Into the Dread Forest . . .

by Nancy


Today we welcome back YA author Gillian Summers and her alter-egos, Michelle Roper (below left) and Berta Platas (below right). They're celebrating the launch of The Secret of the Dread Forest. This is half-elven Keelie Heartwood's third outing and the final book of the Faire Folk Trilogy.


Welcome, y'all! For those who aren't familiar with the Faire Folk, who is Keelie Heartwood, and why is she in the Dread Forest?




Michelle: Keelie Heartwood is a California girl, who discovers while living with her Dad on the Ren Faire circuit that he's an elf, and that makes her half-elf. The Dread Forest is the home forest for her father's tribe of elves.





Berta: Keelie initially doesn’t want to leave California or live with her father, and especially dislikes the Renaissance Faire. She has a lot of changes in store!



How has Keelie changed over the course of the trilogy?

Michelle: She's gone from a grieving teenager, totally overwhelmed with her new magical abilities and the discovery of the elves to someone who is learning and accepting her place in her new world.

Keelie's journey begins when she arrives at the Renaissance Faire, and she
tree allergy she's had all her life turns out to be tree magic inherited from
her tree shepherd father, Zekeliel Heartwood. As Keelie opens herself to her
magic, she discovers more and more about the trees, and her elven side.
As she learns how to balance her magical abilities with the trees, she also
grieves the loss of one parent, and getting to know her father, along with living
in a new environment. It's a lot to throw at a kid, but she handles it.

The Tree Shepherd's Daughter is the first book in the Faire Folk trilogy. It starts when fifteen year old Calilfornia girl, Keelie Heartwood has to go and live with her father on the Ren Faire circuit, after she loses her mother. At the Renaissance Festival, Keelie experiences another world within the Renaissance world, she discovers magic and that her father is an elf. And that means--she's not totally human.

Into The Wildewood continues Keelie's story as she travels with her Dad to an upstate New York Renaissance festival. She is still grieving the loss of her mother, adjusting to life with her father, and discovering her magic. To complicate matters, the elves are getting sick, the forest is not well, and the Wildwood unicorn, the forest guardian is dying.


A hawk figures prominently in this book and earlier ones. What inspired you to use it?

Michelle: At the Georgia Renaissance Faire there are raptors who cannot be released into the wild. I thought as a character, Keelie could relate to an injured hawk. Keelie is grieving for her mother and her old familiar life. An injured hawk has to grieve for its freedom and for the life it once had.

Berta: Yes, the hawk’s frustration mirrors her own. Because the hawk is half blind it can no longer hunt or fly well. Keelie identifies closely with Ariel the hawk. Hawks are so beautiful, and can be so strong and deadly. We saw Keelie’s potential that way as well. Her growing powers, if she chooses to accept them and learn to use them, will make her a force to be reckoned with. If she doesn’t learn, she’ll be just as injured as Ariel.


There's no Ren Faire in this book, as there was in the first two. What takes its place?

Michelle: We have lots of fun things taking the place of the Ren Faire. The setting of the Dread Forest allows readers to see the home forest of the elves. There is a 'human' town that borders the Dread Forest, and we created some fun characters, including a tattoo artist who reside in this unique place and befriends Keelie.

Berta: We wanted to have a Ren Faire in each book, but there was no way to cram one into this story, and it was a story that we had to tell before we went on with Keelie’s adventures. The next book definitely has a festival, as do the next two, but as Michelle said, there’s plenty of exciting stuff happening in this one. Lots more magic, for one thing.

Keelie seems to be having some romantic issues. Can you tell us a little about those?

Berta: Keelie has an ugly surprise waiting for her in the Dread Forest. I won’t say anything more about that. I will say, though, that she gets to spend much more time with Sean than she has before, since he’s not working. Elves are such workaholics. Who knew? He’ll be in the Redwood forest with her in book four, as well.

What unusual goodies do you have on Gillian’s website?

