Month: May 2013

Lynn Austin in an amazing author and one I highly recommend you read if you haven’t read her books. Today I will feature my favorite novels by her, some of which I’ve read at least three times!

The reason I picked up any of her books was because of this series. I love reading books about the Civil War and this series did not disappoint. So romantic and such an insight into the people of those times. I can’t recommend this series enough!

This book was so good they made a Hallmark movie out of it. To me this is a classic Lynn Austin novel because it has alternating points of view, rich history, romance, and mysterious backgrounds. I’ve read it more times than I can count. You’re in for a real treat with this one.

One of my favorites! I’ve probably read this one more than the others! It’s got three women’s stories, but one of them really was fantastic.

This one is not as romantic as I like, but it was light and so funny. You can’t help but love Alice!

I haven’t read this one more than twice, and it’s not so much like the others. That said, it has stayed with me all these years.

I disremember if this is the first one in the Hezekiah series, but I sure hope Ms. Austin did her research because to this day not only do I love Hezekiah, I go around telling people, now when the Israelites did A, it was because of B.

Her novels will you up and take you many places and her love and relationship with God shines through every book. Anyone else have a favorite of hers? Happy Friday!

About

Ellie Sweet is a lot of things—good girl, novelist, silent adorer of the new boy at school, Palmer. But when “outcast” gets added to the list, she decides it’s time to take reality into her own hands … and tweak it as needed.

In the pages of her book, she’s Lady Gabrielle, favorite of the medieval Italian court. Her once-friends are reduced to catty ladies-in-waiting, and the too-charming Palmer—who in real life never spares her a second word—gets to be nothing more than a rake wracked by unrequited love for her. She even has a perfect real-life villain in the brooding Chase, who hails from the wrong side of town.

But just when she’s getting along great in her fictional world, the real one throws her a few curves. With Chase pursuing her, Palmer wanting to date her—but in secret—and the details of her manuscript going public, Ellie suddenly receives more attention than she ever really wanted. And when her former-friends discover what she’s been writing, they’re determined to teach Ellie a lesson about the severe consequences of using her pen as her sword.

Review

When I first saw what this novel was about, I was a bit hesitant. But you shouldn’t be! This is the first novel I have read by Ms. Morrill, and it won’t be my last. I found this book to be a fabulous YA novel. First off, I found Ellie to be a heroine everyone could relate to. For me in particular, when I was younger, I too wrote stories that included people who got on my nerves in high hopes of a kind of passive revenge (I was never published fortunately). So, I understood Ellie on a lot of different levels. Chase and Palmer. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, I don’t like the two guys and one girl thing. However, it totally worked here. There were a few icky moments (my stomach may have clenched a time or two), but Ms. Morrill managed to iron them out in a way that didn’t leave me frustrated. And of course, it helped that I thought the right guy was chosen in the end, even though I still liked the other guy after it was all said in done (see the dilemma with two guys?). I will say though that I wish high school (and high schoolers)  was as interesting in real life as it was in this novel. On a spiritual note, it is a bit flat in the sense that Ellie mentions she’s a Christian and she prays and goes to church, but there isn’t a lot of spiritual growth. However, if this is a series (and I hope it is!) then I think we would see her grow stronger in the Lord. So much fun and thoroughly engaging! Highly recommended!

Thank you for willing to be interviewed!

1.      What was your inspiration for The Ryn?

Serena:  After re-reading Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine about seven years ago, I thought, “I wonder if I could re-imagine a fairytale in such an original way?” and decided to give it a go. I chose Snow White & Rose Red because it was a lesser-known tale, but had been one of my favorites as a child. I wrote very organically with no outline but the original tale. And, as often happens with organic writers, it veered onto an entirely fresh path. No one was more surprised than me, but I think readers who are familiar with Grimm’s original telling will still be able to “see” it in The Ryn.

2.      When writing a fantasy-like novel, what are some of the challenges you face, if any?

Serena: I often joke that the reason I write fantasy is because I despise research and, when you make up a world’s history as you go, there is no fact-checker who can gainsay you! *laughs* But creating a “world” from scratch has its own challenges, such as topography, geography, and distance calculations, world-unique mythologies, legends, and traditions, level of technology, means of transportation… Oy! I can’t tell you the number of times I had to go back and count the provinces of E’veria and make sure I wasn’t missing any of them or spelling them incorrectly!

3.      How much do you plan in advance when you write? Or are you surprised by your characters actions as well?

Serena: The first draft of books 1 and 2 of the Eyes of E’veria series were written in a whirlwind 5 month stretch of creativity that was unhindered by any sort of planning other than the original fairytale. And I’ll admit: they were horrible first drafts. I just didn’t realize it at the time. It took 7 years to refine them (and my craft!) to the point that I felt they were ready for the world. Now that I’m working on books 3 & 4, and a fresh fairy tale, I’m coming at it a bit differently. I have a rough outline, something I’ve never used before, and that in itself is a bit frightening for a “pantser” like me. I have one or two bits of scripture that are going to define the character arc over the course of the two books, and several scenes already roughed out, that came to life in between rewriting bits of The Ryn and The Remedy. Book 3 is due to my editor on September 1, so I’m already feeling some pressure, but I’m also really excited to go back to E’veria with these new(ish) characters.  

4.      I really liked Rose and thought that she really was a well-rounded character. What or who was your inspiration for her?

Serena: Originally, of course it was the fairytale, Snow White & Rose Red. When I was a child, reading my big pink book of fairytales, I always liked Rose Red best of the two characters in the tale because she was brave. Snow White was meeker, gentler, and, in my opinion, a little boring. She warred against my girl-power sensibilities enough that, even at a young age I thought Rose Red sort of got the shaft because Snow White ended up with the Prince. (I know, it’s a convoluted sense of girl power, but it is what it is!) But as The Ryn came to be, the Rose Red character (Rose/Rynnaia) grew more important and Snow White sort of faded into the background as Rose became this independent young woman. Originally, a large portion of the story took place in the Wood—there was no Veetri in the earliest versions of the tale—but as I revised and revised and revised, Rose became more of her own person—enough so that I had to separate her from Lily (the Snow White character) entirely for quite a while by sending her to Veetri.

So who is Rose? Well, there’s some of me there, of course, and even more of who I wish I could be, but I’d have to say, Rose surprised me as she came out of her shell and became… herself: Rynnaia.

5.      Can you tell us something about The Remedy?

Serena: The big difference between The Ryn and The Remedy will be the type of adventure Rynnaia undergoes. In The Ryn, the main adventure is an internal one—Rose coming to terms with who she is, where she comes from, and what she has been destined to do. In The Remedy, she is Rynnaia, the Ryn, and she actually has to do it – fulfill the prophecy. There is a faster pace to the story and a lot more physical danger and adventure in The Remedy. It releases later this month, so I don’t want to give too much away, but my hope is that, even though the challenges Rynnaia will face in this second book are more concrete, her struggles will carry the same sort of emotional resonance that readers are responding to in The Ryn.