Meet the Author: Kristen Taber

With MEET THE AUTHOR, I’m pleased to introduce guest authors and share their newest novels with visitors. This week, meet Kristen Taber! She’s stopping by to share an excerpt of her newest novel, The Shadow Guard, part of the Æerenden series.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 1:

ÆRENDEN’S RENAISSANCE had been one of beauty, full of art and discovery, friendship and kindness. Many in the kingdom spoke of it as if they had lived through each colorful moment and some had. It had only been decades since the renaissance had ended. War had a way of making years feel like an eternity.

In the height of that era, music had swelled within the castle’s great hall, bouncing from the windows, muffled by tapestries, echoing with joy. Bodies had danced and swayed. Laughter had resounded from the ceiling. Founders’ juice had flowed from carafes, drained from cups, and loosened lips. Meaghan imagined gossip had served as currency in this place, traded without regard for truth or belief in its details. Throughout Ærenden’s history, storytelling had blended with everyday life, entertainment valued the same as rare powers. When the revelers had left the castle’s parties, they would have paid no more heed to the tales they had heard than they did the king’s joking antics—the bets he had wagered with his Guardians or the contests he had arranged to see who among his people did not mind displaying their foolishness.

Queen Adelina’s father had been jubilant, by all accounts. Her mother had subjected him to frequent eye rolls, while hiding her own mirth behind an elegant hand.

Life had been carefree within these rose quartz walls, until the Zeiihbu War had become something more than distant skirmishes on the border. In its final years, everyone had lost someone they loved, battles had replaced jokes in conversation, and the people’s loyalties had become divided. Some wanted to annihilate the Zeiihbuans. Some wanted to assimilate them. And no one wanted to share Founders’ juice with those who had opposing views.

The parties stopped. The king died, the queen soon after, and their daughter closed the doors to the hall, and to her grief, using the space only for formal ceremonies.

After the war, Queen Adelina had wed King Édaire, affectionately known as Ed to those who had loved him, and they had conceived a child.

Meaghan had never had the chance to know her parents, beyond the fractured memories of toddlerhood. Ed had been murdered in this room, Adelina in their apartment, and Meaghan had been spirited to Earth soon after.

Now she walked the length of her grandfather’s beloved great hall, each footfall masked by graceful steps she had not realized she could muster. She kept her eyes focused on one point at the front of the room—a single throne representing so much history and pain.

Two amethyst-encrusted finials on top of the throne glistened in the noonday sun. Golden flowers curled around the throne’s arms and legs, symbols of growth and her family’s connection to the past. Their beauty would have brought a smile to her face, if she had not known her father had bled to death on the floor below them.

Or if she had not remembered the smaller throne that had filled the empty space on the left side of the dais before Garon destroyed it. Her father had used it in his duties as king. Her mother had ruled from the larger one.

Interview with Kristen Taber

Welcome Kristen, thanks for being my guest at The Brooklyn Scribbler. Please share some insight on your five-part YA series, Æerenden and the final installment, The Shadow Guard.

The Ærenden series starts on Earth and transitions to Ærenden, a kingdom on a world parallel to ours yet wholly different. Where we have medicine and science, they have magic---Healers, people who control electricity and the weather, Telekines, and Firestarters. Each person has a personal power, including Meaghan, a young woman raised on Earth but born within the kingdom she remembers only in nightmares. The series follows Meaghan and Nick—her personal guard and love-interest—as they fight to take back the kingdom from the man who assassinated the former king and queen. Along the way, what seems to be a straightforward black-and-white war turns into a complex puzzle of gray areas. Nick and Meaghan must navigate the secrets left behind by the royal family to uncover the truth and save the kingdom.

The final installment in the series, The Shadow Guard, brings Nick and Meaghan to a land outside of the kingdom thought to be uninhabited. What they discover leaves Meaghan with a choice that could turn her from a long-awaited hero into a villain with the power to destroy everything.

When you first began writing, when did you know that only a series of novels would allow you to fully realize the journey on which your characters were about to embark?

In the beginning, I thought the whole story would only consume about 300 pages, and it would be a neat and tidy standalone. Halfway through writing The Child Returns (book 1), I realized my characters had a greater story to tell. I hashed out a basic outline for five books at that point (not including background stories, historical stories, and potential spinoffs that currently reside in my head). Eventually those expected 300 pages turned into over 2,000 published pages.

Is there any secondary character in the novel who could have “run away” with the story and turned attention from your lead characters?

Yes, and she still may get her own book if the muses keep pestering. In The Shadow Guard, a shapeshifter named Faughn becomes integral to the storyline and assists Meaghan in her final battle with her nemesis. Faughn grew up in a harsh desert region with enemies constantly on the fringes of her awareness. One enemy killed her mother and kidnapped her brother. Despite her hardships—and because of them—she’s become a warrior who is capable of fighting and handling herself in precarious situations. She also knows how to trust, love, and have fun when time allows. Her self-confidence and composure as a result of growing up in a combat environment is a contrast to Meaghan, who has been thrown into a situation beyond her control and struggles to come to terms with it and become the hero required of her.  After writing Meaghan’s type of character for nearly ten years, Faughn intrigued me. I wanted to learn more about her and the inner-psyche she doesn’t show, that I know has to have stemmed from the trauma in her life. So many times, I had to fight the urge to deviate, to show Faughn’s building relationship with her love interest or her reactions with her brother-in-law or father, but I managed to curb that impulse. She did, however, earn a place of honor on the cover.

Any writing quirks? E.g. requiring music to read, favorite place, etc.

I have to have background noise, usually music or coffee shop chatter. For music, I bounce between classic rock, blues, metal, classical, and film scores, depending on my mood. When I need the coffee shop murmur but can’t get out of the house, I use a website called Coffitivity that recreates café noises. I wrote almost all of The Shadow Guard using that site or listening to the Lord of the Rings trilogy soundtrack.

If your novels ever became films, who would play your lead characters and why?

Oh goodness. Fans always ask me this, and I have so much trouble deciding. Meaghan has always been most difficult for me. I love the idea of an unknown playing her, like Emma Watson was before she starred in Harry Potter, so I don’t like to picture current Hollywood stars in the role. If I had to choose, Auli'i Cravalho looks similar to how I picture her so maybe I’d go for her. For Nick, I picture a blonde Logan Lerman.  And Faughn? Totally Yara Shahidi.

Thanks again, Kristen! 

Learn more about Kristen Taber

Website, Website 2, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Author Page

Buy The Shadow Guard, Æerenden series #5

Kindle - http://amzn.to/2ttiz7N

Amazon Paperback - https://amzn.to/2pEgYI0

B&N Paperback - http://bit.ly/2pDNcTB

The Mammoth Summer of Reading

Now that I have some free time on my hands, guess what I'll be doing for the rest of the summer? Actually, you don't have to guess; I told you in my last post. Those are just the print copies. Highlights include:

• Ruth Downie's Caveat Emptor & Medicus
• The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
• C.C. Humphrey's Vlad: The Last Confession
• Conn Iggulden's Khan: Empire of Silver
• George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (I'll wait for A Dance With Dragons when HBO's Game of Thrones season 2 is done next year)
• The Borgia Betrayal by Sara Poole
• A book by one of my absolute favorites, the woman who inspired my love of historical fiction, Persia Woolley in a re-release of Queen of the Summer Stars.

