Doings at Rooglewood: March Edition

Oh, great Hymlumé love us. It's March already. Indeed, we've already made some headway into March, which means we're due for another one of these Doings at Rooglewood posts.

But I don't mind at all, particularly since I have completed one of the big doings just an hour ago! That's right, dear imps. I have finished the first draft of the Mysterious Nameless Novella which I have been mentioning here and there for the last few months. I told myself I'd have it done by noon today, and by Lumé, I have done it! And to celebrate this feat, I am going to share the title with you. Are you ready?

Along with all this draft-complete excitement, however, I do have rather disappointing news. You see, I don't think I'm going to be able to release this story this upcoming summer after all. For a variety of reasons . . .

First of all, Draven's Light proved a vastly different project from Goddess Tithe (which I whipped up in a creative flurry in about two weeks). For one thing, it's much bigger, more than twice Goddess Tithe's size. It's also much, much darker. Indeed, Draven's Light is one of the darkest stories I've ever written. Readers have already started commenting on how dark Shadow Hand (book 6) is, but Draven's Light has it beat by a long shot, I think. Shadow Hand at least had some real humor to balance out the heaviness. This novella, by contrast, really isn't funny at all. There might be a few "aww, smile" moments, but no laughter. It's set in a dark time and deals with a dark premise.

It's a good story, and I'm very proud of it . . . but I think I might want to wait and release it after Golden Daughter rather than after Shadow Hand. Spread out the heavy story lines a little bit, you understand.

The other reason for putting it off is a purely practical one--I am going to be SO BUSY all summer, I'm not sure when I'd fit one more project in!

The Five Glass Slippers collection is the big summer project. I just got back the revised stories, and it's time to plunge into the serious edits, typesetting, and design. A lot of the design work has already been done, but there are still finalizations and approvals, etc. Plenty to keep me busy! I'm really looking forward to reading all of these stories again and seeing what the authors have done with their revisions. And now that Draven's Light is done, I can really dive into these without much distraction.

With out much distraction . . . but . . .

My mother's new novel, Until That Distant Day is scheduled to release on April 25. Eeeeeek! We should be doing the final read-throughs of galley proofs in the next few weeks, and I am really looking forward to reading it again. You can check out my pre-review of it on Goodreads if you like. Get a little more insider's info about this story. We'll also be looking for advance readers in another few weeks, so be watching for those details.

And I was so excited just the other day when my mum told me her ideas for a sequel to Until That Distant Day; ideas that were so awesome, I got goosebumps up my arms! But I won't share now, because you haven't read the first book yet. Once you've read the book and are familiar with all the characters . . . well, then we might talk.

Meanwhile, the other editors of Rooglewood Press and I have been making more plans for the next Five Something Something fairy tale creative writing contest. I believe I've already told you that we got the cover for that one, right? Well, we did. And oh, my! It is so beautiful. The artist is the brilliant Julia Popova (who also did the cover for Golden Daughter).  So you know it's going to be fantastic.

More details will be coming on June 1st. We'll be making some slight adjustments to the rules this year too. Nothing drastic, just some alterations which we hope will make the contest that much better. Possibly even an increased word count . . . . (But we're still debating that point, so don't hold your breath just yet.)

Golden Daughter has now shown her pretty face to the world via the exciting cover reveal last week. Big thanks all over again to all of you lovely bloggers who participated as hosts! I appreciate each and every one of you for jumping on board and helping me get the word out.

The book itself is drafted and revised, and now needs to go through a couple of rounds of copy edits with a little line editing here and there for good measure. I'm in suspense, waiting to hear back from one editor, really hoping he likes it . . . and doesn't have too many fixes to recommend. But even if he does, the project should be hitting the shelves by November. And I'll hopefully be able to announce pre-order availability soon!

