place winner is . . .
UnabyGWEN PHILLIPSThe lovely, naive, messy-haired princess of Parumvir is perfectly rendered in this elegant pencil portrait. I believe this must be Una near the end of Heartless, for there is a serenity and peace in her eyes, a sense of new wisdom and understanding. But she still has the mischievous quirk to her lips, like she's just managing to supress a grin at some antic of Prince Felix!This gorgeous portrait captured the hearts of the voters. Well done, Gwen Phillips! We are all thrilled by your talent. Please email me your mailing address, and you will receive your second place prize: a Tales of Goldstone Wood coffee mug and collection of bookmarks, pencils, and pens!And the breathtaking third place winner of this contest is . . .
Always Come Back for YoubyMELANIE MORGANI know I am not the only viewer to gasp out loud when I first saw this amazing piece! The dragon is alive with fire, and the scene is full of his fury . . . but that fury cannot overcome the deep love of Prince Aethelbald for his princess. What a powerful scene to illustrate, and so gorgeously done. I am in awe of your talent, Melanie!Please email me your mailing address, and I will send you your third place prize: a collection of Goldstone Wood bookmarks, pencils, pens, and stickers. Thank you to all the wonderful artists who participated in this contest. Every one of you (even those of you who turned in late projects) earned numerous votes from impressed viewers. I certainly could not have called the winner until the very end. I am blessed and thrilled by your talent, and I hope to see more wonderful work from all of you in contests to come!In the meanwhile, I'll be putting many of these pieces up on the various fan art pages for these books. Feel free to submit more pieces for the fan art pages . . . or hold onto them for future contests! This one was so much fun, I think I might host another one this autumn. What do you think?In the meanwhile, don't forget the upcoming Parumvir Banquet to which you are all invited in April. And soon after that I'll be announcing an exciting fiction contest. So keep your eyes open!Be sure to congratulate the winners in the comments below.
Fey Fight by HANNAH WILLIAMS Congratulations, Hannah Williams! What a fantastic painting this is, so full of energy and character and terrifying beauty. You captured the climactic scene of Starflower, a moment of villainy and true heroism. Looking at this piece, I feel as though I am gazing through a window right into the world of my imagination.And the fans must have felt the same, because they have voted you their winner! You have officially won a free first edition copy of Dragonwitch. Email me your mailing address, and I will be certain you are sent one of the very first copies, hot off the press.However, it was a very close contest, my friends. The top three were all within a single vote of each other! So I have decided to give prizes to second and third place as well.The second place winner is . . .
UnabyGWEN PHILLIPSThe lovely, naive, messy-haired princess of Parumvir is perfectly rendered in this elegant pencil portrait. I believe this must be Una near the end of Heartless, for there is a serenity and peace in her eyes, a sense of new wisdom and understanding. But she still has the mischievous quirk to her lips, like she's just managing to supress a grin at some antic of Prince Felix!This gorgeous portrait captured the hearts of the voters. Well done, Gwen Phillips! We are all thrilled by your talent. Please email me your mailing address, and you will receive your second place prize: a Tales of Goldstone Wood coffee mug and collection of bookmarks, pencils, and pens!And the breathtaking third place winner of this contest is . . .
Always Come Back for YoubyMELANIE MORGANI know I am not the only viewer to gasp out loud when I first saw this amazing piece! The dragon is alive with fire, and the scene is full of his fury . . . but that fury cannot overcome the deep love of Prince Aethelbald for his princess. What a powerful scene to illustrate, and so gorgeously done. I am in awe of your talent, Melanie!Please email me your mailing address, and I will send you your third place prize: a collection of Goldstone Wood bookmarks, pencils, pens, and stickers. Thank you to all the wonderful artists who participated in this contest. Every one of you (even those of you who turned in late projects) earned numerous votes from impressed viewers. I certainly could not have called the winner until the very end. I am blessed and thrilled by your talent, and I hope to see more wonderful work from all of you in contests to come!In the meanwhile, I'll be putting many of these pieces up on the various fan art pages for these books. Feel free to submit more pieces for the fan art pages . . . or hold onto them for future contests! This one was so much fun, I think I might host another one this autumn. What do you think?In the meanwhile, don't forget the upcoming Parumvir Banquet to which you are all invited in April. And soon after that I'll be announcing an exciting fiction contest. So keep your eyes open!Be sure to congratulate the winners in the comments below.
March 25, 2013
Introducing: Jennette Mbewe!
Dear readers, I am excited to take a moment today to introduce an up-and-coming fantasy novelist to you. Jennette Mbewe, to celebrate the release of her short story, Desert Rose, is here today for an interview . . . and a particularly generous giveaway from her publisher! Be sure to check below for the details. But first, let's meet Jennette and learn about her writing!
Can a desert princess find love with a foreign king?
Johari lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister until a foreign king notices her, but in her haste to prove herself worthy of affection she finds herself compromised and on a difficult journey to make things right.
Welcome, Jennette! I am excited to have here on the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog. Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee?
Jennette: Sure, but first I want to say thank you so much for doing this interview, Ms. Stengl. I am so honored and humbled, I just want to fall on my face before God, because it is all Him—not me! Thanks!
Now, a little about me…let’s see. For starters, I’m married to a man who believes in me and supports me in my writing endeavors. We have two precious blessings from God. Sam is four and Ariah is two, and needless to say, they keep me busy. I don’t know about hobbies, but I do love to create whether its painting, drawing, writing, baking, sewing, hammering, scrapbooking, etc. I love to collect rocks. When I was a child, I would help my dad “pick rocks” to prepare the fields for planting, and he would tell me what the rocks were. I ended up collecting all the agates I could find, and now I have them in jars sitting atop my kitchen cabinets. Speaking of tea or coffee. I have a similar story to yours, Ms, Stengl. I loved coffee until my husband, who is from Zambia, Africa, introduced me to English Breakfast Tea with cream and sugar. I converted. Although, I still love the smell of a coffee shop, especially it’s inside a bookstore, and I still do coffee every now and again. What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller? Jennette: That is long story, but I’ll keep it brief. I loved books as a kid even before I could read. If you’d have asked me at eight years old what I wanted to be I would have told you an author. I had written and illustrated and stapled together my very first story about a missing cat who finds a home. I even had an author’s portrait drawn on the back. But life happened and the dream was swept under a rug and forgotten for many years. I continued to write in my journal to express myself, and in a way writing became my lifeline. Then in 2003, I was reading through the parable of the talents, and God asked me: What are you doing with what I gave you? And I was like: What did you give me? And the word writing formed in my mind’s eye. So I started putting one foot in front of the other, and my dream was rebirthed. Tell us a little about your new short story, Desert Rose. How long have you been working on it? Is it part of a bigger project? Jennette: Desert Rose is a story of a young woman who lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister until a foreign king notices her, but in her haste to prove herself worthy of affection she finds herself compromised and on a difficult journey to make things right. Her story is set in the world of Nälu thirty years before the first book of my fantasy trilogy. I’ve been working on it for about three months: writing, exchanging critiques, polishing it, submitting it, and then polishing it some more. Can you pick a favorite character from this new story? Jennette: Johari. She is naïve and makes mistakes, but she is determined to do what she thinks is right. What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration? Jenntte: Life. Anything and everything. I’ll see or hear something, and an idea will spark. Movies and books inspire me too. I love going outside and letting my thoughts to wander, but often times it’s while I’m washing dishes or folding laundry. Ha! Not sure about the renewing my inspiration yet. At the root of everything, my writing, my life, parenting, etc, is my philosophy: seek God first, and everything else will fall into place. So, I think my “renewal of inspiration” flows from that as well. I’m still learning. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process? Jennette: I love almost every aspect of the writing process from the birth of an idea, to brainstorming, to writing it, to editing it. I think the least favorite part would be the battles I have to fight in my mind that hinder me from being productive. Sometimes the alone aspect comes into a close second as a least favorite. When I’ve stumble upon a problem in my story, I wish I had a clone, so I could bounce ideas off and discuss the possible solutions. If you were forced to pick a single favorite author, who would it be? Jennette: Oh, this isn’t a fair question. Would it be improper to say Anne Elisabeth Stengl? I love the Harry Potter novels. J. K. Rowling’s creativity, red herrings, the interwoven plots amaze me and challenge me to think outside the box. Nothing really topped them, until I discovered the Tales of Goldstone Wood with the creativity, the interwoven plots, the allegory. And I was like: this is published by Bethany House?! Awesome! (*grin* Thank you, Jennette!) So what is next on your publishing horizons? Can we look forward to more fiction from you soon Jennette: Yes! I am so excited to announce that Secrets Kept, book one of the Hidden Dagger Trilogy has been contracted. Eek! There will be other short stories coming as well between now and when the book is published. (Huge round of applause for Jennette, everybody!!!) What are you actively writing right now? Jennette: Right now, I am writing another short story set in the world of Nälu, but this time it has to do with the merpeople and dragons. Would you share a short snippet from Desert Rose? Jennette: Yes! I hope you all enjoy it. SELECTION FROM Desert Rose Shades of night slipped between the trees. Her knees ached, and her feet began to tingle, so she repositioned herself and sat cross-legged. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she shivered. She wrapped her arms around her belly. She should return to the keep, yet she lingered. Johari’s abdomen tightened. She exhaled through her nose. She couldn’t leave now. It was too late. She opened her eyes, but her vision darkened. The trees beyond her disappeared into a black abyss. Branches like grey spider webs stretched above her, crisscrossing against the starlit sky. Had it grown so dark so quickly? She blinked her eyes. Why couldn’t she see? A shadow broke from the abyss and slid toward her. Johari focused on the gliding form, but it wavered like a mirage. An icy chill encompassed her; her breath slipped through her lips in a fog. Johari shivered. “No moon tonight, but the stars are bright,” the woman said. Johari sniffed the air, but the woman had no scent. “Who are you?” “I am nothing to you, but everything. I am a priestess of the Nuja.” She came closer, cloaked in tattered shadows, weaving on her feet. “Are you drunk?” “Nay.” She pointed to the heavens. Ribbons of blood dribbled down her pale arm. “The stars are bright tonight.” “Yes, so you have said.” Johari glanced around. Why had she run out here beyond the protection of the king? She eyed the woman’s arm. “Are you hurt?” “Death is written in the stars.” She lowered her arm. “Death is a constant. I do not need a star to tell me that.” “Silence.” She lurched forward. “The underworld groans as a woman in labor. It hungers for the death of this child. The queen will have her way.” A contraction seized Johari. She grasped the tree roots. Not now. Not here. cd What a thrilling excerpt!!! I hope all of you readers are as excited to read this story as I am now. And guess what? Jennette's publishers are also excited for you to read it, and they are offering such a generous deal. Anyone who leaves a comment on this post can email me (aestengl@gmail.com) and receive a coupon to download Desert Rose FOR FREE! That's right! Just leave a comment, email me, and I will send you the coupon and link you need in order to claim your free copy of this exciting new fantasy! There is also a fun Grand Prize giveaeway for one lucky winner. Be sure to enter your name below for a chance to win goody prize packet, including a metal bookmark. Be certain to follow Jennette on facebook, and also visit her blog: http://jlmbewe.wordpress.com/. You can also check out her exciting book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uyjdN8o3Gk. And to you bloggers out there: Share this bookcover and description, and consider inviting Jennette to come do an interview on your blog! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5246/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
Can a desert princess find love with a foreign king?
Johari lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister until a foreign king notices her, but in her haste to prove herself worthy of affection she finds herself compromised and on a difficult journey to make things right.
Welcome, Jennette! I am excited to have here on the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog. Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee?