A summer of books

There are prime choices that I'm looking forward to on Kindle as well, including:

• Cinders by Michelle Davidson Argyle
• Elizabeth Chadwick's For the King's Favor
• Mel Comley's Impending Justice
• Blockbuster by Sven Michael Davison
• Alison DeLuca's The Night Watchman Express
• In Her Name: Empire, by Micheal Hicks
• The Vampire Relationship Guide, Volume 1: Meeting and Mating by Evelyn LaFont
• Cartier's Ring by Pearson Moore
• Cate Rowan's Kismet's Kiss
• The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III
• Lindsay Townsend's To Touch the Knight & A Knight's Vow
• Mike Wells' Wild Child
• The House of Women by Anne Whitfield
• Sarah Woodbury's The Last Pendragon    

That's about a tenth of what's on my Kindle right now. All of them will be read and reviewed this summer, either for the HNR blog or any place I like to mouth off about books, like Amazon. You might be wondering, is she really going to through all those books? Um, yeah. If an author really hooks me, I'll read a book a day, with a rare break to eat and pee. Since I'm a semi-insomniac, sleep is also a possibility. But why sleep, when you can read?

What are your summer reading plans? What are you looking forward to the most?  

True to who I am - Michelle Gregory

The early Hassidic sage Rabbi Zusya once said, "When I reach the next world, God will not ask me, 'Why were you not Moses?' Instead, he will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'"

I don't know about you, but I have to make a conscious effort to be myself and stay true to what I know I'm supposed to do. I'm the kind of person who looks around at what everyone else is doing, and though I know better, I start to think, "Maybe I should be doing it like so and so."

I get this way with homeschooling. I'm part of an online homeschooling group and even though we're all very gracious with each other and we're not even giving into the pressure to make homeschool look like public school with mounds of homework, etc., it's easy to compare myself to them and say, "wow, I should be doing more projects, going more places, doing more things, blah, blah, blah."

Then I remember that my kids are learning what they need to learn and the way we're doing school fits our lifestyle. My kids are happy and not so overly busy that we're stressed and going crazy. I like a simple lifestyle.

Lately I've found myself doing the comparison thing with blogging and writing and promoting. "I should have more posts about writing, more contests, more blog hops, and more interviews. I should be helping more writing friends promote their books with blog tours and side buttons and links. My blog should look more professional; have more about my book and links to all the places people can buy it. I should work on my story more often and not play with other stories so much. I should have more description, less tea, etc. I should have my book on Kindle and Smashwords and kobo and wherever. Maybe I should look for an agent. I should say more and do more..."

Makes me tired just writing it.

I've learned from counseling (and my husband reminds me every once in a while) that if you substitute the word (excuse me) sh** for should, when you say you should do something, it's like piling sh** on yourself. And isn't that exactly how we feel when we start saying "I should, I should"?

So it's time to be kind to myself, stop piling crap on myself, and let myself be who I am. I will put whatever I want on my blog. I will help other writers when I can. I will promote myself as much or as little as I'm comfortable with. I will let my mind play when it needs a break. I will continue to self-publish, and not pressure myself into doing it the way my indie author friends are doing it. I will write the story I want to write and not worry about the tea.

Maybe that's my cue to go have some tea, or a cup of hot cocoa.

Now, go have a beautiful day, free of "shoulds." have some tea. Be yourself.

Michelle's Website
Michelle Blog
Michelle on Facebook

Eldala

Getting It Right: What We Can Learn From STARZ Camelot and HBO Game of Thrones

I should warn you: this is going to be a long one. Stop reading now before your eyeballs roll back into your head. Still here? Great, read on but you were warned.

I never thought I'd be a fan of fantasy, but I'm outing myself as one today. Since my friend Michelle Gregory introduced some of the best elements of the genre to me in her Eldala, I've started to understand why it appeals so much. Fantasy and my first love, historical fiction, share some features. Both require the writers to flesh out details and bring to life a world that does not exist in the present day. The details must be enough to the story vivid and real, but not so much that a reader is distracted by them. While fantasy typically has supernatural or magical elements, historical fiction can legitimately include them, if they were a part of the belief system of the era the author has written about; e.g. dragons and fairies in the Dark Ages or medieval period.

So, I was thrilled when Starz and HBO announced their respective new series, Camelot and Game of Thrones. I didn’t watch Camelot right away; can’t remember why, but I did DVR all the episodes so far. GoT premiered this past Sunday and I caught that showing. After GoT reminded me of why I’ve enjoyed fantasy thus far, I decided to view all the episodes of Camelot.

