Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Blog, page 8
April 1, 2015
2015 GOLDSTONE WOOD FAN ART CONTEST - Third Set
BIRTH OF FAIRBIRD Artist: Olivia K. FisherMedium: Wax, Pencil, Colored Pencil, Paint, and Ink
CALLING TO THE CHILDArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Pencil
CHUMANA'S SWAMPArtist: Lydia O'NeilMedium: Pencil
COMPASSIONArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Pencil
THE ADVENTURES OF DAME IMRALDERAArtist: Olivia K. FisherMedium: Wax, Ink, Pencil, and Paint
ETALPALLI'S DESTRUCTIONArtist: Josiah McDermottMedium: Digital Art 
GLEAMDREN'S WORLDArtist: Olivia K. FisherMedium: Wax
STARFLOWERArtist: Mihaela RhodenizerMedium: Drawing 
STARLIGHTArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil on Black Paper
YTOTIA RETURNS WITH THE BROTHERS ASHIUNArtist: Rebekah L.Medium: Pencil and Colored Pencil 
TRANSFORMEDArtist: Olivia K. FisherMedium: Digital Art and Photography
THE NORTH STARArtist: Michaela RhodenizerMedium: Drawing
THE HOUSE OF LIGHTSArtist: Teresa TaylorMedium: Polymer Clay
THE CHRONICLER'S RELUCTANCEArtist: T. GemmellMedium: Watercolour Pencil
LETA AND CE IMRALArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Pencil 
FAKE FILM, REAL STORY: DRAGONWITCHArtist: Julie DickMedium: Photo manipulation
CE IMRALArtist: Kelly McDermottMedium: Digital Art
BROTHERS OF LEGENDArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Watercolor and Colored PencilProceed to the "older" post to see more Fan Art!
March 31, 2015
2015 GOLDSTONE WOOD FAN ART CONTEST - Fourth Set
SUNAN CHALLENGES RISAFETHArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil on Black Paper
RISAFETH VENGEFULArtist: Melissa SnowMedium: Pencil, Pen, and Colored Pencil
THE WOLF WITHINArtist: Tracey DyckMedium: Pencil%2B-%2BColored%2BPencil.JPG)
DAYLILYArtist: Shaelyn Rhodenizer (age 8)Medium: Colored Pencil
I SHALL CALL HIM LIONArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Pencil
DAYLILY'S WEDDING VEILArtist: Kate GoldsberryMedium: Jewelry, Headpiece, Veil
NIDAWI THE EVERBLOOMINGArtist: Tracey DyckMedium: Pencil Crayon 
RETURN OF THE EXILEArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Pen and Ink
THE WOLF WITHINArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Pencil
THE EVERBLOOMINGArtist: Alaina HornbergerMedium: Digital PaintingProceed to the "older" post to see more Fan Art!
2015 GOLDSTONE WOOD FAN ART CONTEST - Fifth Set
FIRST MEETINGArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil
AWAITING JOVANN IN THE DREAMArtist: Jessica RhodenizerMedium: Painting
CONFRONTATIONArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Digital Painting
DREAMS OF REALITYArtist: Courtney D.Medium: Photomanipulation 
MASAYI SAIRUArtist: Sarah GraceMedium: Pencil 
FOR STARFLOWERArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil
JOVANN'S PAINArtist: KailinMedium: Pencil and Ink
HOLD THE PAINArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil 
MOCK COVER DESIGNArtist: BekaMedium: Pencil 
LADY HARIAWANArtist: Sarah GraceMedium: Pencil
LIGHT IN THE INFIRMARYArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Colored Pencil 
I HAVE NOT WEPT FOR A CENTURYArtist: Jessica RhodenizerMedium: Colored Pencil 
THE CATArtist: Sarah GraceMedium: Pencil 
"OF COURSE I TRUST YOU," SAID THE CATArtist: JillMedium: Colored Pencil 
SAIRU AND JOVANNArtist: BekaMedium: Pencil
SUNAN'S TRANSFORMATIONArtist: CaitlynMedium: Acrylics
SHE SMILESArtist: Sarah GraceMedium: Colored Pencil and Gouache
THE PAIN OF LOVEArtist: Hannah WilliamsMedium: Acrylic PaintingProceed to the "older" post to see more Fan Art!
2015 GOLDSTONE WOOD FAN ART CONTEST - Sixth Set
THE WEDDING DANCE OF EANRIN AND IMRALDERAArtist: Bridget McDermottMedium: Painting
EYE OF THE DRAGONArtist: Olivia K. FisherMedium: Nail Polish and Acrylic 
EANRIN AND IMRALDERAArtist: BekaMedium: Pencil 
DEATH-IN-LIFE: FUNKY-FIEDArtist: SymonaMedium: Mixed Media
THE MHERKINGArtist: Melanie J. MorganMedium: Digital Painting
DARING TO LOVE STARFLOWERArtist: Rebekah L.Medium: Pencil and Colored 
CHARACTERS OF GOLDSTONE WOODArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: Pencil
THE FUNNY PAGE FROM DAME IMRALDERA'S RECORDSArtist: Heather McDermottMedium: Digital Art
A CELESTIAL DANCEArtist: Melanie J. MorganMedium: Digital Painting
DAME IMRALDERA'S LIBRARYArtist: Hannah RogersMedium: WatercolorAnd that's the end of the gallery! I hope you enjoyed this year's contest as much as I did. Do have fun browsing these pieces and considering your favorites over the next week and a half. Your votes must be sent in by April 10. The three winners will be announced on April 11!
FAN ART CONTEST -- Rules
Dear Imps, tomorrow marks the launch of the 2015 Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest! I am so delighted with this year's wonderful submissions and look forward to sharing them with you.Before the contest launches, let me give you a quick reminder as to the rules. Some of these are a little different from last year, so do give them a once-over!
CONTEST RULES
Winners this year will be chosen by fan voting. If you are a fan of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, you are invited to cast your vote. If you haven't read any of the books in the series, however, we ask that you not vote this year.
You may send your votes to me via this email address: aestengl@gmail.com. Please do not send your votes to any other location (other email addresses, the comment section of this blog, Facebook messages, etc.) Only votes sent to the above-listed email address will be counted. All others will be deleted.
Please pick your THREE favorite images, listed in order of preference: 1, 2, and 3. Your top pick will be given 10 points, your second pick will be given 5, and your third pick will be given 2 points. So arrange your favorites with care!
If you only send me a vote for ONE image, your vote will not be counted. Please be certain to list THREE.
Artists are requested not to vote for their own works.
Voting is open until midnight, April 10 (Eastern). The winners will be announced on April 11. You can visit this post to see the prizes for which these artists are competing.
Artists: If you would like to welcome critiques on your pieces from your fellow artists and fans, feel free to leave a comment letting the viewers know. There are some very talented artists who will be visiting the page during the contest, and they may have some great ideas and advice for you!
Commenters: Feel free to leave comments on the pieces. Please keep your comments positive and encouraging. If an artist has stated that she/he welcomes a critique, feel free to offer kind, encouraging, and useful advice for improvement. However, if the artist has not indicated that she/he welcomes a critique, please limit your words to encouragement only.
