Who Wants to Party?

As some of you know, it's been nearly ten years since I began the Rizkaland Legends. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure when we sat down and decided to make a better Narnia movie, but I do know that (1) it was about the time the first Narnia movie came out, and (2) school was out of session at the time. Christmas/New Years feels right, so that's when I'm going to celebrate.

(My other option was summer some time, but since I'm going to be celebrating Sew's fifth birthday then, and then plunging into LDTD's publication ... hopefully ...)

So I'm planning a party. It will run from December 25th through to December 31st. There will be a lot of Rizkaland-themed goodness. The main giveaway will be an Alpha-read of the (hopefully) newly-finished Lady Dragon, Tela Du. This will be a random drawing, though I won't be using rafflecopter this time. I'll be using my good old system of tally marks and random.org, because I want to tailor this giveaway to the party. How to get entries in the contest will consist of participation in the games, comments on blog posts, and such and so forth. I'll be letting you know what gets how many points.

For instance, any blog comment on my blog on any Rizkaland-tagged post during that week (ANY post in my blogging history) will earn you an entry.
Taking the picture at the top of this post, putting it on your sidebar, and linking it to this post, will earn you two points.
Having written a review for Water Princess, Fire Prince, will earn you a four points, and an extra point for everywhere you post it. (So if you have it on your blog, Amazon, and Goodreads, that's seven points!) I do require that you email me with a link to each review you have written, so I can tally them.

As for contests, I know I'm going to hold a fanart contest. This is something you need to start working on NOW because the deadline is the 25th. There will be four winners chosen: Three category winners based on Skill, Interpretation, and Uniqueness, and a Grand Prize.

Skill: Basically what it says. The picture that shows the greatest skill.
Interpretation; This is the picture that has the greatest interpretation of the story, whether it be characters a landscape, or such.
Uniqueness: This is for the most unique bit of art. Doesn't have to be a drawing. Have fun with this one!
Each category prize will win a $5 Amazon Gift Card, as well as a chance to read Part 1 of LDTD. (But no more!)
The Grand Prize: This is for the picture that is the best at all three. This one's prize will be a boxed set of the BBC versions of the Narnia movies, as well as a chance to read Part 1 AND 2 of LDTD.

You can send multiple entries.

I haven't decided yet whether or not to do a fanfiction contest, because I'm not sure there are enough people who would do this. So I've determined to leave the decision to you guys. If you want me to do a fanfic contest, send me a fanfic of 1,000 to 5,000 words. If I get at least three fanfics, I'll hold the contest. Otherwise, I'll just post what I get on the AA blog during the party. If I do get enough entries, the prize will be a autographed copy of Water Princess, Fire Prince.

Due to money restraints, this will probably be the only copy of the book that I'll give away. I'm sorry, folks, but I'm looking at my projected finances for the next two months, and my money is going to be tight. I have some large purchases that I need to make, as well as Christmas, and I've requested fewer hours at work next month, so I can Lady Dragon, Tela Du written.

Moving on, and on the subject of the AA blog, I'll be posting at least three or four never-before-read snippets on that blog over the course of the party, on the theme of Rizkaland. So far I have planned Amber and Granite's wedding/coronation, Andrew and Clara's arrival in the Kastle from the Wind Prince's POV, and Clara and Andrew's first date in the real world. For those of you who don't know, the AA blog is a secret blog I have for those who have read my books and want to know those little bits that are in my head, but will probably never make it into the official books. To gain access, all you need to do is email me with your request, and have read either all three of the Bookania Quests, or WPFP.

On this blog, I'll posting snippets from old drafts that have been long since retired, not to mention the FIRST CHAPTER of book 2. I may also post the first chapter of part 2. We'll see how it goes. I haven't written it yet, so I don't know how many spoilers it's going to have.

There will also be a Character Q&A, over here on this blog, where I'm going to corral all of the Rizkaland characters and force them to answer the questions that YOU submit. You can submit them either in email, or on the appropriate character thread on the Goodreads Group. Each question you submit will earn you an entry for the giveaway.

I'm also going to host a character dress-up exhibition. You may dress up as any Rizkan character you like, email me a picture, and I'll post at some point during the party. You may dress up as up to three characters, and you can earn five points for each picture you send me.

