I’m so excited to be interviewing one of my all-time favorite authors on my blog today! Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the fantasy series Tales of Goldstone Wood. Her latest book, Shadow Hand, is available on Amazon today (you can read a description of the story at the bottom of this post). Now she’s taken the time to answer some questions about the book and about her writing in general.
Tell us a little about your “real” (non-writing) life: family, pets, job, church, etc. Does it give you inspiration for your writing? Does it get in the way of your writing, or are there times when you get help from people or circumstances?
Hmmm, let’s see . . . in my real life I am a crazy-cat-lady/introverted bookworm, who somehow managed to meet Prince Charming despite all of the above! His name is Rohan, and we have been married for three-and-a-half years. We live in a little house on a hill beside a bamboo forest. We’ve named our house Rooglewood. Just because we can. The bamboo forest is home to a whole colony of feral cats, so I spend a good bit of my free time rescuing and finding homes for wild kittens—and getting the adults spayed/neutered. I just successfully rescued and tamed my first wild adult, a mother cat from whom we got three litters of kittens before I could catch her and have her spayed! She is now named Mutti, and she is going to live with us, bringing our total cat-count up to six. I told you—crazy-cat-lady.
I am also an artist, and I dabble in design projects for marketing purposes. I’ve been learning the ways of photo-manipulation this last year, which has been very interesting and challenging at the same time. I used to be a pretty decent classical pianist, but I’ve gone quite rusty in recent years. I love to teach, and I have a lovely host of creative writing students whom I mentor online. They are all so talented and inspiring! I’m sure you will all be reading their work someday. I run a small editing business called Stengl Fiction Editing Services. I and my fellow editors provide many kinds of edits to suit stories at various stages of polish.
All of this does, yes, keep me very busy, and it can be difficult sometimes to carve out writing time. But the cats are very inspirational. As is Rooglewood itself, for that matter. My husband helped me create a cozy little writing study out of one of the rooms, and I spend most of my days in here, surrounded by my cats and my long-suffering miniature Newfoundland (aka mutt), Milly. My husband makes a big difference in helping me create time for my writing career . . . he does most of the laundry, cooks better than I do, and brings me mugs of tea or warm milk to soothe me at need. He really is an angel come to earth.
Tell us about working with any people who help you create your books. Do you use beta readers? Hire an editor or proofreader? How do you get your covers?
My mother helps me the most when it comes to creating books. She is always the first person to hear the story ideas, and she patiently brainstorms with me as I chop away the “dead-wood ideas” to get to the solid story underneath. She reads every chapter as I write it and encourages me when I hit rough spots. Later on, she is my first and most detailed line and copy editor, going over the manuscripts before my publishing house even sees them. I seriously could not do these stories without her!
My husband is my other great contributor. Aside from basically just keeping me sane when I’m in the throes of creativity, he also brainstorms, helping me find solutions to problems when I can’t see my way clear of a sticky patch. He has written poetry (Bard Eanrin’s poetic verses have to come from somewhere!) and designed castles and locations. He’s very patient when we go on dates and I spend the bulk of a romantic dinner talking about the weird research I’ve been doing lately.
AE: “Oh Rohan, let me tell you all about guanine, which is this disgusting slimy substance I just read about today . . .”
Rohan: “Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”
AE: “. . . it coats the hides of certain deep sea fish; isn’t that fascinating?”
I recently started working with a new cover designer, Julia Popova. She has been so much fun to work with! I get to be involved in much of the design process, though all of the beautiful artistry is hers. Readers who are interested can see the step-by-step design process of my newest book cover, Golden Daughter.
Since you have several books out, tell us what you think works for promotion. What are your thoughts on ebooks versus print books and different ways to let people know about you and your books?
I mostly work on promoting via the blog world. I do interviews (like this one!) and have done blog tours in the past. I also participate in scavenger hunts (I’m part of a new one this spring), which is a fun way to join up with other authors to promote each other’s work. On my own blog I host fun contests such as the fan-fiction and fan-art contests, which generate a lot of interest in the series and give my fans a chance to demonstrate their own creativity!
Ebooks are great. They provide a whole new, wonderful way for readers to access good fiction. I’m a huge fan! My husband and I try to run free or low-priced specials for my ebooks, and we make certain to run ads for those with various companies such as BookBub or BookGorilla.
For the most part, I adhere to the philosophy that your “front list sells your back list.” That is to say, the more books you put out, the more all of the books sell. So I try to always have the next big thing in the works for my readers, whether it’s a full-length novel or a novella.
Have you done anything writing-related, but besides actually writing your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?
Well, my husband and I also run a small publishing imprint called Rooglewood Press. We hosted an exciting writing contest last year—the Five Glass Slippers contest. This was for novella-length retellings of Cinderella. We ended up with submissions from across the world! So many wonderful stories were sent in. And the result is a fantastic collection of Cinderella retellings which will be releasing this summer. This contest was so successful, we’re hosting another one this year, based on another fairy tale. Info on that will be available in June! This was definitely an exciting writing-related task, and one I hope to repeat and improve in years to come.
Rooglewood Press is also excited to be releasing a new historical-fiction novel this spring. It is called Until That Distant Day and was written by award-winning novelist Jill Stengl . . . who also happens to be my mother. J It is a beautiful book set during the French Revolution, and I can hardly wait until it hits the shelves!
Tell us about Shadow Hand. Make us want to read it.
Shadow Hand is a dark fairy tale featuring the most frightening villain yet seen in Goldstone Wood . . . the disembodied, soulless parasite, Cren Cru. We rediscover familiar characters from the first three Goldstone Wood books and learn how their stories directly entwine with stories from the past. Many questions of the series are resolved in this tale . . . and many new questions are asked. It is a story about blood and love . . . and all things that lie Between.