It's going to be a ton of fun! I will see you back here tomorrow for the contest launch.
March 27, 2015
POISON CROWN - Update
So I mentioned in the last Doings at Drakenheath post that I had some "interesting news" concerning Poison Crown. Specifically concerning its release date. The time has come to fill you in on this little detail . . .
You know how I said that Book 8 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood would be the last one for a few years as I take a short break? Well, that's still true. But not entirely true. Book 8 will be the last book for a few years, but Book 8 is going to be split into two separate large volumes.
"Wait a minute!" you might ask. "If there are two volumes, doesn't that mean there are two separate books?"
The answer to that is yes . . . and no. Poison Crown is still really one big story. Unlike Veiled Rose and Moonblood, which are heavily connected by characters and carry-over themes, but which have two separate plots, climaxes, and resolutions, Poison Crown volumes I and II will be all the same story. You will need to read both of them in order to get the whole of the book.
That being said, Volume I has its own mini-climax and a pseudo-resolution. Though really the "resolution," so to speak, is just gearing up for the continuation of the tale in volume II.
The reasons for this decision are numerous, but I shall try to explain a few of them.
First of all is the simple issue of size. As I was writing along on this project, nearing the end of what will now be volume I, I decided I should stop and do a calculation to estimate the final length of the entire project. And I realized that, at the rate I was going, this book was going to end up 300,000 words long.
Yeah. That's too big.
For one thing, it would be a BRICK to print. Too big for the trim size, too big to hold comfortably . . . just too big! And very expensive on top of that. It would also be terribly intimidating, I suspect. Anyone looking at it would think, "Wow! That's more book than I have time to read right now." I mean, we're talking a book that would dwarf Golden Daughter in size . . . by a long shot!
I played around with shortening the story itself, but all shorter versions of the tale came out thin and under-developed, requiring me to eliminate or significantly downplay important characters, not to mention rushing along important story lines. No, no. The story is what it is and will need space to be told in the proper word count.
So then we began to brainstorm what it would look like to split the book into two 150,000 word novels rather than one 300,000 word novel. All of sudden the whole thing made a lot more sense, and I no longer needed to compromise storytelling and development.
This is not unlike what you will commonly see among many popular fantasy novels these days. Most of the fantasy novels being published in CBA are trilogies, the first two books ending on cliffhangers or near-cliffhangers, the follow-up books picking up where the others left off. This is not what I ordinarily do--I prefer to have connective story threads and characters, but to see each book resolve its own internal plot. As much as possible, I try to write so that a reader could pick up any one of the Goldstone Wood novels and enjoy the story unfolding (though reading them all together provides the best, most satisfying reading experience).
So Poison Crown will be a little different for me. But I am writing the whole thing with the idea of it being ONE book in TWO parts.
This means that I am just now coming up on the end of drafting Volume I: The Smallman's Heir. This book will (Lord willing!) be releasing in November of this year, and Volume II: The House of Lights should follow shortly thereafter, hopefully sometime in March, 2016.
Oh, you know what else this means? Two different Poison Crown covers!
You know how I said that Book 8 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood would be the last one for a few years as I take a short break? Well, that's still true. But not entirely true. Book 8 will be the last book for a few years, but Book 8 is going to be split into two separate large volumes.
"Wait a minute!" you might ask. "If there are two volumes, doesn't that mean there are two separate books?"
The answer to that is yes . . . and no. Poison Crown is still really one big story. Unlike Veiled Rose and Moonblood, which are heavily connected by characters and carry-over themes, but which have two separate plots, climaxes, and resolutions, Poison Crown volumes I and II will be all the same story. You will need to read both of them in order to get the whole of the book.
That being said, Volume I has its own mini-climax and a pseudo-resolution. Though really the "resolution," so to speak, is just gearing up for the continuation of the tale in volume II.
The reasons for this decision are numerous, but I shall try to explain a few of them.
First of all is the simple issue of size. As I was writing along on this project, nearing the end of what will now be volume I, I decided I should stop and do a calculation to estimate the final length of the entire project. And I realized that, at the rate I was going, this book was going to end up 300,000 words long.
Yeah. That's too big.
For one thing, it would be a BRICK to print. Too big for the trim size, too big to hold comfortably . . . just too big! And very expensive on top of that. It would also be terribly intimidating, I suspect. Anyone looking at it would think, "Wow! That's more book than I have time to read right now." I mean, we're talking a book that would dwarf Golden Daughter in size . . . by a long shot!
I played around with shortening the story itself, but all shorter versions of the tale came out thin and under-developed, requiring me to eliminate or significantly downplay important characters, not to mention rushing along important story lines. No, no. The story is what it is and will need space to be told in the proper word count.
So then we began to brainstorm what it would look like to split the book into two 150,000 word novels rather than one 300,000 word novel. All of sudden the whole thing made a lot more sense, and I no longer needed to compromise storytelling and development.
This is not unlike what you will commonly see among many popular fantasy novels these days. Most of the fantasy novels being published in CBA are trilogies, the first two books ending on cliffhangers or near-cliffhangers, the follow-up books picking up where the others left off. This is not what I ordinarily do--I prefer to have connective story threads and characters, but to see each book resolve its own internal plot. As much as possible, I try to write so that a reader could pick up any one of the Goldstone Wood novels and enjoy the story unfolding (though reading them all together provides the best, most satisfying reading experience).
So Poison Crown will be a little different for me. But I am writing the whole thing with the idea of it being ONE book in TWO parts.
This means that I am just now coming up on the end of drafting Volume I: The Smallman's Heir. This book will (Lord willing!) be releasing in November of this year, and Volume II: The House of Lights should follow shortly thereafter, hopefully sometime in March, 2016.
Oh, you know what else this means? Two different Poison Crown covers!
March 26, 2015
Interview Feature - Suzannah Rowntree
Dear Imps, I have a fun new author to introduce you to, and those of you who love the Arthurian legends will be particularly excited to "meet" her.
When SUZANNAH ROWNTREE isn’t traveling the world to help out friends in need, she lives in a big house in rural Australia with her awesome parents and siblings, trying to beat her previous number-of-books-read-in-a-year record. She blogs the results at www.vintagenovels.com and is the author of both fiction and non-fiction. Pendragon’s Heir, her debut novel, released March 26 on Kindle and in paperback.
Pendragon’s Heir
: Blanche Pendragon enjoys her undemanding life as the ward of an eccentric nobleman in 1900 England. It's been years since she wondered what happened to her long lost parents, but then a gift on the night of her eighteenth birthday reveals a heritage more dangerous and awe-inspiring than she ever dreamed of—or wanted. Soon Blanche is flung into a world of wayfaring immortals, daring knights, and deadly combats, with a murderous witch-queen on her trail and the future of a kingdom at stake. As the legendary King Arthur Pendragon and his warriors face enemies without and treachery within, Blanche discovers a secret that could destroy the whole realm of Logres. Even if the kingdom could be saved, is she the one to do it? Or is someone else the Pendragon's Heir?
