Playing Around with Design

Sometimes, despite the fact that I really don't have any spare time to my name, I like to goof off. And one of my favorite pastimes is to fool around with art and design! As many of you know, I studied illustration back in my college days, and while I don't get to dabble in that side of my creativity nearly as much as I would like to, it comes out in little bursts here and there.

For instance, around 10:00 at night the other evening (I was already tucked into bed and reading a novel, trying to soothe myself to sleep) I got struck with an idea for a cover design for Heartless.

Random, I know.

Anyway, I hopped up, pulled out my computer, and . . . thought you might like to see the results!

stock model by faestock

 Kind of fun, right?

(And no, this is not a serious project, nor will Heartless be receiving any cover change anytime in the near future. This was nothing more than me playing when I should have been sleeping.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed seeing that. Perhaps it will inspire you for the upcoming Fan Art Contest . . . which will be announced very soon now!

FIVE ENCHANTED ROSES: Best Title Winner!

And the winner of the Five Enchanted Roses Best Title of the Year Contest is . . . .

Congratulations, Ariana! You have, by popular vote, won a beautiful mug featuring the above banner and a certificate from Rooglewood Press guaranteeing you one free entry in any of our contests from now through 2017!

Bound by Tattered Wings was the winner by quite a tidy margin. Our two runner-up titles were:

 The Rose of the Underworld -- Camryn Lockhart
This Dark Lit Place -- Alexandra Ray

But all of the titles received many votes! They really were fantastic, and I am, as always, amazed by all of you and your creativity.

Give Ariana Hocking a big round of applause. And thank you to all of you who participated, both in the voting for this contest and with submissions to the writing contest itself. Looking forward to doing this again next year with an all new fairy tale!

FIVE ENCHANTED ROSES ~ Best Title Contest

As many of you know, Rooglewood Press announced the five winners of the Five Enchanted Roses creative writing contest, and we are so thrilled with those stories! However, there were many other fantastic stories sent in by so many talented authors. It's always a shame when we have to pick just five winners.

So the four judges and I thought we would offer a little extra contest. I had each of them send me their top five favorite titles, which I have compiled in a list below. You can see these twenty titles are excellent, intriguing hints of the stories they herald.

Here's the game: Each of you gets to vote on your three favorites. Email your picks to me (aestengl@gmail.com) listed in order of preference. Your top pick will get 10 points, your second pick will get 5 points, your third pick will get 3 points.

I will tally up the points on Friday, and the author whose title received the most points will win . . .

A certificate from Rooglewood Press guaranteeing her/him one free entry in any of our contests from now through 2017.

A personalized Best Title Mug to commemorate her/his achievement, featuring this banner:

Let it here be said: There were many more fun titles sent in as well. We simply thought these twenty were the very best of the best. It was difficult narrowing down to just twenty!

BEST TITLES: FIVE ENCHANTED ROSES

THE IRON CURSE

TIGER, TIGER

THE ROSE OF THE UNDERWORLD

THE CURSE OF EDENBERRY WAY

PHOSPHORESCENCE

THE BEAST IN THE MOOR

THE CAROUSEL IN CASIMIR GARDENS

THIS DARK LIT PLACE

HOUSE OF THE WANDERING WAY

ROSES OF PROPHECY

REPTILIAN ROMANCE

BOUND BY TATTERED WINGS

THE SCENT OF BLACK ROSES

THE MAGICIAN’S ASSISTANT

CRACKS IN THE MIRROR

WITCHY AND THE BEAST

FINDING THE MAGIC

ENGLISH FOR PARISIANS

THE WATERFALL’S WAGER

Which of these titles makes you the most eager to see the story that goes with it? Send in your votes by Friday! I will announce the winner on Saturday.

FIVE ENCHANTED ROSES ~ The Winners

Rooglewood Press is proud to announce the winners of our second annual creative writing contest . . .

Rediscover the

ENCHANTMENT 

A ship bearing the souls of sinful sailors drifts upon a ghostly sea. An abbey looms as the final defense between mortals and ghouls of the underworld. In the stillness of a throne room, statues stand forever frozen in a moment of terror. Monsters and men stalk their prey deep in the jungle’s shadows. A rose blooms in the dead of winter, sheltered in the ruins of an ancient Scottish castle.

And only true love can free the Beast from his prison. 

