Title Reveal Bookania #4

Two noblemen, a king and a prince, hide behind a locked door to discus plans that they would rather not have others overhearing.

“Come now, consider my offer,” coaxes the king. “You are but the prince, your hands tied until your brother's death, and the man you fight calls himself the friend of the people. Not many of your soldiers are loyal enough to stand behind you against him.”

“Some are,” says the prince.

“Ah, but would you also incur the wrath of Winthrop and Locksley upon your head alone? Those meddlesome neighbors of ours call the man their friend as well.”

“They haven't bothered me so far.”

“Trust me, my friend, you cannot turn down my offer.”


I told ya'll that I'd be back today with the title reveal for book 4, and reveal it I shall. *Drumroll please ...*

Honor: A Quest In

And here it is! This book begins about a year and a half after the events of Kingdom and 3.5, and it will include:

- Eric and Robin Hood getting kidnapped

- Robin and Maid Marian having to rescue them

- Lots of Robin Hood lore

- A Sand Witch as a major character

- Queen Charlotte's sister being found

- An interesting twist on King Richard.

- Maryanne

- An interesting twist on Mary Poppins

- Your typical Bookanian fun

Unfortunately, I can't give you an expected release date, as it hasn't been written, and I need to get 3.5 and the big collection out first. I'm going to try to have it out by the end of next year, but I'm not sure I can make that promise. 

And ... for those of you who will be making connections and saying "Hey, isn't Rachel Rossano releasing a book of a similar title just next week. Yeah, she is, but ... I had my Honor's title first. I don't remember when, exactly, I settled on this volume's title, but I believe it actually predated Arthur's introduction into the series, so about three years ago.

But on to the stops I'll be making today.

Spiral-Bound: Guest Post - God in Fantasy - Where I share ways of incorporating God into a fantasy world
Author Blog of Morgan Huneke: Author Interview - Where I explain why Robert will no longer be a main character, unfortunately.
Dolls, Books, and Things that Matter: Author Interview - Where I divulge my entire life story. Or ... at least the parts associated with writing. 

And if you haven't picked them up yet, four of my books are currently free:

Sew, It's a Quest (The Bookania Quests Book 1) 
The Woodcutter Quince and Other Stories 
The Ankulen
Do You Take This Quest?

And ... for a limited time, and starting tomorrow, My Kingdom for a Quest is just 99 cents! Snag your copy now and enjoy the fun romp through the world of Bookania.

I thought I told it to start today, but apparently not, and its too late to change it now. But you can enjoy the lower price tomorrow!

And They All Lived Happily After

Well folks, today's the day. The day everyone receives chocolate from their SO and I release a book while eating leftover chocolate from Christmas.

Though ... I think there still is a valentine's York peppermint patty bar in my stash ...

But enough about that. I did not come here to talk about chocolate (however delicious it may be). I came to talk about the book. It's now available to read NOW on kindle, and if you happen to be one of those people who just HAS to buy a paperback, it's available there, too.

There was a day or two when I wondered if it was going to to be able to have the print version out, what with my own computer being out and the kid's computer (which I have been using), driving me nuts. But I persevered. It's not AS perfect as I would like it to be, but it's no worse than its predecessors, and it's nice and shiny.

Anyway, as part of my blog tour, I'm making three stops:

Author blog of Jaye L. Knight: Author Interview, where I randomly discus my scars ... 
Dolls, Books, and Things that Matter: Character Interview - Eric, where he gives some insight into another Bookanian holiday, and his history with Robin.
Butterflies of the Imagination: Author Interview, where I confess my writing process.

Do check them out, they're all lovely blogs, and Jaye's going to be releasing the second book of her Ilyon Chronicles on Tuesday!! It's a gorgeous book, available for preorder, and I heartily recommend it. (Having already read it for reviewing purposes.)

And, if you're interested, and don't have them already, three of my previous books are free on kindle! Pick up your copies and tell a friend!

Sew, It's a Quest (The Bookania Quests Book 1) 
The Woodcutter Quince and Other Stories 
The Ankulen

For those of you who aren't participating in the tour, (or maybe are, but feel like promoting me a bit more), I've devised a quick tag for you to fill out. Have fun with it, and put the link to your post in the comments. I'll be back on Monday with the reveal of the title for book 4.

1. What is your favorite Fairy Tale?
2. Have you read the Bookania Quests yet?
3. What is your favorite Fairy Tale retelling?
4. What is your favorite element of Arthurian Legend?
5. Are you excited about Arthur in Bookania?
6. What is your weapon of choice?
7. Favorite form of art?

The Royal Ball

And now it's time for Chapter 12! Take out your copies of Sew, It's a Quest, and we'll begin!