I'm also going to try out vlogging this week. Five to seven videos of me talking about Rizkan-related stuff. I might review Narnia media in this video as well.

There won't be a Facebook, as I stand after NaNo with still two parts unwritten, I won't have time to plan a party for Facebook. Perhaps next year.

Two more things, ways you can convince me to give away more prizes: First of all, if you glance at my sidebar, you'll notice that my Followers box has 86 people. If there are 100 shiny faces in that box by the time the party ends (December 31st), then I'll add a second Alpha Giveaway Winner to the main giveaway. Also, if the Rizkaland fangroup is 50 people strong by the end of said party, I'll give a signed copy of the book away to a random member. This requires 28 more members ...

Sound good to you guys? Good. Comment below with any questions or suggestions you might have.

Interview with Grant Weathersby

“M’lady, it has been fairly well confirmed that the Redona was hidden away by the merfolk at the conclusion of the Great War instead of destroyed as was commanded. My brother has confirmed to me Joseph’s belief that it was concealed at the Crossways.”

Toarna pressed her fingertips together in thought. “It must be recovered and destroyed as was at first intended.”

Emily, Allan, Jill, and Joey have been reunited with their long lost ancestors. But with that reunion comes the true beginning of their quest: free the rightful king of Calhortz so that he may be restored to his throne. The Redona, the only object that can free him from his long imprisonment, is rumored to be concealed in The Crossways, a mountain across the sea which cannot be entered.

A slave since birth, Adriel’s resentment and hatred towards the strytes only grows as his family is continually ripped from him. He longs for the freedom the Time Captives are prophesied to bring, but he doubts their existence, just as he doubts God’s love. Circumstances in Calhortz are so dire. How could they ever improve?

Who can enter The Crossways? Will the king ever be freed? Or will the slaves of Calhortz lose all hope of freedom before it is even offered to them?

The Crossways is the second book of the Time Captives trilogy, a tale of faith, family, fantasy, and a fight for truth and freedom.

Buy Now

Kindle ~ Paperback ~ Signed Copy

Add on Goodreads

Here's my final post for Morgan Elizabeth Huneke's blog tour,

Via Pinterest

1. Hi Grant! Welcome to my blog! What would you like my readers to know about you?

Hi! I’m a sailor on my brother’s merchant ship the Falcon’s Wing. When my sister got married, Cap’n took me on as cabin boy, but I’ve since moved up. I love being at sea and hanging out with Eleanor and playing jokes on the rest of the crew. It’s a great life, if you don’t count pirates and storms and sea monsters and such. And I get to live it with my brother and my best friend, so nothing could be better. Well, one thing could be better, but I’m only sixteen still.

2. You're a sailor. What is your favorite part of life at sea?

Being out in the open ocean. It’s just so amazing to sit up in the crow’s nest or in the rigging and look around at nothing but water as far as the eye can see. You feel so free. No cares or worries up there. You feel so small and insignificant, but at the same time like you’re the biggest thing in the world, like you’re the only thing, really. It’s best though, with Eleanor there. We get to see it all together, then. We have some great conversations too. Sometimes about how awesome God is to create all this. No way it could have just happened like the strytes like to think. Come to think about it, I think it’s seeing the open ocean with Eleanor that I like best. I liked it before I met her, but I like it better now.

3. Your brother is the captain - how would you describe your relationship?

*grins* It’s good. See, I’m the youngest and sort of the baby of the family, so I kind of tend to get away with stuff. Cap’n tries to be like a father to me, since we don’t have one anymore, but he’s still my brother and acts like it. It was the same thing with my sister Moriah before I went to sea with Cap’n. She tried to be a mother, but she still acted more like a sister. Cap’n’s not really much of a captain to me either. I mean, he still tells me what to do on the ship like he does the rest of the crew, but it’s different. Not that he’s like a dictator to them either, he actually knows how to lead, but he acts more like a brother to me than a cap’n. He actually likes it when I play jokes on him, even though he might act like he doesn’t. And, don’t tell him I said this, but he really is my hero, he was even before Moriah got married, so I do respect him and listen to him. I just want to make the Falcon’s Wing a fun place to be. Life at sea isn’t easy, after all.