Jennette: Sure, but first I want to say thank you so much for doing this interview, Ms. Stengl. I am so honored and humbled, I just want to fall on my face before God, because it is all Him—not me! Thanks! Now, a little about me…let’s see. For starters, I’m married to a man who believes in me and supports me in my writing endeavors. We have two precious blessings from God. Sam is four and Ariah is two, and needless to say, they keep me busy. I don’t know about hobbies, but I do love to create whether its painting, drawing, writing, baking, sewing, hammering, scrapbooking, etc. I love to collect rocks. When I was a child, I would help my dad “pick rocks” to prepare the fields for planting, and he would tell me what the rocks were. I ended up collecting all the agates I could find, and now I have them in jars sitting atop my kitchen cabinets. Speaking of tea or coffee. I have a similar story to yours, Ms, Stengl. I loved coffee until my husband, who is from Zambia, Africa, introduced me to English Breakfast Tea with cream and sugar. I converted. Although, I still love the smell of a coffee shop, especially it’s inside a bookstore, and I still do coffee every now and again. What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller? Jennette: That is long story, but I’ll keep it brief. I loved books as a kid even before I could read. If you’d have asked me at eight years old what I wanted to be I would have told you an author. I had written and illustrated and stapled together my very first story about a missing cat who finds a home. I even had an author’s portrait drawn on the back. But life happened and the dream was swept under a rug and forgotten for many years. I continued to write in my journal to express myself, and in a way writing became my lifeline. Then in 2003, I was reading through the parable of the talents, and God asked me: What are you doing with what I gave you? And I was like: What did you give me? And the word writing formed in my mind’s eye. So I started putting one foot in front of the other, and my dream was rebirthed. Tell us a little about your new short story, Desert Rose. How long have you been working on it? Is it part of a bigger project? Jennette: Desert Rose is a story of a young woman who lives in the shadow of her beautiful sister until a foreign king notices her, but in her haste to prove herself worthy of affection she finds herself compromised and on a difficult journey to make things right. Her story is set in the world of Nälu thirty years before the first book of my fantasy trilogy. I’ve been working on it for about three months: writing, exchanging critiques, polishing it, submitting it, and then polishing it some more. Can you pick a favorite character from this new story? Jennette: Johari. She is naïve and makes mistakes, but she is determined to do what she thinks is right. What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration? Jenntte: Life. Anything and everything. I’ll see or hear something, and an idea will spark. Movies and books inspire me too. I love going outside and letting my thoughts to wander, but often times it’s while I’m washing dishes or folding laundry. Ha! Not sure about the renewing my inspiration yet. At the root of everything, my writing, my life, parenting, etc, is my philosophy: seek God first, and everything else will fall into place. So, I think my “renewal of inspiration” flows from that as well. I’m still learning. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process? Jennette: I love almost every aspect of the writing process from the birth of an idea, to brainstorming, to writing it, to editing it. I think the least favorite part would be the battles I have to fight in my mind that hinder me from being productive. Sometimes the alone aspect comes into a close second as a least favorite. When I’ve stumble upon a problem in my story, I wish I had a clone, so I could bounce ideas off and discuss the possible solutions. If you were forced to pick a single favorite author, who would it be? Jennette: Oh, this isn’t a fair question. Would it be improper to say Anne Elisabeth Stengl? I love the Harry Potter novels. J. K. Rowling’s creativity, red herrings, the interwoven plots amaze me and challenge me to think outside the box. Nothing really topped them, until I discovered the Tales of Goldstone Wood with the creativity, the interwoven plots, the allegory. And I was like: this is published by Bethany House?! Awesome! (*grin* Thank you, Jennette!) So what is next on your publishing horizons? Can we look forward to more fiction from you soon Jennette: Yes! I am so excited to announce that Secrets Kept, book one of the Hidden Dagger Trilogy has been contracted. Eek! There will be other short stories coming as well between now and when the book is published. (Huge round of applause for Jennette, everybody!!!) What are you actively writing right now? Jennette: Right now, I am writing another short story set in the world of Nälu, but this time it has to do with the merpeople and dragons. Would you share a short snippet from Desert Rose? Jennette: Yes! I hope you all enjoy it. SELECTION FROM Desert Rose Shades of night slipped between the trees. Her knees ached, and her feet began to tingle, so she repositioned herself and sat cross-legged. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she shivered. She wrapped her arms around her belly. She should return to the keep, yet she lingered. Johari’s abdomen tightened. She exhaled through her nose. She couldn’t leave now. It was too late. She opened her eyes, but her vision darkened. The trees beyond her disappeared into a black abyss. Branches like grey spider webs stretched above her, crisscrossing against the starlit sky. Had it grown so dark so quickly? She blinked her eyes. Why couldn’t she see? A shadow broke from the abyss and slid toward her. Johari focused on the gliding form, but it wavered like a mirage. An icy chill encompassed her; her breath slipped through her lips in a fog. Johari shivered. “No moon tonight, but the stars are bright,” the woman said. Johari sniffed the air, but the woman had no scent. “Who are you?” “I am nothing to you, but everything. I am a priestess of the Nuja.” She came closer, cloaked in tattered shadows, weaving on her feet. “Are you drunk?” “Nay.” She pointed to the heavens. Ribbons of blood dribbled down her pale arm. “The stars are bright tonight.” “Yes, so you have said.” Johari glanced around. Why had she run out here beyond the protection of the king? She eyed the woman’s arm. “Are you hurt?” “Death is written in the stars.” She lowered her arm. “Death is a constant. I do not need a star to tell me that.” “Silence.” She lurched forward. “The underworld groans as a woman in labor. It hungers for the death of this child. The queen will have her way.” A contraction seized Johari. She grasped the tree roots. Not now. Not here. cd What a thrilling excerpt!!! I hope all of you readers are as excited to read this story as I am now. And guess what? Jennette's publishers are also excited for you to read it, and they are offering such a generous deal. Anyone who leaves a comment on this post can email me (aestengl@gmail.com) and receive a coupon to download Desert Rose FOR FREE! That's right! Just leave a comment, email me, and I will send you the coupon and link you need in order to claim your free copy of this exciting new fantasy! There is also a fun Grand Prize giveaeway for one lucky winner. Be sure to enter your name below for a chance to win goody prize packet, including a metal bookmark. Be certain to follow Jennette on facebook, and also visit her blog: http://jlmbewe.wordpress.com/. You can also check out her exciting book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uyjdN8o3Gk. And to you bloggers out there: Share this bookcover and description, and consider inviting Jennette to come do an interview on your blog! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5246/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
March 21, 2013
Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest, 2013
The time has come, dear readers. The 2013 fan art contest is upon us. And Iubdan's Beard, do I have a number of fabulous submissions to share with all of you!
This year, the winner will be chosen by voting. To vote for your favorites, please email me the titles (and artists) of your top three picks. aestengl@gmail.com. I will compile these votes and announce the favorite a week from today! The winner will receive a free copy of DRAGONWITCH later this summer.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO VOTE! This contest is not limited to bloggers or fan-voters only. Invite your friends and family to pick their favorites!
Be sure to take a moment to tell the artists how awesome they are in the comments below.
A great big thanks and enthusiastic applause to the participating artists! You are all wonderful talents. Some of you made me laugh, some of you made me smile, and some of you completely took my breath away! I have been looking forward to sharing your work.
So without further ado . . . . (Click on the images to enlarge viewing.)
hg
"Wedding Vows"By: BekaFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Una and Felix"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Unveiled Illusion"By: Courtney DunesburyFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2
Detail of "Unveiled Illusion" _____
"The Far Side"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Una"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"The Dragon's Kiss"By: Therru GhibliFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Tender"By: BekaFrom: MoonbloodBook 3 _____
"Quench My Fire"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Deep Dreams"By: KathleenFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Sir Eanrin"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Alone, But Unforgotten"By: Courtney M.From: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Captured"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: StarflowerBook 1 _____
"Lionheart's Venture to the Mountain"By: MollyFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____
"Mourning His Death"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Epic Standoff"By: Rebekah GygerFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Imraldera Speaks"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"The Princess"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Guardian of Goldstone Wood"By: The Alpha JanAuthor Portrait _____
"I Still Must Sing"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Imraldera"By: SaraLynFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Goldstone Poster"By: Hannah WilliamsSeries Poster _____
"His Haven"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Lumé and Hymlumé"By: Jennette MbeweFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Walk Before Me"By: Maiden GFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____
"Fey Fight"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Belle Loves Heartless Too"By: Gwen PhillipsFor HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Dragonwitch Poster"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: DragonwitchBook 5 _____
"Nothing to Fear"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Always Come Back for You"By: Melanie MorganFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"A Parumvir Chef"By: MollyFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Daydream"By: SaraLynFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Advertising Graphic"By: Bree HollowayFor Series ______
"When You Imagine"By: KathleenAuthor Portrait and Series Poster
_____
"Angry Bird"By: SaraLynFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Aethelbald"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"The Wood"By: Rebekah GygerFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Goat Girl"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____
"ChuMana's Desmesne"By: Maiden GFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Aethelbald and the Dragon Girl"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"A Song So Old"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 ______
Click on the link below to see animationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuetMrrFMSk&feature=youtu.be"The Human Dragon - Short 2D Animation"By: EllenFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
This year, the winner will be chosen by voting. To vote for your favorites, please email me the titles (and artists) of your top three picks. aestengl@gmail.com. I will compile these votes and announce the favorite a week from today! The winner will receive a free copy of DRAGONWITCH later this summer.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO VOTE! This contest is not limited to bloggers or fan-voters only. Invite your friends and family to pick their favorites!
Be sure to take a moment to tell the artists how awesome they are in the comments below.
A great big thanks and enthusiastic applause to the participating artists! You are all wonderful talents. Some of you made me laugh, some of you made me smile, and some of you completely took my breath away! I have been looking forward to sharing your work.
So without further ado . . . . (Click on the images to enlarge viewing.)
hg
"Wedding Vows"By: BekaFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"Una and Felix"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Unveiled Illusion"By: Courtney DunesburyFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2
Detail of "Unveiled Illusion" _____ 
"The Far Side"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"Una"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"The Dragon's Kiss"By: Therru GhibliFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Tender"By: BekaFrom: MoonbloodBook 3 _____ 
"Quench My Fire"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Deep Dreams"By: KathleenFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Sir Eanrin"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Alone, But Unforgotten"By: Courtney M.From: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Captured"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: StarflowerBook 1 _____
"Lionheart's Venture to the Mountain"By: MollyFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____
"Mourning His Death"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Epic Standoff"By: Rebekah GygerFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"Imraldera Speaks"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"The Princess"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Guardian of Goldstone Wood"By: The Alpha JanAuthor Portrait _____ 
"I Still Must Sing"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Imraldera"By: SaraLynFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____ 
"Goldstone Poster"By: Hannah WilliamsSeries Poster _____
"His Haven"By: Rebekah Elaine and Ruth ElizabethFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Lumé and Hymlumé"By: Jennette MbeweFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Walk Before Me"By: Maiden GFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____ 
"Fey Fight"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Belle Loves Heartless Too"By: Gwen PhillipsFor HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Dragonwitch Poster"By: Hannah WilliamsFrom: DragonwitchBook 5 _____
"Nothing to Fear"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Always Come Back for You"By: Melanie MorganFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"A Parumvir Chef"By: MollyFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Daydream"By: SaraLynFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"Advertising Graphic"By: Bree HollowayFor Series ______
"When You Imagine"By: KathleenAuthor Portrait and Series Poster_____
"Angry Bird"By: SaraLynFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____ 
"Aethelbald"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"The Wood"By: Rebekah GygerFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
"Goat Girl"By: Marisa MirandaFrom: Veiled RoseBook 2 _____
"ChuMana's Desmesne"By: Maiden GFrom: StarflowerBook 4 _____
"Aethelbald and the Dragon Girl"By: Gwen PhillipsFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____ 
"A Song So Old"By: BekaFrom: StarflowerBook 4 ______
Click on the link below to see animationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuetMrrFMSk&feature=youtu.be"The Human Dragon - Short 2D Animation"By: EllenFrom: HeartlessBook 1 _____
March 8, 2013
Friday Tidbits
Facts or Fiction? I had an interesting conversation with an aspiring writer last night. This gentleman is frustrated because, while he has a host of interesting characters in his head, he cannot seem to find a story for any of them.I would argue: If you cannot find a story, then you don't really have a character.
To prove this theory, I asked the gentleman one simple question. "What does your character want more than anything in the world?"
He looked at me for a long, blank moment. Then he said, "I don't know. I suppose I just have facts about the character in mind. No desires."
Here's the thing, dear writers: Facts do not equal a character. This gentleman could tell me what kind of job his character had. He could tell me what his character looked like. He could tell me where his character had grown up, where his character was now living, what this character liked to eat on his pizza. The list of facts went on.
But there was no real character. Because the character did not have a key desire.
Ultimately, desires are what make people interesting. They are what drive and define us. What we want most of out of life affects our personality, our decisions, or actions . . . all choices, both good and bad.
If you want to create a character, don't waste any time deciding what he or she looks like. Don't waste time on superfluous details like job descriptions, background information, anything like that. All of that is secondary . . . those are nothing but details to be filled in later as you flesh out the story.
Ask yourself one simple question: "What does this character want most?"
If you have that answer, you will also have a story. Because, you see, your story will simply be made up of throwing one obstacle after another in the path of your hero, preventing him from achieving what he wants. The plot becomes your hero's struggle to beat the odds, to achieve the dream. Your climax becomes the final confrontation, the final moment when your hero faces the dream itself . . . and either wins it at last or gives it up.
You find the answer to that question, and you will have a story.
By the way, this same question is true when it comes to creating every other character peopling your story. From the villain to all the secondary characters, you must ask, "What does this person want most?" These goals and desires become these characters' motivations. These goals will affect how they interact with your hero and dramatically alter the course of the story, either for good or ill (most often for ill, because that's more interesting reading!)
March 4, 2013
Wooden Soldiers
Because I am tremendously busy at the moment, I haven't had a chance to think about what new and fun things to do on this blog! We have the art contest coming up soon (deadline March 20th . . . don't forget!), so that will be fun. But in the meanwhile, it might be a bit hodge-podge for a few weeks. Do forgive me!
I thought to pass the time with some of the articles I wrote for the blog tour I did back in January. Many of you have already read these, but some of you might have missed them! So here you go . . .
Wooden Soldiers:The Shaping of Imagination Anne Elisabeth Stengl
I want to talk to you for a moment about wooden soldiers. Specifically, a set of twelve wooden soldiers that belonged to a little boy a long time ago.
This little boy was called Branwell--because long ago, everyone had funny names like that and no one thought it a bit strange--and he lived in a remote country house on a moor in England. As isolated as his home was, Branwell wasn't lonely; he had a lot of sisters. Neither was he bored; he had a keen imagination.
And he had this beautiful set of twelve wooden soldiers.