What can writers learn from both series? There’s a right way to engage your audience and a really wrong way. That really wrong way won’t be saved by throwing in a bunch of sex or fight scenes. It will just suck until you fix it.

Tell a great story with compelling characters who want something.

In Camelot, we’re introduced at the outset to Uther Pendragon, his wife Igraine, Uther’s daughter Morgan, the sorcerer Merlin and young Arthur. Without giving anything away, at the outset, it’s very clear what Morgan wants: to rule the land in her father’s place and get rid of her stepmother Igraine (more on that later!) Merlin wants Arthur to inherit Uther’s throne. At least in the first few episodes, Arthur’s little head in his breeches seems to do the thinking for him more so than the big one where his brain sits. So he’s looking to get laid at least in the first few episodes, be that his brother’s love interest or someone else’s intended. More on that later, too. Merlin’s arrival waylays some of that but more importantly, reveals Arthur’s true identity. Arthur then learns he’s supposed to want something more.

In GoT, the audience is introduced to Eddard Stark and his family, including a bastard son Jon Snow that Lady Stark isn’t too fond of, and King Robert who would have been Eddard’s brother in-law except for the unfortunate death of the woman he loved. Instead he’s saddled with Queen Cersei Lannister who’s really, really close with her brother Jaime. Then there's that unfortunate little imp of another brother, Tyrion (who is one of my favorite actors!) who really understands what it's like to be an outsider. Also, there are the brother and sister Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, who are the last remnants of a house than once subjugated King Robert’s land. As for wants, Eddard would love nothing more than to continue as he is, ruling his lands in the north but Robert needs him as the Hand of the King. Having seen what happened to the last Hand of the King, this can’t bode well. Queen Cersei and Jaime want power above all else, as does Viserys Targaryen. Daenerys is less certain, though I bet she probably wants her new husband Khal Drogo to say something she can understand other than “No.”

Both stories are compelling. I wanted to see how far Morgan would go to achieve her ambitions. No, I can’t rely on my foreknowledge of the Arthurian legends; this Camelot is a bit different from what I have heard. Like I said, more later. And, Merlin is enigmatic as all hell. He’s got a past that I wanted to delve into and powerful means for shaping the legend that (I hoped in this instance!) Arthur would become. By comparison in GoT, Eddard’s devotion to the king seems like it will cost him a lot and I want to see just how much. Queen Cersei and Jaime are too amoral not to expect their actions to lead to disaster for everyone. Viserys and Daenerys’ personalities contrast so well that I have to wonder if or when she’ll ever get out from under his thumb. So far, Starz and HBO’s writers have done their jobs: they’ve made me care about the characters.

While we’re on characters, do you really want your audience unsure of your lead?

The answer to that should always be no - Khal Drogo would agree with me! Both Camelot and GoT have an interesting ensemble of cast members. But here’s where Camelot fails and GoT does not.

In all the adaptations of the story from Geoffrey of Monmouth right down to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Avalon series, Arthur has played a strong, if not prime role. There’s a reason the stories are called the Arthurian legends. I think Camelot’s writers forgot that. Their Arthur is boring! Pretty to look at, maybe, but boring! And stupid – when King Lot’s forces come to confront him, this Arthur actually asks Merlin, “So, you’ve foreseen my destiny that I’ll be king in the end, right?” Merlin deigns to answer, “Destinies must be won.” I’d have said, “Look you little shit, you actually want to be king? Then, act like one and stop asking dumb ass questions! And stop telling your sister can’t we all just get along! She’s obviously not interested. Now man up, grab a sword to defend your kingdom and stop acting like a bitch!” And, remember when I said Merlin tells Arthur he should want to be king? Well, I haven’t seen any evidence that Arthur really wants that. Instead, he really wants Guinevere, even though she’s his friend Leontes’ (Lancelot?) betrothed. What? Yeah, that was my reaction. That’s probably why Starz wouldn’t employ me as a screenwriter – I’d be in the script meeting, like, “Are you flipping kidding me? You want to me write what? Uh, no.”