Available on Smashwords and Createspace
INTERVIEW Welcome to the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog! First of all, would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee?
Suzannah: Thanks for hosting me! And I’ll have some tea for sure, Earl Grey or chai if you’ve got any!As to the rest of it, where to start? I come from a lovely corner of rural Australia, where most of the time I lurk in an attic writing, reading, self-publishing, and evicting the odd stray huntsman spider. I’m also often found elsewhere in the world, staying with friends to help run their homes and care for their children during times of illness or other hardship. My passions include history, law, theology, music, storytelling, epic poems and other great literature that no one has ever heard of, which I blog about at Vintage Novels (www.vintagenovels.com). And sadly, I am allergic to both my favourite animals, horses and cats.
What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller?
Suzannah: I began writing at the reasonably young age of 12, but I remember thinking in earlier years that writing a book must be awfully hard work and I was glad I didn’t ever intend to try. It was my love of reading, of course, that inevitably prodded me into trying storytelling for myself. Since then I’ve dabbled in writing fairly regularly, although it wasn’t until the last few years that I became convinced God was calling me to focus on this area during this season of my life. These days, it’s my primary mission.
Tell us a little about your work! Pendragon's Heir is your debut novel, right? How did this story come about?
Suzannah: Pendragon’s Heir came about when an older lady at my church loaned me The Daughter of Time, a novel by Josephine Tey. It’s a terrific whodunit in which the detective decides to solve a historicalcrime: the murder of the Princes in the Tower, which history normally attributes to Richard III! This was ten years ago—long before they actually found Richard’s body under a parking lot in England. At any rate, I was so inspired by the thought of using a novel to go back in time and exonerate a historical figure that I immediately sat down and wrote my own, focusing on Queen Guinevere from Arthurian legend. I was so excited about the concept that I finished the first 42,000-word draft in six days.
Since then, the book has come a very long way. I rewrote it from scratch four times. The story grew immensely, and my focus shifted off the character of Guinevere onto the meaning of Arthurian legend in general. What keeps us as a culture coming back to these stories? What is the meaning of the Quest for the Holy Grail? Why, after all that glory, are Arthur and his kingdom so tragically destroyed? Over ten years of meditating on and wrestling with these questions, Pendragon’s Heir has matured into what my friends tell me is a very poignant, thoughtful, and stirring new take on Arthurian legend.
Can you pick a favorite character from this new novel?
Suzannah: Ouch! What a question!
Okay, I'll say Sir Perceval, my main male character. In the original legends, Perceval is raised by his mother in a cave in the forest with no contact with the outside world. When he arrives at Camelot to be a knight, he’s a delightful mixture of brashness and naivete. Using this as a foundation, I had a huge amount of fun developing an extroverted, ebullient, outrageously swashbuckling character who I think you’re all going to love. On the other hand, I also worked hard to try and keep Perceval’s character grounded—I didn’t want him to become one of those obvious wish-fulfillment male characters so often written by lady novelists!
In the end I'm very satisfied with Perceval and his character arc. I think he's an excellent embodiment of everything that was most confident, exuberant, and fierce in the medieval times. He was great fun to write, and my readers tell me he's as much fun to read about!
What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration?
Suzannah: If I’m struggling in my writing, I’ve discovered it’s usually because of being unsure where to go next. Maybe I don’t have a good grip on a new character. Maybe I haven’t quite decided where to take a plotline. Maybe I need my character to go visit someone with a petition, but I don’t know which part of the city the character needs to travel to, or what it’ll look like when he gets there. So I tend to think less in terms of inspiration and more in terms of fact-finding.
It’s similar with dreaming up new plots. I recently came to the conclusion that originality is not a particularly worthy artistic goal (in CS Lewis’s immortal words, “No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth, without caring twopence how often it has been told before, you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it”). For me, the process of inventing new plots, settings, or characters is simply a process of remixing bits and pieces of things I’ve read and enjoyed previously. This said, I do believe in inspiration. For me, it is as sudden and unexpected as lightning. It happens when two apparently unconnected things suddenly collide in my mind, for no apparent reason, with truly astonishing results. For example, I recently wrote a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the style of Bollywood. That was an idea which was simply given to me, a beautiful bit of inspiration from who-knows-where.Or, well, I do know where. In the Jerusalem Delivered of Torquato Tasso, one of my favourite epic poems, Tasso invokes his own Muse with these beautiful lines:
O heavenly Muse, that not with fading bays
Deckest thy brow by the Heliconian spring,
But sittest crowned with stars' immortal rays
In Heaven, where legions of bright angels sing;
Inspire life in my wit, my thoughts upraise,
My verse ennoble, and forgive the thing,
If fictions light I mix with truth divine,
And fill these lines with other praise than thine.
For Tasso, as for other Christian authors of his time period, one’s Muse and source of inspiration was understood to be the Holy Spirit. AndWhat are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?
Suzannah: Without a doubt, my favourite part is that blissful perfect-tense state known as having written, during which a soft glow of achievement washes over one and emails arrive from readers to tell you how much they enjoyed your work. As for the least-favourite, a good argument could probably be made for the ticklish work of trying to fit last-minute but highly-important tweaks into one’s painstakingly polished, tightly-knit work without disrupting everything else in the whole book.
What are you actively writing right now?
Suzannah: At the moment I’m working on a series of novella-length fairy tale retellings. Like Pendragon’s Heir, they will all be historical fantasies, but I’ve been enjoying exploring a few different settings—Bollywood-style India in The Rakshasa’s Bride, medieval Byzantium in The Prince of Fishes, and Tudor England in The Bells of Paradise so far. I’ve got tons of ideas for where to go next—Russia, Venice, Morocco…Tennessee…exotic locales like that…but let not him who puts on his armour boast like he who takes it off, and all that.
Would you share a short snippet from Pendragon’s Heir?
Suzannah: Love to!
Excerpt from
PENDRAGON'S HEIR
Perceval dug his heels into the pony’s sides. Up the hill they cantered among the protests left in the knight’s trail, and trotted beneath a massive carved door-lintel into a high-roofed hall rippling with bright banners. Here under soaring arches in the light of a hundred high windows stood a great round table in the midst of the hall, scores of men seated around it talking and eating and laughing. Perceval looked once, then again, and his stomach quaked as he realised that he was in the presence of the greatest warriors of the world, each one tried and tempered on the field of war.
Could he prove himself worthy to sit among them? For the space of a breath he was glad that none of them saw him come in. They were falling silent, staring at the gilded knight, who trotted between the round table and the long straight tables that flanked it on each side toward the King’s seat at the head of the hall.
Here at the Table the King sat enthroned (pewter-grey hair the King had, and the marks of war on his hands, but piercing eyes that would be wise in judgement); the pale Queen stood beside him with an upraised goblet of silver and glass, and words dying away on her lips. The gilded knight swung down from his horse and strode toward them without a pause. “Who is this,” he shouted, “who is this that stands at the head of the Round Table to pledge them all to truth and virtue, and is herself no better than a common stale?”