Branwell and his sisters--particularly the eldest, Charlotte--would play with these soldiers by the hour every day. And by play, I don't mean they would set up battles and chuck stones at them for bullets. Possibly they did sometimes, but that wasn’t the point of their play. No, Branwell and his sisters were far more creative than that. They invented personalities for each and every one of their twelve soldiers. And beyond personalities, they invented histories, relationships, dynamics, politics . . . an entire world, in fact, all sprung from their own imaginations.
They traveled to a made-up colony in Africa called Angria, and they peopled it with the characters of their soldiers, the "Young Men," as they were known jointly. These gallant fellows, guided always by the overseeing Genii (Branwell and his sisters), faced monsters and perils the likes of which only a child's imagination can conjure. Some died and were necessarily resurrected for later games, but don't think this lessened the tragedy of each and every death. Some were lost for months on end and presumed dead, only to return with still more glorious stories to be told.
Told and, more importantly, written down.
You see, Branwell and his sisters were not only imaginative but also lovers of the written word. They devoured whatever books fell under their hands and, encouraged by their father, were eager to pen down their own ideas as well. Branwell and Charlotte particularly wrote reams of material on their beloved Young Men: stories, poems, articles, and histories about the colony of Angria. Sometimes they quarreled about details and the order of events. But no matter! They wrote and they wrote and they wrote . . . .
Sometimes their stories were influenced by events of the day. Sometimes they were filled with magic after the fashion of the Arabian Nights (some of Charlotte's favorite stories). Sometimes the influence of popular authors of that day can be seen in their little stories--authors like Byron and Sir Walter Scott. There were political intrigues, exciting romances with beautiful damsels, and often-stormy relationships among the twelve Young Men themselves. All alive and vivid in the minds of these children.
Children who grew up. Grew up and became novelists.
Charlotte Brontë is perhaps the best-known of these four siblings. She wrote the famous novel Jane Eyre which has become a beloved classic, re-imagined on film again and again. Her sister Emily Brontë, only marginally less well known, penned the gothic romance Wuthering Heights, a chilling tale full of majesty and malice that belies the quiet girl who penned it. Anne Brontë is perhaps the least well known, but still respected as the author of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a stunning piece of fiction that immortalized her own brother, Branwell, in the fictional character of Arthur Huntingdon.
Sadly, the only one of the siblings who never contributed to the history of English literature was young Branwell himself, whose descent into alcoholism and whose early death at age thirty-one prevented him from ever achieving the possibilities of his creative genius.
And yet, those possibilities live on long after his death in the many works he wrote about the Young Men, the twelve brave soldiers. An entire world lives and breathes on the page, even if forgotten by most. Sprung from the minds of children, but crafted with so much love, the Histories of the Young Men are a testimony to the power of youthful imagination, uninhibited and glorious.
I want to talk to you now about another set of soldiers. These were plastic, not wooden, and only a few inches tall. They had jointed arms and legs that grew looser with time until the little figures could scarcely stand. And they were held together from the inside with rubber bands which, given too much hard play, would eventually snap.
But that didn't matter. These little soldiers--G.I. Joes, as they are known on the market--meant so much more to my brothers and me than mere plastic, rubber bands, and joints.
You see, we also had an imaginary world. We called it "Pinesville" and it was a town we'd invented peopled with characters as alive and vivid to us as our own neighbors and friends. Represented by G.I. Joes, these characters existed more in the realm of imagination than in any physical form. My family was the Hardings, and my chief character was the middle son, a handsome and inventive young fellow named Andrew (my name is Anne, and Andrew seemed a close fit). My big brother's family was the Tuckers, and his chief character was a brave and brash young fellow named David. My little brother invented the Maddisons, but he never could quite settle on a distinct personality for any one character, so he played with an assortment of different fellows, depending on his mood.
Eventually the world and characters extended far beyond the actual G.I. Joe figures we had. All the girl characters, for instance, were purely imagined, but no less real in our minds. The same with all the "adults,"--because, of course, our own characters were always the same age as we were, and grew up alongside us.
Oh, the adventures we had! Sometimes we went back in time to the Wild West, or even to the feudal Middle Ages. Sometimes Andrew and David and their friends battled pirates, and on more than one occasion, cannibals. There were fairy-tale adventures, such as the old witch that lived in the forest near their house who liked to steal children and turn them into stew. Now there's a foe worthy of any childhood game!
As we grew older, we tended to modernize. We brought Pinesville into the present age, and some of our characters formed a rock-and-roll band. I can still sing some of the "songs" we wrote for this band . . . known as the "Pinesville Dudes." My inventive Andrew was constantly coming up with new gadgets, and I do believe our gallant G.I. Joes even built a rocket and traveled into space at one point.
We grew older still. Our games changed along with us. We would send them on missions with my fighter pilot father. Papa would tuck them into pockets of his flight suit and take them with him overseas, so that Andrew and David and some of the others are even now better traveled than I am. We built submarines and submerged them in the lake near our house, waiting all winter to see how they would survive . . . and, of course, amusing ourselves on the winter evenings with stories of their aquatic adventures.
We grew some more. And eventually, we grew up. I went on to become a professional novelist. Like Charlotte Brontë, I have never written a professional story that dealt with any of the characters of my childhood.
But Pinesville and its denizens remain vivid and alive in my mind. Even today, my older brother--now a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot and a decorated war hero--will call me up upon occasion and say, "I've got a new Pinesville story for you." And he will make me laugh all over again as he spins a yarn about these characters we know and love as dearly as we know and love each other. So what is the point of this article, you ask? Well, it's simple: I am here to sing the praises of childhood imagination. If not for Pinesville and those games with my brothers, I do not believe I would be a professional novelist now. The world we created, all those characters and relationships and adventures, taught my imagination how to work, how to shape stories. We did not play video games, and we did not watch many movies. Instead, we spent hours in our rooms or in the backyard, simply letting our imaginations run wild, in whatever directions we wished!
I'll bet if you could ask Charlotte Brontë what led her to becoming a novelist, she would get a little smile on her face as she thought back to Branwell and all those hours of invention with a humble set of wooden soldiers. Then, with an air of secret mystery, she would say, "The Young Men, of course."
Ask me that question, and my smile might just mirror hers. And I would put my hand into my coat pocket where even now a little figure nestles. His joints are so loose, he can no longer stand. He's missing a leg, and his face is rubbed out beyond all recognition. But I know who he is.
Andrew is not limited to the little toy figure of a plastic G.I. Joe. Andrew is alive and well as long as my big brother and I remember.
So tell me about you. Did you have your own world as a child? Can you see how it might have influenced and helped your own creative writing?
I thought to pass the time with some of the articles I wrote for the blog tour I did back in January. Many of you have already read these, but some of you might have missed them! So here you go . . .
Wooden Soldiers:The Shaping of Imagination Anne Elisabeth Stengl
I want to talk to you for a moment about wooden soldiers. Specifically, a set of twelve wooden soldiers that belonged to a little boy a long time ago.
This little boy was called Branwell--because long ago, everyone had funny names like that and no one thought it a bit strange--and he lived in a remote country house on a moor in England. As isolated as his home was, Branwell wasn't lonely; he had a lot of sisters. Neither was he bored; he had a keen imagination.
And he had this beautiful set of twelve wooden soldiers. Branwell and his sisters--particularly the eldest, Charlotte--would play with these soldiers by the hour every day. And by play, I don't mean they would set up battles and chuck stones at them for bullets. Possibly they did sometimes, but that wasn’t the point of their play. No, Branwell and his sisters were far more creative than that. They invented personalities for each and every one of their twelve soldiers. And beyond personalities, they invented histories, relationships, dynamics, politics . . . an entire world, in fact, all sprung from their own imaginations.
They traveled to a made-up colony in Africa called Angria, and they peopled it with the characters of their soldiers, the "Young Men," as they were known jointly. These gallant fellows, guided always by the overseeing Genii (Branwell and his sisters), faced monsters and perils the likes of which only a child's imagination can conjure. Some died and were necessarily resurrected for later games, but don't think this lessened the tragedy of each and every death. Some were lost for months on end and presumed dead, only to return with still more glorious stories to be told.
Told and, more importantly, written down.
You see, Branwell and his sisters were not only imaginative but also lovers of the written word. They devoured whatever books fell under their hands and, encouraged by their father, were eager to pen down their own ideas as well. Branwell and Charlotte particularly wrote reams of material on their beloved Young Men: stories, poems, articles, and histories about the colony of Angria. Sometimes they quarreled about details and the order of events. But no matter! They wrote and they wrote and they wrote . . . .
Sometimes their stories were influenced by events of the day. Sometimes they were filled with magic after the fashion of the Arabian Nights (some of Charlotte's favorite stories). Sometimes the influence of popular authors of that day can be seen in their little stories--authors like Byron and Sir Walter Scott. There were political intrigues, exciting romances with beautiful damsels, and often-stormy relationships among the twelve Young Men themselves. All alive and vivid in the minds of these children.
Children who grew up. Grew up and became novelists.
Charlotte Brontë is perhaps the best-known of these four siblings. She wrote the famous novel Jane Eyre which has become a beloved classic, re-imagined on film again and again. Her sister Emily Brontë, only marginally less well known, penned the gothic romance Wuthering Heights, a chilling tale full of majesty and malice that belies the quiet girl who penned it. Anne Brontë is perhaps the least well known, but still respected as the author of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a stunning piece of fiction that immortalized her own brother, Branwell, in the fictional character of Arthur Huntingdon.
Sadly, the only one of the siblings who never contributed to the history of English literature was young Branwell himself, whose descent into alcoholism and whose early death at age thirty-one prevented him from ever achieving the possibilities of his creative genius.
And yet, those possibilities live on long after his death in the many works he wrote about the Young Men, the twelve brave soldiers. An entire world lives and breathes on the page, even if forgotten by most. Sprung from the minds of children, but crafted with so much love, the Histories of the Young Men are a testimony to the power of youthful imagination, uninhibited and glorious.
I want to talk to you now about another set of soldiers. These were plastic, not wooden, and only a few inches tall. They had jointed arms and legs that grew looser with time until the little figures could scarcely stand. And they were held together from the inside with rubber bands which, given too much hard play, would eventually snap.
But that didn't matter. These little soldiers--G.I. Joes, as they are known on the market--meant so much more to my brothers and me than mere plastic, rubber bands, and joints.
You see, we also had an imaginary world. We called it "Pinesville" and it was a town we'd invented peopled with characters as alive and vivid to us as our own neighbors and friends. Represented by G.I. Joes, these characters existed more in the realm of imagination than in any physical form. My family was the Hardings, and my chief character was the middle son, a handsome and inventive young fellow named Andrew (my name is Anne, and Andrew seemed a close fit). My big brother's family was the Tuckers, and his chief character was a brave and brash young fellow named David. My little brother invented the Maddisons, but he never could quite settle on a distinct personality for any one character, so he played with an assortment of different fellows, depending on his mood.
Eventually the world and characters extended far beyond the actual G.I. Joe figures we had. All the girl characters, for instance, were purely imagined, but no less real in our minds. The same with all the "adults,"--because, of course, our own characters were always the same age as we were, and grew up alongside us.
Oh, the adventures we had! Sometimes we went back in time to the Wild West, or even to the feudal Middle Ages. Sometimes Andrew and David and their friends battled pirates, and on more than one occasion, cannibals. There were fairy-tale adventures, such as the old witch that lived in the forest near their house who liked to steal children and turn them into stew. Now there's a foe worthy of any childhood game!
As we grew older, we tended to modernize. We brought Pinesville into the present age, and some of our characters formed a rock-and-roll band. I can still sing some of the "songs" we wrote for this band . . . known as the "Pinesville Dudes." My inventive Andrew was constantly coming up with new gadgets, and I do believe our gallant G.I. Joes even built a rocket and traveled into space at one point.
We grew older still. Our games changed along with us. We would send them on missions with my fighter pilot father. Papa would tuck them into pockets of his flight suit and take them with him overseas, so that Andrew and David and some of the others are even now better traveled than I am. We built submarines and submerged them in the lake near our house, waiting all winter to see how they would survive . . . and, of course, amusing ourselves on the winter evenings with stories of their aquatic adventures.
We grew some more. And eventually, we grew up. I went on to become a professional novelist. Like Charlotte Brontë, I have never written a professional story that dealt with any of the characters of my childhood.
But Pinesville and its denizens remain vivid and alive in my mind. Even today, my older brother--now a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot and a decorated war hero--will call me up upon occasion and say, "I've got a new Pinesville story for you." And he will make me laugh all over again as he spins a yarn about these characters we know and love as dearly as we know and love each other. So what is the point of this article, you ask? Well, it's simple: I am here to sing the praises of childhood imagination. If not for Pinesville and those games with my brothers, I do not believe I would be a professional novelist now. The world we created, all those characters and relationships and adventures, taught my imagination how to work, how to shape stories. We did not play video games, and we did not watch many movies. Instead, we spent hours in our rooms or in the backyard, simply letting our imaginations run wild, in whatever directions we wished!
I'll bet if you could ask Charlotte Brontë what led her to becoming a novelist, she would get a little smile on her face as she thought back to Branwell and all those hours of invention with a humble set of wooden soldiers. Then, with an air of secret mystery, she would say, "The Young Men, of course."