I hope to dive right back into the creative writing rush by the end of this month, just as soon as edits on Five Glass Slippers stories are complete. The new story has been brewing in a big way. But I will warn all of you in advance . . . Book 8 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood is going to be a big, complicated, difficult sort of book. Along with everything else on my to-do list, I'm going to be hard pressed to write it quite so fast as I have other projects. This means it might not release quite so quickly after Golden Daughter as I like to imagine. Obviously I won't know for certain about that until I've really gotten started on the drafting, so I'll be keeping you posted. But I don't want to sacrifice quality for the sake of a rushed deadline. The books are getting much more complicated and intricately entwined the deeper I get into this series. It's likely I won't be able to keep up quite the same pace I have these last few years.

I know you'll love me anyway.

Fun news! I am participating in another scavenger hunt next month! You can see the banner for it on the right there. 30 titles in all, and you will get a chance to win them all. More details will be forthcoming, but mark your calendars for April 4-6.

I know all of you are really just waiting for an update on Mama Kitty, am I right? Of course I am. Why else would you read through this entire long post?

Mama Kitty--my feral rescue cat whom I brought inside a few weeks back--is doing very well indeed. She's now upstairs (not in our basement) and beginning to learn the ways of housecat life. She still keeps pretty much to herself in the guest room (which I have turned into her personal kitty cove). But I leave the door open, so she can come and go as she likes. Makoose is quite fascinated by her, though their interactions are not exactly friendly as of yet. Mama Kitty (really, her name is Mutti-Cat, but I still call her Mama Kitty out of habit) doesn't particularly want to interact with any of the other beasts. But she adores me, which is very gratifying after all those long months of work! She also likes Rohan and is happy to accept chin-scratches at his hand. (Minerva refuses to offer an opinion on this).

Oh, and my husband is now bald.

Okay, so he's not really bald. More like fuzzy. He participated in the St. Baldrick's fundraiser to raise money for childhood cancer research . . . and part of the fundraiser was having his head shaved. It was a bit startling to see all that thick, thick hair of his go. But, as you can see from the picture above, he is just as handsome fuzzy. And, thanks to the efforts of all who donated, he raised over $1400 for St. Baldrick's . . . that is pretty awesome.

So, are you taking part in the annual Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest? The rules can be found here, if you're interested. Some wonderful pieces have already started coming in, and I know all of you are going to enjoy them. But for this contest to really take off, we need your artistic contribution! Everyone will enjoy seeing what you create, and after the contest, your images will be featured in Dame Imraldera's Library. How fun is that?

Anyway, I think that's enough doings for now. I hope all of you are grabbing copies of Shadow Hand and enjoying it! This is the least amount of work I've done for a new release in a long time. Just don't have the time or energy for it. But I am tremendously excited be sharing that new story with all of you. So many more adventures to be had in Goldstone Wood! And I love going on those adventures with all of you imps.

Interview Feature: Heather Day Gilbert

Today, dear imps, I have an exciting new author to introduce to all of you. I started seeing her book here and there across the blogging world, and the dynamic cover drew me in immediately. Then I read the premise . . . and wow! What a fantastic sounding story! I think all of you will be very intrigued to learn more about Heather Day Gilbert and her debut novel, God's Daughter.

First, a little about the lovely authoress herself:

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Sixteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling her three children. Heather regularly posts on Novel Rocket about self-publishing.

You can find Heather at her website, Heather Day Gilbert--Author, and at her Facebook Author Page, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Goodreads. Her Viking novel, God's Daughter, is an Amazon bestseller. You can find it on Amazon and Smashwords.


And here's is the book itself (I told you it was a gorgeous cover, didn't I?):

One Viking woman. One God. One legendary journey to North America.

In the tenth century, when pagan holy women rule the Viking lands, Gudrid turns her back on her training as a seeress to embrace Christianity. Clinging to her faith, she joins her husband, Finn, on a journey to North America.

But even as Gudrid faces down murderous crewmen, raging sickness, and hostile natives, she realizes her greatest enemy is herself--and the secrets she hides might just tear her marriage apart.

Almost five centuries before Columbus, Viking women sailed to North America with their husbands. God's Daughter, Book One in the Vikings of the New World Saga, offers an expansive yet intimate look into the world of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir--daughter-in-law of Eirik the Red, and the first documented European woman to have a child in North America.

 _____

Heather has joined us  today for an interview. I hope you'll enjoy learning more about her and her work . . . and be sure to stick around for the giveaway at the end! 