There was the rattle of a chair sliding across cobbles, a raking up of rushes, and a flash of light as a blade was drawn. One of the knights, on the far side of the table, was on his feet, moving—the King, more slowly, rose from his seat—the gilded knight snatched the cup from the Queen’s hand even while he spoke.
And flung the wine in her face.
“A fig for the Table,” the ruffian was shouting, with a laugh, over the uproar of shouts and falling chairs. Perceval saw the King say a soft word, and a lean grey shadow leaped from under his chair. The gilded knight vaulted to his horse as the hound sprang with bared teeth and straining red maw for his heels. Then the warhorse neighed and lashed out with a hoof. The dog scrabbled uselessly across the floor; another heartbeat, and the gilded knight was gone with the drumming of hooves.
Above it all the Queen of Britain stood still, wine dripping from her face, her mouth pressed shut in a white and wordless fury which swept impersonally across Perceval and all the people gathered in the hall before alighting on the King. Arthur turned to meet it and with a curiously practical gesture offered her a napkin. Then everyone was talking at once—the knights around the table, the ladies in the galleries above, the plain people at their low tables. But in the midst of the commotion, the man who had risen from his seat at the table when the strange knight first snatched the Queen’s cup now sheathed his sword, stalked up the hall to the King and said, low and grinding: “Give me leave, lord, and I’ll beat him like a dog.”
___________________
I hope you readers enjoyed hearing about Suzannah's story. If you would like to learn more, visit her blog and enjoy the blog tour currently running to celebrate the release of Pendragon's Heir!
When SUZANNAH ROWNTREE isn’t traveling the world to help out friends in need, she lives in a big house in rural Australia with her awesome parents and siblings, trying to beat her previous number-of-books-read-in-a-year record. She blogs the results at www.vintagenovels.com and is the author of both fiction and non-fiction. Pendragon’s Heir, her debut novel, released March 26 on Kindle and in paperback.
Pendragon’s Heir
: Blanche Pendragon enjoys her undemanding life as the ward of an eccentric nobleman in 1900 England. It's been years since she wondered what happened to her long lost parents, but then a gift on the night of her eighteenth birthday reveals a heritage more dangerous and awe-inspiring than she ever dreamed of—or wanted. Soon Blanche is flung into a world of wayfaring immortals, daring knights, and deadly combats, with a murderous witch-queen on her trail and the future of a kingdom at stake. As the legendary King Arthur Pendragon and his warriors face enemies without and treachery within, Blanche discovers a secret that could destroy the whole realm of Logres. Even if the kingdom could be saved, is she the one to do it? Or is someone else the Pendragon's Heir?Available on Smashwords and Createspace
INTERVIEW Welcome to the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog! First of all, would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee?
Suzannah: Thanks for hosting me! And I’ll have some tea for sure, Earl Grey or chai if you’ve got any!As to the rest of it, where to start? I come from a lovely corner of rural Australia, where most of the time I lurk in an attic writing, reading, self-publishing, and evicting the odd stray huntsman spider. I’m also often found elsewhere in the world, staying with friends to help run their homes and care for their children during times of illness or other hardship. My passions include history, law, theology, music, storytelling, epic poems and other great literature that no one has ever heard of, which I blog about at Vintage Novels (www.vintagenovels.com). And sadly, I am allergic to both my favourite animals, horses and cats.
What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller?
Suzannah: I began writing at the reasonably young age of 12, but I remember thinking in earlier years that writing a book must be awfully hard work and I was glad I didn’t ever intend to try. It was my love of reading, of course, that inevitably prodded me into trying storytelling for myself. Since then I’ve dabbled in writing fairly regularly, although it wasn’t until the last few years that I became convinced God was calling me to focus on this area during this season of my life. These days, it’s my primary mission.
Tell us a little about your work! Pendragon's Heir is your debut novel, right? How did this story come about?
Suzannah: Pendragon’s Heir came about when an older lady at my church loaned me The Daughter of Time, a novel by Josephine Tey. It’s a terrific whodunit in which the detective decides to solve a historicalcrime: the murder of the Princes in the Tower, which history normally attributes to Richard III! This was ten years ago—long before they actually found Richard’s body under a parking lot in England. At any rate, I was so inspired by the thought of using a novel to go back in time and exonerate a historical figure that I immediately sat down and wrote my own, focusing on Queen Guinevere from Arthurian legend. I was so excited about the concept that I finished the first 42,000-word draft in six days.
Since then, the book has come a very long way. I rewrote it from scratch four times. The story grew immensely, and my focus shifted off the character of Guinevere onto the meaning of Arthurian legend in general. What keeps us as a culture coming back to these stories? What is the meaning of the Quest for the Holy Grail? Why, after all that glory, are Arthur and his kingdom so tragically destroyed? Over ten years of meditating on and wrestling with these questions, Pendragon’s Heir has matured into what my friends tell me is a very poignant, thoughtful, and stirring new take on Arthurian legend.
Can you pick a favorite character from this new novel?
Suzannah: Ouch! What a question!
Okay, I'll say Sir Perceval, my main male character. In the original legends, Perceval is raised by his mother in a cave in the forest with no contact with the outside world. When he arrives at Camelot to be a knight, he’s a delightful mixture of brashness and naivete. Using this as a foundation, I had a huge amount of fun developing an extroverted, ebullient, outrageously swashbuckling character who I think you’re all going to love. On the other hand, I also worked hard to try and keep Perceval’s character grounded—I didn’t want him to become one of those obvious wish-fulfillment male characters so often written by lady novelists!
In the end I'm very satisfied with Perceval and his character arc. I think he's an excellent embodiment of everything that was most confident, exuberant, and fierce in the medieval times. He was great fun to write, and my readers tell me he's as much fun to read about!
What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration?
Suzannah: If I’m struggling in my writing, I’ve discovered it’s usually because of being unsure where to go next. Maybe I don’t have a good grip on a new character. Maybe I haven’t quite decided where to take a plotline. Maybe I need my character to go visit someone with a petition, but I don’t know which part of the city the character needs to travel to, or what it’ll look like when he gets there. So I tend to think less in terms of inspiration and more in terms of fact-finding.
It’s similar with dreaming up new plots. I recently came to the conclusion that originality is not a particularly worthy artistic goal (in CS Lewis’s immortal words, “No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth, without caring twopence how often it has been told before, you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it”). For me, the process of inventing new plots, settings, or characters is simply a process of remixing bits and pieces of things I’ve read and enjoyed previously. This said, I do believe in inspiration. For me, it is as sudden and unexpected as lightning. It happens when two apparently unconnected things suddenly collide in my mind, for no apparent reason, with truly astonishing results. For example, I recently wrote a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the style of Bollywood. That was an idea which was simply given to me, a beautiful bit of inspiration from who-knows-where.Or, well, I do know where. In the Jerusalem Delivered of Torquato Tasso, one of my favourite epic poems, Tasso invokes his own Muse with these beautiful lines:
O heavenly Muse, that not with fading bays
Deckest thy brow by the Heliconian spring,
But sittest crowned with stars' immortal rays
In Heaven, where legions of bright angels sing;
Inspire life in my wit, my thoughts upraise,
My verse ennoble, and forgive the thing,
If fictions light I mix with truth divine,
And fill these lines with other praise than thine.
For Tasso, as for other Christian authors of his time period, one’s Muse and source of inspiration was understood to be the Holy Spirit. AndWhat are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?
Suzannah: Without a doubt, my favourite part is that blissful perfect-tense state known as having written, during which a soft glow of achievement washes over one and emails arrive from readers to tell you how much they enjoyed your work. As for the least-favourite, a good argument could probably be made for the ticklish work of trying to fit last-minute but highly-important tweaks into one’s painstakingly polished, tightly-knit work without disrupting everything else in the whole book.
What are you actively writing right now?
Suzannah: At the moment I’m working on a series of novella-length fairy tale retellings. Like Pendragon’s Heir, they will all be historical fantasies, but I’ve been enjoying exploring a few different settings—Bollywood-style India in The Rakshasa’s Bride, medieval Byzantium in The Prince of Fishes, and Tudor England in The Bells of Paradise so far. I’ve got tons of ideas for where to go next—Russia, Venice, Morocco…Tennessee…exotic locales like that…but let not him who puts on his armour boast like he who takes it off, and all that.
Would you share a short snippet from Pendragon’s Heir?
Suzannah: Love to!
Excerpt from
PENDRAGON'S HEIR
Perceval dug his heels into the pony’s sides. Up the hill they cantered among the protests left in the knight’s trail, and trotted beneath a massive carved door-lintel into a high-roofed hall rippling with bright banners. Here under soaring arches in the light of a hundred high windows stood a great round table in the midst of the hall, scores of men seated around it talking and eating and laughing. Perceval looked once, then again, and his stomach quaked as he realised that he was in the presence of the greatest warriors of the world, each one tried and tempered on the field of war.
Could he prove himself worthy to sit among them? For the space of a breath he was glad that none of them saw him come in. They were falling silent, staring at the gilded knight, who trotted between the round table and the long straight tables that flanked it on each side toward the King’s seat at the head of the hall.
Here at the Table the King sat enthroned (pewter-grey hair the King had, and the marks of war on his hands, but piercing eyes that would be wise in judgement); the pale Queen stood beside him with an upraised goblet of silver and glass, and words dying away on her lips. The gilded knight swung down from his horse and strode toward them without a pause. “Who is this,” he shouted, “who is this that stands at the head of the Round Table to pledge them all to truth and virtue, and is herself no better than a common stale?”
There was the rattle of a chair sliding across cobbles, a raking up of rushes, and a flash of light as a blade was drawn. One of the knights, on the far side of the table, was on his feet, moving—the King, more slowly, rose from his seat—the gilded knight snatched the cup from the Queen’s hand even while he spoke.
And flung the wine in her face.
“A fig for the Table,” the ruffian was shouting, with a laugh, over the uproar of shouts and falling chairs. Perceval saw the King say a soft word, and a lean grey shadow leaped from under his chair. The gilded knight vaulted to his horse as the hound sprang with bared teeth and straining red maw for his heels. Then the warhorse neighed and lashed out with a hoof. The dog scrabbled uselessly across the floor; another heartbeat, and the gilded knight was gone with the drumming of hooves.
Above it all the Queen of Britain stood still, wine dripping from her face, her mouth pressed shut in a white and wordless fury which swept impersonally across Perceval and all the people gathered in the hall before alighting on the King. Arthur turned to meet it and with a curiously practical gesture offered her a napkin. Then everyone was talking at once—the knights around the table, the ladies in the galleries above, the plain people at their low tables. But in the midst of the commotion, the man who had risen from his seat at the table when the strange knight first snatched the Queen’s cup now sheathed his sword, stalked up the hall to the King and said, low and grinding: “Give me leave, lord, and I’ll beat him like a dog.”
___________________
I hope you readers enjoyed hearing about Suzannah's story. If you would like to learn more, visit her blog and enjoy the blog tour currently running to celebrate the release of Pendragon's Heir!
March 18, 2015
CINDERELLA'S SHOES - Cover Reveal!
Dear Imps, I am delighted to participate in the cover reveal for Shonna Slayton's sophomore novel. I know many of you have read and loved her first book, Cinderella's Dress . . . and those who haven't grabbed it totally should! Because now, as soon as you've finished, you can grab yourself a copy of . . . .
CINDERELLA'S SHOES
by Shonna SlaytonRelease Date: 10/06/15Entangled Teen
Summary from Goodreads:The war may be over, but Kate Allen’s life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she's been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella’s magical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters’ modern descendants.
But Cinderella’s dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father—missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined.
Because when you harness Cinderella's magic, danger and evil are sure to follow...
ADD THE BOOK ON GOODREADS!
First book in the series:Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│iBooks
About the Author
SHONNA SLAYTON is the author of the YA novels Cinderella's Dress, (Summer 2014) and Cinderella's Shoes (Fall 2015) published by Entangled Teen. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.
Author Links:Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook
Cover Reveal Organized by:YA Bound Book Tours
CINDERELLA'S SHOES
by Shonna SlaytonRelease Date: 10/06/15Entangled Teen
Summary from Goodreads:The war may be over, but Kate Allen’s life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she's been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella’s magical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters’ modern descendants. But Cinderella’s dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father—missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined.
Because when you harness Cinderella's magic, danger and evil are sure to follow...
ADD THE BOOK ON GOODREADS!
First book in the series:Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│iBooks
About the Author
SHONNA SLAYTON is the author of the YA novels Cinderella's Dress, (Summer 2014) and Cinderella's Shoes (Fall 2015) published by Entangled Teen. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang, sound a lot like teenagers today. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.Author Links:Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook
Cover Reveal Organized by:YA Bound Book Tours
March 16, 2015
Cover Reveal -- New Emma Clifton Story!
Dear Imps, those of you who read and enjoyed Five Glass Slippers no doubt remember Emma Clifton's wonderful contribution to that collection, her steampunk Cinderella-story, "Broken Glass."
And, though I cannot give away the ending for those of you who haven't read it . . . those of you who HAVE will remember that she left off with a wonderful cliffhanger, primed and ready to continue the adventures of Prince Darcy. I know the moment I read that ending, I wanted to find out what would happen next to that wicked prince and all his evil plans, particularly when his life takes such a turn for the unexpected worse.
Well, my hopes have been satisfied . . . Emma has gone on to tell that continuing adventure, and she will be publishing an e-book version of Darcy's story sometime this summer! Needless to say, I am excited about this. And I was even more excited when Emma hired me to do the cover design for her project.
Would you like to see how that cover turned out? Allow me to present to you . . .
A fairy godmother—in prison? Madeline can’t remember even being a fairy godmother, let alone doing something bad enough to land her in a cell. When a mysterious lady sends her back to her old village with cryptic instructions and no answers to her many questions, Madeline must find a way to free her father, who has been imprisoned in a tower by a terrible beast.
First banished by his father the king, then cursed by an angry fairy, Prince Darcy will do anything to escape this fate and achieve revenge and power. Just when he thinks his chance has arrived, by some cruel trick of fate a girl from his past returns and once again wreaks havoc on his life. Worse still, he begins to question what he truly desires.