Ask me that question, and my smile might just mirror hers. And I would put my hand into my coat pocket where even now a little figure nestles. His joints are so loose, he can no longer stand. He's missing a leg, and his face is rubbed out beyond all recognition. But I know who he is.
Andrew is not limited to the little toy figure of a plastic G.I. Joe. Andrew is alive and well as long as my big brother and I remember.
So tell me about you. Did you have your own world as a child? Can you see how it might have influenced and helped your own creative writing?
March 1, 2013
Friday Tidbits!
One . . . two . . . Here is an interesting little writing rule that isn't commonly talked about, but which is actually far more important than you might realize.
It's called the Rule of Three.
It's a rule that is commonly used in the visual arts. Trained artists know that an arrangement of three major focal points is more pleasing to the eye. Interior decorators will often arrange things in groups of three as well: two mirrors and a picture frame, or two photos and a clock.
In painting, you see this rule represented all over the place! Many Rennaissance paintings were arranged in triangular shapes, with the points of the triangle providing the three major focual points.
This piece is actually painted a triangular surface, making it very easy for three focal points to dominate and lead the eye.
It's a little harder to spot in this painting . . . but can you see how her head, neck, shoulder, and right hand form a soft, triangular composition? Again, very pleasing to the eye. Okay, you say, so that's painting. How does that apply to fiction? Quite naturally! Have you ever heard of The Three Stooges? The Three Blind Mice? Three Little Pigs? Three Billygoats Gruff? Goldilocks and the Three Bears? How about the classic maiden and two ugly stepsisters? Or the even more classic, maiden, mother, and crone? The rule of three is everywhere in fiction! Look at the most basic structure of a story: Beginning, Middle, and End. There's a three for you all over again. For some reason things that come in sets of three are more satisfying, funnier, more effective than other numbers. The same is true when it comes to plotting. Let me use an example from a recent rough draft of my own. In an early chapter, I had the main character recall a lullaby his mother used to sing to him. Now this lullaby contained one of the most important themes in the story, and I planned to end the narrative by repeating the lullaby on the last page. But, especially for something as important as the very end, you can't introduce a theme and then drop it until the last page. That's where the Rule of Three becomes important. I had find at least one more place within the story to reference or even quote that lullaby. This creates a sense of pattern that is pleasing to the readerly eye, without feeling repetitious. The Rule of Three. Now this instance was a short story. In a longer novel, you can find ways to effectively repeat and reemphasize themes more than three times. But, if you introduce and important theme, you want to bring it back at least three times. Once--it's not a theme. Twice--it's coincidence. Three times--it's a theme, and the reader files it away as important. Does this make sense to you? How might you have used the Rule of Three in your own creative work?
February 25, 2013
February Features: My Lovely Editor!
I know that many of you readers are eagerly pursuing the creative writing life and hoping to some day step into the wild, weird, wonderful world of publication. So I thought, as part of these February Features, to introduce you to a slightly different side of professional fiction.
And my lovely editor, Rochelle Gloege, has agreed to do an interview!
I have been working with Rochelle since Heartless first sold. She has been an invaluable help getting my books to the very best possible level of polish before they go to print. She has an excellent eye for details, a great sense of pacing, not to mention boundless supplies of grace and encouragement . . . all necessary skills for a good editor. I have loved working with her for every manuscript and learned so much from her experience!
So please give her a warm welcome, and be certain to leave comments thanking her for her time. (Editors work under crazy schedules, so I was thrilled she managed to squeeze an interview in!)
INTERVIEW
Welcome, Rochelle! I'm so thrilled to have you here today on the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog! First of all, please tells us a little about yourself! What hobbies do you enjoy? Favorite music? Tea or coffee? Big or little family? Any pets?
Rochelle: Well, if you’re sure your readers really wish to hear about me… I’m an editor, after all, and so naturally less fascinating to the public than an author!
You’ll scarcely be surprised to learn that reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I also enjoy cooking, gardening, spending time with my family and friends, hiking, cross-country skiing, and traveling, though I don’t get to do a lot of the latter right now. As for music, I listen to a wide variety of genres—Over the Rhine and Storyhill have been longtime favorite bands—but if I were forced to pick one album today, I’d choose Gungor’s Ghosts Upon the Earth.
Tea is my drink: a blend of Assam and Ceylon in the morning and jasmine green pearls in the afternoon. If I’m really tired and need to be on alert, I’ll drink a latte with a little honey.
My husband and I have two inquisitive elementary-age children, a girl and a boy, to keep us on our toes. And our fifteen-year-old long-haired dachshund keeps a watchful eye on all of us!
Can you tell us a little about your work? What is the job description of a line editor, exactly?
Rochelle: My actual title is senior fiction editor, and I’ve always thought substantive editor or content editor better describe my job than line editor, since I often work with authors from before the time they have a manuscript. Once the author submits a partial or complete draft, I comment on the big-picture items of character development, plot, viewpoint, structure, pacing—all of the elements that give a story its life and dimension. It’s my job to stand-in as the intended audience and alert authors to both strengths (which I hope they build on) and potential weaknesses, things that might stand in the way of the story they want to tell.
Only after an author revises the manuscript do I begin the finer, more detail-oriented work people frequently associate with line editing: editing for clarity and author intent (what does the author mean?), continuity (within a book and, when it applies, a series), coherence, and conciseness. Since I edit fiction, the emphasis on brevity varies more than it might with nonfiction; some genres simply require more detail, and not every author is meant to be as spare a writer as Hemingway! Generally I leave questions of grammar and fact checking to the copy editor, though of course I tend to those items as well when I notice them. It’s unwise to assume someone else will catch a mistake!
Ultimately, my goal as an editor is to help authors write their best possible stories, and I pray for wisdom in that task. Readers should only notice the work I do insofar as they don’t notice my editing at all; a good editor doesn’t leave tracks.
When did you decide that a career in publishing was for you? How did you get started?
After my freshman year, I did an unpaid internship at the publisher where I now work. I loved books, and the idea that I might be able to make a living by working with them was energizing. I tailored my major (communications with a concentration in writing) to the end goal of getting a job in publishing and took coursework in everything from writing (creative, essay, journalistic, ad writing, technical) to English literature, philosophy, logic, theology, and art and music history. I even took a course focused on the Chicago Manual of Style, the style Bible for most book publishers.
Were you a bookworm growing up? What were some of your favorite books?
Absolutely I was a bookworm! I read whenever I could, and I read aloud to whomever would listen—my four younger siblings provided a usually willing (I hope!) audience. Because we lived twenty miles from the nearest library during many of my growing-up years, I read whatever I could get my hands on, and I reread my favorite books multiple times. The genres I found myself most drawn to were mystery and fantasy, and the books I returned to most often were those by Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, as well as Watership Down, The Secret Garden, and The Little House books, which I found surprisingly easy to relate to, being I lived on the edge of a big woods!
How did you end up working for Bethany House? Did you work other editing positions before the one you have now?
My initial internship was invaluable in exposing me to many aspects of the editorial process: For eighteen months, I evaluated fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for their publishing potential, proofread, and entered editors’ corrections (some substantive or line editors still edited only on paper in those days, something almost unthinkable now!). That last aspect gave me a window into the true nature of an editors’ work—it was extremely helpful to see the choices respected editors had made and consider why they might have made them. After that, I put in my time, working for a publisher of nonfiction self-help books and then a publisher of gift books, moving further up the ladder of responsibility with each position. Nearly twenty years ago, Bethany House hired me to edit their young adult and children’s books, and eventually I became the editorial director of that area of their publishing line. I missed working more directly with manuscripts, however; for the past ten years, my focus has been on editing fiction for adults.
What sorts of skills do you think benefit someone wanting to become a fiction editor?
Read widely and deeply; take a closer look to find out what makes books work or not. Good reading involves thinking, and an observant eye and a good memory are key! It’s also vital to be able to communicate well and tactfully: You are working with people who have (hopefully) poured their heart and soul into their manuscript, and it’s important to respect and be sensitive to that while also upholding the standards of the publishing house one represents. The editorial process isn’t meant to be adversarial but to enhance an author’s gifts and story. Editors should also be flexible, since no two manuscripts or authors—or publishing houses—are alike. A background in diplomacy wouldn’t be amiss!
Of course there are some majors that are more obvious fits for an editorial career: English, journalism, or communications are always wise choices, but depending on what one is editing, a more specialized major such as theology might be just as useful or even expected.
Any of advice or encouragement to those out there who might like to pursue a career in publishing?
If you can secure an internship to get some practical hands-on experience in what the real-world business is like, do it! Publishing is definitely in a state of evolution right now as people migrate from brick-and-mortar bookstores to alternative sales channels, and from printed text to digital formats—there are more books available than ever, yet also fewer traditional publishers. Find creative, proactive ways to make yourself stand out from other would-be editors; gain experience wherever you can find it. While your heart may be with fiction, remember that all kinds of writing can benefit from editing and can be used as a starting point.
Can you break down for us what your basic work on a single manuscript might look like?
What my work looks like necessarily varies from book to book, which is one reason why I enjoy my job! The more time and thought an author has been able to put into a manuscript, the less there is for me to do. (You, Anne Elisabeth, are a case in point!) But the editorial process itself follows a set pattern: I (and often at least one other editor) read the draft and comment on it, the author does revisions, and then I begin the hands-on process of actually editing manuscript. Typically I read through a manuscript twice at this stage; once the surprises of the initial read are past, I can really see what is there and what still might need refining. After that, the manuscript goes to the copy editor and then on to the author for another look. It’s also my role to address any queries the copy editor, author, and subsequent proofreaders might have, as well as to shepherd the book through the typesetting process all the way through to the digital text proofs that arrive from the printer. One thing is certain: I will see a book many times and in many forms before it goes to press!
When you read for pleasure and not for the job, which authors do you find yourself turning to?
With two elementary-age children, my free time looks different than it used to, and I’m thoroughly enjoying this stage of life. I’m rereading many childhood favorites to my children; it’s so much fun to see them drawn in by the stories I loved at their age. My daughter shares my bookworm tendencies and often asks me to read books that have especially resonated with her so that we can talk about them. How can I resist? As a result, I currently read a lot of middle-grade and young adult fiction. Some particular standouts have been Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks series, When You Reach Me, and So B. It. Terry Prachett’s Dodger awaits me on my bedside table, as does Katherine Boo’s All the Beautiful Forevers and Todd Boss’s Pitch(yeah, poetry—nothing else quite like it to cut to the essence of something). I like to mix up genres—keeps me thinking!
Any final thoughts with which you'd like to leave my readers?
Whether you are a writer, editor, or reader, be thoughtful and engaged in the process, and invest your gifts as fully as you are able. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “…whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” You won’t regret it!
______________ What a fabulous interview! I learned a lot from reading that, and I hope all of you did as well. As you can all see, Rochelle is a woman after our own hearts . . . Are any of you interested in pursuing the editing side of fiction? Do tell!
And my lovely editor, Rochelle Gloege, has agreed to do an interview!
I have been working with Rochelle since Heartless first sold. She has been an invaluable help getting my books to the very best possible level of polish before they go to print. She has an excellent eye for details, a great sense of pacing, not to mention boundless supplies of grace and encouragement . . . all necessary skills for a good editor. I have loved working with her for every manuscript and learned so much from her experience!
So please give her a warm welcome, and be certain to leave comments thanking her for her time. (Editors work under crazy schedules, so I was thrilled she managed to squeeze an interview in!)
INTERVIEW
Welcome, Rochelle! I'm so thrilled to have you here today on the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog! First of all, please tells us a little about yourself! What hobbies do you enjoy? Favorite music? Tea or coffee? Big or little family? Any pets?
Rochelle: Well, if you’re sure your readers really wish to hear about me… I’m an editor, after all, and so naturally less fascinating to the public than an author!
You’ll scarcely be surprised to learn that reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I also enjoy cooking, gardening, spending time with my family and friends, hiking, cross-country skiing, and traveling, though I don’t get to do a lot of the latter right now. As for music, I listen to a wide variety of genres—Over the Rhine and Storyhill have been longtime favorite bands—but if I were forced to pick one album today, I’d choose Gungor’s Ghosts Upon the Earth. Tea is my drink: a blend of Assam and Ceylon in the morning and jasmine green pearls in the afternoon. If I’m really tired and need to be on alert, I’ll drink a latte with a little honey.
My husband and I have two inquisitive elementary-age children, a girl and a boy, to keep us on our toes. And our fifteen-year-old long-haired dachshund keeps a watchful eye on all of us!
Can you tell us a little about your work? What is the job description of a line editor, exactly?
Rochelle: My actual title is senior fiction editor, and I’ve always thought substantive editor or content editor better describe my job than line editor, since I often work with authors from before the time they have a manuscript. Once the author submits a partial or complete draft, I comment on the big-picture items of character development, plot, viewpoint, structure, pacing—all of the elements that give a story its life and dimension. It’s my job to stand-in as the intended audience and alert authors to both strengths (which I hope they build on) and potential weaknesses, things that might stand in the way of the story they want to tell.