Dragons are a common theme in fantasy, but the ones in your books are very different than most! Why have you chosen to portray them like this, and where did you get the idea?
I have always particularly enjoyed stories featuring evil dragons. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good dragon now and then, but I never met a friendly dragon that could compete with Tolkien’s Smaug for pure, delightful fascination. So I knew that my series would be peppered with evil dragons . . . though when I first began developing Goldstone Wood, I didn’t realize how important the dragon theme would be!
The original idea for my dragons and their origin stems from classic sources. Many people have compared the idea to C.S. Lewis’s Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but the idea is actually much older than that. Fafnir, the most famous dragon of Norse mythology, underwent a transformation similar to Eustace’s (a likely source of Lewis’s inspiration for that tale). The notion of “dragons of the heart” is very old and interesting.
It also fit the point I was trying to make when I wrote the book Heartless—that ultimately my heroine, Princess Una, was her own worst enemy. Her own sin nature, as represented by her dragon form, was the true, crippling villain of her story.
This theme worked so dynamically in Heartlessthat it went on to become one of the core themes of the entire series.
What is the “message” of your writing? (For example, is your purpose to promote old-fashioned values, encourage romance, or do you have different purposes in different books?)
I always say that the central theme of this entire series is undeserved grace. I don’t write about perfect heroes or heroines. My characters never make sudden transformations, nor do they discover some brilliant talent that suddenly enables them to conquer all. They are flawed individuals, very much like you and like me. They struggle and they often fail. They never deserve to succeed, for they are as flawed at heart as any of the villains they face. But grace is offered to them despite their flaws. The same grace, by the way, which is offered to the villains. For ultimately everyone in this series is offered the same gift, whether or not they choose to accept it.
What’s the worst trouble you ever had with getting a book written (plots, finding needed information, getting a cover done)?
The opening of Dragonwitch proved the most difficult piece of writing I have ever attempted. While the plot was strong, and I loved the premise, I struggled and struggled to find the right place to open that story! I tried five different beginnings, all of them about 40,000 words long . . . all of which had to be scrapped as I tried again. I nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to get that story started! I have always struggled a little bit with openings, but nothing before or since has equaled the Dragonwitchopening. And this was all on a very tight deadline, I hardly need add! I finally had to start that book in the middle, write to the end, then go back and plug in an opening that worked. This is not a method I would ever recommend—I’m a firm believer in the organic unfolding of a plot—but it is what finally worked for Dragonwitch. I love that book, but I will always look back on the drafting of it with a shudder!
What’s your next project? Tell us so we can’t wait for it to come out!
Well, the next book to release is going to be Golden Daughter. This one is book 7 in the series, and it picks up just a few years after the (historical) events of Shadow Hand. It is set in the far eastern Noorhitam Empire, which was an extremely fun setting to write about and to research! The cast of characters includes Sairu, the titular “Golden Daughter,” who is a highly trained bodyguard. She is given the task of guarding a temple girl, one of the sacred Dream Walkers, who is being stalked by a variety of assassins and villains, all of whom want her for different purposes. Sairu is not told why but is left to sleuth out her new mistress’s secrets on her own.
Of all the heroines I have ever written about, Sairu might be my favorite. She is smart (almost frighteningly so), intuitive, and extremely tough. She is a bright, perky, lighthearted, ever-smiling young lady—the exact opposite personality one would expect in someone with her training and performing her role.
She also owns three fluffy little dogs whom she adores: Dumpling, Rice Cake, and Sticky Bun. You can imagine how much Bard Eanrin (the fan-favorite poet-cat) enjoys interacting with them . . .
What future writing projects do you have in mind?
There are MANY more Goldstone Wood stories to come! I am currently working on a new novella set far back in the ancient days of Parumvir (loooong before Dragonwitch) during the time the Brothers Ashiun still served the Near World of mortals. Once that is complete, I’ll be getting to work on book 8 in the series (the title of which is still secret). More news on that should be forthcoming!
What is your favorite of your books/characters?
My favorite book is always the one I just finished. So right now, that would be Golden Daughter, though I have high hopes of surpassing Golden Daughterwith my various plans for book 8. My favorite character is Eanrin. I do love all of my characters, but I am a crazy-cat-lady! So you know I’m going to love the cat. He’s also just so much fun to write. Every scene in which he features is bound to be interesting and entertaining. I know him very well, having been writing about him since high school days. He and I seem to understand each other rather well.
Thanks for having me on your blog, Annie! These were fun questions to answer. J
Author Bio:
Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Her books include Christy Award-winning Heartless and Veiled Rose, and Clive Staples Award-winning Starflower. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration and English literature at Grace College and Campbell University.
Shadow Hand, book 6 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood, releases on March 4, 2014. Golden Daughter, book 7 in the series, is coming November 2014.
To learn more about Anne Elisabeth, visit:
Facebook: Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Author
Twitter: @AEStengl
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Shadow Hand (available now):
This is a story about love, and blood, and the many things that lie between . . .By her father’s wish, Lady Daylily is betrothed to the Prince of Southlands. Not the prince she loves, handsome and dispossessed Lionheart, but his cousin, the awkward and foolish Prince Foxbrush. Unable to bear the future she sees as her wedding day dawns, Daylily flees into the dangerous Wilderlands, her only desire to vanish from living memory.
But Foxbrush, determined to rescue his betrothed, pursues Daylily into a new world of magic and peril, a world where vicious Faerie beasts hold sway, a world invaded by a lethal fey parasite . . .
A world that is hauntingly familiar.
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Golden Daughter (coming November 2014)
BEYOND THE REALM OF DREAMS
IS A WORLD SHE NEVER IMAGINED
Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life.