COMING SUMMER 2015
Add it on Goodreads Today
What do you think, dear readers? Are you ready to return to Emma Clifton's crazy/funny/snarky world?
And, though I cannot give away the ending for those of you who haven't read it . . . those of you who HAVE will remember that she left off with a wonderful cliffhanger, primed and ready to continue the adventures of Prince Darcy. I know the moment I read that ending, I wanted to find out what would happen next to that wicked prince and all his evil plans, particularly when his life takes such a turn for the unexpected worse.
Well, my hopes have been satisfied . . . Emma has gone on to tell that continuing adventure, and she will be publishing an e-book version of Darcy's story sometime this summer! Needless to say, I am excited about this. And I was even more excited when Emma hired me to do the cover design for her project.
Would you like to see how that cover turned out? Allow me to present to you . . .
A fairy godmother—in prison? Madeline can’t remember even being a fairy godmother, let alone doing something bad enough to land her in a cell. When a mysterious lady sends her back to her old village with cryptic instructions and no answers to her many questions, Madeline must find a way to free her father, who has been imprisoned in a tower by a terrible beast.
First banished by his father the king, then cursed by an angry fairy, Prince Darcy will do anything to escape this fate and achieve revenge and power. Just when he thinks his chance has arrived, by some cruel trick of fate a girl from his past returns and once again wreaks havoc on his life. Worse still, he begins to question what he truly desires.
COMING SUMMER 2015
Add it on Goodreads Today
What do you think, dear readers? Are you ready to return to Emma Clifton's crazy/funny/snarky world?
March 7, 2015
Doings at Drakenheath
Dear Imps, as you all know, I'm taking a step back on regular blogging while this current manuscript swamps my life. However, I do want to try to keep up the Doings posts. (If nothing else, they give you a good indication why I've had to step back on regular blogging . . . .) So here are the March Doings, and I hope you will enjoy hearing about them!
The BIG task which I just finished up were the first-round edits on the Five Enchanted Roses submissions.
This is always a much bigger task than I expect it to be, particularly considering how much we love the stories we picked as winners. But even the best stories need thorough edits . . . and sometimes the better a story is, the more editing work it requires. That's just the nature of the business. My favorite story from the Five Glass Slippers collection (which shall remain nameless . . . officially ALL of them are my favorites) required the most extensive revisions at this stage as well.
But it makes all the difference when working with talented writers! Last year's crew dove into their revisions with good will and turned in amazing second drafts. I do not doubt the writers this year will do equally well.
Still, it's a big task, and editing swamped most of February up until Thursday morning, when the last of the edits were sent out. Thank heaven I don't have to do it alone! I have a wonderful team to work with, and we were able to thoroughly dive into these stories, researching details (even fantasies require research!) and discussing our findings, commenting on what we saw as the major strengths and weaknesses of each tale, brainstorming solutions to problems, etc.
Now it's up to the writers themselves, and I won't see these stories again until mid-April. Pretty soon is the really fun part, though . . . finalizing the design of the individual title pages for each story. We've got mock-ups in the works, and oh my! These are going to be sooooo pretty.
Since the edits are complete, I'm back to working like CRAZY on Poison Crown. I've got some interesting news concerning this particular book which I will be posting sometime in the next week or so. Good news, I promise! News that includes the finalization of a November 2015 release . . . which was in question for a little while there as I keep chipping away at this enormous block of literary marble.
I had hit a really tough spot at one point last week, but when, on an impulse, I posted on Facebook asking for prayer, the response was enormous. I didn't even have to look and see all the sweet comments from people promising to pray to feel the difference. Encouragement and inspiration struck that very same day, and Poison Crown is once more proving to be entirely the Lord's work, developed according to the Lord's plan. I hope only to be a willing vessel . . . and to not interfere with my own insecurities and anxieties as God perfects His good work in me. Thankfully my insecurities and anxieties are no match for His will.
So keep your eyes open for an exciting announcement concerning this particular project. I haven't gotten the official go-ahead from my Rooglewood Press team to post it, but I think it'll be soon.
In the meanwhile, here are three interesting things you can expect to find in Poison Crown this autumn:
1. Seven-league boots. Yes indeed, they make an important appearance in this story! They also receive an origin story which is loosely inspired by a number of "our world" legends about seven-league boots, but ultimately all original Goldstone Wood stuff. We learn how they work (which is not quite how you might expect), who made them, and why. It's a small but important little tidbit.
2. You will see my version of elves. Which are inspired by pre-Tolkein elves of classic literature and are, therefore, much more suited to the world of Goldstone Wood. I'm super excited to see them getting their first features in this book, which I had not actually expected. These folks were meant for a story I plan to write much later about Queen Varvare and Lionheart . . . but you know how I like to slip in hints and tidbits many books in advance. So Poison Crown is the first TINY hint and tidbit of an idea that will someday develop in to the Varvare/Lionheart tale. Fun times!
3. You're going to learn about some of Dame Imraldera's adventures in the Wood Between and the Far World since Eanrin left her. She's been very busy and she's made some new friends . . . and enemies. Including a whole sisterhood of witches known as the Vila, who are terribly frightening and terribly tragic all at the same time.
All right, that's enough about Poison Crown for the time being.
Let me take a moment to talk about the Fan Art Contest!
One of the most fun times of the year is in process RIGHT NOW. And I am very excited about it. If you haven't seen anything about this yet,
you can read the rules for it here
. The pieces have started showing up already, including beautiful images for Golden Daughter, Shadow Hand, Heartless, and more, not to mention some portraits of major characters, including Rose Red and the Dragon King. So much fun and so much talent! I can hardly wait to see the rest of the submissions and share them with you early next month. And don't forget . . . the first place winner gets a pretty epic Eanrin Hat for his or her prize:
Draven's Light is coming along beautifully. I was finally able to go through the galleys and fix some little glitches in the text. Nothing major at this point . . . some instances of repetition and a few places where the clarity suffered. I've got a revised text ready to send to my copy editor now for a last once-over . . . and then that book will be ready to launch! Which is good, because there's not a whole lot of time between now and the end of May. You may THINK there is, but in the publishing world . . . oh, no. No, there isn't. That time will go by in a blink.Don't forget that you can pre-order Draven's Light if you are feeling so inclined.
Oh, and the Audiobook for Goddess Tithe is officially released now as well. Huzzah! This one was a lot longer in coming than planned due to a couple of glitches along the way. However, the end result is very beautiful, with voice-actor Stephen John Reese performing the narrative with great expression and drama. I particularly loved listening to all the climactic moments with Risafeth herself! Plus Mr. Reese sings the "Where Did the Songbird Go" lullaby, having created a haunting tune to go with it. Be certain to grab your copy. So you might be wondering if this means we'll be doing more Goldstone Wood books in audio format. The answer is . . . yes, we hope to! Someday. The truth is, it takes SO MUCH time and effort to put together these audiobooks. Even though I don't personally do the recording and mastering, I have to listen through the project several times over, and that's hours of work. Even for Goddess Tithe, which is quite short!