 ______________

Esprit de la Rose 

By Kaycee Browning 

To steal from the Fee is to suffer their wrath! So Cecilia learns when these fabled beings charge her father with the theft of a certain mirror and sentence him to torment. But when she is taken as substitute, Cecilia discovers that the punishment meted out by the Fee is far stranger than she could ever have imagined. Trapped aboard a ghost ship with a crew of condemned souls and aided only by charismatic Captain Pepin, can this pirate’s daughter unlock the secret to the Fee’s dark omens?

  

Wither 

By Savannah Jezowski 

As penalty for the merchant’s theft of a single rose, the Beast of Briarstone Abbey demands his youngest daughter, sweet and innocent Sookie. But Lilybet Haverly will never allow her sister to face such a dreadful fate! Armed only with a butcher knife and her own determination, Bet climbs the wall and plunges into the Neverway, where the dead walk and ghouls hunt human flesh. She will find this Briarstone Abbey—and the Beast who lives there—whatever the cost.

  

Stone Curse 

By Jenelle Schmidt 

Years ago a terrible curse swept over the revelers at Thorndale Castle, turning them to stone and transforming Prince Barend himself into a hideous beast. But Karyna, a former lady-in-waiting, will not abandon either her father, who stands in the throne room among the other statues, or the prince. Indeed, she sets out alone on a dangerous quest to find the one responsible for this dreadful spell. If she can but discover the reason why the stone curse was cast, perhaps she can also discover the solution.

  

Rosara and the Jungle King 

By Dorian Tsukioka 

Maor has determined to take her as his third wife, by force if necessary. But Rosara would rather risk her life alone in the jungle than submit to any man’s brutality. When a beautiful jaguar tells her that it knows where to find one of the karawara, she resolves to seek out this jungle spirit and request its aid. The jaguar warns Rosara, however, that gifts from the karawara are never without a price . . .

  

The Wulver’s Rose 

By Hayden Wand 

A life is a high price to pay for stealing a rose. Nevertheless, Bonnie honors her father’s agreement and travels to the remote, ruinous castle wherein dwells the legendary creature known as a wulver—half man, half wolf. Though he is monstrous to behold, this beast is oddly gentle, tenderly caring for his beautiful rosebush, which blooms out of season. Is there more to the wulver than meets the eye? Is he somehow connected to the frightened child who visits Bonnie in her dreams?

______________________

Congratulations to the winners! You have written five wonderful adventures, each a perfect picture of the beloved fairy tale but simultaneously so unique. Together, your stories, styles, and individual voices will create a beautiful collection.

Tremendous thanks to all of you writers who participated in this contest. The Rooglewood Press judges and I had quite a time of it, narrowing down to five winners. As always, there were many talented writers who submitted stories we very much enjoyed but which didn't quite fit in the collection as a whole. Your talent is not measured by the results of a single contest, so be of good cheer! And write on . . . .

In the meanwhile, do take a moment to congratulate these five authors who have worked so hard and who will continue working hard as we move forward in preparing Five Enchanted Roses for publication.

Would you like to see how the cover will look?

Feel free to share the cover along with a link to the Rooglewood Press Page announcing the winners. You can also share the congratulations banner below on the sidebars of your blogs, along with a link to the Five Enchanted Roses Goodreads page.

Featuring: Gillian Bronte Adams

Today I have the pleasure of featuring Gillian Bronte Adams and her upcoming spring release, Out of Darkness Rising . . . and what I must say might just be the most beautiful and exciting fantasy cover I've seen in a long time! Mark your calendars for:

 

Darkness reigns unchallenged. 

  

 For the villagers on the accursed Island, life has only one meaning - death.  Bound to the Island by the curse, the villagers suffer beneath the iron claw of the serpent, daily breathing the poison of his breath and dying to appease his insatiable appetite.

When Marya’s parents are slain by the serpent for their belief in a legendary king, she becomes an Outcast.  Struggling to survive and avoid the vengeance of the Tribunal, Marya is torn between legend and the harsh reality of the Island.  Yet when a forgotten promise springs to life, she cannot help wondering if the old stories might in fact be true.  And if they are, will the promise prove stronger than the curse?

Coming March 15, 2015

See the Book Trailer Today!

GILLIAN BRONTE ADAMS is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas and the dreamer behind the Songkeeper Chronicles. During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist.

To find out more about Gillian Bronte Adams's books, visit www.OfBattlesDragonsandSwordsofAdamant.blogspot.com.

Gillian is offering a generous giveaway in honor of this book's upcoming release. Be sure to enter your name! And take a moment to congratulate her on this thrilling new release.

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Doings at Drakenheath

I realized January is almost over, and I haven't taken time to write up a Doings at Drakenheath post! My apologies, dear readers. I suppose I did warn you that I wouldn't be blogging quite as much over the next few months, so this is not entirely unexpected.