But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch?
For the Dragon is building an army of fire. And soon the heavens will burn.
With my third novel in my Annals of Alasia trilogy hopefully ready to publish by the beginning of May, I decided to conduct a series of “interviews” with my characters. This one is the second. Enjoy!
http://static.panoramio.com/
Lantil has invited me into his home, a wooden cottage in a small village nestled in the foothills of the Impassable Mountains, for this interview. The view through the window shows row upon row of coffee bushes spreading across the slope. His wife serves us coffee in battered tin mugs, and we sit on rough-hewn wooden furniture around the fireplace while I pull out my list of questions.
How would you describe yourself?
He shrugs. “I’m a hard-working man. I know how to take care of coffee, and I like a good strong mug of it to start the day.” He takes a sip of his. “I love my wife and children, and I think our friends would say I’m a good neighbor.”
What are your hobbies?
“I like to hunt. Lots of animals move down here to the foothills when it starts getting really cold up on the higher slopes. We get plenty of deer in these parts, especially; in fact, they’re a worse problem for our garden than the Mountain Folk. Sometimes my neighbor and I will take our bows and sit out at night watching for them. My wife makes a real good venison stew, and we smoke the rest of the meat to eat in the winter.”
Do you prefer cities or the countryside? Warm weather or cold?
He scratches his head. “I’ve never been to a big city like Sazellia before. I think I’d like it, though. I always enjoy the trips to town when we go sell our coffee. Mountain life is good too, but it has its disadvantages.” A troubled expression crosses his face. “Mountain Folk being one of the main ones, of course, but we sometimes get wolves or bears around here too, then there’s the fact that the nearest town where we can buy supplies is nearly a day’s ride away. And I like warm weather a lot better. Winters are pretty severe up in the mountains. Of course this is just the foothills, but we still get snow every now and then, and the wind blowing off the peaks gets colder than anything you can imagine. Besides, when the weather gets cold, the Mountain Folk move to lower elevations.” He shudders. “We do all we can to keep out of their way, but we can’t stop them from coming to us.”
What is the one sentence you would never say?
“I’d never say to those Mountain Folk, ‘Come help yourself to my garden vegetables or fruit without paying for them.’ But they’re always trying to.”
What makes you angry?
“Being robbed.” He scowls. “My family and I put a lot of work into our gardening. Thank goodness the Mountain Folk don’t care for coffee, since that’s our livelihood. But we have a little kitchen plot with vegetables and fruit trees that my wife and daughters care for while I’m tending the coffee bushes. We rely on that to get us through the winter, but those thieving Mountain Folk try to take whatever they can get their hands on.”
What do you hope to accomplish? What keeps you from achieving your goal?
“I hope to continue to provide for my family and save up for my daughters’ futures. I have four beautiful young girls, and the oldest will be getting married next year. My wife and I hope to help her and her husband get a good start on a little farm of their own, and put some money away for the others as well. Our second daughter wants to live in the city someday, which won’t be easy to arrange, but we’re going to try to set up some sort of apprenticeship for her.”
Did you ever have a pet? Describe it.
“We have a couple of cats that keep the mice at bay in the storage sheds. And now we have a flock of goats.” His face grows troubled. “They’re not really ours, and it makes me nervous every time I think of their real owners coming back for them. But they provide so much milk that we’ve been able to share with the whole village, and all our neighbors take turns helping to care for them. It’s been wonderful having milk for the children every day, and cream for the coffee.” He takes another sip from his cup.
“Who are their real owners?” I question.
“Well – they’re Mountain Folk. After what happened here last autumn, I figured the least I could do was take care of their goats until they came back for them, but they never did. I keep thinking that someday they will, and I’m afraid they’ll be angry with me for keeping them so long. But I’m ready to give them back any day they ask, really.”
Have you ever killed anyone?
He stares at me. “How did you know? We all promised not ever to tell anyone outside the village. I mean, I don’t know if the law really applies when it comes to Mountain Folk, but just in case, we didn’t want the authorities to get word. After all, it was an accident. I never meant to shoot the girl. You don’t know what it’s like having those savages charge at you with their spears brandished; and I have my family to protect, not to mention our home and crops.” His voice is anguished now. “But she was somebody’s daughter, and the sight of her lying there – I mean, I don’t know what I would have done if it had been one of my girls who –” He breaks off and turns away with a shudder, biting his lip. “It was the worst moment of my life. I was just trying to scare them away, but then there she was coming at me, and I panicked.” He sighs. “Such a horrible memory. I wish every day that I could somehow go back in time and change what happened. I should have just let them take my apples. Of course, then they’d only get bolder and come and steal from us all the more. Still, that would be better than having her death on my conscience.”
He stares at me. “How did you know? We all promised not ever to tell anyone outside the village. I mean, I don’t know if the law really applies when it comes to Mountain Folk, but just in case, we didn’t want the authorities to get word. After all, it was an accident. I never meant to shoot the girl. You don’t know what it’s like having those savages charge at you with their spears brandished; and I have my family to protect, not to mention our home and crops.” His voice is anguished now. “But she was somebody’s daughter, and the sight of her lying there – I mean, I don’t know what I would have done if it had been one of my girls who –” He breaks off and turns away with a shudder, biting his lip. “It was the worst moment of my life. I was just trying to scare them away, but then there she was coming at me, and I panicked.” He sighs. “Such a horrible memory. I wish every day that I could somehow go back in time and change what happened. I should have just let them take my apples. Of course, then they’d only get bolder and come and steal from us all the more. Still, that would be better than having her death on my conscience.”
Click here to find out about Prince of Malorn, the third book in the Annals of Alasia, and read more interviews with the characters in it.
Click here to read my interviews with characters from my book In the Enemy’s Service.
