Introducing: Amanda Bradburn

I recently came across an exciting young author whose debut story looked like so much fun, I simply had to get her to feature here on the Tales of Goldstone Wood. My dear Imps, please welcome Ms. Amanda Bradburn, author of The Keepers of Elenath.

Amanda Bradburn’s love of writing began at a young age. At ten years old, she watched the Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring movie, and adored it. Her newfound passion for all things fantasy became a book, The Keepers of Elenath, published in 2009. This book was soon to turn into plans for a fantasy series in the fashion of C.S. Lewis’s masterful Chronicles of Narnia.

Full of a love of life, Amanda enjoys meeting people and getting to know her readers. She also loves to help young authors find their feet (though some would call her a young author herself) and does freelance editing by appointment on the side.

She loves travel, history, violin, and teaching the Bible to children. She also loves coffee, but then, most writers do.

Here's a little about the book itself:

Evil is stirring in Elenath. A rapid chain of events: a righteous king's murder, a dark queen's seizure of the throne, and the stirring of ancient peoples opens a new chapter in Elenath's history. Dark powers seek to control all and a bare few stand against the sinister forces. At the center of the tempest lies Gwaeron, princess of Anirum. Secrets surround her true identity, and the strange gifts she is capable of are sought after by both sides of the silent war. Another evil haunting the land of Elenath; sweeping from the northwestern wasteland to Anirum's eastern coast is the dreaded eves fornost. Hearts of human, elf, etel, and gnome will turnfor good or evil. And the worst is yet to come.

 

 You can check out the fun book trailer for The Keepers of Elenath! And Amanda graciously answered a bunch of questions about herself and her work, which I'm sure you'll all enjoy. And, even more fun, she's offering a copy of her debt novel as a giveaway prize! So read on, and be certain to enter your name below.

 

Interview

 

1. Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee?

 

-          Sure! Let’s see… Oh, coffee, for sure. I’d love to try some Earl Grey just because, though. J As for hobbies… I love dessert, so naturally I’ve become a baker. I do some crafting and crochet, and a handful of other eclectic and random things. I love blogging and reading, and most of all I love to write and to chat with writers.
Personality . . . I’m basically a quiet person. I love to travel, but I also love to stay home and hide out and write. J

 

 

2. What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller?

 

-          I first started writing when I was about seven; two friends and I wrote an impossible mystery after the fashion of Nancy Drew. After we drifted apart, I just kept writing. I can’t imagine life without it now!

 

3. Tell us a little about your debut novel, The Keepers of Elenath. How long did you work on this story? How did the idea come to you? Is it part of a bigger project?

 

-          I began The Keepers of Elenath when I was fourteen. About a year and half later, I finished it and began to look for a publisher. I found one, and a few weeks before my graduation from high school, I held Keepers in my hands. J
As for the idea, I’d been devouring The Lord of the Rings movies for years (and had been writing a fanfic for about three years. I’d always wanted to write fantasy, and when an idea came, I just started. The finished product doesn’t resemble the original core idea at all. *laughs*
It is part of a bigger project. My goal is for Keepers to be a seven book series by the end, but due to some differences between myself and my publishers, I’m looking for a new press (thinking about self-publishing…maybe) I have the sequel to Keepers finished (The Phantom Assassin) as w ell as about half of the third (The Lady of Hawkings Watch) and I’m SO excited about what’s next.

 

 

4. Can you pick a favorite character from this story?

 

-          I really like Theloq. (He’s the mentor-warrior figure) I actually didn’t know his true identity until a little while ago, when I interviewed him on my blog, but it all made sense after that! He’s a little dark, a little brooding, and a touch grouchy sometimes, but he’s just amazing. J

 

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

 

-          Music. Pinterest. A new book. The movie theater. A long chat with a writer buddy. Editing. Some Coffee. J

 

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

 

-          I love watching the characters become real. It’s so special when you finally connect with them and they can actually fulfill the roles you have laid out for them… and when they develop dimension. Love it.

-          Least-favorite? Rewriting. *scowls angrily* Not to be confused with editing—I love editing, even have a freelance editing business on the side. Rewriting stings, though, after you’ve gotten so far and your work shudders to a halt and you realize that you’ve made a fatal error. I’m doing that right now in a co-authored book. My coauthor and I got together and realized we’d need to scrap about half of the story line. Yuck.

 

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

 

-Gaaah. That’s rather unfair, because I have so many and they change all the time… Tolkien is the old standby, because it’s his fault that I started to write fantasy in the first place. *laughs* But I can’t say that because I haven’t read Tolkien for a while. Hmm…. I’m going to say Cornela Funke, because I love her Mirrorworld books.

 

8. So what is next on your publishing horizons? Can we look forward to more in the Elenath series? Or perhaps something completely new?

 

-          I’m toying with the idea of self-publishing The Keepers of Elenath series, though I’m not a fan of self-publishing as a general rule. As for other works . . . *rubs hands together excitedly* My cousin/coauthor and I are releasing an ebook short story called Little Red Robin Hood at the end of this week. (As long as I can figure out the ebook process). If it does well, it’ll go into print. It’s the first of what will hopefully be an entire series of short stories about Robin Hood as a young boy. J I adore it! It’s so witty and hilarious.

 

 

 

9. What are you actively writing right now?

 

- I technically have 10 writing projects going, but 5 are in different degrees of sabbatical solitary confinement. So only 5 am I actually writing at the moment. One is a fairy-tale retelling called Imperfect, one is a future earth idea called Render Me Flawless, there’s a action/spy/dystopic novel called Duchess, a fantasy-allegory novel called Shards of Glass, and I’m always working on touching up Keepers.

 

10. Can you share a short snippet from The Keepers of Elenath?

- I honestly think that this was the most difficult question yet! Here’s a bit of humor. Poor Gwaeron.

Snippet from

Keepers of Elenath

 

“Don’t worry,” Aen whispered, sidling up to her. “We haven’t had a dragon eat an apprentice for at least a week.”

   Gwaeron gave him a weary glare as she swung open the stall door. Inside, slumbering, was a half-grown dragon, but it was still huge. Its copper-colored scales glistened as it shifted and sleepily opened its intelligent eyes.

  “Hello, Talon,” Gwaeron murmured, watching with a sinking heart as Graystaf and Aen ambled out of the dragon stable, chatting merrily. “I’m Gwaeron. How about letting me saddle you?”

  The dragon gave her a glare filled with contempt and settled back down to sleep.

  “See here, dragon, I don’t really want to be doing this either, but the sooner you cooperate, the sooner you will be able to go back to sleep.” Gwaeron grabbed one of the strange flaps on the saddle and lugged it to the door. “Please don’t be stubborn, Talon.”

  With a snort, the dragon turned his back toward her, his tail smashing her in the ribs and sending her flying against the wall in a cloud of straw. With a groan, Gwaeron picked herself up and sighed.

This was not going to be easy.

 

 

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Thank you, Amanda! What a fun an intriguing little slice of adventure!

You readers can learn more about Amanda via her blog: The Ink-Made Maiden. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

And now, the giveaway! Be certain to enter your information and share about Amanda's work. And, if you are the lucky winner, reviews are always welcome by novelists!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cd52410/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway