Why, oh why?

My publishers, Kristell Ink, have generously allowed Darkspire Reaches to now retail at 77pennies uk and 99c US after the free period ended. I have no idea how long this offer will hold. If you want it , then get it now.

My second book, Shadow Over Avalon, is available on all ebook platforms except Kobo, who are still behaving like prissy old women throwing an apron over their collective heads. They are apparently objecting to sex scenes from the books by indy authors. Oh quell horreur. I am so utterly mortified. And yet when I went to find a book on sweet smelling flowers, they suggested ‘The Perfumed Garden’. ROTFLMAO. I note they are still listing the ‘Karma Sutra’ and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Nuff said. Yep, Shadow Over Avalon does contain sex scenes. They are not under the heading of erotic, but they are adult. Go figure.

Shadow Over Avalon.

Genetics is a tricky area to play in. When a person has left no living decedents, it is necessary to reach into their ancestry to recreate them. However, it is also necessary to endow the recreated person with extra gifts. This is when all hell is let loose. Nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted. The fate of mankind rests on untried shoulders. Let fortune fall where it will.

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Over-Avalon-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00GAN6HMG/ref=tmm_kin_title_popover?ie=UTF8&qid=1384657698&sr=8-3

Why is setting important?

The characters provide the motive for the story, but without a cohesive setting it doesn’t come to life for the reader in my opinion. So what is it about setting? For me, I have to be able to look through the character’s eyes and see what they are seeing. This has to be real and that involves research. Yep, that is right, down to the flower that will be in bloom in that season.

How to accomplish this? Each season has a certain feel about it. Think fall, when the smell of overripe fruit permeates the air and the drone of bees made sluggish by the chill of night fills the morning air. This is the season where everything is closing down for the winter sleep. Why is this important? It gives a marker in time that allows the reader to progress. Without this marker, the time is static.

Want a good book for Thanksgiving?

How about an epic science fantasy? Did you ever wonder what would happen when the legendary King Arthur returns to save his people in the time of their greatest need? Set in the far future, Shadow Over Avalon take the reader to a level of suspense unsurpassed. Nothing is as it seems. Humanities survival hinges on the lives of a few. If even one of them dies, so will all hope for the future.

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Over-Avalon-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00GAN6HMG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1

Ginger is bad?

Not in my books. I hadn’t really thought about it, but then my characters come through fully developed. I find I have three gingers in Shadow Over Avalon and two of them are red hot hunks. A guy is a guy and it is what is inside him that makes him interesting. Hair color is totally incidental. Character is everything and my guys rock. 

Phillipines. Make a difference. Help them now.

This post is a blatant appeal to bid on a copy of Darkspire Reaches to help the people of the Philippines.  These sunny and hardworking people have a horrendous situation facing them. My publishers, Kristell Ink, have donated a package of eight books, including mine, to help raise money. A book critique is also offered in this package from Kristell Ink writer, Joanne Hall.  The auction lot is # 106.
I know xmas and American Thanksgiving are coming up, but these people have lost everything, including family members. So little would mean so much. http://authorsforphilippines.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/106-fantasysf-manuscript-critique-by-joanne-hall-kristell-ink-books/

Does accuracy matter in fantasy?

I happen to believe it does. This is why I devote many, many hours into intensive research. It doesn’t matter to me if the product of my research is a part of my physical book or not. This is ground work that to my mind, must be accomplished. I need to have a take on the culture and the setting of a world to make it come alive and to do that, I have to make sure I have my facts correct.

Yes, it is really easy to get stuff off the web, but how accurate is this? Mostly not. Nothing beats the real live investigations with impartial informants. Will my physics work? I ask my dear husband, who is one of those people at the cutting edge of technology. He will tell me straight off it this will fly or not.

With history, or religion, it is important to understand how politics of the time comes into play. People are persistently guilty of projecting the politically correct version of events. It is therefore necessary to dig really deeply to get to the source from many different angles. This produces some very surprising results. Temporal and religious institutions have taken it upon themselves to rewrite history to present themselves in a good light, or to revile others in order to look good. Nowhere is this more apparent than the dark ages, where women did have power and were people in their own right. Moving on a few hundred years or so, this was not the thing. These women of history must be reviled to level down the effect of felinity, currently not the flavor of the month. Historical lies are then manufactured to promote the supremacy of men.

Nope, I am not a feminist. I am an equalist. Each compliments and supports the other. This is how it was meant to be. I abhor how women were put down in history and I abhor how men are now being sidelined. Note to book cover artists. Men are naturally hairy. This comes with testosterone. Producing covers with chest bald individuals is promoting all body waxing products. Did you really want to do this when you are not getting a cut in the profits?

Actually, a very high percentage of the witch hunts were as a result of greedy men wanting to acquire the possessions of women. Anyone, who is tortured enough, will say whatever it takes to make the pain stop. The definition of witches is also interesting from a Christian perspective as it is the antithesis of Christianity. In reality a pagan is not someone who is anti Christian. A pagan is someone with no interest in the Christian belief and who does not follow the concepts of that faith. A pagan follows a far older faith with no roots in Christianity. From historical texts, it is not an antithesis of Christianity, it is something else entirely.  Again, accepted religion and politics come into play.

Themes.

My new series, the Shadow books, are based on the tarot. The first book, Shadow Over Avalon, out now on all ebook platforms, is the first one and runs with the mystic of the wand. How does magic feature in a futuristic dystopia? How does Merlin figure in all this? You will have to read it to find out. In the meantime, there are small snippets on this site and a larger helping on Amazon. The next book, Sword or Shadows, is self explanatory. This is due out in 2014 from my publishers, Kristell Ink, an imprint of Grimbold Books.

Charaters. Where do they come from?

In light of the recent five star rating and comment on Shadow Over Avalon, I have gone into a quiet corner to think this through. My characters explode in my mind in the form or dreams and they are fully fledged individuals set on a certain path. I don’t work to construct an interesting character. Honestly, I have no idea how to do this. It is a visceral thing.

My story lines come through dreams. A scene pops up and I run with it, wherever it leads. What is important to me is that I must be able to see through a characters eyes. The characters must live in the eyes of the readers and therefore, they must live and breath in mine. I had not really thought about this before, but they do come alive.

Not one character is totally good, or totally evil. Life isn’t like that. People are an admixture between the two. A foul toad may well have reasonable wants or needs of his own. A hero/ heroine will have character flaws. None of us are perfect people and this must be reflected. Good people do make mistakes and bad people do have mitigating reasons in their own minds. It is what it is.

Not one single character from my books was taken from real life as far as I am aware. I have been told by physics that I am an old soul, who has had had previous lives. Opens mouth wide to shovel in a ton of salt with this. Wherever my characters come from, they are very real to me. The  only life form I have ever brought into my books from real life was an amalgam of my cats for the character of Kryling, a firedrake from Darkspire Reaches, so there you have it.

Prevarication.

I signed up for NANO at the eleventh hour. So what did I do today? Prevaricate. I found fifty million things I ‘really’ had to do instead of getting stuck into writing a book. However, I eventually ran of excuses. While my word count isn’t stellar, the prep work is. The story is taking off and now has a life of its own. I can see the scenes and the characters. I know where the action is leading.

The book is coming together and I am not concerned about quantity. This has always been about quality for me.

On another note, I got a really stunning review for Shadow Over Avalon. http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Over-Avalon-ebook/dp/B00GAN6HMG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=