One way we connect with readers is by adding to the published stories. Gillian's website has a map of the fair from The Tree Shepherd's Daughter, and we're putting the finishing touches on a map of the fair from Into the Wildewood because readers requested it. For Into the Wildewood we also posted paper dolls of Knot the cat with various outfits, suitable for the color, cut and paste kid in all of us! At Halloween last year we posted a short story on our blog about Knot's visit to the elven pumpkin patch. As you can imagine, no good came of it.

Besides Keelie’s further adventures, what’s ahead for Gilian Summers?

We plan to write stories about Keelie's friends, too. Laurie, her old friend from California, and Raven the herb lady's goth daughter, will get stories, and so will her new friend in the Dread Forest.

What has been happening with Gillian Summers since you were here last year?

Seems as if it was just the other day! Had we announced the continuation of the series then? We’re doing three more Keelie books! We just finished an appearance at TimeGate 2009, a science fiction and fantasy convention where we hosted a launch party for The Secret of the Dread Forest, and were surprised by a group of kids who made a role playing game of The Faire Folk for a school project! It’s based on Dungeons and Dragons rules, and it’s amazing! What a huge amount of work and dedication, and so much fun! We’re wrapping up our May contest this weekend. We have two autographed copies of the new book to give away on our blog, and on June 20th we’ll be signing at the Norcross Hilton on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at 2:30 pm, joining several other authors. The public is welcome! Romance Bandit readers don’t have to enter our contest – we have an autographed copy for you to give away here (much better odds, believe us).

For more about Gillian Summers and Keelie's adventures, visit Gillian's website.

Do you remember teenage angst? Do you like the outdoors or are you, as Keelie starts out, much more at home at the mall? If could have a magical power, how would you use it?Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/YA
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Tina Ferraro on ABCs and Kissing

posted by Aunty Cindy aka Loucinda McGary

Young Adult author Tina Ferraro was one of our very first guest authors here in the Lair, and we are always happy when she can come back and pay us a visit! Aunty is tickled pink to sit down today with her buddy Tina and talk about her new release, changes in the YA market, and a cool new thing called “webisodes!”

AC: Welcome back, Tina! Please tell us a little about your new release with the fantastic cover -- The ABCs of Kissing Boys.

Tina: Sure!

Parker Stanhope has played soccer practically since she could walk. And now that she’s a high school junior, everything she’s worked for is finally coming together. She’s paid her dues on the field, and as an upperclassman, she’s a shoo-in for the varsity team. But that’s not what happens. This year, the coach moved up every JV player but two­-and one of those two was Parker. Now, she’s stuck with the freshmen, and her friends are cutting her loose. But Parker is determined to get her life back. She has to get on the varsity team, and she has the perfect plan. All she needs now is the right kind of coach.

Which comes first for you, the plot or the characters? And how did you come up with it/them for this story?

I had the idea that a girl-doesn't-get-moved-up-with-her-team floating around, as well as a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque parental feud.
(Shakespeare fan AC rubs her hands together with glee!)

But it didn't come together until I decided on my (admittedly ridiculous) title, and had to figure out how to tie those things all together with the heroine learning "everything there is to know about kissing." My critique partner, Kelly Parra, was wonderful in helping me sort out my thoughts, and before you knew it, I had a storyline, and I started writing.

So that was a really long way to say "the plot first."

AC: This is your third Young Adult release in as many years. What changes have you seen in your sub-genre since you first started writing in it?

Tina: Wow--I am no expert on Young Adult fiction, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But it does seem like the most popular books today have fantasy/paranormal themes, while when I started targeting YA, the books on people's lips were more contemporary high school stories, like Gossip Girls and (the now-defunct) Dorchester Smooch line. As for the future? Well, everything old is new again, right, so I imagine things will circle back.

AC: What new and exciting things are coming up in your future?