Only after an author revises the manuscript do I begin the finer, more detail-oriented work people frequently associate with line editing: editing for clarity and author intent (what does the author mean?), continuity (within a book and, when it applies, a series), coherence, and conciseness. Since I edit fiction, the emphasis on brevity varies more than it might with nonfiction; some genres simply require more detail, and not every author is meant to be as spare a writer as Hemingway! Generally I leave questions of grammar and fact checking to the copy editor, though of course I tend to those items as well when I notice them. It’s unwise to assume someone else will catch a mistake!
Ultimately, my goal as an editor is to help authors write their best possible stories, and I pray for wisdom in that task. Readers should only notice the work I do insofar as they don’t notice my editing at all; a good editor doesn’t leave tracks.
When did you decide that a career in publishing was for you? How did you get started?
After my freshman year, I did an unpaid internship at the publisher where I now work. I loved books, and the idea that I might be able to make a living by working with them was energizing. I tailored my major (communications with a concentration in writing) to the end goal of getting a job in publishing and took coursework in everything from writing (creative, essay, journalistic, ad writing, technical) to English literature, philosophy, logic, theology, and art and music history. I even took a course focused on the Chicago Manual of Style, the style Bible for most book publishers.
Were you a bookworm growing up? What were some of your favorite books?
Absolutely I was a bookworm! I read whenever I could, and I read aloud to whomever would listen—my four younger siblings provided a usually willing (I hope!) audience. Because we lived twenty miles from the nearest library during many of my growing-up years, I read whatever I could get my hands on, and I reread my favorite books multiple times. The genres I found myself most drawn to were mystery and fantasy, and the books I returned to most often were those by Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, as well as Watership Down, The Secret Garden, and The Little House books, which I found surprisingly easy to relate to, being I lived on the edge of a big woods!
How did you end up working for Bethany House? Did you work other editing positions before the one you have now?
My initial internship was invaluable in exposing me to many aspects of the editorial process: For eighteen months, I evaluated fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for their publishing potential, proofread, and entered editors’ corrections (some substantive or line editors still edited only on paper in those days, something almost unthinkable now!). That last aspect gave me a window into the true nature of an editors’ work—it was extremely helpful to see the choices respected editors had made and consider why they might have made them. After that, I put in my time, working for a publisher of nonfiction self-help books and then a publisher of gift books, moving further up the ladder of responsibility with each position. Nearly twenty years ago, Bethany House hired me to edit their young adult and children’s books, and eventually I became the editorial director of that area of their publishing line. I missed working more directly with manuscripts, however; for the past ten years, my focus has been on editing fiction for adults.
What sorts of skills do you think benefit someone wanting to become a fiction editor?
Read widely and deeply; take a closer look to find out what makes books work or not. Good reading involves thinking, and an observant eye and a good memory are key! It’s also vital to be able to communicate well and tactfully: You are working with people who have (hopefully) poured their heart and soul into their manuscript, and it’s important to respect and be sensitive to that while also upholding the standards of the publishing house one represents. The editorial process isn’t meant to be adversarial but to enhance an author’s gifts and story. Editors should also be flexible, since no two manuscripts or authors—or publishing houses—are alike. A background in diplomacy wouldn’t be amiss!
Of course there are some majors that are more obvious fits for an editorial career: English, journalism, or communications are always wise choices, but depending on what one is editing, a more specialized major such as theology might be just as useful or even expected.
Any of advice or encouragement to those out there who might like to pursue a career in publishing?
If you can secure an internship to get some practical hands-on experience in what the real-world business is like, do it! Publishing is definitely in a state of evolution right now as people migrate from brick-and-mortar bookstores to alternative sales channels, and from printed text to digital formats—there are more books available than ever, yet also fewer traditional publishers. Find creative, proactive ways to make yourself stand out from other would-be editors; gain experience wherever you can find it. While your heart may be with fiction, remember that all kinds of writing can benefit from editing and can be used as a starting point.
Can you break down for us what your basic work on a single manuscript might look like?
What my work looks like necessarily varies from book to book, which is one reason why I enjoy my job! The more time and thought an author has been able to put into a manuscript, the less there is for me to do. (You, Anne Elisabeth, are a case in point!) But the editorial process itself follows a set pattern: I (and often at least one other editor) read the draft and comment on it, the author does revisions, and then I begin the hands-on process of actually editing manuscript. Typically I read through a manuscript twice at this stage; once the surprises of the initial read are past, I can really see what is there and what still might need refining. After that, the manuscript goes to the copy editor and then on to the author for another look. It’s also my role to address any queries the copy editor, author, and subsequent proofreaders might have, as well as to shepherd the book through the typesetting process all the way through to the digital text proofs that arrive from the printer. One thing is certain: I will see a book many times and in many forms before it goes to press!
When you read for pleasure and not for the job, which authors do you find yourself turning to?
With two elementary-age children, my free time looks different than it used to, and I’m thoroughly enjoying this stage of life. I’m rereading many childhood favorites to my children; it’s so much fun to see them drawn in by the stories I loved at their age. My daughter shares my bookworm tendencies and often asks me to read books that have especially resonated with her so that we can talk about them. How can I resist? As a result, I currently read a lot of middle-grade and young adult fiction. Some particular standouts have been Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks series, When You Reach Me, and So B. It. Terry Prachett’s Dodger awaits me on my bedside table, as does Katherine Boo’s All the Beautiful Forevers and Todd Boss’s Pitch(yeah, poetry—nothing else quite like it to cut to the essence of something). I like to mix up genres—keeps me thinking!
Any final thoughts with which you'd like to leave my readers?
Whether you are a writer, editor, or reader, be thoughtful and engaged in the process, and invest your gifts as fully as you are able. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “…whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” You won’t regret it!
______________ What a fabulous interview! I learned a lot from reading that, and I hope all of you did as well. As you can all see, Rochelle is a woman after our own hearts . . . Are any of you interested in pursuing the editing side of fiction? Do tell!
February 21, 2013
Fantasy Authors of Tomorrow: Camryn Lockhart!
A warm welcome to Camryn, another regular commentor on this blog, and a lovely young woman! Camryn just signed up with my mentoring program this last Christmas, so we haven't been working together long. However, she has already impressed me with an enormous imagination, ready to tackle epic and exciting storylines that are sure to thrill boys and girls alike! You can tell within a few sentences of Camryn's story that she grew up with a passel of brothers. Her work is full of action and adventure enough to keep a reader breathless and eager for more.
Camryn has kindly agreed to share a little of herself and her work with us today. She's also offering a fun giveaway, so be certain to check that out at the end of this post! But now, the lady herself . . .
Camryn Lockhart lives in Maryland with her parents, five little brothers, little sister, and a Great Dane. She likes to sing around the house and draws in her spare time. Writing is her passion among all her interests. She strives to put God first and implement her faith in all she does, including writing.
And now a little information on the wonderful story Camryn has been working on with my mentoring program! Presenting . . . .
“Starting at sunset, the banishment is in place. No longer shall this pestilence plague us. No longer will they implement laws that we do not wish to follow. No longer will we have to tolerate . . . the Falcon Masters.” With a ban against their very existence, the Falcon Masters are forced into hiding or risk losing their lives. In the ensuing chaos, twins are born—a girl and a boy—who are swiftly separated, growing up with two different lives. After the daughter, Saige, turns seventeen, a hurtful comment about her heritage sends her running into the woods, but she unknowingly runs into a spellbound faerie portal and falls into the clutches of a Wild Hunter In the whirlwind of events that follow, Saige learns about her long lost brother and that her father might still be alive. More than that, according to an ancient prophecy, the civil war afflicting the land of Muireach can be stopped by her alone. Will she be up to the challenge? Or will she fall in the face of evil? Can Saige learn in time the value of family and how strong faith can be?
Doesn't that make you want to dive into the adventure right away? Camryn is here with us today for an interview, so you can learn more about her and her work. Happy reading!
INTERVIEW Hi, Camryn! First of all, why don't you tell us a little about yourself. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like tea or coffee? Cats or dogs? Indoors or outdoors? Sports or crafts? Anything you want to tell us! Camryn: Wow, where to start? I am the eldest of seven children, five boys and two girls. I am homeschooled, in my senior year of high school and hoping to make writing my career. I think of myself as an introvert since I like time alone. Although, I can be pretty outgoing when the time calls for it, such as making friends after I’ve moved into a new area. I don’t like tea or coffee, but I like hot cocoa and sweet tea! I love cats (they make me laugh with their antics!), but I prefer to only visit them, not take care of them. I love dogs (again, antics, laughing, etc.), but I absolutely adore wolves. If I could have one as a pet and not be concerned about my well-being, I would do it in a heartbeat! I like being indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather. Reading inside while it rains or reading outside sitting in a blooming tree makes no difference to me! I dislike intense summer heat or intense cold and autumn is my favorite season. Sports aren’t my thing, but only because I’m not as good at them as everyone else is (I’m a bit vertically challenged, so any tall guys at my youth group would trounce me at Ultimate Frisbee). I enjoy them, otherwise! I am into crafts! I like to knit, crochet, make friendship bracelets; and drawing (that counts right?). Anything that piques my interest, I learn how to do. But I doubt I’ll ever be a professional in those things. I play piano and guitar and dabble in a few woodwinds like the penny whistle, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the flute. I love to sing and my dream role on Broadway is Eponine from Les Misérables. And, of course, I like to write!
When did you first decide you wanted to be a novelist? Camryn: When I was 11, I saved enough money to buy my own laptop. On it, I discovered a Word Pad. I asked my mom if I could write a story on it and, with her permission, proceeded to do just that…it wasn’t very good. Then again, I was eleven! I have been writing ever since then, whether little short stories, fanfictions or novels in the making. What was the first story you can remember writing down? Did you ever finish it? Camryn: The story I started writing on my laptop at 11 years old was actually the first story I remember writing. It was about a girl named Penny (short for Penelope) who went on a journey visiting strange creatures and people. There was some sort of intrigue with this masked man following her, and I think he was a bounty hunter sent by her father, but I never finished it so I can’t remember and I lost it in cyberspace long ago. What are some of your favorite books? Have they influenced your own writing? Camryn: The Ranger’s Apprenticeseries by John Flanagan was and is one of my favorites! It inspired the story I am currently working on. Touches of his work might influence the costume of my characters. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Outlaws of Sherwood were my also some of my favorite adventures in my early teens and I still hold them dear now. My inspiration for adventure stories most likely came from her; or maybe my own thirst for adventure spurred me on to write about such things. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is a recent favorite of mine due to a friend a year ago doing a play adaption his senior year. I read it and fell in love with Hugo’s style of writing. I found that after I read a chapter or two from Les Miserables, my writing followed after Hugo’s long descriptions and explanations. He definitely motivated me to aspire for beautiful descriptions that make people cry! Well, perhaps not cry. Tearing up will do.And then of course, Anne Elisabeth’s wonderful Tales of Goldstone Wood! Her books showed me that I can write something exciting andwrite about my faith in Christ. All in all, I think these authors influenced me toward the fantasy genre that I have stuck with the past few years. What is a one-sentence summary of the manuscript you are currently writing? Camryn: When civil war breaks out the Falcon Masters are caught in between—their leader captured, his newborn twins are split at birth—and when the eldest daughter, Saige, grows up, she has to come to terms with who she is and stop the civil war that has plagued her country her whole life, learning that a little faith goes a long way. What is the most important lesson you've learned in your first few weeks of mentoring? Camryn: Location, location, location! In my writings, I sometimes focus too much on situations and the emotional turmoil, and then lose sight of the setting itself. It’s actually something that I struggle with a lot. I’m a very visual person, so when I have to describe a place I’ve never seen, I run into quite a few challenges.
What tricks do you try when you face writer's block? Camryn: Usually when I am stuck with a scene or a story, I step back and ask myself, ‘Where do I want to go with this? What do I hope to accomplish by the end of this scene/story?’ Once my main goal is back in perspective, I forge ahead with my writing. But what do I do when I have a case of writer’s block and I don’t know what I am going to do next? Then I turn off my computer or shut my notebook and go play video games with my brothers or help my mom cook. Sometimes your brain simply needs a break!
