Interview with Arianwyn

JOAL: Today, we have with us Arianwyn, heroine of the Totems book series. Thank you for being here, Arianwyn.

Arianwyn: Thanks for having me.

JOAL: Let's just jump right in. You're engaged to King Rael now, is that correct?

Arianwyn: It is.

JOAL: How did you two meet? I thought you weren't in the nobility.

Arianwyn: Technically, I'm not. Or maybe I am. I Bonded with a dragon, which makes my  nobility status hard to place. I first met Rael when Tess had me bring him lunch. I was just a servant at the time. He was meeting with the daughters of his thanes, hoping to choose the best one to be his wife. I accidentally discovered the entrance to the Dragon's Cave, a secret closely guarded, and met his dragon. Rael recognized me...well, his dragon recognized me through Rael's eyes...and Rael threatened to kill me if I tried leaving.

JOAL: Love at first sight, huh?

Arianwyn: Absolutely not. He was serious about killing me. It was one of the more terrifying moments in my life.

JOAL: Speaking of your life, what would you say was the catalyst for putting you where you're at now?

Arianwyn: I didn't accept what others were going to give me. I had grown up an orphan in my village. I made my living doing whatever odd jobs I could find. Unfortunately, one of the men decided he deserved more from me than I was willing to give. I decided that I wasn't going to be the victim any longer and took a leap of faith. Sometimes, fate decides our future. Most of the time, we decide our fate.

JOAL: What's Parvati, your dragon, like?

Arianwyn: She's very independent. She grew up in the wild, after all. She only Bonded with me to save her own skin. She's made up for her selfishness, of course. We're very close now...even without the whole Bond.

JOAL: How has the Bond affected you?

Arianwyn: Well, I had already started down the path of independence. I left my village before meeting Parvati and was just deciding to search for work in a village. Bonding Parvati gave me a boost to have a little more confidence in myself and it made me feel safer. I took work in places I might otherwise have avoided, knowing Parvati could save me if I needed her to.

JOAL: What's one thing about the world you would change if you could?

Arianwyn: Child abuse. I was orphaned, and subsequently abused, as a child. In my world, there isn't anyone who champions the orphaned or abused children. I plan on changing that as soon as I'm queen.

JOAL: Where do you see you and King Rael headed in the relationship department?

Arianwyn: Well, we're getting married, aren't we? (chuckles) We seem to get along with each other fairly well. So long as Rael keeps his temper and I don't get into more trouble, I think we'll make an effective team ruling our kingdom.

JOAL: Is it true that there was an attempt on your life?

Arianwyn: It seems to be the only constant in my life, the possibility of death. There was a deliberate attempt, however. Thankfully, Rael employs a very skilled healer and I'm doing fine now. We're still working on tracking down the ones responsible.

JOAL: Let's end this interview on a lighter note, shall we? Tell me about the friends you've made since becoming the king's fiancé.

Arianwyn: First there's Lady Alyssa. She's going to be my lady-in-waiting after we are married. For now, she is my main advisor. She's a sweet little girl, eager to please. We get along really well. Next would be Lady Blythe. She's the daughter of the northern thane. She's one of the most honest, straight-forward people I know. And she makes me laugh. Finally, I would have to put Sigurd, Wymond, Edmund, and Halvard on the list. Those four are my body guards. You don't spend that much time with someone without getting to either like them or hate them. Luckily, I enjoy having them around. They don't just watch my back from physical danger, but they've helped me navigate some of the political dangers as well.

JOAL: Thank you again for joining us, today! It's been nice getting to know you better. Can't wait to meet you in your story.

Arianwyn; Thank you for having me.

Totems

I just finished the first revision of Totems: The Sword and The Shield! Ended up adding about three new chapters...Revisions don't end there, though! I've gone back to the beginning and will be working through again. Writing a book, I've learned, is only half the battle. Maybe even just a quarter of the battle. There's so much work that goes on after you type out the proverbial 'the end' that it's a wonder anything ever gets published! In a week or two, I plan on sending Totems to a proofreader. I'm excited and will talk more about the proofreader later. This will be the first time I've had another professional look at one of my books (okay, I've only published one so far, give me a break!). On the bright side, I'm still happy to be writing. I love Rael and Arianwyn! And, I have to admit, Arianwyn's name has been growing more and more on me. I would absolutely name a kid Arianwyn! Whether or not my husband agreed would be another story...

Busy!

It all happened so suddenly...one minute, we were living in one city, the next we had packed up, picked up, and moved out! We only just got our internet back (Phew!).