INTERVIEW

Welcome, Heather, to the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog! Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality . . . tea or coffee? 

Heather: Sure! So excited to be here! I'm a homeschooling mama and I have three kiddos. My girls, as you know, are CRAZY about your books.

Hobbies...I don't have many, since I'm a self-published author and I spend a lot of time marketing and working on schemes to take over the world (kidding)! I like to play video games to unwind, I liked Doctor Who before it was trendy, and I'm addicted to coffee. Personality...I'd say I'm a very transparent person and I don't usually read into things. I do have several "marshwiggle" tendencies, though...if you've read C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair, you know exactly what I mean. 

What led you into the writing life? Were you always a storyteller? What was your first published novel?

Heather: I think I fell in love with words from the time I was small, since I learned to read pretty young (I remember loving phonics). I won my first essay competition in fifth grade, but didn't realize I was a "writer" until I was maybe twelve. I did take a lot of writing classes in college, but didn't pursue that as my major (I did, however, start college thinking I would become a police officer!). My first published novel released November 1, 2013. It was so thrilling to finally see my book in print!

 Tell us a little about your debut novel! What led you to start writing God’s Daughter? Was this your first manuscript? 

Heather: God's Daughter was not my first complete book. I actually participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and completed a paranormal novel—that was my first book. I did have an agent with that, and it went out on submission. But I decided to write a historical novel next, in hopes of getting into the Christian book industry more easily. Thus, I researched the Viking sagas I loved, and wrote God's Daughter.

 God’s Daughter is such a gorgeous book! Would you mind telling us about your publishing process? What was the world of indie-publishing like for you? Any helpful hints you’d like to share? 

Heather: Thank you so much! It has been such a whirlwind, from the day I decided to self-publish to now. Planning, editing, working on cover art with my brother, lining up early readers/endorsers, learning to format books, and finally, marketing. I have truly learned SO much, and it's wonderful, because I can take this knowledge with me as I publish my next book (a contemporary mystery—hopefully releasing this year!). 

Primarily, I worked with two people on my book—my techie brother for the cover art and map, and my critique partner for the edits. The novel had been content edited by my agent, and somewhat line-edited, but really, the bulk of the load did fall on me (and my poor brother and crit partner!). But honestly, though the process was exhausting, I'm getting excited as I gear up to do it again. 

As far as indie hints, my biggest one is do not publish until you're ready. Give yourself time to get everything in place (editing, knockout cover art, early readers, guest posts) and get the biggest bang possible when you launch your first novel. 

Can you pick a favorite character from God’s Daughter? 

Heather: Hm. This is hard. I love my main character, Gudrid, because she's so compassionate and has a healer's heart. But I also love her wild sister-in-law, Freydis, who would probably be a feminist if she lived in this day and age! They each have lessons to learn...and I'm glad my second Viking book, Forest Child, will follow Freydis as she sails back to North America.

 I also love all my "dudes." They each have very different, and I hope very realistic personalities. I hope readers will feel they're similar to the men they know and love. 

And my wolf. I love the wolf in the book. I won't say more on that...but yes. The wolf was definitely real in my mind, as real as my characters were. 

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

Heather: For my historicals, I definitely return to the Icelandic sagas. It's like putting a puzzle together as I fit all the events together in my mind and interpret them through the eyes of my characters.

As far as my mystery and other writing, I can never tell where I'll get inspired. Since I live in West Virginia and often set stories there, sometimes it helps to just go outside. I also get inspired in church sermons—maybe my mind is more relaxed there and I'm totally unplugged—but I've scrawled many an idea on church bulletins. 

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

Heather: I love writing. Editing is hard, but not as frustrating as writing proposals. Synopsis-writing, in particular, kills me. But the lovely thing is that now I'm an indie author, I don't have to write synopses or proposals! All I have to write is back cover copy/book blurbs. In the past, my Facebook author page followers have happily given input on my blurbs, and it is such a tremendous help to me. I have a tendency to want to give the whole story away. 