With my third novel in my Annals of Alasia trilogy ready to publish by the middle of May, I decided to conduct a series of “interviews” with my characters. This one is the first! I stepped into the setting of the book so I could have conversations with about ten of my main characters. Enjoy!
http://www.fs.usda.gov/
I have arranged to meet Ernth by a certain stream in the foothills of the Impassable Mountains. When I arrive, he is spearfishing from the bank, a pile of three or four fish on the grass behind him. A bay horse grazes nearby. He joins me on a log and I pull out my list of questions.
Do you prefer cities or the countryside? Warm weather or cold?
Ernth adjusts the belt of his deerskin tunic. “The countryside, of course. Who wouldn’t like it here? I hate cities. And I prefer warm weather, because the colder it is, the lower in the foothills my family has to travel, and that means we encounter more Lowlanders.”
How would you most like to spend a day off?
“I’d like to go off riding with my cousin.” He glances at the horse grazing a few yards away. I love to ride, but there isn’t much time for that most days. We could hunt deer or race our horses across the slopes.”
What object would you save if your home was on fire?
“You mean my tent? Well, if I didn’t have it on already, I’d save my jacket that I made from snowcat skin. Oh, and my necklace with the snowcat teeth.”
What is the one sentence you would never say?
He considers. “I can’t wait to go to the Lowlands!” His voice is scornful.
What makes you angry?
“When Lowlanders cheat us or take advantage of us because we don’t understand their ways.” Ernth frowns and pokes at the ground with his spear. “It happens almost every time we interact with them.”
What’s your favorite food?
“I love roast goat! It’s all the more special because we usually only have it to celebrate something important, like when someone in the family gets Accepted.”
What do you think of Lowlander food?
He makes a face. “It’s disgusting. Well, most of it. They have an orange vegetable that isn’t bad, and sometimes they serve something fruity after the meal; I like that. But the only really good thing about meals in the Lowlands is coffee. It’s an ugly-looking black liquid that you have to mix with lots of white stuff – it looks like goat milk but it’s not the same – and then you dump in lots of sweet powder. After that it’s delicious. It’s the only thing about Lowland life that’s better than what we have here in the mountains.”
Did you ever have a pet? Describe it.
“Well, my family keeps goats, of course, for their milk and meat. And there’s my horse.” He smiles in the horse’s direction. “Her name is Hungry, and she’s as close to me as a family member. I struggled through the Rite of Acceptance and nearly died to get her, but it was worth it.” As though she understands, the horse ambles closer and nuzzles him, and Ernth reaches up to stroke her neck. It’s obvious the two of them share a special bond.
What did you have for breakfast?
“Lumjum cakes with berries, and of course goat milk.”
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever seen?
He chuckles. “I suppose that would be Korram tumbling over the edge of a waterfall with a snowcat in his arms. Of course, since I was almost directly underneath, I wasn’t exactly laughing at the time. But it turned out all right, and that’s how we both got our jackets and necklaces.”
Have you ever been in love? How did that work out?
Ernth scowls, and when he finally answers, his voice is low. “It was almost two years ago. Her name was Jenth. She was murdered by Lowlanders. Why do you think I hate them so much?” He looks away, but when he finally meets my gaze again, he sighs. “Actually, we found out not long ago that it was an accident, a misunderstanding. The man who did it said he was sorry and gave us gifts of food, and my whole family has agreed to go back to his village to trade whenever we’re in the area. I suppose that’s a good thing.” He fiddles with the shaft of his spear. “But how am I supposed to change the way I’ve felt about them for so long?”
How many siblings do you have? Are they older or younger?
“I have one older sister, Charr. She’s married and has two young children. Her husband Thont is a good friend of mine.”
What were some things you liked to do when you were a child?
Ernth smiles. “My cousins and friends and I used to pretend we were on the Rite of Acceptance. We would make up situations for each other, like, ‘You haven’t eaten in two days, you just found a patch of berries, and there’s a hungry bear between you and them. What do you do?’ Then we’d act out the situation and try to impress each other with how we’d solve the problem. Sometimes it turned into a contest to see who could come up with the funniest solution.”
Of what are you proudest?
“That’s easy. Of succeeding in the Rite of Acceptance and earning my horse.”
Have you ever killed anyone?
“No. But supposedly we might have to when we all go to the Lowlands in this army of Korram’s.”
Do you have any scars you would be willing to show me?
Ernth pulls up the sleeve of his tunic to reveal a faint mark running straight across the side of his right shoulder. “I got this the day Jenth was killed. One of the Lowlander’s arrows grazed me as we were trying to get away.” He pulls up his other sleeve, and he grins as he shows me his next scar. “And this is my horse mark.” Sure enough, the mark – which appears to be a burn – is shaped roughly like a horse. “It’s the proof that I’ve been Accepted. The best pain I ever felt!”
What do you hope to accomplish? What keeps you from achieving your goal?
“I just want to live out my life here in the mountains with everything the same as it’s always been. I don’t dream of anything more than that.” He sighs. “But ever since Korram showed up with his complicated plans and his need for an army, nothing’s been the same. And now that I owe him a life debt, I have to go down with him to the Lowlands until I can fulfill it. But as soon as I can, I’m coming back home to the mountains, and then I hope I’ll never have to leave again.”
I’ve been teaching a unit on poetry to my fifth grade class here at Morrison Academy, and my students have enjoyed writing poems in a number of different styles. Now that we’re finished, I’ve chosen some of the best (at least one from each student) to put together into a poetry anthology. The class is very excited that this has now been published as a Kindle eBook and is available for sale on Amazon.com!
The book only costs US$2.99, and the class voted to donate all proceeds to a nonprofit organization called Taiwan Sunshine (more information below). This is a great ministry that our students have worked with on several occasions.