Who is your favorite character in your current manuscript and why? Camryn: I haven’t been attached to one yet, but if I had to pick it would be Caedmon. He is a part of a small group that originated as pranksters but became mercenaries during the civil war. Caedmon is a gentle and strong man who has only loved one girl his whole life. He has internal struggles that I have in my own life and I find that I like him for how he is able to handle them. Would you share an excerpt from your current work-in-progress? The Falcon Master Excerpt Saige cried but didn't want to admit it. She hadn’t cried since she was fifteen. Why should she start now? Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She couldn’t see through the rain and her tears and had absolutely no idea where she was going. Arrowynd, her mount, trotted along at her leisure. Eventually, Saige had the good sense to rein her horse in and take account of her surroundings. Her mouth fell open in surprise. They were much closer to her village of Kething than she thought. The woods she had grown up playing by loomed before her in the cold mist. Though the sight of her childhood playground should have comforted her, a chill was gradually working up her spine to the nape of her neck. She shivered and rubbed the reins between her fingers in thought. After the day her best friend, Jareth, disappeared into the woods, her foster parents forbade her from ever going near Sparevan Wood again. Her freedom was further restricted when reports reached the village of disappearances similar to Jareth’s all over Kilfatar and Muireach. One hundred and thirty children in total had vanished into the woods, all around the same age. They were not seen again. Saige was kept close to home until it was ingrained in her to never approach the forest. And she hadn’t. Saige had been a good, obedient child, listening to what her elders said, doing as they told her. She was stubborn for sure, but good-hearted, which was why the fact that she still stood before the forest and hadn’t turned back yet baffled her. Long after that day, when she would look back and try to explain what happened next, Saige would blame her rampant emotions, or say that she missed Jareth. Truthfully, however, she could not pinpoint quite why she went into the woods. Perhaps she did not see the floating lanterns of the will-o’-the-wisps dancing around inside the tree line, or perhaps she did not feel their magic draw her into the enchantment they spun. For on that day, Saige decided to enter the imposing forest. She did so bravely, riding in with her head held high, her horse prancing in excitement. The trees hidden by the curtain of rain moved aside silently at the will-o’-the-wisps bidding and welcomed the long-awaited girl into its enveloping arms. ***** A man descended a steep incline. The rain blew in his hooded face, eradicating the purpose of his thick, fur cloak altogether. Regardless, he pulled the edges of the cloak further around himself, attempting to keep warm. The ground leveled out into a flat forest floor. He glanced back up the mountain and saw the silhouette of a village in the rainy mist. The reason he had been summoned there was obscure, to say the least. A messenger bird had come to his cabin two days ago with a note saying to come to the Twin Summits as soon as possible. When he arrived, he made his way directly to the Nest, the council room of the Falcon Masters. The falconer captains and generals sat in their crescent of seats with him at the center as he waited for their explanation. He sat there for nearly an hour before one of them spoke. It was an older man with long silvery hair. “Bowen,” his rough voice said, “Travel to the border of the forest where the villages Keld and Kething are one. Wait there until you see the White Falcon fly.” Then they dismissed him. So now he stood at the mountain base in cold weather that chilled him to his bones, heading somewhere with only a vague clue as to why he was there. Bowen sighed and turned his face up to the weeping sky. “Why me?” he muttered. There was no answer. He sighed and resumed his muddy trek downward. It was going to be a long, wretched day. *****Something’s wrong… Saige peered at the trees around her as she passed them. The bark was as black as pitch, but looked as smooth as marble. A moment ago, she could have sworn the bark had been brown. The leaves that she could see hanging from the lower branches looked like teardrops of emerald dangling from the boughs. But it was autumn and the leaves she had seen before entering the wood were orange and gold. She had never seen trees like these before. There was no more wind; not even a breath of a breeze existed, and yet the air was not stale. It wasn’t raining anymore either. In fact, it was as if it had never rained in the first place. Saige looked up to the sky, but the branches of the trees interwove to make a tightly-knit canopy, blotting out the sky and any rain that might fall through. "That must be what is blocking out the rain,” she muttered, as if to reassure herself. But even she, deep down inside, could tell that she was not in the Sparevan wood of her childhood. The trees were mere handbreadths away from each other, but parted wherever she went. Clawed branches stuck out like they were trying to catch her hair. Saige slowly became unsettled. She felt like something--or someone--was watching her. Regretting her hasty decision to enter the wood, Saige sat back in her saddle and pulled Arrowynd to a stop. “Something isn’t right. Maybe we should go back…” Suddenly, an owl came screeching down. It stretched its sharp talons out and began scratching the horse’s face. Arrowynd neighed shrilly and reared, lashing out her hooves at the bird. Saige gasped and tried to keep her seat. “Whoa, girl! Steady!” Her soothing was in vain. The large owl kept attacking and the mare kept rearing. Then the powerful beast lunged several feet in one stride. Saige screamed and clung desperately to the saddle horn. The great-horned bird pursued. ***** Bowen huddled between the roots of a giant tree, his fur cloak wrapped around him to keep him warm. He had been waiting there for a day and a half now, with no sign of the White Falcon. He ground his teeth and crossly readjusted himself in his uncomfortable niche.
Before he settled, he heard an inhuman shriek. Bowen leapt to his feet, ready for anything. He listened intently to the silence of the Ebony Weald looming to his left. That sounded like a horse. The tall man peered into the dark trees and listened. Another scream rang out; this one decidedly human and female.
A whooshing sounded above him and when he looked up, he saw the pale belly of a white bird flying into the depths of the ebony trees. The White Falcon… he thought. With a deep breath, Bowen dove into the thick trees, following the pale bird and the echoes of the feminine cries.
What an exciting selection! Thank you so much for sharing, Camryn. And now, Camryn has offered a lovely work of original art as a giveaway to one lucky winner! Here it is:
If you would like to win this Falcon Master poster, enter your name in the drawing below. And be certain to thank Camryn for sharing with us today. I'm sure we will all be eager to read the final product as soon as Falcon Master is complete! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5244/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
Camryn has kindly agreed to share a little of herself and her work with us today. She's also offering a fun giveaway, so be certain to check that out at the end of this post! But now, the lady herself . . .
Camryn Lockhart lives in Maryland with her parents, five little brothers, little sister, and a Great Dane. She likes to sing around the house and draws in her spare time. Writing is her passion among all her interests. She strives to put God first and implement her faith in all she does, including writing.
And now a little information on the wonderful story Camryn has been working on with my mentoring program! Presenting . . . .
“Starting at sunset, the banishment is in place. No longer shall this pestilence plague us. No longer will they implement laws that we do not wish to follow. No longer will we have to tolerate . . . the Falcon Masters.” With a ban against their very existence, the Falcon Masters are forced into hiding or risk losing their lives. In the ensuing chaos, twins are born—a girl and a boy—who are swiftly separated, growing up with two different lives. After the daughter, Saige, turns seventeen, a hurtful comment about her heritage sends her running into the woods, but she unknowingly runs into a spellbound faerie portal and falls into the clutches of a Wild Hunter In the whirlwind of events that follow, Saige learns about her long lost brother and that her father might still be alive. More than that, according to an ancient prophecy, the civil war afflicting the land of Muireach can be stopped by her alone. Will she be up to the challenge? Or will she fall in the face of evil? Can Saige learn in time the value of family and how strong faith can be?
Doesn't that make you want to dive into the adventure right away? Camryn is here with us today for an interview, so you can learn more about her and her work. Happy reading!
INTERVIEW Hi, Camryn! First of all, why don't you tell us a little about yourself. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like tea or coffee? Cats or dogs? Indoors or outdoors? Sports or crafts? Anything you want to tell us! Camryn: Wow, where to start? I am the eldest of seven children, five boys and two girls. I am homeschooled, in my senior year of high school and hoping to make writing my career. I think of myself as an introvert since I like time alone. Although, I can be pretty outgoing when the time calls for it, such as making friends after I’ve moved into a new area. I don’t like tea or coffee, but I like hot cocoa and sweet tea! I love cats (they make me laugh with their antics!), but I prefer to only visit them, not take care of them. I love dogs (again, antics, laughing, etc.), but I absolutely adore wolves. If I could have one as a pet and not be concerned about my well-being, I would do it in a heartbeat! I like being indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather. Reading inside while it rains or reading outside sitting in a blooming tree makes no difference to me! I dislike intense summer heat or intense cold and autumn is my favorite season. Sports aren’t my thing, but only because I’m not as good at them as everyone else is (I’m a bit vertically challenged, so any tall guys at my youth group would trounce me at Ultimate Frisbee). I enjoy them, otherwise! I am into crafts! I like to knit, crochet, make friendship bracelets; and drawing (that counts right?). Anything that piques my interest, I learn how to do. But I doubt I’ll ever be a professional in those things. I play piano and guitar and dabble in a few woodwinds like the penny whistle, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the flute. I love to sing and my dream role on Broadway is Eponine from Les Misérables. And, of course, I like to write!
When did you first decide you wanted to be a novelist? Camryn: When I was 11, I saved enough money to buy my own laptop. On it, I discovered a Word Pad. I asked my mom if I could write a story on it and, with her permission, proceeded to do just that…it wasn’t very good. Then again, I was eleven! I have been writing ever since then, whether little short stories, fanfictions or novels in the making. What was the first story you can remember writing down? Did you ever finish it? Camryn: The story I started writing on my laptop at 11 years old was actually the first story I remember writing. It was about a girl named Penny (short for Penelope) who went on a journey visiting strange creatures and people. There was some sort of intrigue with this masked man following her, and I think he was a bounty hunter sent by her father, but I never finished it so I can’t remember and I lost it in cyberspace long ago. What are some of your favorite books? Have they influenced your own writing? Camryn: The Ranger’s Apprenticeseries by John Flanagan was and is one of my favorites! It inspired the story I am currently working on. Touches of his work might influence the costume of my characters. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Outlaws of Sherwood were my also some of my favorite adventures in my early teens and I still hold them dear now. My inspiration for adventure stories most likely came from her; or maybe my own thirst for adventure spurred me on to write about such things. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is a recent favorite of mine due to a friend a year ago doing a play adaption his senior year. I read it and fell in love with Hugo’s style of writing. I found that after I read a chapter or two from Les Miserables, my writing followed after Hugo’s long descriptions and explanations. He definitely motivated me to aspire for beautiful descriptions that make people cry! Well, perhaps not cry. Tearing up will do.And then of course, Anne Elisabeth’s wonderful Tales of Goldstone Wood! Her books showed me that I can write something exciting andwrite about my faith in Christ. All in all, I think these authors influenced me toward the fantasy genre that I have stuck with the past few years. What is a one-sentence summary of the manuscript you are currently writing? Camryn: When civil war breaks out the Falcon Masters are caught in between—their leader captured, his newborn twins are split at birth—and when the eldest daughter, Saige, grows up, she has to come to terms with who she is and stop the civil war that has plagued her country her whole life, learning that a little faith goes a long way. What is the most important lesson you've learned in your first few weeks of mentoring? Camryn: Location, location, location! In my writings, I sometimes focus too much on situations and the emotional turmoil, and then lose sight of the setting itself. It’s actually something that I struggle with a lot. I’m a very visual person, so when I have to describe a place I’ve never seen, I run into quite a few challenges.
What tricks do you try when you face writer's block? Camryn: Usually when I am stuck with a scene or a story, I step back and ask myself, ‘Where do I want to go with this? What do I hope to accomplish by the end of this scene/story?’ Once my main goal is back in perspective, I forge ahead with my writing. But what do I do when I have a case of writer’s block and I don’t know what I am going to do next? Then I turn off my computer or shut my notebook and go play video games with my brothers or help my mom cook. Sometimes your brain simply needs a break!
Who is your favorite character in your current manuscript and why? Camryn: I haven’t been attached to one yet, but if I had to pick it would be Caedmon. He is a part of a small group that originated as pranksters but became mercenaries during the civil war. Caedmon is a gentle and strong man who has only loved one girl his whole life. He has internal struggles that I have in my own life and I find that I like him for how he is able to handle them. Would you share an excerpt from your current work-in-progress? The Falcon Master Excerpt Saige cried but didn't want to admit it. She hadn’t cried since she was fifteen. Why should she start now? Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She couldn’t see through the rain and her tears and had absolutely no idea where she was going. Arrowynd, her mount, trotted along at her leisure. Eventually, Saige had the good sense to rein her horse in and take account of her surroundings. Her mouth fell open in surprise. They were much closer to her village of Kething than she thought. The woods she had grown up playing by loomed before her in the cold mist. Though the sight of her childhood playground should have comforted her, a chill was gradually working up her spine to the nape of her neck. She shivered and rubbed the reins between her fingers in thought. After the day her best friend, Jareth, disappeared into the woods, her foster parents forbade her from ever going near Sparevan Wood again. Her freedom was further restricted when reports reached the village of disappearances similar to Jareth’s all over Kilfatar and Muireach. One hundred and thirty children in total had vanished into the woods, all around the same age. They were not seen again. Saige was kept close to home until it was ingrained in her to never approach the forest. And she hadn’t. Saige had been a good, obedient child, listening to what her elders said, doing as they told her. She was stubborn for sure, but good-hearted, which was why the fact that she still stood before the forest and hadn’t turned back yet baffled her. Long after that day, when she would look back and try to explain what happened next, Saige would blame her rampant emotions, or say that she missed Jareth. Truthfully, however, she could not pinpoint quite why she went into the woods. Perhaps she did not see the floating lanterns of the will-o’-the-wisps dancing around inside the tree line, or perhaps she did not feel their magic draw her into the enchantment they spun. For on that day, Saige decided to enter the imposing forest. She did so bravely, riding in with her head held high, her horse prancing in excitement. The trees hidden by the curtain of rain moved aside silently at the will-o’-the-wisps bidding and welcomed the long-awaited girl into its enveloping arms. ***** A man descended a steep incline. The rain blew in his hooded face, eradicating the purpose of his thick, fur cloak altogether. Regardless, he pulled the edges of the cloak further around himself, attempting to keep warm. The ground leveled out into a flat forest floor. He glanced back up the mountain and saw the silhouette of a village in the rainy mist. The reason he had been summoned there was obscure, to say the least. A messenger bird had come to his cabin two days ago with a note saying to come to the Twin Summits as soon as possible. When he arrived, he made his way directly to the Nest, the council room of the Falcon Masters. The falconer captains and generals sat in their crescent of seats with him at the center as he waited for their explanation. He sat there for nearly an hour before one of them spoke. It was an older man with long silvery hair. “Bowen,” his rough voice said, “Travel to the border of the forest where the villages Keld and Kething are one. Wait there until you see the White Falcon fly.” Then they dismissed him. So now he stood at the mountain base in cold weather that chilled him to his bones, heading somewhere with only a vague clue as to why he was there. Bowen sighed and turned his face up to the weeping sky. “Why me?” he muttered. There was no answer. He sighed and resumed his muddy trek downward. It was going to be a long, wretched day. *****Something’s wrong… Saige peered at the trees around her as she passed them. The bark was as black as pitch, but looked as smooth as marble. A moment ago, she could have sworn the bark had been brown. The leaves that she could see hanging from the lower branches looked like teardrops of emerald dangling from the boughs. But it was autumn and the leaves she had seen before entering the wood were orange and gold. She had never seen trees like these before. There was no more wind; not even a breath of a breeze existed, and yet the air was not stale. It wasn’t raining anymore either. In fact, it was as if it had never rained in the first place. Saige looked up to the sky, but the branches of the trees interwove to make a tightly-knit canopy, blotting out the sky and any rain that might fall through. "That must be what is blocking out the rain,” she muttered, as if to reassure herself. But even she, deep down inside, could tell that she was not in the Sparevan wood of her childhood. The trees were mere handbreadths away from each other, but parted wherever she went. Clawed branches stuck out like they were trying to catch her hair. Saige slowly became unsettled. She felt like something--or someone--was watching her. Regretting her hasty decision to enter the wood, Saige sat back in her saddle and pulled Arrowynd to a stop. “Something isn’t right. Maybe we should go back…” Suddenly, an owl came screeching down. It stretched its sharp talons out and began scratching the horse’s face. Arrowynd neighed shrilly and reared, lashing out her hooves at the bird. Saige gasped and tried to keep her seat. “Whoa, girl! Steady!” Her soothing was in vain. The large owl kept attacking and the mare kept rearing. Then the powerful beast lunged several feet in one stride. Saige screamed and clung desperately to the saddle horn. The great-horned bird pursued. ***** Bowen huddled between the roots of a giant tree, his fur cloak wrapped around him to keep him warm. He had been waiting there for a day and a half now, with no sign of the White Falcon. He ground his teeth and crossly readjusted himself in his uncomfortable niche.