Don't forget that answering the questions at the end of the post can win you a free paperback copy of My Kingdom for a Quest. 

Also, I have a goodread's group set up for fans of Bookania, and over there, I'm asking for questions for me and my characters to be answered here on my blog. (Though if you aren't on goodreads, you can email them to me, but it's not quite as fun. Honestly, I'm not sure why any book-loving body wouldn't be on goodreads. It's like Facebook, but with books instead of politics.)

 Anyway, the commentary.

Still at Doranna's Castle
This chapter was one of the last to be written, being one of the ones that I skipped over during NaNo. I knew it was something that I needed to write, that it was important to the story, but I just didn't feel like writing it during NaNo.

One reviewer has brought up the fact that despite the urgency of Robin and Robert's quest, they seem to do very little travelling. There are ... two reasons for that. One is the fact that I needed to cover four month's time, and actually had very little planned *cough, cough,* and the other is the fact that Robert would much prefer to NOT be travelling, so if his sister seems to be happy staying in one place at any given time, far be it from him to remind her that they have to keep moving.

The Ball
I'm not sure this is the most logical reason to have a ball. But ... I needed a second dance for character/romance development, so I tossed this one in.


Anyway. We have a ball, and while Rosamond dances with servants and Doranna dances with Casperl, Robert watches wistfully (Poor boy), and Robin is completely bored. Notice once again she is in a dress, but her main complaint is that it's in conjunction with a ball.

Of course Doranna notice the wistful Robert and strongly suggests that he get over his shyness and ask Rosamond.

A confused Robin
Meanwhile, Robin is still bored. Possibly contemplating how welcome it would be if she were to get her sword and make things interesting, and wishing that there was a curtain to hide behind.

She's clearly not paying attention to the dance floor, as she's quite surprised when Rosamond comes by to praise her brother's dancing skill. But before she can ask questions, Rosamond has danced away. Doranna, fortunately, comes to Robin's rescue with her confusing explanations.

More Gills
It seems that one of Rosamond's gifts is dancing - and it's not the mysterious Sayenda's. This is a new fairy: Drayana.

Side note here: I said in a previous chapter that the slippers were more significant than I managed to reveal in the book, and now's the time where I can say why and how. Readers of Take know that Drayana likes to give out physical companions to her gifts, and Rosamond is no exception. That particular pair of slippers will never wear out, will always fit perfectly, and will always match whatever she's wearing perfectly. Side note over.

And while Robin is spluttering over the fact that Rosamond has four Fairy Godmothers, Doranna admits to a third for herself - Kriasta, who's to blame for her constant and courageous laughter.

And while we're talking about fairies, I'm going to make another side note. In a previous chapter, Rosamond confirms that there are seven good fairies, and I actually have all seven fairly well developed to one degree or another (Yifinna, Sayenda, and Fallona are the best, but that's another story). However, during the final stages of editing the book, I realized that, while there had been a complete list in one draft, I didn't even know if I had included every fairy here in Sew. So I did a quick search, to find that yes, indeed, I had! It was such a brilliant moment of relief.

So, the fairies in their proper order and where they're first mentioned:
Fallona the red: R&R's Fairy Godmother.
Malina the orange: Doranna's Fairy Godmother
Drayana the yellow: Rosamond's Fairy Godmother
Lufawna the green: The fairy that Sir Hugh met
Yifinna the blue: The fairy who makes mistakes
Kriasta the indigo: Doranna's Fairy Godmother
Sayenda the purple: Rosamond's Fairy Godmother.

I also manage to reveal the name of one of the fallen fairies ... but later on. There's a second, but I don't think her name has been mentioned yet ...

Favourite Quotes:

“My brother?” she said, to herself, since Rosamond was gone. “Robert? A good dancer?”

She heard Doranna’s laughter, and turned. “Aye,” said Doranna, “It seems as though thy bother hath discovered an hidden talon. Or else it may just be Rosamond sharing again. She does that, and relives it not.”

“I’m not following,” said Robin.

“Worms,” said Doranna. “They are so exacting. I like numbers far better.”

“Are you joking?” asked Robert, “She’s too good.”

“I know,” said Doranna, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “That is why thou shouldst ask her. To keep her from having to prance with the serpents.”

“The servants are better than I am,” said Robert.

“Ask my cousin,” said Doranna. “Thou mayest find thyself survived at thy own skill.”

“I know my own skill,” said Robert. “I’m a terrible dancer.”

“So have claimed many,” said Doranna, she laughed her bird-like laugh. “So have claimed many. Frankly, I think not that she wouldst mind an inferior partner.”

Discussion Questions:
1. Can you dance?
2. What do you think of this rapidly lengthening list of Fairy Godmothers for Rosamond?
3. Are you excited for Kingdom's release tomorrow?