We plan to offer audiobook formats for the Fairy Tale Collections, such as Five Enchanted Roses and the upcoming Five Something Something (Ha! Did you think I was going to give it away early? Not on your life!). But the Tales of Goldstone Wood may have to wait a little while yet.
Speaking of Five Something Something . . . this next week, Julia Popova, our wonderful fairy cover artist, is going to begin the final version of the new collection book cover! She did the mock-ups a month or so ago, but has been away on vacation through most of February. But now she will work her magic to get the cover ready, and we will begin seriously prepping the third annual Fairy Tale Retelling Contest!
On a different topic . . .
So the other day, my darling husband pointed out to me that I don't really do anything for fun that isn't related to work somehow. Which is absolutely true . . . I love what I do for work and thrive on all of these crazy projects, so it's very difficult to turn my mind to other, non-work-related pursuits. But, as he sagely pointed out, this is not a terribly healthy way to live. There are few moments in my day (other than when he and I crash together at night to watch our favorite TV shows. Doctor Who . . . Agents of Shield . . . Sherlock . . .) when I'm not working away at some task. And TV doesn't really count as a for-fun hobby, being completely mindless way to pass the time.
Thus he encouraged me to pick up some sort of non-work-related pastime to simultaneously challenge and relax my brain. I had to think about that for a bit . . . I like quilting, but I don't really have a quilt in the works at the moment (though I have one I could start). But it's not really challenging to the brain. I love art and design, but I do often delve into that side of my brain for work, so it's probably not different enough.
But you know what else I enjoy? Music. I used to compulsively practice the piano for three hours a day, and while I certainly don't play at that level of proficiency anymore, I can potter along quite well on the whole.
Rohan thus challenged me to learn a new classical music piece on the piano. He pulled up a favorite of his on Youtube for me to listen to: "Handel in the Strand" by Percy Grainger. It sounded cute and cheerful and fun . . . and Percy Grainger was a friend and contemporary of Edvard Grieg, who is my favorite classical composer. I've played quite a few Grieg pieces, and while he's challenging, he tends to write things that sound much harder than they are . . . which is perfect when you're a vain little musician like yours truly, who wants to be impressive without doing a crazy amount of work! So I agreed. I would learn "Handel in the Strand" for my husband, thus exercising my brain in a fresh direction. Rohan went ahead and ordered the music for me.
Oh. Dragon's. Teeth.
That cheerful little piece of piano-y sweetness? It's killer. I mean, KILLER! It's more like Bach than like Grieg, with several voices going at once in different fingers on each hand! I don't have the finger strength for this kind of playing anymore! Not even the one Liszt piece I learned in high school compares to this, and Liszt is notoriously difficult!
Don't try to look guileless, Percy! I'm on to you.
But I promised Rohan. And, as he pointed out, the point is to focus my mind on something not-work-related. And a piece like this . . . well, it definitely requires focus. So I am practicing my scales and strengthening my fingers. And I am slowly learning "Handel in the Strand" one measure at a time. One hand at a time. Often one finger at a time.
Maybe by next year I'll be able to get through the whole thing? We shall see! (But don't hold your breath.)
In other Drakenheathean news . . .
My family is coming to visit next week! Well, not all of my family. But a goodly portion of them! My parents and youngest brother, Peter, are driving down from Wisconsin to stay with us for a couple of days. Then Pete and my Papa are heading back up north, leaving Mummy to visit for another week before flying back home.
I am SO EXCITED. I haven't seen these members of my family in person for nearly two years now. And I am really looking forward to showing them the house, introducing them to the new Drakenheath beasts (they've only ever met Marmaduke and Minerva Louise in person). Mum and I have grand and glorious plans for her visit as well, which include pulling out the sewing machine for some fun projects, and possibly shopping for an outfit for me for an updated "author photo." And we will drink much tea and feast upon the delicious foods Rohan prepares! And take Milly for long walks down to the river and all sorts of loveliness.
Seriously, I can hardly wait.
First, however, Rohan and I have to put together our guest room so that it's livable. Since moving into Drakenheath, we've pretty much left the guest room as a large storage closet. But last night, we hauled out boxes, organized, and began putting together the pretty new bed we bought for the room. Today we plan to spend on getting the room finished. Should be really pretty when it's done. I'll try to post some pictures, maybe for next month's "Doings" feature.
So, as you can see, March has some fun projects and plans in the works! Plenty to keep me very busy, but all very exciting and fun.
So what are you up to here at the end of winter and the beginning of spring? Is it starting to feel spring-like where you are? Do you have any cool projects in the works? Plans in mind for the summer?
The BIG task which I just finished up were the first-round edits on the Five Enchanted Roses submissions.
This is always a much bigger task than I expect it to be, particularly considering how much we love the stories we picked as winners. But even the best stories need thorough edits . . . and sometimes the better a story is, the more editing work it requires. That's just the nature of the business. My favorite story from the Five Glass Slippers collection (which shall remain nameless . . . officially ALL of them are my favorites) required the most extensive revisions at this stage as well.But it makes all the difference when working with talented writers! Last year's crew dove into their revisions with good will and turned in amazing second drafts. I do not doubt the writers this year will do equally well.
Still, it's a big task, and editing swamped most of February up until Thursday morning, when the last of the edits were sent out. Thank heaven I don't have to do it alone! I have a wonderful team to work with, and we were able to thoroughly dive into these stories, researching details (even fantasies require research!) and discussing our findings, commenting on what we saw as the major strengths and weaknesses of each tale, brainstorming solutions to problems, etc.
Now it's up to the writers themselves, and I won't see these stories again until mid-April. Pretty soon is the really fun part, though . . . finalizing the design of the individual title pages for each story. We've got mock-ups in the works, and oh my! These are going to be sooooo pretty.
Since the edits are complete, I'm back to working like CRAZY on Poison Crown. I've got some interesting news concerning this particular book which I will be posting sometime in the next week or so. Good news, I promise! News that includes the finalization of a November 2015 release . . . which was in question for a little while there as I keep chipping away at this enormous block of literary marble.
I had hit a really tough spot at one point last week, but when, on an impulse, I posted on Facebook asking for prayer, the response was enormous. I didn't even have to look and see all the sweet comments from people promising to pray to feel the difference. Encouragement and inspiration struck that very same day, and Poison Crown is once more proving to be entirely the Lord's work, developed according to the Lord's plan. I hope only to be a willing vessel . . . and to not interfere with my own insecurities and anxieties as God perfects His good work in me. Thankfully my insecurities and anxieties are no match for His will.
So keep your eyes open for an exciting announcement concerning this particular project. I haven't gotten the official go-ahead from my Rooglewood Press team to post it, but I think it'll be soon.
In the meanwhile, here are three interesting things you can expect to find in Poison Crown this autumn:
1. Seven-league boots. Yes indeed, they make an important appearance in this story! They also receive an origin story which is loosely inspired by a number of "our world" legends about seven-league boots, but ultimately all original Goldstone Wood stuff. We learn how they work (which is not quite how you might expect), who made them, and why. It's a small but important little tidbit.