I chose a few possible titles from lines in various poems that I felt presented vivid and interesting word pictures: “Once in a Blue Moon”, “Gleaming Goodies”, “The Most Beautiful Blanket in the World”, “Like a Piece of Gold”, and of course “Better than Cotton Candy”. The final title was chosen in a vote by my fifth graders and others.
Then I held an optional cover-designing contest among my students. There were six different entries, some created individually and others in pairs or groups. I showed the students all the entries on the big screen, and once again they voted for their favorites. (Sorry, these aren’t the best quality photographs; they’re just pictures I took of the artwork lying on the carpet.)
Then I held an optional cover-designing contest among my students. There were six different entries, some created individually and others in pairs or groups. I showed the students all the entries on the big screen, and once again they voted for their favorites. (Sorry, these aren’t the best quality photographs; they’re just pictures I took of the artwork lying on the carpet.)
Below is the final version of the winning cover design. I scanned it on the school’s color scanner, and then our computer teacher graciously volunteered to touch up the colors a little in Photoshop and add the black border. You can see the difference!
Here’s the “product description” (like the blurb on the back of a paper book) that I wrote about our anthology. I tried to use tidbits from as many students’ poems as possible:
Are you ready for a world tour? Within these pages you can watch a Chinese New Year dragon dance, go snowboarding at Mountain High in California, experience Christmas in the Philippines, spend money on fun in a video game center in Odaiba, Japan; catch shrimp in Australia, and play soccer at Sacramento’s Don Nottoli Park. Step into the Amazon rainforest to hear a croaking frog as loud as a car engine and onto the streets of Taiwan to be serenaded by a putrid-smelling trash truck that plays Beethoven’s “Für Elise”.
You’ll have the opportunity to sample such delicacies as spiky giant crabs, milk tea, tiramisu, spicy curry, dried squid, and fizzy melon soda. Here you can visit a garden to meet zombie-fighting plants and see for yourself how war can be like a broken ATM. Take a break by an icy lake that reflects the stars’ smiles like a sheet of glass. While you’re waiting for the morning sun, wrap yourself in the night, the most beautiful blanket in the world; but don’t let your dad’s raucous snoring ruin your sleep. Finally, beware of insubordinate monkeys, the horrors that lurk in a messy desk, and that house-crushing hailstorm. See the journey through to the end and you’ll discover the one substance on earth that is better than cotton candy!
Proceeds from the sale of Better than Cotton Candy will benefit Taiwan Sunshine, a nonprofit organization that provides support and encouragement for families of disabled children in Taiwan. Learn more at http://taiwansunshine.org.
Better than Cotton Candy has been available less than 48 hours and already has four 5-star reviews! In addition, as of earlier this morning it was ranked twelfth on Amazon’s bestseller list for children’s poetry!
The book is available on your Kindle or any device with a Kindle application. The app can be downloaded for free from Amazon for the iPad, iTouch, iPhone, Android, PC or Mac, Windows 7 Phone, etc.
Click here to view or purchase our poetry anthology on Amazon or download the Kindle application. Morrison’s fifth grade students and Taiwan Sunshine appreciate your support!
Click here to read about Sunshine Leaking, the anthology written by my last year’s class.
Click here to read about A Boom in the Room, the anthology written by my class two years ago.
Interested in putting together your own anthology (or other eBook)? Click here to see the step-by-step instructions I put together on how to go through the process. It isn’t what I’d call a simple process, but it’s free and very doable for those willing to put in the time and effort.
It’s hard to believe National Novel Writing Month is over. November went by fast; it was busy and full and at times stressful, but what a ride! I wrote every day, averaging over 3,000 words per day, ending with just over 100,000 words altogether. Although I finished the rough draft of my novel, it needs a LOT of editing, so it will be awhile before it sees the light of day. I do intend to publish it eventually, though, assuming I can get it to the point where I’m happy with it. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I chose to write about a topic I know very little about, so I’m going to have to get input and feedback from experts in the field as I revise!
For those who are curious about my novel, here’s a brief description that may eventually become the back-cover blurb:
For fourteen-year-old Bensin, life as a slave in the Krillonian Empire is bearable only because he can practice and compete in the martial art he loves. He has promised to protect his younger sister Ellie, but after he is sold to a coach whose training begins to really build his skills, everything changes. With victory in the empire’s most important tournament almost within reach, will he give up everything he has been working toward to come to her aid when danger threatens? And can he successfully deceive his new owner – the first free person to treat him kindly – and break the law to free his sister?
This is a sample cover (not the final version I’ll use when I publish it) that someone I met on the NaNo site was nice enough to design for me. You can take a look at more of her art work here. The weapon Bensin is holding in the picture is what I call a cavvarach (pronounce it so it rhymes with “have a rack”), which he uses in the martial art I made up called cavvara shil. The hook on the top edge is actually supposed to be pointing the other way. To win a duel, you must snag your opponent’s cavvarach with the hook and pull it out of their hand. It also counts if you knock or kick it away (yes, kicking one’s opponent is allowed too). Another way to win is by knocking your opponent down and holding their shoulders to the mat for five seconds. It’s been a fun challenge designing this sport and incorporating it in my story!
So what’s next? Well, I’m trying to follow other writers’ advice and not look at my document for at least a week or two (though it’s been a lot harder than you might think!). After I let it rest a bit, I’ll read back through it and do all my usual editing and polishing, as well as a little more research into martial arts and fitness in general to make sure all the details are realistic. I’m guessing that will take a couple of months, maybe longer. At that point, I’ll need beta readers (people to read through it and give feedback and suggestions before it’s published), so if you’re interested, let me know!