4. How would you describe the Time Captive Eleanor?

The best girl I know. I don’t know very many, but still, she’s my best friend and that counts for something. She’s really pretty, but she’s not even close to prissy either. She’s great to talk to and hang out with, and she’s gotten to be pretty good on shipboard. Now, since she’s a Time Captive, she doesn’t ever change physically, but that doesn’t bother me at all. She’s growing up in all other ways. I can’t imagine ever living without her now. *sighs contentedly* I’ve really got a great life. I’m living my dream at sea with the best brother I could ask for and the best most amazing best friend that I never even could have imagined.

5. What is the most interesting place you have ever visited?

Well, we mostly just make trips between Briznom and the Yatachee Islands since we’re merchants, not explorers, but there was this one time when we were blown off course and ended up at a pirate island called Corunucia. There’s a sort of abandoned fortress there that was built by merfolk, so it has some pretty neat technology. It’s got running water and secret doors and all sorts of stuff. But there were pirates hiding away there, and when we went ashore to see what we could do about the storm damage to the Falcon’s Wing, they captured us and put us in these cells with a genetic lock. Don’t ask me how it works, only the merfolk know that. But they didn’t lock Eleanor up since she’s a girl and they were going to use her for ransom or something. Thank goodness they didn’t know she was a Time Captive, or we’d have really been in trouble. They took all our cargo and they were going to kill Cap’n because we knew where their island was, only we didn’t really because of the storm. To make a long story short, Eleanor snuck us out and we foiled the murder and taught that pirate a lesson. I’d like to go back there without murderous pirates, though, because it was a really neat fortress.

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest.

Giveaway

Join in the excitement of Time Captives and enter to win a special prize! The first prize winner will receive a signed copy of The Crossways. The second prize winner will receive an eCopy of The Crossways in the eBook format of his/her choice. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crossways Character Spotlight - Jaysen

It's 2:30 in the morning as I write and schedule this post. I have work today. But I rediscovered my kindle yesterday and proceeded to read all day. And my mom decided to clean my brother's room yesterday. It was fun.

Anyway. I'm here for the blog tour of The Crossways by Morgan Elizabeth Huneke, which is an amazing book that released today, and if you haven't read it's prequel Creighton Hill, you are really missing out in life. I'm doing a character spotlight thing. Um, let me just tell you about the book first.

About the Book

“M’lady, it has been fairly well confirmed that the Redona was hidden away by the merfolk at the conclusion of the Great War instead of destroyed as was commanded. My brother has confirmed to me Joseph’s belief that it was concealed at the Crossways.”

Toarna pressed her fingertips together in thought. “It must be recovered and destroyed as was at first intended.”

Emily, Allan, Jill, and Joey have been reunited with their long lost ancestors. But with that reunion comes the true beginning of their quest: free the rightful king of Calhortz so that he may be restored to his throne. The Redona, the only object that can free him from his long imprisonment, is rumored to be concealed in The Crossways, a mountain across the sea which cannot be entered.

A slave since birth, Adriel’s resentment and hatred towards the strytes only grows as his family is continually ripped from him. He longs for the freedom the Time Captives are prophesied to bring, but he doubts their existence, just as he doubts God’s love. Circumstances in Calhortz are so dire. How could they ever improve?

Who can enter The Crossways? Will the king ever be freed? Or will the slaves of Calhortz lose all hope of freedom before it is even offered to them?

The Crossways is the second book of the Time Captives trilogy, a tale of faith, family, fantasy, and a fight for truth and freedom.

Buy Now

Kindle ~ Paperback ~ Signed Copy

Add on Goodreads

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest.

And now the spotlight. This was actually one of my favorite characters in the book, though minor, I really wanted to get to know more of his story - though I have hopes of doing so in the final book of the trilogy. I generally identify with the oldest children in books, probably because I'm one myself.

Character Spotlight: Jaysen

Appearance: Tall and broad-shouldered, muscular, with a dark tan and brown hair and eyes.

Age: 18

History: Jaysen was born a slave on Tuvya and Jardeena’s plantation. He is the oldest of six children, and Adriel’s older brother. When he was thirteen, he was sold to become a gladiator. By the time of The Crossways, he has become a trainer.

Author’s Notes: Jaysen was an interesting character to develop, thankfully one of the easy ones. Actually, Adriel’s entire family was easy, and every one of them is different. My sister and I enjoy comparing and contrasting Jaysen and his next oldest sister Ariela. Because they are quite unique.

Jaysen definitely fulfils the role of a bossy big brother. He wants the best for his siblings, and he wants them to do the right thing, but the way he tries to make that happen is by trying to control them. He tends to give lectures, too. I like Jaysen, a lot, but at the same time, I can understand why Adriel never really got along with him. Adriel doesn’t like to be controlled, and Jaysen tends to control. It was an interesting dynamic to work with, and I’m excited for Jaysen to meet the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can check out more of the tour on the author's blog, here.

And you will be hearing more from me about this book, because it's a really good book, especially after I tore it to shreds this summer.  *coughcough* I was on the rebound from editing WPFP, so my beta read of the story turned into an edit. But, then, by beta style has always been edits-heavy.

Also there's a giveaway! 

Giveaway

Join in the excitement of Time Captives and enter to win a special prize! The first prize winner will receive a signed copy of The Crossways. The second prize winner will receive an eCopy of The Crossways in the eBook format of his/her choice. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Um, things?

Wait a moment? Weren't we just in September? Um ... why are we now half-way through October? How is my baby sister suddenly six years old? (Honest question, because this week is her birthday.)

What happened to this little thing????????

TIME FOR AN UPDATE!

First of all: As all of you know, I was working on school and I was doing really well ... but looking at my writing schedule earlier this month, I realized that, if I'm going to succeed in entering the 5 Magic Spindles contest, I need to have the story written by the end of October at the latest, and if I'm going to have Lady Dragon, Tela Du out by this time next year (I'm looking at maybe September 15th as a release date. Maybe.), I need to have it written by Christmas. And in order to do that, I need to have at least part 1 finished by the start of NaNo.

For both of those goals, I need to write about 6,000 words on Poison Kiss, and maybe a bit more than that for Lady Dragon, Tela Du. By the end of October.

So. I'm pushing School back to the back burner, and will instead be sacrificing January and February to its cause. This is the time I spent on Kingdom's release this year, and it was the time I was considering giving to the collection ... but I'm afraid that that will have to go on hold as well. I'm not sure when that will come off of hold.

I will continue working on school this month, I need to take notes for the research paper while I still have the books out of the library, and I want to have my Chemistry book finished by the end of December. Not sure what I'm going to do with math, The graphs and I aren't talking right now, and I'm not budging until they agree to be nice to me.

I am planning a Rizkaland themed party during the week between Christmas and New Year's, celebrating ten years working on this series. Not sure what all I'm going to do with it, but I do know I'll have character Q&A's and a fanart contest. Feel free to suggest ideas. What would you like to do for the party?

But, yeah, the current word count for Poison Kiss is 6,850, though I'm currently stuck on a scene involving some backstory. Word count for LDTD is 14,005, and Amber is about to give a speech. Also, have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying writing a younger Ritis? In all the previous drafts, I only got to write him after he was old and beaten. I just wrote a scene between him and Amber, and he's such a wise, brave soul.

So that's what I've been doing, and what I will do.  Once more, what would you guys like to do for the party?

Beautiful Books: This is What I Shall Do

NaNo time is almost upon us, and therefore all the good little writers are busy plotting away at the novels they're going to write this year. Am I doing the same? OF COURSE I AM!!

And of course I'm going to link up with the Beautiful Books thing that Cait and Sky host!

Also, for those of you who are on NaNo, my username is Kendra E. Ardnek. Feel free to befriend me. I'll probably friend you back when I get the chance.

1.How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

The first version of this story was born of a desire to write a better version of the Narnia movies. I've been working on it for nearly ten years, as such.  (And yes, I will be throwing a party come the ten-year-mark, everyone will be invited. There will be cake. And Pommela Cider)

2. Why are you excited to write this novel?

Because this is the novel I've been working on for TEN STINKIN' YEARS!! I'm ready to be done with it and have it in the hands of my readers.
3. What is your novel about, and what is the title?

In case you didn't notice from the fact that this is the book I've been working on for TEN YEARS!!!, and the mentions of my plans that I have posted around the internet, yes I'm doing Lady Dragon, Tela Du this year. Yes, it's a rewrite, and yes, this draft is already 10% of the way done (and I'm hoping to have it pushed to 20% by the time NaNo starts), but I need this book written, and I can't spare the NaNo oomph to any other story at the moment.

What's it about? It's about the Lady Dragon, also known as Amber, who is bent on world domination, and the Tela Du, also known as Petra, who is the girl prophesied to bring Amber down, and who wants nothing to do with her fate. 

This is a fancover that one of the readers of WPFP made. Gorgeous, isn't it?

4. Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!)

I have a lot of characters. This may take a while.
 

via Pintrest

Petra(She needs glasses, though): Perfectionist

Amber: Entitled

Via Pinterest

Reuben: Adventure

Granite: Steady

Via Pinterest

Laura: Journey

Via Pinterest

Summer: Free-spirit

Tyler: Hardworking

Via Pinterest

Ashna/Ashley: Alone

And there are other characters, but that's a fair enough representation for now.

5. Which character(s) do you think will be your favourite to write? Tell us about them!

I can already say from experience that there are a lot of fun characters to write with in this book. But I'm going to go with Laura, because, as a friend and I were discussing last night, she can make any scene awesome.

6. What is your protagonist’s goal, and what stands in the way?
Petra's goal is not to defeat Amber. Petra's goal is to find her sisters that disappeared with no trace except her memory and Reuben's. Also, to have a normal life. She thinks that this whole adventure into Rizkaland and quest to kill a Dragon is what stands in her way. Actually, it's more of her own stubbornness. 

7. Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!)

The main setting is Rizkaland, Rizkaland proper this time, in Loray Castle, though we will be spending time back at the Kastle, getting to meet the many-greats-granddaughter of everyone's favorite Water Princess and Fire Prince. Also, in Amber's castle, which can become a frightful maze of passageways and traps. (I'm rather looking forward to writing part 4...)

On earth, the setting is mainly an old house that I probably ought to name, but haven't yet. It was Arden Orphanage for a long time, but it's no longer an orphanage. Anyways, it's an old house that also has a lot of passageways and hidden rooms, and is also a lot of fun to explore.

8. What is the most important relationship your character has?
Petra has a number of incredibly important relationships in this book: with Laura (which is, granted, one of the most important relationships in the series), with Ashna, with Amber herself...

But I'd say the most important one in this book is with Reuben. He's been her best friend her whole life, and he's also her love interest. Something she's not happy about because does not think of him like that at all. He loves her though, and even asked her to marry him when they were five and seven. She told him to wait until they were older (she's incredibly romantic like that. Not.) Now that Rizkaland has taken over their lives, they are caught by the same Rizkan law that required the Union of Clara and Andrew in the first book.

But, as annoyed as she is with the change in their relationship, he's still the sanity in her life, he's still the person she goes to when she thinks everything is falling apart.

Also, they gain really cool telepathic powers over the course of the book, and watching them use them to strengthen their relationship is going to be fun to write.

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

She'll learn that sometimes life doesn't happen the way you want it to, and that's okay, because oftentimes, it's better that way.

10. What themes are in your book? How do you want your readers to feel when the story is over?

There are a lot of themes in this book, some of the most important being unconditional love, forgiveness, courage, dedication, letting go and trusting in God.

And I know I'm going to be emotionally exhausted when I finally finish writing this book, and it'd be nice if my readers felt the same. ;)

11. BONUS! Tell us your 3 best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.

1. Keep putting words on the paper, and don't stop.

2. But make them your best words. Otherwise things aren't going to look pretty once NaNo ends. (You want to be able to salvage your work, after all)

3. Don't get distracted by the forums.

Character Encounter - October 2015

Three years ago today, I bravely posted a new sort of post that I hoped would draw more readers to my blog, and encourage interaction. In any case, I thought it'd be a ton of fun and a good method of character development.

Three years of Character Encounters. I've posted almost every month. Some months have received more attention than others, but it's been enough that I keep them going, even on months that I don't actually do them myself.

So I'm back again for yet another encounter. Where are we going for the next portion of the journey?

The Road

On the road again ... just can't wait to be on the road again ... You guys know the drill. Interpret it as you will, and have fun.

And since this is the anniversary post, extra bonus level! Have your character bring a pet!