Anyway, let me update you on the doings.

Poison Crown . . . is coming along.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This book is far and away the most difficult thing I've ever tackled. However, while the last Doings post saw me bemoaning my sorry fate, this month I'm feeling ever-so much more chipper about this project. I'm well into the second draft now--or, at least, I just finished Part One of Four--and I am delighted with how it's shaping up. The rough draft was probably the worst rough draft I have ever written. But this second draft is another story altogether . . .

You may remember the post I wrote a few months about about the difference between Plot and Approach? Well, Poison Crown is proving my theory, at least as far as my own writing is concerned. In the rough draft of this manuscript, I got the approach wrong in most of the introductory material. I didn't quite introduce all of the characters and major story arcs in the right manner, and as a result, the subsequent material never really came together. In this second draft, however, I approached those introductions very differently--the same basic information, same basic plots and personalities--but approached from new angles.

As a result of this new approach, I'm discovering that quite a lot of the rough draft material in the bulk of the manuscript is salvageable. It didn't work in the previous iteration because of improper introductions, but with the adjustments made, much of it now slides quite nicely into place. I think I'm ending up able to use about 40% of the rough draft in this second draft . . . which is a decent percentage when all is said and done!

Anyway, all that to say: Writing is tough! Let no one try to tell you otherwise. But at this stage in the game, I really, really love it. I can't imagine wanting to do anything else! There is no feeling more satisfying than seeing a difficult manuscript finally start coming together.

I know many of you have come here today to learn news of the Five Enchanted Roses contest. Alas, I am not breathing a word until Sunday, when the winners will be announced! By the way, for those of you who haven't seen, the winners are being announced this Sunday, February 1.

I had hoped all along to be able bump the winners announcement up to February like we did last year, but wasn't certain if I'd be able to get all the reading in on such a tight deadline. I shouldn't have worried. When all the finalists' stories landed on my desk, it was all I could do to keep myself from reading them in enormous gulps! They were just too fun and too exciting.

Some of you have asked about the judging process for this contest. Since I cannot give away the winners or even drop any hints, I'll try to satisfying some of your curiosity by telling you how the judging works. Basically, we have four judges--editors, authors, and one publicist from a major traditional house, all of whom kindly volunteered to participate. As each story comes in, it is sent to the next judge on the cycle, so each judge ends up with one quarter of the total submissions. They read all of these submissions and then compile their top five picks, which are then sent on to me.

This means, I read only the top twenty picks--which is still quite a number of stories to pick from! And by this time, they're all excellent reads, which makes the decisions that much more difficult. I read with an eye not only to storytelling and narrative strength, but also to how the five winners will fit together as a whole. In this particular instance, I wasn't quite certain of my own top picks until I read the story that will be the fifth one in this collection. When I read that one, the whole of the collection suddenly fell into place and made sense to me--but I needed that final piece of the puzzle before I could see the whole picture.

Once I've finalized my top picks, I enter into discussion with the two Rooglewood Press editors who will be working with me during the polishing stage. I make certain they are on board with my decision, and we discuss the pros and cons. In this instance, they agreed with very little discussion.

This whole process was much easier than last year, when I read all of the submissions and then sent my top twenty picks out to the other judges. Basically, we reversed the process so that no one judge has to carry the bulk of the reading. And a good thing too! We are not revealing the exact number of entries we received, but I will tell you that we saw a 25% increase from last year's submissions. I would have been completely overwhelmed trying to read every last one of them.

I will also mention that, along with the top twenty picks sent in, several of the judges sent me their "very close runners-up" as well. There were so many strong submissions!

This stage of the game is both so exciting and also a little sad. I am thrilled for the five winners we will be naming on Sunday, excited to begin working with them to see this collection launched later this year . . . but simultaneously, I am sad for those writers I have to turn down. Talented voices with great opportunities ahead of them, but just not quite the right fit for this particular project. I can only hope that every writer who participated will feel a great sense of accomplishment and worth having produced the stories they have told. Ultimately, that's what contests like these are about--writing excellent stories.

All right, on to some other doings now . . .

I am working hard on the final stages of getting the Goddess Tithe audiobook ready for launch. It's been a bit difficult finding time to listen to the recordings and check for glitches, though when I do get a chance to sit down to it, it's quite a delight! Stephen John Rees has such a gorgeous reading voice, and I look forward to sharing this project with all of you.