In the meantime, if you missed my last two posts about NaNo, you can click here to read my midway through the month post: NaNoWriMo: What Exactly is Going On? (You’ll see an artist’s sketch of my main character, Bensin, and there’s also a link to where you can read a scene from the story.)
One of my favorite authors, Anne Elisabeth Stengl, has just released a new book in her fantasy series Tales of Goldstone Wood. I had the privilege of receiving an early copy of the novella Goddess Tithe in exchange for an honest review.
Each of the stories in the series so far has seemed to me not just a book but a window into one part of an intricate world. Stengl has built up this world so thoroughly that when I read one of her books I feel that I’m getting just a glimpse into something much bigger. So far, every one of them has left me feeling that I’ve just paid a short visit to a place I could spend years and years exploring (and never grow tired of, so I’m glad she has several more planned!).
Though significantly shorter than Stengl’s other books, Goddess Tithe provides the same kind of reading experience; the same kind of window. It gives an intriguing glimpse of a culture alluded to only briefly elsewhere, but one that Stengl has obviously put a lot of time and thought into developing. The characters are well rounded and believable, and I feel that I know them well now. Their adventures and the settings, though unique, are still consistent with the rest of the series.
This story takes place during the time of one of the previous ones, Veiled Rose, and provides readers an extra look at an episode in the life of the character Leonard – from a new character’s point of view. This little novella serves to enrich the world of Goldstone Wood by adding one more angle through which we can see it; one more set of eyes through which to seethe experiences of a character we already knew. And like all the rest of the books, it makes me wonder what other angles there are that I don’t know about yet; what other cultures exist there that we have yet to see. I can’t wait for the author’s next books!
A couple of months ago I featured Goddess Tithe on my blog when Anne Elisabeth Stengl did a cover reveal. Click here to read that post, which includes an excerpt from the story.
Have you read any of the Tales of Goldstone Wood? I’d love to hear what you like about them, or which one is your favorite. Feel free to reply in the comments!
Today I’m happy to host a writer friend of mine, Brad Francis, on my blog. I recently read his new book The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living, and it made an impact on my life in a way few books ever have. Here’s Brad to talk a little more about the story and what inspired it, then I’ll be back on with my review of the book at the end.
-Annie
First of all, I want to thank you, Annie, for giving me the opportunity to come to your blog and talk about my new book. The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living is the longest book I’ve ever written, and in many ways the most challenging, but I’m very pleased with the final product and am glad to put it out into the world.
It all begins with a drunk demon. His name is Melchior and the reason he’s been drinking is that he’s so bored with his day-to-day life. He’s assigned to an entire church full of Christians. They’re active in church activity—attending services and programs, classes and studies—but their impact on their community is nonexistent…which means that Melchior has nothing to do, so he’s bored out of his mind. He ends up visiting the pastor of the church to tell him exactly what he’s doing wrong and inadvertently starts a revival in the process. What happens as the result of that visit comprises the bulk of the book.
Why did I write it? You can probably guess based on the description. I’m concerned about the state of the Church, both in the United States where I live and around the world. Nominalism seems to run rampant anywhere that has a legacy of Christianity. We hear wonderful reports of the way faith is spreading in the Muslim world and in places of intense persecution. I’m certainly not trying to suggest that there is no one passionately following Christ in the US, but the statistics show that: regular churchgoers live nearly identical lives to the rest of the world, rarely (if ever) share their faith, and do not make disciples. That’s what the research indicates. Does anecdotal evidence paint a different picture?
And, I assure you, I am not observing all this from some sort of high horse, scoffing down at good-hearted believers who have gotten off track. A great deal of the temptations and distractions in this book come directly from my personal experiences. I feel the pull of the world. I wish I didn’t. I wish I always lived a life in line with what I know to be true. I wish my life looked more like the godly men and women whom the Holy Spirit develops throughout the course of this book. Maybe that’s one of the differences between fiction and real life. I know that God is working in me, but, alas, the progress is slower than it is for my characters. Of course, maybe they’re much quicker to surrender to His will than I am.
These are some of the issues I was working through personally while writing this book. I’m blessed and excited to see that God has already started to use this novel in the lives of some of its readers, and I hope and pray that He uses this story for His glory.
That, after all, is what it’s all about.
-Brad
Biography
Brad Francis is the author of the Christian fantasy series The Magi Chronicles and the best-selling short story The Book of the Harvest. He is also a published playwright and his short scripts are performed in churches around the United States. Brad lives in Radcliff, Kentucky, with his wife, Shannon, and two daughters, Madison and Sage. He writes to glorify God.
Annie’s Review of The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living
* * * *
Though I expected to enjoy this book (and I certainly wasn’t disappointed), I didn’t anticipate being changed by it.
Brad Francis’s writing style reminds me of a Christian version of Douglas Adams. As I read, I often caught myself laughing out loud at his ridiculous descriptions, witty word usage, or dryly humorous commentary by “the Narrator.” But then I would find myself gulping guiltily as some unapologetically direct, pulling-no-punches remark struck home. Prepare to be both entertained and convicted (and perhaps occasionally moved to tears) in your journey through these pages – not an easy combination to pull off, but Brad Francis does it and does it well!
As much as I enjoyed the read, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living to all readers. If it had a rating, I think it would be at least PG-13 for drug use, profanity, sex, and violence. (The profanity is almost all blanked out except for the first letter, but it’s obvious what words the characters are saying.) However, very few instances of these are gratuitous, at least in my opinion. Brad Francis certainly doesn’t condone such activities or treat them lightly. The first few chapters, especially, deal with what certain people’s lives are like before they give them over to the Lord’s control, and the author paints a realistic picture of the vices they are involved in. Most of that tapers off early on in the story, however, as the characters begin to change. Still, some of the content near the beginning (and a little that keeps showing up here and there through the rest of the book) could be offensive to some readers, so if you’re sensitive about such things, brace yourself.