Before he settled, he heard an inhuman shriek. Bowen leapt to his feet, ready for anything. He listened intently to the silence of the Ebony Weald looming to his left. That sounded like a horse. The tall man peered into the dark trees and listened. Another scream rang out; this one decidedly human and female.
A whooshing sounded above him and when he looked up, he saw the pale belly of a white bird flying into the depths of the ebony trees. The White Falcon… he thought. With a deep breath, Bowen dove into the thick trees, following the pale bird and the echoes of the feminine cries.
What an exciting selection! Thank you so much for sharing, Camryn. And now, Camryn has offered a lovely work of original art as a giveaway to one lucky winner! Here it is:
If you would like to win this Falcon Master poster, enter your name in the drawing below. And be certain to thank Camryn for sharing with us today. I'm sure we will all be eager to read the final product as soon as Falcon Master is complete! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5244/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
Fantasy Authors of Tomorrow: Camryn Lochart!
A warm welcome to Camryn, another regular commentor on this blog, and a lovely young woman! Camryn just signed up with my mentoring program this last Christmas, so we haven't been working together long. However, she has already impressed me with an enormous imagination, ready to tackle epic and exciting storylines that are sure to thrill boys and girls alike! You can tell within a few sentences of Camryn's story that she grew up with a passel of brothers. Her work is full of action and adventure enough to keep a reader breathless and eager for more.
Camryn has kindly agreed to share a little of herself and her work with us today. She's also offering a fun giveaway, so be certain to check that out at the end of this post! But now, the lady herself . . .
Camryn Lockhart lives in Maryland with her parents, five little brothers, little sister, and a Great Dane. She likes to sing around the house and draws in her spare time. Writing is her passion among all her interests. She strives to put God first and implement her faith in all she does, including writing.
And now a little information on the wonderful story Camryn has been working on with my mentoring program! Presenting . . . .
“Starting at sunset, the banishment is in place. No longer shall this pestilence plague us. No longer will they implement laws that we do not wish to follow. No longer will we have to tolerate . . . the Falcon Masters.” With a ban against their very existence, the Falcon Masters are forced into hiding or risk losing their lives. In the ensuing chaos, twins are born—a girl and a boy—who are swiftly separated, growing up with two different lives. After the daughter, Saige, turns seventeen, a hurtful comment about her heritage sends her running into the woods, but she unknowingly runs into a spellbound faerie portal and falls into the clutches of a Wild Hunter In the whirlwind of events that follow, Saige learns about her long lost brother and that her father might still be alive. More than that, according to an ancient prophecy, the civil war afflicting the land of Muireach can be stopped by her alone. Will she be up to the challenge? Or will she fall in the face of evil? Can Saige learn in time the value of family and how strong faith can be?
Doesn't that make you want to dive into the adventure right away? Camryn is here with us today for an interview, so you can learn more about her and her work. Happy reading!
INTERVIEW Hi, Camryn! First of all, why don't you tell us a little about yourself. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like tea or coffee? Cats or dogs? Indoors or outdoors? Sports or crafts? Anything you want to tell us! Camryn: Wow, where to start? I am the eldest of seven children, five boys and two girls. I am homeschooled, in my senior year of high school and hoping to make writing my career. I think of myself as an introvert since I like time alone. Although, I can be pretty outgoing when the time calls for it, such as making friends after I’ve moved into a new area. I don’t like tea or coffee, but I like hot cocoa and sweet tea! I love cats (they make me laugh with their antics!), but I prefer to only visit them, not take care of them. I love dogs (again, antics, laughing, etc.), but I absolutely adore wolves. If I could have one as a pet and not be concerned about my well-being, I would do it in a heartbeat! I like being indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather. Reading inside while it rains or reading outside sitting in a blooming tree makes no difference to me! I dislike intense summer heat or intense cold and autumn is my favorite season. Sports aren’t my thing, but only because I’m not as good at them as everyone else is (I’m a bit vertically challenged, so any tall guys at my youth group would trounce me at Ultimate Frisbee). I enjoy them, otherwise! I am into crafts! I like to knit, crochet, make friendship bracelets; and drawing (that counts right?). Anything that piques my interest, I learn how to do. But I doubt I’ll ever be a professional in those things. I play piano and guitar and dabble in a few woodwinds like the penny whistle, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the flute. I love to sing and my dream role on Broadway is Eponine from Les Misérables. And, of course, I like to write!
When did you first decide you wanted to be a novelist? Camryn: When I was 11, I saved enough money to buy my own laptop. On it, I discovered a Word Pad. I asked my mom if I could write a story on it and, with her permission, proceeded to do just that…it wasn’t very good. Then again, I was eleven! I have been writing ever since then, whether little short stories, fanfictions or novels in the making. What was the first story you can remember writing down? Did you ever finish it? Camryn: The story I started writing on my laptop at 11 years old was actually the first story I remember writing. It was about a girl named Penny (short for Penelope) who went on a journey visiting strange creatures and people. There was some sort of intrigue with this masked man following her, and I think he was a bounty hunter sent by her father, but I never finished it so I can’t remember and I lost it in cyberspace long ago. What are some of your favorite books? Have they influenced your own writing? Camryn: The Ranger’s Apprenticeseries by John Flanagan was and is one of my favorites! It inspired the story I am currently working on. Touches of his work might influence the costume of my characters. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Outlaws of Sherwood were my also some of my favorite adventures in my early teens and I still hold them dear now. My inspiration for adventure stories most likely came from her; or maybe my own thirst for adventure spurred me on to write about such things. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is a recent favorite of mine due to a friend a year ago doing a play adaption his senior year. I read it and fell in love with Hugo’s style of writing. I found that after I read a chapter or two from Les Miserables, my writing followed after Hugo’s long descriptions and explanations. He definitely motivated me to aspire for beautiful descriptions that make people cry! Well, perhaps not cry. Tearing up will do.And then of course, Anne Elisabeth’s wonderful Tales of Goldstone Wood! Her books showed me that I can write something exciting andwrite about my faith in Christ. All in all, I think these authors influenced me toward the fantasy genre that I have stuck with the past few years. What is a one-sentence summary of the manuscript you are currently writing? Camryn: When civil war breaks out the Falcon Masters are caught in between—their leader captured, his newborn twins are split at birth—and when the eldest daughter, Saige, grows up, she has to come to terms with who she is and stop the civil war that has plagued her country her whole life, learning that a little faith goes a long way. What is the most important lesson you've learned in your first few weeks of mentoring? Camryn: Location, location, location! In my writings, I sometimes focus too much on situations and the emotional turmoil, and then lose sight of the setting itself. It’s actually something that I struggle with a lot. I’m a very visual person, so when I have to describe a place I’ve never seen, I run into quite a few challenges.
What tricks do you try when you face writer's block? Camryn: Usually when I am stuck with a scene or a story, I step back and ask myself, ‘Where do I want to go with this? What do I hope to accomplish by the end of this scene/story?’ Once my main goal is back in perspective, I forge ahead with my writing. But what do I do when I have a case of writer’s block and I don’t know what I am going to do next? Then I turn off my computer or shut my notebook and go play video games with my brothers or help my mom cook. Sometimes your brain simply needs a break!
Who is your favorite character in your current manuscript and why? Camryn: I haven’t been attached to one yet, but if I had to pick it would be Caedmon. He is a part of a small group that originated as pranksters but became mercenaries during the civil war. Caedmon is a gentle and strong man who has only loved one girl his whole life. He has internal struggles that I have in my own life and I find that I like him for how he is able to handle them. Would you share an excerpt from your current work-in-progress? The Falcon Master Excerpt Saige cried but didn't want to admit it. She hadn’t cried since she was fifteen. Why should she start now? Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She couldn’t see through the rain and her tears and had absolutely no idea where she was going. Arrowynd, her mount, trotted along at her leisure. Eventually, Saige had the good sense to rein her horse in and take account of her surroundings. Her mouth fell open in surprise. They were much closer to her village of Kething than she thought. The woods she had grown up playing by loomed before her in the cold mist. Though the sight of her childhood playground should have comforted her, a chill was gradually working up her spine to the nape of her neck. She shivered and rubbed the reins between her fingers in thought. After the day her best friend, Jareth, disappeared into the woods, her foster parents forbade her from ever going near Sparevan Wood again. Her freedom was further restricted when reports reached the village of disappearances similar to Jareth’s all over Kilfatar and Muireach. One hundred and thirty children in total had vanished into the woods, all around the same age. They were not seen again. Saige was kept close to home until it was ingrained in her to never approach the forest. And she hadn’t. Saige had been a good, obedient child, listening to what her elders said, doing as they told her. She was stubborn for sure, but good-hearted, which was why the fact that she still stood before the forest and hadn’t turned back yet baffled her. Long after that day, when she would look back and try to explain what happened next, Saige would blame her rampant emotions, or say that she missed Jareth. Truthfully, however, she could not pinpoint quite why she went into the woods. Perhaps she did not see the floating lanterns of the will-o’-the-wisps dancing around inside the tree line, or perhaps she did not feel their magic draw her into the enchantment they spun. For on that day, Saige decided to enter the imposing forest. She did so bravely, riding in with her head held high, her horse prancing in excitement. The trees hidden by the curtain of rain moved aside silently at the will-o’-the-wisps bidding and welcomed the long-awaited girl into its enveloping arms. ***** A man descended a steep incline. The rain blew in his hooded face, eradicating the purpose of his thick, fur cloak altogether. Regardless, he pulled the edges of the cloak further around himself, attempting to keep warm. The ground leveled out into a flat forest floor. He glanced back up the mountain and saw the silhouette of a village in the rainy mist. The reason he had been summoned there was obscure, to say the least. A messenger bird had come to his cabin two days ago with a note saying to come to the Twin Summits as soon as possible. When he arrived, he made his way directly to the Nest, the council room of the Falcon Masters. The falconer captains and generals sat in their crescent of seats with him at the center as he waited for their explanation. He sat there for nearly an hour before one of them spoke. It was an older man with long silvery hair. “Bowen,” his rough voice said, “Travel to the border of the forest where the villages Keld and Kething are one. Wait there until you see the White Falcon fly.” Then they dismissed him. So now he stood at the mountain base in cold weather that chilled him to his bones, heading somewhere with only a vague clue as to why he was there. Bowen sighed and turned his face up to the weeping sky. “Why me?” he muttered. There was no answer. He sighed and resumed his muddy trek downward. It was going to be a long, wretched day. *****Something’s wrong… Saige peered at the trees around her as she passed them. The bark was as black as pitch, but looked as smooth as marble. A moment ago, she could have sworn the bark had been brown. The leaves that she could see hanging from the lower branches looked like teardrops of emerald dangling from the boughs. But it was autumn and the leaves she had seen before entering the wood were orange and gold. She had never seen trees like these before. There was no more wind; not even a breath of a breeze existed, and yet the air was not stale. It wasn’t raining anymore either. In fact, it was as if it had never rained in the first place. Saige looked up to the sky, but the branches of the trees interwove to make a tightly-knit canopy, blotting out the sky and any rain that might fall through. "That must be what is blocking out the rain,” she muttered, as if to reassure herself. But even she, deep down inside, could tell that she was not in the Sparevan wood of her childhood. The trees were mere handbreadths away from each other, but parted wherever she went. Clawed branches stuck out like they were trying to catch her hair. Saige slowly became unsettled. She felt like something--or someone--was watching her. Regretting her hasty decision to enter the wood, Saige sat back in her saddle and pulled Arrowynd to a stop. “Something isn’t right. Maybe we should go back…” Suddenly, an owl came screeching down. It stretched its sharp talons out and began scratching the horse’s face. Arrowynd neighed shrilly and reared, lashing out her hooves at the bird. Saige gasped and tried to keep her seat. “Whoa, girl! Steady!” Her soothing was in vain. The large owl kept attacking and the mare kept rearing. Then the powerful beast lunged several feet in one stride. Saige screamed and clung desperately to the saddle horn. The great-horned bird pursued. ***** Bowen huddled between the roots of a giant tree, his fur cloak wrapped around him to keep him warm. He had been waiting there for a day and a half now, with no sign of the White Falcon. He ground his teeth and crossly readjusted himself in his uncomfortable niche.