And, of course, we saw the Draven's Light cover reveal launch earlier this month. Huzzah! It's now almost exactly a year since I wrote that project, so it feels like it's been a long time in coming. Still several more months before the official release, though you can pre-order your copy now if you like.

During my "spare time," I am going through the manuscript of Draven's Light, making minor adjustments and checking for typos. I found quite a few passages where I've gotten a bit repetitious, so I'm trimming down and streamlining the text. Otherwise, it's pretty much ready to go. And just wait until you see the pretty interior design! I think this might be my favorite interior look for a book yet! And that cover? Can I just say again how much I love that cover?

Don't forget, you can help me out tremendously by sharing the blog button--either on your blog sidebars or as a Twitter or Facebook photo. Just don't forget to include the pre-order link.

Speaking of covers . . . We are officially in the process of designing the next Fairy Tale cover for this year's contest. Julia Popova will be working her magic yet again, and dare I say it? I believe this one will be the most beautiful yet. The color schemes . . . the mood . . . the setting . . . oh, my! But you'll have to wait until June 1st and the official announcement of that contest to see it. Unless you participate in the cover reveal, in which case you'll get to see it in May . . .

I'm very eager to see what stories we end up with this year as well. The fairy tale we have chosen is not quite as popular as the last two (though still very well known and loved, believe me), and somehow, I feel that might lead to even more exciting retellings. We'll see if I'm right, but I personally would find this story very interesting to explore. I've had several ideas myself which I might store away for future reference.

Other than that, we have several fun features coming up on this blog. I am currently hosting a feature and giveaway for Shonna Slayton and her debut novel, Cinderella's Dress. And on Friday, I'm participating in a Coming Soon feature for Gillian Bronte Adams and her exciting upcoming release! Many more fun interviews and giveaways will be forthcoming, so be certain to visit often.

And, of course, I will be continuing with the Q&A blog series I began last fall. I probably will need to get Poison Crown drafted before I can tackle regular blogging again, however. You understand . . . .

Those are all the Doings for now! How has your January been?

Interview Feature: Shonna Slayton

Dear Imps, you are all perfectly aware of how much we love fairy tales around here, particularly Cinderella! So you will understand my enthusiasm when I bid you welcome a new fairy tale novelist into our midst! Please meet . . .

SHONNA SLAYTON is the author of the YA novels Cinderella's Dress (Summer 2014) and Cinderella's Shoes (Fall 2015) with Entangled Teen. She finds inspiration in reading vintage diaries written by teens, who despite using different slang sound a lot like teenagers today. While writing Cinderella's Dress, she reflected on her days as a high-school senior in British Columbia when she convinced her supervisors at a sportswear store to let her design a few windows--it was glorious fun while it lasted. When not writing, Shonna enjoys amaretto lattes and spending time with her husband and children in Arizona.

About the Book: Being a teenager during World War II is tough. Find out you're the next keeper of the real Cinderella's dress is even tougher.
Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she's working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds Cinderella's dress, life gets complicated.
Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it's too late.
After all, the descendents of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.

Shonna has generously offered a print copy of Cinderella's Dress in a giveaway (USA only, please), so be certain to enter your name down below! But first, enjoy learning about Shonna and her work:

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?

Shonna: Thanks for having me on your blog. I’m a fan, so it’s fun to be invited to contribute! As a homeschool mom to a busy teen and pre-teen, I spend a lot of time driving around to co-ops and clubs, which means I also spend a lot of time waiting. Those waiting times are when I write. For example, right now I’m sitting on a little yellow chair in a Sunday School classroom while a Spanish class goes on next door. If I had been better prepared, I would also have a dirty chai latte at my side (chai tea mixed with coffee). 

What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller? How did you get into publishing?

 

 Shonna: As a child, I was too shy to be a storyteller, but after my fifth-grade teacher read amazing books like The Hobbit and Watership Down aloud to the class, I was bursting to try my hand at writing. So, I wrote fanfiction of Watership Down. It’s still in a file box somewhere in the garage. My path to getting a novel published took the long way—down the rabbit trail of magazine and technical writing. Glad the road eventually got here! 

Tell us a little about your work! Cinderella’s Dress is your debut novel, am I right? How did this story come about? 