Having said that, I really think that reading The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living would be a worthwhile experience for most Christian adults, especially pastors and those involved in ministry. Not an entirely pleasant experience at times, perhaps, but valuable. It forced me to take a closer look at the practical side of how I live out my relationship with the Lord, and it reminded me that being religious doesn’t equal following Christ. A few nonfiction books I’ve read have had similar (though for the most part less powerful) impacts on my spiritual life, but I don’t recall ever reading a novel that’s managed it anywhere near this effectively. I’m grateful for the ways God has used this book to reshape my outlook and renew my sense of purpose in living for Him.
The only reason I didn’t give The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living five stars is because, from a storytelling point of view, I felt that it sagged a bit in the middle. The beginning sucked me in right away, and for the first third or so of the story, I could hardly put the book down. The last third was equally gripping, holding my attention right up to the end. But the pace slowed in the middle with what – at least to me – seemed more information than necessary about the characters’ activities and processes of spiritual growth. While everything that took place would certainly have been crucial to the characters’ own lives if they were real people, I felt that some chapters were a tad heavy on details and events that didn’t really add to the story for readers.
Overall, reading The Savvy Demon’s Guide to Godly Living was a moving experience that impacted me far beyond what I had expected. I think it would be almost impossible for anyone who is (or wants to be) serious about their faith not to be changed after reading it. Though I seldom reread books, this is one I will probably pick up again sometime, at the very least so I can look back over all the sections I highlighted and ask myself whether I’m living them out the way God nudged me to at the time. Praise the Lord for the way He can use even a work of fiction to work in us and bring us closer to Himself!
I’m excited to feature fellow author Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s new book Goddess Tithe on my blog today. I’ve really enjoyed all the others in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series, and I can’t wait to read this one! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom for your chance to win a free copy.
-Annie
Title: Goddess Tithe
Author: Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Series: Tales of Goldstone Wood
Expected Release Date: November 12, 2013
Publisher: Rooglewood Press
Page Count: 130 pages
The Vengeful Goddess Demands Her Tithe
When a stowaway is discovered aboard the merchant ship Kulap Kanya, Munny, a cabin boy on his first voyage, knows what must be done. All stowaways are sacrificed to Risafeth, the evil goddess of the sea. Such is her right, and the Kulap Kanya‘s only hope to return safely home.
Yet, to the horror of his crew, Captain Sunan vows to protect the stowaway, a foreigner in clown’s garb. A curse falls upon the ship and all who sail with her, for Risafeth will stop at nothing to claim her tithe.
Will Munny find the courage to trust his captain and to protect the strange clown who has become his friend?
You can learn more about Goddess Tithe, which novel it’s connected to and read Chapter 1, here:
Excerpt from the Story:
Here is an excerpt from the middle of the story. In this scene, Munny has been ordered to Captain Sunan’s cabin to clear away his breakfast . . . an unexpected task, for a lowly cabin boy would not ordinarily dare enter his captain’s private quarters! Munny hopes to slip in and out quietly without attracting the captain’s notice. But his hopes are dashed when Sunan addresses him, asking how their strange, foreign stowaway is faring:
__________
“And what do you make of him yourself?”
Munny dared glance his captain’s way and was relieved when his eyes met only a stern and rigid back. “I’m not sure, Captain,” he said. “I think he’s afraid. But not of . . .”
“Not of the goddess?” the Captain finished for him. And with these words he turned upon Munny, his eyes so full of secrets it was nearly overwhelming. Munny froze, his fingers just touching but not daring to take up a small teapot of fragile work.
The Captain looked at him, studying his small frame up and down. “No,” he said, “I believe you are right. Leonard the Clown does not fear Risafeth. I believe he is unaware of his near peril at her will, suffering as he does under a peril nearer still.”
Munny made neither answer nor any move.
“We will bring him safely to Lunthea Maly, won’t we, Munny?” the Captain said. But he did not speak as though he expected an answer, so again Munny offered none. “We will bring him safely to Lunthea Maly and there let him choose his own dark future.”
“I hope—” Munny began.
But he was interrupted by a sudden commotion on deck. First a rising murmur of voices, then many shouts, inarticulate in cacophony. But a pounding at the cabin door accompanied Sur Agung’s voice bellowing, “Captain, you’d best come see this!”
The Captain’s eyes widened a moment and still did not break gaze with Munny’s. “We’ll keep him safe,” he repeated. Then he turned and was gone, leaving the door open.
Munny put down the pot he held and scurried after. The deck was alive with hands, even those who were off watch, crawling up from the hatches and crowding the rails on the port side. They parted way for the Captain to pass through, but when Munny tried to follow, they closed in again, blocking him as solidly as a brick wall.
“Look! Look!” Munny heard voices crying.
“It’s a sign!”
“She’s warning us!”
“It’s a sign, I tell you!”
Fearing he knew not what, Munny ran for the center mast and climbed partway up, using the handholds and footholds with unconscious confidence. Soon he was high enough to see over the heads of the gathered crew, out into the blue waters of the ocean. And he saw them.
They were water birds. Big white albatrosses, smaller seagulls, heavy cormorants, even deep-throated pelicans and sleek, black-faced terns. These and many more, hundreds of them, none of which should be seen this far out to sea.
They were all dead. Floating in a great mass.
Munny clung to the mast, pressing his cheek against its wood. The shouts of the frightened sailors below faded away, drowned out by the desolation of that sight. Death, reeking death, a sad flotilla upon the waves.