However, as an indie, I have to format. Formatting is NOT my cup of tea, and I wind up growling around in my office for days as I do it. My crit partner showed me how to format and worked with me on God's Daughter, but if there's anything I would want to hire out, it would be book formatting.

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

Heather: I'm a classics gal, so I'd have to say Thomas Hardy. Although he's pretty bleak, I find his characters always have very relatable emotions. I also recently discovered Sarah Jio, and enjoy her novels. I'd also have to say I love reading anything my critique partner, Becky Doughty, writes. Her novel, Elderberry Croft, recently released, and she's working on another release for 2014. 

What are you actively writing right now?

Heather: I have started my second Viking novel, Forest Child, but it's been hard to focus. We've been working on cover art for my mystery, Miranda Warning, and I'll need to get final edits done on that, plus gear up for its release this year. Suffice it to say, I always have some writing project going!

Can you share a short snippet from God’s Daughter?

Heather: Sure, I'd love to. This prologue is from Gudrid's point of view when she is young. It's pretty gritty (younger readers may want to skip it—the book is intended for an adult audience), but I knew it was where Gudrid's story began. The rest of the novel is from Gudrid's point of view when she's married (to her third husband!). So this just gives you a glimpse of what's she's repressing throughout the novel:

God's Daughter

Prologue

Hellisvellir, Iceland

The gods only accept what is valuable.

Gudrid repeated this to herself as they hoisted her mother into the tree. Her beautiful mother with the long shining hair, like her own.

Her cousin, Yngvild, touched her hand. Not a word was spoken, from anyone. No one could believe a young mother would die for the required nine-year sacrifice, along with the expected slaves and animals. But the chieftain had ordered it. And the chieftain was her father.

Gudrid's aunt hunched over, sobbing into her sleeves. Uncle Thorgeir did not even look at the tree. He seemed happy to gain more control of her mother’s family farm.

Gudrid clenched her fists on her shift, bunching it so tightly she felt she could rip it apart. She longed to fight the men who would drop the ladder, breaking her mother’s neck. But interrupting a sacrifice to Thor was punishable by death—the immediate death of hanging.

The sprawling, twisted tree loomed like a giant against the gray Icelandic sky, its limbs clutching at the dangling dead animals and people. Gudrid imagined the tree held them back from dropping straight into Helheim. Truly, Mother should go straight to Valhalla for being a willing sacrifice. But only the men who died bravely in battle got to go there, to drink endless mead for eternity.

Her father blew the ram’s horn, and a slave kicked the ladder out. For one second, Father’s eyes glazed over, as if he was far away. Even though he was devoted to Mother, he believed the only way to restore the bounty of the farm, failing since he had charge of it, was to give up the one thing he really cared about.

Mother’s face went slack and lost color. Gudrid was strangely thankful that she did not turn blue, with her eyes bulging, as some of the slaves had. It meant she died quickly, as a perfect sacrifice should.

Gudrid looked around, aware she needed a protector. Even at eleven years old, she understood this. Father had never wanted a girl. Her aunt was too grief-stricken—she would barely be able to care for her own children now, after watching her sister die.

Orm’s sad gaze met her own. He was a neighbor from a nearby farm, on a cliff overlooking the shoreline. His wife, Halldis, was a volva, a seeress who knew magic. Gudrid refused to look at her. She did not want to see the eyes of the woman who had told Father he needed such a significant sacrifice this year.

The last body was hanged, and another volva led a chant with the drum. Since many slaves had been killed, their families began to sing quietly in their own languages. As the words clashed, each group sang louder and louder. It was the only time they sang publicly. 

 Gudrid felt her insides burning, down to the core, like the volcanoes on this island. Anger and loneliness forced her from her seat. She hated Thor and anything to do with him. She groped for her knife before raising it to her throat. Then she charged straight for her father.

 ___________

Wow! What an intense opening scene! And I'm sure the rest of the novel is equally gripping, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Heather. It was lovely to get to know you better and to learn about your work.

What do you think, dear readers? Are you eager to read more about Gudrid? Well, be certain to grab a copy of Heather's book . . . and enter your name in the giveaway below for a chance to win a paperback copy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway