The Mothers in my Writing

Happy mother's day! Everyone, do me a favor and go give your mother a huge hug for me. Kay? Kay. And your Grandmothers, too, if you can manage it. I lost my Grandmother on mother's day, nine years ago.

But, sad stuff aside, let's talk about fictional mothers. Particularly the mother's in my own writing. (I'll feature the mothers in my favorite books by other people next year, kay?) It seems to be a trend in fiction, especially in fantasy, to kill off the mothers, but I like to rebel against that. Mothers are awesome people, see. And the good ones know to let their children go off and adventure. I've killed off a few, but, for the most part, they're all alive and kicking.

So, yeah, let's get started. In no particular order and with no number cap.

Isa: Let's start off with Clara's mom in Water Princess, Fire Prince. You only see her in one scene at the end of the book, but she's such a core part of Clara's character that I can't help but mention her (especially as she plays a much larger role in Love and Memory. I need to finish writing that.). She's a woman who wanted a large family, but due to an accident in her teens, ends up with only Clara - and ten miscarriages. She's a woman based on my mother and paternal grandmother, and, oh, she hurts my heart so much.

Maid Marian: Let's hop over to Bookania now to talk about this lovely lady. While she is a mother in her own right, where she shines is in her mentor relationship with Robin. See, she does see Robin as her daughter (for spoiler reasons). And Robin very much benefits from a positive relationship with an older woman.

Andrew: Wait, what? A guy? Why am I putting a guy on a list of mothers??? Okay, hush. I'm just saying that this fellow deserves an honorable mention for stepping up after he lost his mother in a car accident (see, I DO have a few maternal casualties), and was mom to his three younger brothers. At twelve. Poor boy.

Petra: Oh, you guys haven't really read her as a mother, but let me just say, the mother-daughter relationship that develops between her and Laura is beautiful. And she does have children of her own, and she's a wonderful mother to them, too.

Robin: Again, you guys haven't read her as a mother yet but readers of the revised Do You Take This Quest? know that she has adopted a whole orphanage of children (her new husband ran the place), and readers of My Kingdom for a Quest know that their own is on the way. And, let me just say, motherhood looks very good on Robin. Really mellows her out and gives her a direction in life.

Erika: Aka, the Eternal Queen. I haven't finished writing this book - I've barely started writing it, but her relationship with her granddaughter has been fun thus far, especially since she's physically younger than her granddaughter (due to the cyclical nature of her life). And I'm very much looking forward to writing the resolution of her relationship with her own mother.

Rintaya: This is a woman whose baseline of her personality is "mother." She's Ashna's stepmother in Lady Dragon, Tela Du, and Ashna really scores with her stepmother. A very kind, understanding woman ... who may or may not be hiding some pretty interesting secrets.

Emily: Aka, Jen's mom in The Ankulen. I don't know if I've ever mentioned her by name before. But she's a dear lady, who, like Isa, wanted a large family but only ended up with just one daughter. She chose the route of adoption, though that ... turned out interesting. Oh, but her backstory's sad.

Queen Blanche: Stardrana's mother in Half-Hidden, and another character for whom "mother" is the baseline of her personality. She would sacrifice anything for her children - and has. Ah, but her story's so tragic, and I really can't wait to share it with all of you.

Queen Tailya: One of Jen's imaginary friends in The Ankulen - to whom was given children before a husband. Yeah ... kid logic isn't always the soundest.

Queen Camilla: Eric's mother in Bookania. She was never the prettiest of women, and her husband is ... shallow. So, once she'd provided him with his heir and spare, was pretty much left alone. Pretty much the source of most of the good parts of Eric's character. Such a dear woman.

And ... there's my list. There are some others that I have in my WIP's who I didn't mention, including several who are negative influences (Queen Charlotte, Queen Adelaide), but I'm going to stop here. This is a good list.

Birthday Happy, Me!

Today is my birthday. I'm 22. Frankly, I'm not sure how that happened, since I still haven't given it permission to be 2017 yet, and am still considering allowing myself to be 21.

Anywho, it's my birthday. *tosses confetti* (If anyone wants to get me a gift, I accept donations towards paying for my computer. Don't feel obligated. You could also send me random bits of writing to kendraeardnek@gmail.com)

To celebrate, I'm going to make a list of 22 of my WIP's that I can't wait to write and get into your hands. No particular order. Enjoy!

1. Bookania #5. This is the book where Maryanne first gets to really shine, and the book where Rapunzel shows up. In fact, the title may be related to Rapunzel. It might also be related to Meg, who gets the main romance in this book. I'm especially looking forward to writing the proposal scene(s). I'll have you guys rolling.

2. Half-Hidden. Readers of the Ankulen know of a certain redhead whose father wrote stories about dragons. Well, Half-Hidden is that story. I crack into some heavy topics, and the world building is awesome. This won't be a kids' book, though, and I may be rating it as New Adult, instead of YA like my other writing.

3. Love and Memory. The third book of the Rizkaland Legends. I know that all of you are looking forward to this story ... but boy is it breaking my heart right now. My poor characters. But it's gonna be awesome, too. You guys will probably place me firmly within the ranks of evil authors for this story ... even without killing half the cast.

4. Bookania #6. This book has pirates. And Cinderella. And the Odessey. And the Merchant of Menace. This is one story you guys won't want to miss.

5. Rizkaland #5. While I do like the story of book 4, and you won't want to skip that book - it's the center of the series for a reason, book 5 is the one I'm really looking forward to writing. Convoluted timeline, finding out what happened to a certain character's mother, Clara's Chinese heritage coming in handy ... it's going to be awesome.

6. ROCKS. The first volume of my Superhero Dystopia trilogy. This world is so much fun to write, and I love the subversions it places on its genres. Also, it has such a dynamic cast of characters. Everyone has a story, and the stories are all so interestingly interconnected. Also, Roxanne might get to rule the world. We're currently negotiating the details.

7. Bookania #8. This is a bit of an "It's a Wonderful Life" story. It'll star Robin, and everything'll get turned on its head. I'm looking forward to this. Not a nice alternate world, though. If this were the actual timeline, I wouldn't need Love and Memory to push me into the ranks of evil authors.

8. Sing, Aling. One of my contributions to my sister's sci-fi series, this is a sci-fi retelling of Peter Pan, focusing on the Tinkerbelle character, Aling. The story is turned completely on its head, as Peter and Wendy are established recurring characters throughout the series, and this sprang from my asking the question of "hey, how does Tink factor in?"

9. The Worth of a King. This is the book that Jack and I were writing together, but Jack had to bail on and I'm now rewriting it on my own. Don't miss out, though, because it features an intense cast of characters, awesome worldbuilding, a twisting plot, lots of political drama that leads to relationship drama, and Amber and Granite before Amber took up the Dragon Scale. Yes, a GOOD Amber. I can't wait to write her.

10. Bookania #10. You know how Robin always wanted to run away from home but could never muster the courage? Her daughter doesn't have that problem.

11. Rizkaland #6. The only timeline more convoluted than 5's is 6's. Andrew's younger brother, Kyle, and Kevin's younger sister, Tina, are the main characters. And Tina might have a crush on Andrew. And according to the people scouring my Pinterest board, there are babies involved.

12. The Nine Gems of Virtue. Like Half-Hidden, this story belongs to a secondary character in The Ankulen. I've also stolen this story from my mother. Diverse characters, creative worldbuilding. incredible plot twists. And did I mention that the "Nine Gems" are based on the fruit of the Spirit?

13. Bookania #12. This book ... will involve Maryanne trying to make a new friend ... but instead triggering a curse and she and some of her other friends will have to venture into the unknown parts of Bookania and comfront their worst fears in order to break the curse. It's gonna be awesome, especially the part with the wolves and a certain girl in a red hood.

14. Jessica's Summer. This is an interesting story about a girl who becomes Summer. As in, the season. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome.

15. Bookania #14. This one is a revisit to the alternate timeline of book #8. This time, but a different character. It's going to be great.

16. Rizkaland #7. JEJS. The final book of the series. I have five deaths confirmed for this book. You will cry. You have been warned.

17. The Eternal Queen. This story is mentioned in LDTD, and it will be awesome and intense. And you might find a plot twist involving Laura. You'll love it.

18. Bookania #16. This is probably the ... fourth Bookania plot that I came up with. It mostly involves a Greek myth and Arthurian Legend. Stay tuned.

19. Shut the Door. This is Lucy's story. Yes, the same Lucy that Laura mentioned both in WPFP and LDTD. I was plotting around with the climax and ... it was intense. (And this is one of the annoying stories that have been bothering me with the lack of title, and I just came up with this beauty, and I'm just going to leave all of you guessing as to what it means)

20. Bookania #19. I was talking with a friend about this one the other day. This is my Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling. It's based off of the French version, rather than the Grimm, and may involve a subtle commentary on substance abuse. And grief, love, and what happens when the Happily Ever After crashes and burns. (Also, the fox shows up in this book ... I can't wait to introduce all of you to the fox)

21. Fire and Song. This one came from a random song that I woke up with one day, which I think was vaguely inspired by Frozen. It involves birds and fire. And it's going to be awesome.

22. Infiltration. This book serves as a sort-of bridge between my Rizkaland multiverse and my sisters Sci-fi system. It's inspired by Hobbits, and the plot by an element of the Left Behind series (not the rapture part, but the mark part). How would we behave if there was a physical mark on true believers? Also herbs. I love herbs.

And there we go. Any of these that you're particularly lookign forward to? Anything on my WIP list that you think that I missed?

Happy Birthday, everyone!

(Oh, and I'm looking forward to letting all of you read the edited version of Sew, it's a Quest. I can't believe that Younger Kendra published that mess.)

You'll Wanna Stick Around For This

So I managed to not write down the post I planned to write today on the schedule. Therefore, you guys have no idea that I decided to toss it out the window and run with a completely different idea.

I'm going to talk about the stories that are to come with the Rizkaland Legends, both in the official series and the connected novels, and why you're going to want to read them.

Love and Memory. We'll start out with the newly announced book three. I talked about it on the second day of the tour, so all that I'm going to say is that there will be Clarand, there will be Reutra, and there will be pain. You guys are going to hate me, but will love the story by the end of it. I know what I'm doing, Life is pain. Everyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

Book 4. This volume will introduce you to new main characters Edna, Alex, Quentin, and Louise. Planning-wise, this is one of my weaker stories, I'll admit, so I actually pulled out a notebook to begin writing a VERY rough draft yesterday. Hopefully I'll pull this book together and it won't be the weak point in the series, because I don't want it to be the weak point, and I'm scared it will be. (Though, frankly, I can't point to a single other book in the series and say 'hey, why can't you be the weak one.) But THINGS will happen in this book, and I don't want it to be a failure.

Book 5. I may have mentioned that you'll find out the fate of Andrew's mother in this book. I may have mentioned that Rhoda and Kevin are main characters in this book. I may have also mentioned that two of Clara and Andrew's children are in the book - Timothea and Flynn. I don't think I need to tell you anything else to make you want to read it.

Book 6. Book six happens to be the only book in the series that STILL doesn't have an official title. Which is kinda frustrated. This book happens to have been inspired by some Percy Jackson fanfiction  where Annabeth moves across the US to be closer to Percy and finds that there's a girl at his school who has a crush on Percy and jealousy ensues. How much of that will remain in the book, I won't say, but the main characters include Tina, Kevin's younger sister and Kyle, Andrew's younger brother. Oh, and my pinterest followers have made the observation that there are babies in this book, which I find to be an interesting observation.

Book 7 or JEJS, because I have revealed its initials already. Is the last book in the series, *cue tears* and if you follow me on Instagram or are my friend on facebook, you might have seen me post a picture yesterday where I have the Earth dates of the books in the series, And you may have noticed that this book is set about twenty years after WPFP. So yes, this does mean that it stars the second generation - I have a Clarand daughter and a Reutra daughter confirmed for main characters. I also know that a few of the older generation will be returning to Rizkaland, and that there are five comfirmed deaths.

Now on to the other books.

First the 'lesser' legends that will probably become novellas.

Alphego's Hill. I'm actually not sure I'll ever write this thing in its entirety. But I can promise more snippets on the AA blog.
Through the Mountain. Featuring more Amber being mean, and a Joash story which will be awesome.
Ear of the People. A lot of people want to ship Jasmine and Karlos. This book will confirm or sink this ship. And mwahaha, even thogh there's a sumary of the story at the back of LDTD, I didn't actually confirm if they were a thing or not.

Now the other books.

The Worth of a King. I added Worth to Goodreads last night. You should add it to your book shelf. I'm going to make an effort to release this book, if not the fall of next year, then early in 2018. Because you guys want to read it. Not only is there awesome wordbuilding, political intrigue, and a set of twins whose story will make you cry, but there's a younger Amber and Granite. And by "younger" I mean "nearly three thousand years old." They're a force for good in this novel, and you'll see how totally in love they were back then. Here's a bit of fanart so you can see a glipse of what this book will hold.

The New Division, The next book I'd like to release after Worth is TND, a portal fantasy that begins during the Great Depression on Arden Orphanage. The orphanage where Andrew's dad grew up. Which just so happens to be the house where Petra lives. There are elves, and I'll be dealing with issues such as segregation. slavery, human (well, elven, because the characters in this book are elves) sacrifice, and salvation. Oh, and Jane, Petra's mother, has a scene at the end.

Dragon Song. This book is sort of a companion to Worth, as they tell the story of two sides of one event. However, this is a book you won't be able to read unless you already read Lady Dragon, Tela Du, because it was supposed to be book 3, and there are cameos from Petra and her gang that may ruin your read of LDTD. Just a warning. But this is the book where I developed the stars of Lintooalintae and the Dragon Scale that corrupted Amber.

Fire and Song, This book has almost the weakest connection to the main series. It's set in the same world as Dragon Song, though, and will feature a breif cameo from members of that books cast. But there's a firebird and lots of political and social intrigue, and it's going to be fun.

The Trilogy of Secrets. I have this book down as a series on my WIP page, but it'll probably be released as one book. This book has been going through some plot overhaul lately, though, so I'm not sure. I can tell you that it's about Collie Liano, whose electrical problems cameoed in LDTD, and that there may be a brief cameo from the Rizkaland gang somwhere in the middle.

The Eternal Queen. This is the story of the Eternal Queen of Solar, referenced in LDTD. It's the story of the creation of the cloths that give Amber and Granite their immortality. It's the story of some of Laura's darker days.

And then I have a number of Laura stories planned, from many stages in her life, all of them will make you laugh and cry. Look forward to them, too.

Kindle

Paperback - Yes, it's out. And get it now while it's $14.99, because after the tour is over, it'll go up to $19.99 because it's a big book and I can't put it in the Expanded distribution otherwise.

Interviews:

One Sparrow Song - Ashna

Read, Write, Laugh, DANCE - Amber

Reviews:

Thoughts of Anna S. Brie

Other:

Tyrean Martinson - 5 Reasons to Write with Pinterest Guest post

I'm doing a giveaway, as per normal for a tour. Prize is an autographed copy of LDTD, a 2.5 oz bottle of Citrus Bliss Lotion - my favorite lotion that smells like citrus and vanilla - and a Serenity Bath Bar - which smells like lavender and vanilla and is awesome for relaxing before bed. Giveaway is US ONLY, however. Sorry about that, but ... shipping.

I'm also doing a comment giveaway. The person who leaves the most comments on the blog tour posts - including the interviews, reviews, and guest posts - and my back posts with the Lady Dragon Tela Du or Rizkaland Legend lables will get a sneak peak at either book three or Worth of a King. Possibly both. I'm generous. This giveaway is international, because there is no shipping. (Well, there may be shipping, on your end, once you get the book, but I don't have to pay for it.) Comments on AA posts with the Lady Dragon Tela Du tag also count. (The AA is my extra blog where I post snippets and in-between bits about my characters that have spoilers. It's member only, but if you'll email me telling me that you've read the three Bookanias or at least Water Princess, Fire Prince, I'll add you to the access list.) And I decided yesterday that I'll also count any and all speculations about future Rizkaland and the connecting stories posted on this thread on Goodreads during the the tour. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Other Books

Rizkaland may be the main series, but it's by no means the full story, today I'd like to talk about the (mostly) non-Rizkan stories that will tie in, and possibly fill in a few gaps in the main series.

First of all, I'd like to note that I have four timelines that I use when ordering these books, as well as the Rizkaland Legends themselves.

1. Rizkaland Timeline, which is the order of things by Rizkan time.
2. Earth Timeline, which is the order of things by Earthen time.
3. Amber's Timeline, which is mostly used when exploring her backstory.
4. Laura's Timeline, which is a convoluted, tangled ball that I usually leave alone, but it's occasionally useful.

Good? Good.

Now to the other books that I have planned that you won't want to miss if you're a loyal Rizkan fan.

1. Worth of a King. This is my cowrite with Jack Lewis Baillot, and pre-fall Amber and Granite play a role in it. I can't say yet what sort of role, but I will say that it is one of the stories that Amber has tucked into her library, and a reference or two to the story may be making a cameo at some point in book 2.

2. Dragon Song. This story is, in part, a companion to Worth - how, I can't say - and it was, at one point, going to be book 3 of the main series. Main characters from book 2 will be making large appearances, but I can't say who, just yet, or how.

3. Adventures of Princess Saffron. I need to finish writing this trilogy. I'm about half-way through the second story ... anyways, Saffron makes an apparance in Dragon Song. 

4. The Eternal Queen. This is another Amber backstory - except this time it reaches even further back and features Queen Amorite, Amber's ancestress, whose meddling trapped the royal line in their immortaity.

5. The New Division. This book begins during the Great Depression in the very orphanage where Andrew's dad later grew up, which becomes the house where Petra and her siblings grew up. It also features some POV from Petra's great-grandmother, Amanda Arden, and then at the end, an a breif cameo of some main characters from the series.

6. The Trilogy of Secrets. Two of the main characters from this series, Collie and Susan, live near Petra and Reuben's houses, and their electricty problem is talked about occassionally in LDTD.

7. Infiltration. Have I talked about my elvings, half elf, half something else, before? If I have, have I told you that the elf that they're descended from Rizkan elves? They are! Also, traces of Rizkan abound throughought their culture - indeed, the name of the world is the Rowa - Rizkan for rainbow.

8. The rest of the Mikida Chronicles. Infiltration is technically part of my sister's scifi series, and although it has the strongest connection, tie-ins abound throughout the whole series. Indeed, the main characters of the Eagle's Logs half of the series are two elvings, and two half-human twins who are descended from characters from the Rizkaland legends. (I don't remember, off the top of my head who the ancestors are, however.)

9. An untitled story about Laura set post-Rizkaland. I can't say much about this story, but it takes place several years after book 7 in the earth timeline, and takes place in the same world as Dragon Song. Also, Lucy is in it.

10. Stolen Ideas. This is the book that I recycled Sandra Elizabeth Nedor into. It's interesting, and I hope to share it someday.

And that doesn't even include the "lesser" legends that didn't make it into the main seven of the series. At the moment, I only know of three for certain, but I wouldn't put it past it for more books to appear.

1. Alphego's Hill - The Story of the Eight and the Ten.
2. Through the Mountain - The story of Amber's attack on Klarand 500 years prior to WPFP.
3. Ear of the People - this is a story set about eight years after WPFP, and is about Jasmine and Karlos.

So there's lots of story to look forward! to!

The Story of Notebooks Continued

A couple weeks ago I came to you with a collection of notebooks that I had purchased but wasn't sure what I wanted to write in them. You guys offered your suggestions based on my WIP list, and here are the results.

Blue went to Cayra, natrually. I haven't started writing it, but I'm looking forward to it.

I know that no one actually voted for this story, but it's been wanting me to write it. That blue stripe is supposed to represent a river. Rivers are an important part of the book.

With only one exception, everyone voted for pink to be To Perfect a Fairy Tale. To tell the truth, I've been a bit hesitant about this story, not being exactly sure where I'm going with it ... but I had a nice long conversation with my mom the other night, and now I'm REALLY excited to get this book written.

Wait, you don't remember there being a green? Well, I found some more of these notebooks at a different walmart the other day, so I picked up a few more. Unfortunately, I accidentally got wide ruled, but I'll live with it. Green went to the entire trilogy, because I don't see the books being very long. Haven't started writing them, though.

Ever since Kathryn submitted her version of this book's first chapter, I've been very excited to get back into Jessica's summer. I'm really pleased with how this cover came out. 

Fun fact: Because this notebook was too dark for permanent markers to show up on, this one is done in nail polish.

Why the wings in this picture? Well, you'll understand it once you read it. 

Also, nobody tried their hand at the treasure hunt, so nobody gets to read Woodcutter Quince. Oh, I guess it's just as well, since I've realized that there is a portion that I need to completely rewrite. One of Doranna's scenes. She needs more than internal monologue. I know what I'm going to do with it, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe tomorrow.

And, I set up a which character are you quiz for The Ankulen on Buzzfeed. Go try it out and let me know who you get!

I plan to do a Bookania Princess one next ...

The Love of Pears

Via Pinterest

"There are days when I tire of fish, leaves, and nuts."

Lucin looked up from her place at the river to see that Erica was no longer fishing, but was sitting cross-legged on her rock, staring into the distance.

"But what else would we eat?"

Erica sighed and shook her head. "Where I come from, there are other things. Other sorts of meat and ... fruit."

Lucin couldn't even imagine eating any other sort of creature than fish, but, "What's fruit?"

Eric cocked her head to the side. "It's something like a nut, but instead of a shell, there's a sweet fleshy stuff around it, and you eat that instead of the nut. Most people just throw the nuts away."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"I know, that's what all of you tell me, but you have no idea what I would do for a pear right now."

"A pear?"

"It's a type of fruit, my favorite kind," Erica explained. "But I haven't had one in, oh, I don't know how long. A hundred years maybe? They haven't been in season."

"Oh."

"Maybe I should just let him kill me again - then I might actually get a pear."

"But we need you here!" Lucin protested.

"I know you do. That's why I return, no matter how tired I am of the fish and the nuts and the leaves. My love of pears does not outrank my love for this people."

She winked slowly and pulled a string out of the water, and Lucin gasped as she saw that there was a fish on the end of it. "I have some tricks up my sleeve, Lucin. I'm the Eternal Queen, after all."

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

Okay, so there's my linkup for Rachel Heffinton's Chatterbox this month. For some reason, my characters only get inspired to talk about her topics if they involve food. I'm not sure why. Anyways, this is for The Eternal Queen, a story I'm looking forward to writing when I get to it. 

Let's Build a World Together

Via Pinterest

I have this old plot idea running around in my head dating from my days when I would make up stories with my sister and her best friend. This one is just me and the best friend ... yeah, V was on a I-don't-like-stories thing, leaving Kat and I to make up stories with just the two of us. We had four that I'm still plotting around with.

Anyways, I really like this idea, and it has some serious potential ... but I need to do some world development will ya'll.

What I know about this world:

The pitch of this world is it's ruler - the Eternal Queen. I don't know if she rules the entire world, or just a portion, but she is so called because she seems to be eternal. She goes through fifty year cycles where she'll get older and older until death starts to knock at her door and she simply disappears. At the end of the cycle, she will reappear somewhere at the age ten. She can disappear at any time in those fifty years, but she always reappears at the end of them.

As a child, she appears as pictured above.

No one knows where she goes when she disappears save for herself, and she's not telling anyone. (I happen to know, but I won't say where. Hint: I'm heavily inspired by Narnia in many books.)

Some cycles she will marry, and her husband is called the Mortal King. Her children hold no special title, but their names are all recorded in a special book, and she will often set them and their descendants as governors of farther corners of her world where it is harder for them to travel.

And that's all I know, and I give it over to you. Just comment below with some facet of culture, a bit of physics, a new species of animal or plant. Have fun! You may come back and comment as often as you like, just make sure you wait until someone else has posted and don't contradict anyone if you can help it. (I'll understand if you both post at the same time and I haven't approved the one before yet! If that happens I'll just publish them both and decide later which one I'll use.)

(Each comment that abides by the rules will qualify as an entry to the giveaway)