Tina: I have another book coming out in the summer of 2010, which I am really excited about. Here's a blurb:

When Bad Flings Happen to Good Girls

It took 17 years for Brandy to get her life the way she wanted it--and about 17 seconds for it to fall apart. Her well-intending friends tell her it's time to stop working so hard and "get a life." By this, they mean a boyfriend, and they give her the summer to find one, or they're going to go hunting the halls themselves. Not realizing that adding a boyfriend to her hectic AP and robotics team schedule, she'd have zero for them.

Away at her uncle's cabin, she sets out to find a guy who will "break her heart," so she can return from summer in need of her friend's TLC, rather than matchmaking skills, and then can resume her well-planned life. She quickly finds the perfect candidate. But hooking up with the lifeguard proves harder than she can imagine. Even with the help from his nice-guy friend who seems to have his own reasons for getting them together--and keeping them apart...

AC: Sounds like another fun read Tina! Now what other fun things have you been up to?

A "webisode" version of my second book, How to Hook a Hottie, is currently being shopped at TV studios. A "webisode" is a mini-episode, especially geared at websites. You'll find them popping up on TV channel websites in the forms of brand-new programming, and "extras" from your favorite TV shows. For instance, "The Office" just ran a three-part webisode series on the NBC website.

Anyway, yeah, so wish me luck on that.

AC: How exciting, and GOOD GOOD LUCK!

Tina will give away a copy of her newest release The ABCs of Kissing Boys to one lucky commenter today.

AC: Since Tina’s book is all about kissing, why not share one of your favorite kisses (first or otherwise) in a book you’ve recently read. Hey, Tina! You can go first!

Tina: I liked the first time Ranger kissed Stephanie in Janet Evanovich’s series. WOO HOO! Hot stuff!

AC: NO arguments here! Okay Banditas and Buddies, lay the kisses on us!Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/YA
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The Bandits Welcome Terri Clark!

Let's give a rousing Bandit welcome to Young Adult author, Terri Clark! Terri's novel, Sleepless, is out now (and check out that great cover *g*)

I've long been fascinated with dreams. Here are some interesting facts you may not know:̊


• Nearly six years of your lifetime will be spent dreaming.̊
• Your brain waves are just as active when you're dreaming as they are when you're awake.̊
• Dreaming takes place in the R.E.M.—Rapid Eye Movement—stage of sleep.̊
• Scientific studies have proven that animals dream.̊
• Elephants, in fact, sleep standing up when they're in non-REM sleep. When they're in REM sleep, they lie down.̊
• Mrs. Maureen Weston participated in a rocking chair marathon in 1977 and still holds the longest recorded period for going without sleep--449 hours (18 days, 17 hours). She suffered hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.
While dream research in the last twenty-five years has certainly yielded some interesting facts, there's one question that continues to be debated—WHY do we dream?

A lot of people think dreams are just a way for our brain to purge the day's happenings. The images we see as we sleep are nothing more than nonsensical remnants of the things we came into contact with.

Other people believe our dreams are detailed truths and if we take the time to study them, interpret them, we'll discover hidden meanings in our mind's late night movies. Freud, the pioneer of dream interpretation, believed our dreams were symbolic of our deepest wishes.


Another common belief is that our subconscious is merely working through issues and trying to alleviate stress.

However, throughout history dreams have been given much more weight as they were often viewed as prophecies.

Still others believe that power can be found in our dreams. During our sleeping hours our mind is not restricted, our thoughts are boundless, and our brain can expand beyond its physical shell. Unimaginable things can be attained when we're not shackled by logic.

And some believe we can control our dreams, manipulate them and even use them as a tool for bettering ourselves and our lives.

As for me, I tend to believe dreams can be all the above, but the one thing that most fascinated me was that old wives tale, "If you die in your sleep, you'll die for real."Is that possible?
SLEEPLESS is about Trinity Michael's, an eighteen-year-old dreamwalker who's being stalked in her sleep by a killer. If she dies in her dreams, she'll die for real. In order to survive, she must stay awake and find her would be murderer before he can find her and the only person able to help her is the last person she thought she'd ever align herself with.
I guess the answer, for me, was yes....

So, what do you dream about?
Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/YA
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