Starz has told me I’m supposed to care about Arthur, but I can’t figure why I should. I spent most of the episodes folding my laundry or tweeting when he was on the screen. Ok, that's not really fair. I tweet anyway. A lot. Moving on. When I did look up at one point, it was to see Gawain holding a knife to Arthur’s throat as part of an important lesson. I found myself wishing there’s been a little accident with that knife. Hell, King Lot, Gawain, even Kay at least kept my attention on them whenever they appeared. Merlin and Morgan have essentially eclipsed Arthur for me as the leads of this show, when they never should have. If this is supposedly Arthur’s tale, why do I care more about the OTHER characters? About the only thing I care about with Arthur is an understanding of why he was fostered out if he was legitimate in this version. Uther had married his mother by then. Why did Merlin take him away from his parents? Why did they let him? Good storytelling does not distract the audience with the details; they should be seemlessly blended so the audiences accepts them as fact.

By contrast, can there be any doubt that the lead of GoT is Eddard Stark? Beyond the fact that he is played by the magnificent Sean Bean who can do no wrong (I forbid anyone to mention his role in Golden Eye – it was one of the weaker James Bond movies anyway!), in every scene, he is the embodiment of nobility and power. Every other cast member is just as interesting, but I get it – I’m supposed to root for Eddard Stark and by extension, his family. Even if you have an ensemble of characters, something about your lead must place him or her in prominence above all the rest. Your audience needs to know who they should care about and just as importantly, why.

If you’re going to use well-known source material, stick to it. If you’re departing from the sources, make it essential and convincing.

Speaking of the Arthurian legends, I’d say the source material is pretty well known from the twelfth-century Geoffrey of Monmouth. There have been so many incarnations of Arthur that most of us can tell the story. Camelot kept some of it, but turned the rest upside down. Morgan as the step-daughter (not child) of Igraine and child (not, non-relation) of Uther? Excalibur the sword named after a tragic girl? The sword was made rather than having sat in a stone for centuries waiting for Arthur’s hand to pull it from its rocky prison? The Guinevere-Arthur-Lancelot (in this case, Leontes) triangle with Arthur as the other man? Gawain as a mercenary? Huh? Sorry, but I’m one of those readers who gets in a real tizzy when you mess with what I think I know of history and legend.

If you’re going to depart from major sources, as director Antoine Fuqua did in his Arthur, at least make it convincing. The movie takes the audience away from the common medieval setting and placed it at a time that is just as logical; the Dark Ages when Rome abandoned Britain and Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded. Arthur as a Romano-Britain? Ok, I’m buying it so far. Guinevere as a blue-painted warrior maiden? Hmm, not so much but it fits the period just before the Saxon invasions. Arthur’s knights as hard-drinking, hard-loving warriors from the steppes? As long as Ioan Gruffudd (Lancelot), Ray Winstone (Bors), Mads Mikkelsen (Tristan) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson) are playing them, uh, hell yeah, I can dig it. Fuqua even kept the love triangle with Lancelot eyeing Guinevere every chance he got, even though it was obvious she and Arthur were going to end up together.

So far, I have heard GoT sticks very closely to George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I haven’t read the series, but will order it after the first season is completed. Hate to view something on TV only to read about it and learn that’s not the way it happened in the book. Obviously, HBO gets it with GoT by keeping the storyline faithful to Martin’s narrative, so far. I can only hope it will continue to honor the original work. If it does depart, let’s hope HBO creates a version whose re-telling is so compelling that it will satisfy even Martin’s true fans.

In the end, whether on film or in books, keeping an audience interested is essential to the art of good storytelling. You do that with world-building, crafting great characters, and an even better storyline. I’ll be sticking with GoT, which has impressed me from the outset. I hold out less hope for Camelot. Sorry, Starz. At least I'm still eagerly awaiting season 2 of Spartacus.