T is for Tactile Imagery
Today, I’m going to start with an extract from the opening of Days of Wind and Snow containing tactile as well as auditory and olfactory imagery:
“Dread swamped her mind, turning her skin clammy. Her captors’ footsteps thumped onto the wooden slats of the jetty. A fresh splash of spray plummeted over Shael, snatching her breath and plastering the coarse material farther to her face, enclosing her in the tang of brine and mould. She struggled for air but couldn’t get enough into her lungs.
Her legs and arms were released and she dropped.
For one panicked moment, Shael shut her mouth and nose expecting the shock of ice-cold water and the drag of the current. Instead, her back and head hit the bottom of one of the boats. Pain shot down her spine, clouding her senses. Someone dropped into the boat with her, and rough hands jerked her round onto her stomach, wrenched her wrists behind her back and wound rope tightly round them.
Her shoulders strained against the hold, shooting further agony down her back and arms. The soaked ties burned into her wrists, chafing, cramping, deadening.”
As can be seen, imagery that appeals to the senses helps to make descriptions vibrant and visceral. Tactile imagery, especially, helps the reader to experience what the protagonist physically feels, whether it’s related to temperature or aspects of the surrounding environment such as the coarseness of the cloth, the coldness of the water and the feel of wet rope round one’s wrists.
On ReadingI’ve just finished Shadow of Fire by Kate Schumacher. The blurb—with its mention of fire magic—attracted me to this tale as one of my works focuses on a protagonist who wields fire and I wished to see how Schumacher dealt with the subject.
The blurb describes the protagonist as follows:
“Ash is a fire caster who has spent years hiding her magic, but when her explosive powers reveal themselves she is imprisoned by the Mage Council. Ash’s powers are coveted by the High Mage, who seeks to use her as a pawn against not only his enemies, but his allies as well….If Ash can’t learn to control her magic, the scheming of gods and mortals could spell doom for them all.”
The first few chapters of this epic fantasy, with their numerous different point of view characters, came close to my putting the book aside as each character seemed unrelated to the character I wished to root for. But then the characters began to meet and the plot to unfold—and I was hooked. Schumacher weaves a complex plot with great mastery. Her world-building is superb, the female characters feisty, the males attractive, strong and complex. The ending took me by surprise, but I’ll not reveal anything about that :). Looking forward to reading about Ash and the other characters in Book 2.
Some embarrassing self-promo – ignore this section if you’re sick of it!Dawn of Purple and Grey, book 1 in the Hyllethan Gifts series is available from Amazon as a paperback and as an ebook, as well as from Barnes and Noble and Books Depository. Days of Wind and Snow, book 2 is available as an ebook and a paperback from Amazon.
In the Inner Lands, there are three ways sixteen-year-old Shael can get herself and her family killed—by looking like the enemy; by working with the enemy; by becoming the enemy.
When sixteen-year-old Shael unknowingly helps a mortally wounded thief, he entrusts her with delivering three figurines to the lord of her castle. Too late, Shael discovers that the figurines were stolen from the Hyllethans, her country’s feared enemies. And since she cut her fingers on the figurines while handling them, she is now linked to them. Any breakage or pressure on the clay is felt on her flesh.
Despite her reluctance to aid the enemy, Shael teams up with three Hyllethans to retrieve the figurines and break the connection. Shael is caught in the tussle for the thrones of the two lands. To avoid becoming a pawn—or dangle from a hangman’s noose—she has to regain possession of the figurines and face the unsuspected secrets of her lost past.
Three thrones. Two power-hungry mages. One girl standing in their way.
Exiled in Hylletha, sixteen-year-old Shael longs to return to the land of her birth but her brother Iysel, the new, terrifying mage-king of the Inner Lands, wants her dead. Shael’s very existence threatens Iysel’s right to the throne since she is the holder of the magical Gift of Touch, which is traditionally held by the monarch.
To ensure peace, Theis, the young man Shael loves, goes to Iysel’s court to negotiate the reunification of Hylletha and the Inner Lands under one ruler. But when Shael’s young foster brother is abducted and held prisoner in the Inner Lands, Shael has only her limited knowledge of spellcraft to help her stay out of Iysel’s reach, rescue her foster brother and make sure Theis doesn’t bear the brunt of Iysel’s rage.
Complicating matters further, Iysel has won the unexpected support of their wily cousin—the son of the king of a neighbouring land and an extraordinary mage—who has his own reasons for wanting to get hold of Shael.
The stability of the three realms lies in the balance. Faced by intrigue and betrayal from all sides, Shael must choose between protecting the lives of those she loves or taking up her role as princess and heir to the thrones to safeguard the welfare of the people.
Happy Holidays!Before I sign off, I’d like to wish each and every one of you a happy and peaceful Christmas and holiday period. I’ll be taking a short break too, so this will be the last newsletter for the year. See you in January!
Caroline