Before he settled, he heard an inhuman shriek. Bowen leapt to his feet, ready for anything. He listened intently to the silence of the Ebony Weald looming to his left. That sounded like a horse. The tall man peered into the dark trees and listened. Another scream rang out; this one decidedly human and female.
A whooshing sounded above him and when he looked up, he saw the pale belly of a white bird flying into the depths of the ebony trees. The White Falcon… he thought. With a deep breath, Bowen dove into the thick trees, following the pale bird and the echoes of the feminine cries.
What an exciting selection! Thank you so much for sharing, Camryn. And now, Camryn has offered a lovely work of original art as a giveaway to one lucky winner! Here it is:
If you would like to win this Falcon Master poster, enter your name in the drawing below. And be certain to thank Camryn for sharing with us today. I'm sure we will all be eager to read the final product as soon as Falcon Master is complete! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd5244/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
Camryn has kindly agreed to share a little of herself and her work with us today. She's also offering a fun giveaway, so be certain to check that out at the end of this post! But now, the lady herself . . .
Camryn Lockhart lives in Maryland with her parents, five little brothers, little sister, and a Great Dane. She likes to sing around the house and draws in her spare time. Writing is her passion among all her interests. She strives to put God first and implement her faith in all she does, including writing.
And now a little information on the wonderful story Camryn has been working on with my mentoring program! Presenting . . . .
“Starting at sunset, the banishment is in place. No longer shall this pestilence plague us. No longer will they implement laws that we do not wish to follow. No longer will we have to tolerate . . . the Falcon Masters.” With a ban against their very existence, the Falcon Masters are forced into hiding or risk losing their lives. In the ensuing chaos, twins are born—a girl and a boy—who are swiftly separated, growing up with two different lives. After the daughter, Saige, turns seventeen, a hurtful comment about her heritage sends her running into the woods, but she unknowingly runs into a spellbound faerie portal and falls into the clutches of a Wild Hunter In the whirlwind of events that follow, Saige learns about her long lost brother and that her father might still be alive. More than that, according to an ancient prophecy, the civil war afflicting the land of Muireach can be stopped by her alone. Will she be up to the challenge? Or will she fall in the face of evil? Can Saige learn in time the value of family and how strong faith can be?
Doesn't that make you want to dive into the adventure right away? Camryn is here with us today for an interview, so you can learn more about her and her work. Happy reading!
INTERVIEW Hi, Camryn! First of all, why don't you tell us a little about yourself. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like tea or coffee? Cats or dogs? Indoors or outdoors? Sports or crafts? Anything you want to tell us! Camryn: Wow, where to start? I am the eldest of seven children, five boys and two girls. I am homeschooled, in my senior year of high school and hoping to make writing my career. I think of myself as an introvert since I like time alone. Although, I can be pretty outgoing when the time calls for it, such as making friends after I’ve moved into a new area. I don’t like tea or coffee, but I like hot cocoa and sweet tea! I love cats (they make me laugh with their antics!), but I prefer to only visit them, not take care of them. I love dogs (again, antics, laughing, etc.), but I absolutely adore wolves. If I could have one as a pet and not be concerned about my well-being, I would do it in a heartbeat! I like being indoors and outdoors, depending on the weather. Reading inside while it rains or reading outside sitting in a blooming tree makes no difference to me! I dislike intense summer heat or intense cold and autumn is my favorite season. Sports aren’t my thing, but only because I’m not as good at them as everyone else is (I’m a bit vertically challenged, so any tall guys at my youth group would trounce me at Ultimate Frisbee). I enjoy them, otherwise! I am into crafts! I like to knit, crochet, make friendship bracelets; and drawing (that counts right?). Anything that piques my interest, I learn how to do. But I doubt I’ll ever be a professional in those things. I play piano and guitar and dabble in a few woodwinds like the penny whistle, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the flute. I love to sing and my dream role on Broadway is Eponine from Les Misérables. And, of course, I like to write!
When did you first decide you wanted to be a novelist? Camryn: When I was 11, I saved enough money to buy my own laptop. On it, I discovered a Word Pad. I asked my mom if I could write a story on it and, with her permission, proceeded to do just that…it wasn’t very good. Then again, I was eleven! I have been writing ever since then, whether little short stories, fanfictions or novels in the making. What was the first story you can remember writing down? Did you ever finish it? Camryn: The story I started writing on my laptop at 11 years old was actually the first story I remember writing. It was about a girl named Penny (short for Penelope) who went on a journey visiting strange creatures and people. There was some sort of intrigue with this masked man following her, and I think he was a bounty hunter sent by her father, but I never finished it so I can’t remember and I lost it in cyberspace long ago. What are some of your favorite books? Have they influenced your own writing? Camryn: The Ranger’s Apprenticeseries by John Flanagan was and is one of my favorites! It inspired the story I am currently working on. Touches of his work might influence the costume of my characters. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Outlaws of Sherwood were my also some of my favorite adventures in my early teens and I still hold them dear now. My inspiration for adventure stories most likely came from her; or maybe my own thirst for adventure spurred me on to write about such things. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is a recent favorite of mine due to a friend a year ago doing a play adaption his senior year. I read it and fell in love with Hugo’s style of writing. I found that after I read a chapter or two from Les Miserables, my writing followed after Hugo’s long descriptions and explanations. He definitely motivated me to aspire for beautiful descriptions that make people cry! Well, perhaps not cry. Tearing up will do.And then of course, Anne Elisabeth’s wonderful Tales of Goldstone Wood! Her books showed me that I can write something exciting andwrite about my faith in Christ. All in all, I think these authors influenced me toward the fantasy genre that I have stuck with the past few years. What is a one-sentence summary of the manuscript you are currently writing? Camryn: When civil war breaks out the Falcon Masters are caught in between—their leader captured, his newborn twins are split at birth—and when the eldest daughter, Saige, grows up, she has to come to terms with who she is and stop the civil war that has plagued her country her whole life, learning that a little faith goes a long way. What is the most important lesson you've learned in your first few weeks of mentoring? Camryn: Location, location, location! In my writings, I sometimes focus too much on situations and the emotional turmoil, and then lose sight of the setting itself. It’s actually something that I struggle with a lot. I’m a very visual person, so when I have to describe a place I’ve never seen, I run into quite a few challenges.
What tricks do you try when you face writer's block? Camryn: Usually when I am stuck with a scene or a story, I step back and ask myself, ‘Where do I want to go with this? What do I hope to accomplish by the end of this scene/story?’ Once my main goal is back in perspective, I forge ahead with my writing. But what do I do when I have a case of writer’s block and I don’t know what I am going to do next? Then I turn off my computer or shut my notebook and go play video games with my brothers or help my mom cook. Sometimes your brain simply needs a break!
Who is your favorite character in your current manuscript and why? Camryn: I haven’t been attached to one yet, but if I had to pick it would be Caedmon. He is a part of a small group that originated as pranksters but became mercenaries during the civil war. Caedmon is a gentle and strong man who has only loved one girl his whole life. He has internal struggles that I have in my own life and I find that I like him for how he is able to handle them. Would you share an excerpt from your current work-in-progress? The Falcon Master Excerpt Saige cried but didn't want to admit it. She hadn’t cried since she was fifteen. Why should she start now? Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She couldn’t see through the rain and her tears and had absolutely no idea where she was going. Arrowynd, her mount, trotted along at her leisure. Eventually, Saige had the good sense to rein her horse in and take account of her surroundings. Her mouth fell open in surprise. They were much closer to her village of Kething than she thought. The woods she had grown up playing by loomed before her in the cold mist. Though the sight of her childhood playground should have comforted her, a chill was gradually working up her spine to the nape of her neck. She shivered and rubbed the reins between her fingers in thought. After the day her best friend, Jareth, disappeared into the woods, her foster parents forbade her from ever going near Sparevan Wood again. Her freedom was further restricted when reports reached the village of disappearances similar to Jareth’s all over Kilfatar and Muireach. One hundred and thirty children in total had vanished into the woods, all around the same age. They were not seen again. Saige was kept close to home until it was ingrained in her to never approach the forest. And she hadn’t. Saige had been a good, obedient child, listening to what her elders said, doing as they told her. She was stubborn for sure, but good-hearted, which was why the fact that she still stood before the forest and hadn’t turned back yet baffled her. Long after that day, when she would look back and try to explain what happened next, Saige would blame her rampant emotions, or say that she missed Jareth. Truthfully, however, she could not pinpoint quite why she went into the woods. Perhaps she did not see the floating lanterns of the will-o’-the-wisps dancing around inside the tree line, or perhaps she did not feel their magic draw her into the enchantment they spun. For on that day, Saige decided to enter the imposing forest. She did so bravely, riding in with her head held high, her horse prancing in excitement. The trees hidden by the curtain of rain moved aside silently at the will-o’-the-wisps bidding and welcomed the long-awaited girl into its enveloping arms. ***** A man descended a steep incline. The rain blew in his hooded face, eradicating the purpose of his thick, fur cloak altogether. Regardless, he pulled the edges of the cloak further around himself, attempting to keep warm. The ground leveled out into a flat forest floor. He glanced back up the mountain and saw the silhouette of a village in the rainy mist. The reason he had been summoned there was obscure, to say the least. A messenger bird had come to his cabin two days ago with a note saying to come to the Twin Summits as soon as possible. When he arrived, he made his way directly to the Nest, the council room of the Falcon Masters. The falconer captains and generals sat in their crescent of seats with him at the center as he waited for their explanation. He sat there for nearly an hour before one of them spoke. It was an older man with long silvery hair. “Bowen,” his rough voice said, “Travel to the border of the forest where the villages Keld and Kething are one. Wait there until you see the White Falcon fly.” Then they dismissed him. So now he stood at the mountain base in cold weather that chilled him to his bones, heading somewhere with only a vague clue as to why he was there. Bowen sighed and turned his face up to the weeping sky. “Why me?” he muttered. There was no answer. He sighed and resumed his muddy trek downward. It was going to be a long, wretched day. *****Something’s wrong… Saige peered at the trees around her as she passed them. The bark was as black as pitch, but looked as smooth as marble. A moment ago, she could have sworn the bark had been brown. The leaves that she could see hanging from the lower branches looked like teardrops of emerald dangling from the boughs. But it was autumn and the leaves she had seen before entering the wood were orange and gold. She had never seen trees like these before. There was no more wind; not even a breath of a breeze existed, and yet the air was not stale. It wasn’t raining anymore either. In fact, it was as if it had never rained in the first place. Saige looked up to the sky, but the branches of the trees interwove to make a tightly-knit canopy, blotting out the sky and any rain that might fall through. "That must be what is blocking out the rain,” she muttered, as if to reassure herself. But even she, deep down inside, could tell that she was not in the Sparevan wood of her childhood. The trees were mere handbreadths away from each other, but parted wherever she went. Clawed branches stuck out like they were trying to catch her hair. Saige slowly became unsettled. She felt like something--or someone--was watching her. Regretting her hasty decision to enter the wood, Saige sat back in her saddle and pulled Arrowynd to a stop. “Something isn’t right. Maybe we should go back…” Suddenly, an owl came screeching down. It stretched its sharp talons out and began scratching the horse’s face. Arrowynd neighed shrilly and reared, lashing out her hooves at the bird. Saige gasped and tried to keep her seat. “Whoa, girl! Steady!” Her soothing was in vain. The large owl kept attacking and the mare kept rearing. Then the powerful beast lunged several feet in one stride. Saige screamed and clung desperately to the saddle horn. The great-horned bird pursued. ***** Bowen huddled between the roots of a giant tree, his fur cloak wrapped around him to keep him warm. He had been waiting there for a day and a half now, with no sign of the White Falcon. He ground his teeth and crossly readjusted himself in his uncomfortable niche.
Before he settled, he heard an inhuman shriek. Bowen leapt to his feet, ready for anything. He listened intently to the silence of the Ebony Weald looming to his left. That sounded like a horse. The tall man peered into the dark trees and listened. Another scream rang out; this one decidedly human and female.
A whooshing sounded above him and when he looked up, he saw the pale belly of a white bird flying into the depths of the ebony trees. The White Falcon… he thought. With a deep breath, Bowen dove into the thick trees, following the pale bird and the echoes of the feminine cries.
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