I've been working like mad on revisions/editing to Totems: The Sword and The Shield. I think Rael and Arianwyn are happy about that. I hope to finish this first round in about 3 weeks from today. Then I'll be sending it off to a proofreader (more on that person to follow!).

Guardians: Revenge has been coming along nicely as well. Eddy and April are quite demanding when it comes to getting their story told. April's had enough upheaval in her life that she isn't interested in sitting around. And let's not forget that Jason is still running around, causing havoc in the world. April definitely wants to stop that and Eddy is determined to help her.

On a more personal note...Argentine beef skewers with chimichurri sauce (all of it homemade) were delicious! Highly recommend finding out how to make it for dinner during these hot summer months. We added some corn on the cob and rice to go with it. Yum! Tonight is Chinese. Asian Mama's Chicken (it's like an orange chicken recipe). I love food!

Finding that Groove

Most of us have something that we enjoy. I happen to enjoy writing. Ironically, it can sometimes feel like a chore to get started, but I ALWAYS feel amazing during and after writing. It's cathartic and wonderful. Unfortunately, it seems that something always comes up to interrupt my flow of creative energy. Or my groove, as most people refer to it. You could call it 'the zone,' also.

Today, it was a bit of unfortunate news. I was busy editing Totems and outlining a new chapter insert. Things were going wonderfully. Then I got a text. You see, we've been searching for quite some time for a new place to rent. We thought we had found the place. It was hinted several times that we would be able to rent. The text I received was from the landlords. Although not stated point blank, the 'feel' of the text is that we may not be able to move in after all. We've been searching for months! The place we have to move to (my husband's job is in that area and he's the breadwinner and I'm the homemaker) is expensive for housing...My groove was effectively shot.

So, what do you do? Well, if you're reading this, you probably know what I did. I wrote anyways. I just had to change my topic. Some people might even call this 'venting.' It has certainly helped, whatever you want to call it! You, however? You'll do what you have to do, if your groove is really that important to you. And you know what you need to do. Follow your instincts (unless they're illegal...don't follow your illegal instincts!). Your groove will be back!

And you don't need to worry about us. I know that we'll be fine. This is just a stumbling block in the road of life. Things will work out. They always do. That's the great thing about grooves. You can't stop them forever. :)

Totems Editing

Currently, there are 25 chapters in Totems and I just finished editing chapter 19. I have a feeling that there will be a few more chapters by the time I'm finished! I have this nasty of habit of moving to the main scenes of action and miss the opportunity to subplot and what have you. I've got some work to do, but I believe I'm getting better as a writer. Practice, practice, practice!

We all have dreams. Unfortunately, none of us are born with the perfect ability to do what we wish. We have to practice. I think we tend to have a 'knack' for those things that make us the happiest, an inborn indicator of what dreams we should follow. But a sword that has not been sharpened and honed will never be first choice when it comes to battle. Hahaha! Stupid analogy. But I'm not going to erase it. Maybe someone else will get a chuckle out of it. Again, I have practice to do, clichés to break and create.

I also need pictures! I've got to practice creating book covers, for one thing. And the pictures work well as book covers, in my opinion. Of course, I could be horribly wrong. No one has commented yet on my book cover...no news is good news? Or it could be bad in this case.

New Pages

If you haven't already, take a moment to notice the new pages. :) I figure that if I'm going to be an author, I better give you a place to find what I've written and to keep track of what's coming up! It's also an easier way for me to keep track of what's going on. After teaching junior high for a bit, I know that having a lot of names in your head can get confusing...imagine having entire WORLDS stored up in your head! So, here's my little bit of organization. Hopefully I'll get to add more pages to my blog as more worlds come into being.

First Draft!

The first draft of my second book is complete! :) Totems: The Sword and the Shield. Of course, now comes to tedious part that I think does in most authors...editing! Oh well. I love writing. And I get so excited re-reading things that I've already written! And that excites me even more!

Totems: The Sword and the Shield

"Arianwyn is nothing more than a lowly orphan, passed over and abused in a tiny mountain village where family is everything (Hmmm, maybe I need to make that more prominent in the story). When the abuse becomes too much, she flees the village. She has no hope for a future; she only knows that the present is too painful to continue living.

After living on her own in the woods, she comes across an awesome (and dangerous) creature. A dragon. This dragon, however, has been captured under a magical net. In her attempt to rescue the creature, the dragon forms an unbreakable bond between them.

After fleeing still more abusive situations, Arianwyn finds herself living under the nose of King Rael, a man looking for a wife and hoping for a miracle."

How's that for a book reading? I'll have to ask my beta readers...speaking of which, wanna be a reader? ;)