Shonna: Yes, Cinderella's Dress is my debut novel. Set in the 1940’s, it’s about a girl who finds out her family has been hiding the real Cinderella dress for centuries, and now it is her turn. The novel is the merging of two seemingly unrelated story sparks. One was a picture book of the same title, showing a modern-looking girl sliding down a banister in a ball gown. When I saw that image, I immediately thought it was a story about Cinderella’s grandchildren playing in her dress. (It wasn’t!) The second story spark was a line in a nonfiction book about the history of department stores. Apparently, until the 1940’s, window dressers in those large stores were all men. During the war years, window dressing was one of the new careers that opened up for women. This fascinated me, and I was determined to figure out a way to get Cinderella’s Dress into a department store window. Fortunately, history was kind to me and it turns out the late 40’s were also a pivotal time for fashion, and this helped me with my ending. 

This story is a historical fiction with a fantasy twist. What a wonderful premise! How else does your story differ from other Cinderella retellings?

Shonna: Cinderella’s Dress is more of a spin-off than a retelling. I do have my own version of the Cinderella story in the back of my mind, and it informs this novel, and (even more) its companion novel, Cinderella’s Shoes (Fall 2015). My novels involve the descendants of Cinderella, the stepsisters, and my own creation, Cinderella’s servant. There was a role back in medieval times called Keeper of the Wardrobe. My main character, Kate, comes from the line of Keepers who are charged with protecting the magical dress. 

Can you pick a favorite character from this novel?

Shonna: Aunt Elsie is my go-to favorite character. She surprised me the most because she was supposed to stay in the back story—in fact, in my original plan, she died on the ship as she and her husband were escaping WWII Europe with the dress. But when she survived the trip over and was knocking on Kate’s door, I knew I was in for an adventure with her. 

What inspires your work? Where do you turn when you need a renewal of inspiration?

Shonna: Inspiration is everywhere, but I particularly enjoy history. Heritage buildings. Antiques. Old photos are amazing—they set my imagination on fire. (Hence, my love of Pinterest.)

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process? 

Shonna: My favorite stage is the research and brainstorming. Oh, the possibilities when you come up with a new idea! But I struggle with first drafts. I write “short” which means I have to return to the manuscript, slow down the camera in my mind, and give the details that make a scene come alive. 

If you were forced to pick a single favorite author, who would it be?

Shonna: L. M. Montgomery. (When you pick a deceased author, you don’t have to feel guilty about choosing one favorite author over another.) 

What are you actively writing right now?

Shonna: Trick question. I’m working through my editor’s first-pass edit notes on Cinderella’s Shoes, and I’m also expanding the outline on what I would do for an actual Cinderella retelling if I were to write a prequel to the duology. So, I’m editing and outlining, but not technically writing. 

Would you share a short snippet from Cinderella’s Dress?

Shonna: Sure. This is where the main character, Kate, meets her future love interest. She is at an audition for a movie role that she doesn't really want, and is about to terribly embarrass herself . . . but I'll stop the snippet just shy of that:

Excerpt from

CINDERELLA'S DRESS

“Next, girls, we’d like to see you jitterbug.” He snapped his fingers twice, and a teen-age boy walked out to the center of the room. Oh no. The boy had been at the back of the room the whole time. He’d seen her moving the props around. As he drew closer, the other girls whispered eagerly to each other.

He was tall with flipped-back dark-brown hair, wearing blue jeans and a button-down shirt with the top button open and a white T-shirt underneath. Kate had no idea who he was, but based on the reactions of the older girls, they did.

He smiled at each of the hopefuls, and when he looked at Kate, her ears burned like the New York asphalt outside.

The man closest to the record player leaned over and switched it on. Out blasted the Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”

Kate smiled in relief. She’d danced a hundred times to this old song. It would be a cinch after all.

The boy grabbed Sadie’s hand, and the two jitterbugged in front of the casting table. Working his way from girl to girl, he finally reached Kate. He grinned and held out his hand to her. “Care to dance?”

When Kate made eye contact, her stomach did a jitterbug of its own. She didn’t expect his eyes to be so Frank Sinatra blue. Blue like the early-morning sky. She shyly ducked her chin, forgetting for a moment this was an audition.

Without warning, he yanked her in front of the three men and their clipboards and swung her around like she was a teen-age Shirley Temple. He pulled her close and whispered, “Relax, doll, you’re doing swell.”

His warm breath tickled her ear, and she leaned into him. Girl Next Door might be an okay role after all.

_____________

 Thank you so much for being here with us today, Shonna! It's so much fun to learn about yet another fantastic take on this timeless story.

I hope all of you readers are now intrigued to read more of Cinderella's Dress. Be certain to enter your names in the giveaway! (Again, US only this time). Or you can purchase the story on your Kindle. Remember, every time you buy a book, you help to support an author! Every purchase makes a difference.

Happy reading!

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