“I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Munny looked down to where Leonard clung to the mast just beneath him, staring wide-eyed out at the waves. “How could this have happened? Were they sick? Caught in a sudden gale? Are they tangled in fishing nets?”
There was no fear in his voice. Not like in the voices of the sailors. He did not understand. He did not realize. It wasn’t his fault, Munny told himself.
But it was.
Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a kindle of kitties, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, including Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower, and Dragonwitch. Heartless and Veiled Rose have each been honored with a Christy Award, and Starflower was voted winner of the 2013 Clive Staples Award.
Anne Elisabeth is offering two proof copies of Goddess Tithe as prizes! (U.S. and Canada only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cover Reveal Blitz by Prism
From August 9th-19th, my blog and I are participating in a “Discovery” through DiscoverAuthors.wordpress.com. Each day, I’ll be featuring a different author and one of their books; the other authors will also be featuring me and each other on their blogs at the same time. Check in every day to find out about great new reads!
Remember, you can subscribe or follow my blog (at the sidebar on the right) to make sure you don’t miss any posts.
Disclaimer: I haven’t actually read any of the books beside my own. While they look good to me, I can’t guarantee their quality or content.
Day 1: Prince of Alasia by Annie Douglass Lima
Prince Jaymin, heir to the throne of Alasia, barely escapes with his life when invaders from neighboring Malorn attack. Accompanied by his young bodyguard, Jaymin flees to a nearby town to live in hiding. There, surrounded by the enemy soldiers searching for him, his life depends on his ability to maintain his disguise.
As the danger intensifies and the Malornians’ suspicions grow, Jaymin seeks desperately for a way to save his kingdom and himself. Then he stumbles upon a startling discovery that will challenge his assumptions and forever change his view of Malorn and the events that altered his life.
Click here to buy Prince of Alasia (Kindle version)
Click here to buy Prince of Alasia (paperback)
Confused about some of the vocabulary? Click on the links below to access free PowerPoint presentations explaining the key vocabulary from each chapter with pictures and definitions. Especially recommended for younger readers or English language learners. Also an excellent resource for classroom use!
Zip File with Vocabulary PowerPoints for Chapters 1-18
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 1
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 2
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 3
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 4
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 5
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 6
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 10
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 11
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 12
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 13
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 14
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 15
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 16
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 17
Vocabulary PowerPoint for Chapter 18
“Like” Annie Douglass Lima’s author page on Facebook.
“Like” Prince of Alasia on Facebook.
Send Prince Jaymin a message or add him as a friend on Facebook!
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I’ve been teaching a unit on poetry to my fifth grade class here at Morrison Academy, and my students have enjoyed writing poems in a number of different styles. Now that we’re finished, I’ve chosen the best ones (at least one from each student) to put together into a poetry anthology. The class is very excited that this has now been published as a Kindle eBook and is available for sale on Amazon.com!
The book only costs US$.99, and the class voted to donate all proceeds to Josie’s Angels, a nonprofit organization in the Philippines (more information below). This is a great ministry that some of our high school students have worked with on mission trips to the Philippines.
I chose our book’s title from among several lines in various poems that I felt presented vivid and interesting word pictures, and then I held an optional cover-designing contest among my students. There were seven different entries, some created individually and others in pairs. As you can see, all those who participated did a great job and were quite artistic! I showed the students all the entries on the big screen, and they voted for their favorites. (I know these aren’t the best quality photographs; they’re just pictures I took of the artwork lying on my desk. Yes, that’s the shadow of my hand with the camera across each of them!)
Below is the final version of the winning cover design. I scanned it on the school’s color scanner, and then our computer teacher graciously volunteered to touch up the colors a little in Photoshop and add the black border. You can see the difference!
Here’s the “product description” (like the blurb on the back of a paper book) that I wrote about our anthology. I tried to use tidbits from as many students’ poems as possible:
In the mood for adventure? Step inside these pages and experience crazy coasters and soaring stunt planes, a terrifying tsunami and an atomic bomb. You’ll meet characters ranging from heroic Jedi to monsters of all varieties; sprinting soccer stars to a malicious doctor who eats his patient (who happens to be a chicken). Join us for a trip around the world: listen to nature singing in harmony in the peaceful countryside of Ostfriesland, Germany; run barefoot across a beach in Busan, Korea; dodge the noisy traffic of a street in Vietnam; sample a soft pineapple mooncake in Hsinchu, Taiwan; and wrap yourself in the dangers and charms of New York City. Prepare to mourn the tragic deaths of a lovely butterfly and a lonely wolf; then console yourself with music as relaxing as blankets and comforting as pillows. Along the way, watch out for wayward Frisbees and the sun about to crash into the earth. Hold your breath as you’re blasted with ash from that erupting volcano and sprayed with the seeds of an evil tomato. But who needs a shower when you have liquid sunshine leaking over you?
Created by fifth-grade students, Sunshine Leaking features poetry in a variety of styles, from free verse to diamond poetry, tanka, and haiku. Proceeds from the sale of this anthology will benefit Josie’s Angels, a nonprofit organization that provides food, education, and a secure living environment for impoverished, abused, and at-risk girls in the Philippines. Learn more at http://bit.ly/josiesangels.
Sunshine Leaking is available on your Kindle or any device with a Kindle application. The app can be downloaded for free from Amazon for the iPad, iTouch, iPhone, Android, PC or Mac, Windows 7 Phone, etc. Click here to view or purchase our poetry anthology on Amazon or download the Kindle application. Morrison’s fifth grade students and Josie’s Angels appreciate your support!
Click here to read about A Boom in the Room, the anthology written by my last year’s class.
Interested in putting together your own anthology (or other eBook)? Click here to see the step-by-step instructions I put together on how to go through the process. It isn’t exactly easy, but it’s free and very doable for those willing to put in the time.