Beautiful Couples - Robert and Rosamond

Via Pinterest

Greetings and salutations! I'm linking up to Cait and Skye's monthly Beautiful People. Since it's February, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner, it's fittingly themed with romance.

And since, for me, I'm also promoting Bookania this month, I'm going to talk about Robert and Rosamond, who I haven't talked about much, mostly because they're private individuals and don't tell me much.

There will be spoilers if you haven't already read Sew, It's a Quest. Not so much for Take, though.

I'm in the middle of plotting out a short story about them, which I hope to include in the book Bookania collection that I'm hoping to have out at Christmastime. It's set during their honeymoon at Robin Hood's camp, and that's the slice of life where I'm taking them for these questions.

1. How long have they been a couple?

From him waking her up from her hundred-year sleep to their wedding was about ... two weeks. And then it's been about two weeks since their wedding until when their short story begins. So ... a month.

2. How did they first meet?

Their "official" first meeting (i.e. the one that most people remember), is when he woke her up from her enchanted sleep. (She was the Sleeping Beauty, for those who aren't aware.)

However, readers of Sew, It's a Quest know that she had a dream-image of Rosamond managed to wake up early, and he and his sister rescued her from some thieves. Rosamond took care of the last of the thieves by asking Zephyr, one of the cloud sprites, to blow him away.

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)

He was rather confused an astonished  because of the whole "I asked the wind to blow for me" thing.

She was mostly relieved to be rescued from the thieves and to be in civil company again. She was also very intrigued by the fact that his sister had been then one to wield the sword and scare off the attackers, while he just watched.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

Yes, I'm swapping 5 and 4. The answers will make better sense this way.

Rosamond is an INFJ and Robert is an INTJ, so yes, they're very similar. They're both quiet, preferring to keep to themselves, and they're both very organized. And they both love to sew.

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

It's their similarities that creates the most friction between them. Robert has spent his life organizing his very haphazard sister. Now that his sister is off and married, he's turned his organization skills to his new wife ... which she resents, because she has her own organization and ... it's going to be interesting to write.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

He would probably would have returned home after his sister's marriage, to train as crown prince, finding himself suddenly with a lot of free time now that he isn't organizing her life for her.

Rosamond ... would probably still be trapped in her enchanted sleep. It's possible that the fairies would have provided a different prince ... but I don't know ...

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

Yes ... and it usually involves the fact that Robert is used to his very independent sister, and sometimes forgets that most girls (especially ones that grew up a hundred years ago), expect a higher level of chivalry from their husbands. Needless to say ... it creates some awkward situations between the two of them.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Not that I know of. Well, Robin had issues with it in book 2, but she's accepted them by this point.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

Um ... they are married at this point. Yes, they see it as long term, since divorce is not something that happens in Bookania (its a fairy tale world of Happily Ever After, after all.)

10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?

Probably to visit friends, or perhaps a quiet picnic in the woods. They're not adventurous people.

Black Horses for the King - McCaffrey

Okay, I'm back with my (possibly final) Arthurian book feature. Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey.

Anne McCaffrey has an almost magical writing style, and back in the day that I NEVER read a physical book in order (these days it's about a 15% read in order), I actually managed to do that with this book. 

BHftK is not a retelling of King Arthur in the traditional sense of the word. In fact. Arthur himself is only a minor character at best. It focuses on a tiny event, barely mentioned in Arthurian Lore. The bringing of black horses to England. It's about the invention of the horseshoe and why it was so important. It's a beautiful story.

I highly recommend it if you love horses, if you love Arthurian legend, or if you love history.

These posts are in promotion of my newest book My Kingdom for a Quest, which will be coming out in less than a week! Today is your last day to sign up for the tour, as I'm taking down the sign-up form tomorrow.

And ... two other orders of business. 

1. My laptop's keyboard is acting up. a good number of keys that I use frequently - including both enter keys, the right-handed shift key, and both controls. Oh, and both the period and comma, and a few letters and numbers.

Fortunately, I have a back-up keyboard that I stole from my sister when she upgraded her computer last year ... so I'm surviving, but I'm about 10% slower typing on this keyboard, which is frustrating.

And, to make matters even more hair-pulling, as I've been writing up this post, ++++++ have been popping up about every five seconds. I'm not sure whether they're a delayed reaction from me pounding on that key (it's one of the ones that are out), or what ... but it's not been fun.

2. And a ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Case in point, I just walked away to do something, and returned to these)

Anyway, second order of business. I'm working on editing Water Princess, Fire Prince, and I'm hoping to have part 1 ready to hand out to beta readers by the end of the month. So, I need you guys to start volunteering. Part 1 is Clara's story, and just over 30,000 words.