2. You will see my version of elves. Which are inspired by pre-Tolkein elves of classic literature and are, therefore, much more suited to the world of Goldstone Wood. I'm super excited to see them getting their first features in this book, which I had not actually expected. These folks were meant for a story I plan to write much later about Queen Varvare and Lionheart . . . but you know how I like to slip in hints and tidbits many books in advance. So Poison Crown is the first TINY hint and tidbit of an idea that will someday develop in to the Varvare/Lionheart tale. Fun times!
3. You're going to learn about some of Dame Imraldera's adventures in the Wood Between and the Far World since Eanrin left her. She's been very busy and she's made some new friends . . . and enemies. Including a whole sisterhood of witches known as the Vila, who are terribly frightening and terribly tragic all at the same time.
All right, that's enough about Poison Crown for the time being.
Let me take a moment to talk about the Fan Art Contest!
One of the most fun times of the year is in process RIGHT NOW. And I am very excited about it. If you haven't seen anything about this yet,
you can read the rules for it here
. The pieces have started showing up already, including beautiful images for Golden Daughter, Shadow Hand, Heartless, and more, not to mention some portraits of major characters, including Rose Red and the Dragon King. So much fun and so much talent! I can hardly wait to see the rest of the submissions and share them with you early next month. And don't forget . . . the first place winner gets a pretty epic Eanrin Hat for his or her prize:
Draven's Light is coming along beautifully. I was finally able to go through the galleys and fix some little glitches in the text. Nothing major at this point . . . some instances of repetition and a few places where the clarity suffered. I've got a revised text ready to send to my copy editor now for a last once-over . . . and then that book will be ready to launch! Which is good, because there's not a whole lot of time between now and the end of May. You may THINK there is, but in the publishing world . . . oh, no. No, there isn't. That time will go by in a blink.Don't forget that you can pre-order Draven's Light if you are feeling so inclined.
Oh, and the Audiobook for Goddess Tithe is officially released now as well. Huzzah! This one was a lot longer in coming than planned due to a couple of glitches along the way. However, the end result is very beautiful, with voice-actor Stephen John Reese performing the narrative with great expression and drama. I particularly loved listening to all the climactic moments with Risafeth herself! Plus Mr. Reese sings the "Where Did the Songbird Go" lullaby, having created a haunting tune to go with it. Be certain to grab your copy. So you might be wondering if this means we'll be doing more Goldstone Wood books in audio format. The answer is . . . yes, we hope to! Someday. The truth is, it takes SO MUCH time and effort to put together these audiobooks. Even though I don't personally do the recording and mastering, I have to listen through the project several times over, and that's hours of work. Even for Goddess Tithe, which is quite short!We plan to offer audiobook formats for the Fairy Tale Collections, such as Five Enchanted Roses and the upcoming Five Something Something (Ha! Did you think I was going to give it away early? Not on your life!). But the Tales of Goldstone Wood may have to wait a little while yet.
Speaking of Five Something Something . . . this next week, Julia Popova, our wonderful fairy cover artist, is going to begin the final version of the new collection book cover! She did the mock-ups a month or so ago, but has been away on vacation through most of February. But now she will work her magic to get the cover ready, and we will begin seriously prepping the third annual Fairy Tale Retelling Contest!
On a different topic . . .
So the other day, my darling husband pointed out to me that I don't really do anything for fun that isn't related to work somehow. Which is absolutely true . . . I love what I do for work and thrive on all of these crazy projects, so it's very difficult to turn my mind to other, non-work-related pursuits. But, as he sagely pointed out, this is not a terribly healthy way to live. There are few moments in my day (other than when he and I crash together at night to watch our favorite TV shows. Doctor Who . . . Agents of Shield . . . Sherlock . . .) when I'm not working away at some task. And TV doesn't really count as a for-fun hobby, being completely mindless way to pass the time.
Thus he encouraged me to pick up some sort of non-work-related pastime to simultaneously challenge and relax my brain. I had to think about that for a bit . . . I like quilting, but I don't really have a quilt in the works at the moment (though I have one I could start). But it's not really challenging to the brain. I love art and design, but I do often delve into that side of my brain for work, so it's probably not different enough.
But you know what else I enjoy? Music. I used to compulsively practice the piano for three hours a day, and while I certainly don't play at that level of proficiency anymore, I can potter along quite well on the whole.
Rohan thus challenged me to learn a new classical music piece on the piano. He pulled up a favorite of his on Youtube for me to listen to: "Handel in the Strand" by Percy Grainger. It sounded cute and cheerful and fun . . . and Percy Grainger was a friend and contemporary of Edvard Grieg, who is my favorite classical composer. I've played quite a few Grieg pieces, and while he's challenging, he tends to write things that sound much harder than they are . . . which is perfect when you're a vain little musician like yours truly, who wants to be impressive without doing a crazy amount of work! So I agreed. I would learn "Handel in the Strand" for my husband, thus exercising my brain in a fresh direction. Rohan went ahead and ordered the music for me.
Oh. Dragon's. Teeth.
That cheerful little piece of piano-y sweetness? It's killer. I mean, KILLER! It's more like Bach than like Grieg, with several voices going at once in different fingers on each hand! I don't have the finger strength for this kind of playing anymore! Not even the one Liszt piece I learned in high school compares to this, and Liszt is notoriously difficult!
Don't try to look guileless, Percy! I'm on to you.But I promised Rohan. And, as he pointed out, the point is to focus my mind on something not-work-related. And a piece like this . . . well, it definitely requires focus. So I am practicing my scales and strengthening my fingers. And I am slowly learning "Handel in the Strand" one measure at a time. One hand at a time. Often one finger at a time.
Maybe by next year I'll be able to get through the whole thing? We shall see! (But don't hold your breath.)
In other Drakenheathean news . . .
My family is coming to visit next week! Well, not all of my family. But a goodly portion of them! My parents and youngest brother, Peter, are driving down from Wisconsin to stay with us for a couple of days. Then Pete and my Papa are heading back up north, leaving Mummy to visit for another week before flying back home.
I am SO EXCITED. I haven't seen these members of my family in person for nearly two years now. And I am really looking forward to showing them the house, introducing them to the new Drakenheath beasts (they've only ever met Marmaduke and Minerva Louise in person). Mum and I have grand and glorious plans for her visit as well, which include pulling out the sewing machine for some fun projects, and possibly shopping for an outfit for me for an updated "author photo." And we will drink much tea and feast upon the delicious foods Rohan prepares! And take Milly for long walks down to the river and all sorts of loveliness.
Seriously, I can hardly wait.
First, however, Rohan and I have to put together our guest room so that it's livable. Since moving into Drakenheath, we've pretty much left the guest room as a large storage closet. But last night, we hauled out boxes, organized, and began putting together the pretty new bed we bought for the room. Today we plan to spend on getting the room finished. Should be really pretty when it's done. I'll try to post some pictures, maybe for next month's "Doings" feature.
So, as you can see, March has some fun projects and plans in the works! Plenty to keep me very busy, but all very exciting and fun.
So what are you up to here at the end of winter and the beginning of spring? Is it starting to feel spring-like where you are? Do you have any cool projects in the works? Plans in mind for the summer?
