Ask the Author: Celyn Kendrick
Answered Questions (5)
Celyn Kendrick
I have been picking everyone's brains trying to figure out how to "pigeonhole" this series into a genre, only to find it doesn't fit anything, yet fits everything. But today, I have an answer! It's... *drumroll*
"Fantastique"
That's right, it's not an English literary genre, it is French... and goes back to the middle ages. According to wikipedia: "What is distinctive about the fantastique is the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative."
Yes. People have called it fantasy, magical-realism, sci-fi, and everything in-between because... it is. And this is very much a part of "fantastique" yet not so much a part of "fantasy."
"Instead, characters in a work of fantastique are, just like the readers, unwilling to accept the supernatural events that occur."
Also very much a premise in my book. There are reasonable, rational people in a modern world who keep getting poked by the "other" side and they question their own sanity when they keep getting poked by the "other" side. I mean, who's born an immortal dragon? Seriously?
"The fantastique began to become defined in the Middle Ages. The old Celtic and Germanic myths were translated from religion (implying belief and worship) into popular folklore (implying belief but not worship)."
Celtic and Germanic myths, check. Religion, check. Folklore, check. Middle Ages, check.
"The root of modern thought about, and artistic depiction of, many things which are today often termed 'supernatural' (such as angels, demons, fairies, witches, etc.) has its beginnings in this period, often called the Middle Ages."
Check, check, check, check...
King Arthur, Reynard the Fox, Aesop's fables... this list could pretty much describe my reading history in one Wikipedia article...
So yeah. I suppose I've felt rather insecure releasing this series when nobody knows what "it" is, and I feel like it's obvious and has been done a million times before, yet readers say it's completely new to them. Certainly, the execution is my own, but I feel like the tapestry of the books/series is genre fiction at its core... it's just not modern genre fiction that can be pigeonholed as high-fantasy, shifter, vampire, contemporary, etc. But you will feel very comfortable when you settle into the series, as it's all stories that have been told a million times before. It's Jesus, it's King Arthur, it's Reynard the Fox, it's Grimm's Fairy Tales, it's Aesop's Fables... but it's definitely rated 18+ ;-)
"Fantastique"
That's right, it's not an English literary genre, it is French... and goes back to the middle ages. According to wikipedia: "What is distinctive about the fantastique is the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative."
Yes. People have called it fantasy, magical-realism, sci-fi, and everything in-between because... it is. And this is very much a part of "fantastique" yet not so much a part of "fantasy."
"Instead, characters in a work of fantastique are, just like the readers, unwilling to accept the supernatural events that occur."
Also very much a premise in my book. There are reasonable, rational people in a modern world who keep getting poked by the "other" side and they question their own sanity when they keep getting poked by the "other" side. I mean, who's born an immortal dragon? Seriously?
"The fantastique began to become defined in the Middle Ages. The old Celtic and Germanic myths were translated from religion (implying belief and worship) into popular folklore (implying belief but not worship)."
Celtic and Germanic myths, check. Religion, check. Folklore, check. Middle Ages, check.
"The root of modern thought about, and artistic depiction of, many things which are today often termed 'supernatural' (such as angels, demons, fairies, witches, etc.) has its beginnings in this period, often called the Middle Ages."
Check, check, check, check...
King Arthur, Reynard the Fox, Aesop's fables... this list could pretty much describe my reading history in one Wikipedia article...
So yeah. I suppose I've felt rather insecure releasing this series when nobody knows what "it" is, and I feel like it's obvious and has been done a million times before, yet readers say it's completely new to them. Certainly, the execution is my own, but I feel like the tapestry of the books/series is genre fiction at its core... it's just not modern genre fiction that can be pigeonholed as high-fantasy, shifter, vampire, contemporary, etc. But you will feel very comfortable when you settle into the series, as it's all stories that have been told a million times before. It's Jesus, it's King Arthur, it's Reynard the Fox, it's Grimm's Fairy Tales, it's Aesop's Fables... but it's definitely rated 18+ ;-)
Celyn Kendrick
I'd be happy to take suggestions, but as the series doesn't follow any sort of genre formula, it was difficult to come up with a "cover story" that would convey what's inside... because there are too many ideas that don't subscribe to a set model.
Every cover has dragons on it in an ouroboros—reflecting the cyclic nature of the universe and the series. The dragons form a frame around a window into a fantasy world... where there is a reflected 'real' world and 'shadow' world.
Why swans? Swans often mate for life. They're known homosexuals of the animal kingdom. The dragon mating dance is directly taken from a swan mating dance. There's the reflection of the true-self looking at the shadow-self (the humans vs. spiritual dragon within, or Michael and Stewart being two halves of a whole). Stewart and Michael fight/argue with the local swans in-story. The "swan maiden" is a story/mythology about a human who shapeshifts into a swan with a feather coat (also similar to the selkie story within Dragon Tales).
Perhaps it's all too meta for effective marketing, but there was definite thought behind the covers from a story-perspective.
Every cover has dragons on it in an ouroboros—reflecting the cyclic nature of the universe and the series. The dragons form a frame around a window into a fantasy world... where there is a reflected 'real' world and 'shadow' world.
Why swans? Swans often mate for life. They're known homosexuals of the animal kingdom. The dragon mating dance is directly taken from a swan mating dance. There's the reflection of the true-self looking at the shadow-self (the humans vs. spiritual dragon within, or Michael and Stewart being two halves of a whole). Stewart and Michael fight/argue with the local swans in-story. The "swan maiden" is a story/mythology about a human who shapeshifts into a swan with a feather coat (also similar to the selkie story within Dragon Tales).
Perhaps it's all too meta for effective marketing, but there was definite thought behind the covers from a story-perspective.
Celyn Kendrick
I'm assuming they're talking about the human rights issues that are brought up in-story. Human rights issues have plagued man-kind for as long as there have been humans. There is nothing "political" about it, except that human rights become a cultural problem when politics, government, and society impose their values and morality on the individual—so that's where you hear the most "propaganda" about it. But the only idea I'm "selling" is that we all have the right to our own identity, and it should not be defined by others as inferior in some way.
In my opinion, good literature should make the reader think about the human condition and how it applies to ALL. I did not write this series to follow some fluffy genre formula. You will be asked to engage your brain and think philosophically about human rights issues from many perspectives.
In my opinion, good literature should make the reader think about the human condition and how it applies to ALL. I did not write this series to follow some fluffy genre formula. You will be asked to engage your brain and think philosophically about human rights issues from many perspectives.
Celyn Kendrick
Yes. British spelling and punctuation conventions are somewhat different from American conventions. The entire series has been professionally edited as well as passing all Grammarly checks. If any reader can find a legitimate error, PM me, and I'll gift them with a free digital copy of any book in the series.
Celyn Kendrick
Sage (my English Shepherd) is a girl, so not much. This is more a "boy dog" thing.
I brought my first (neutered Australian Shepherd) dog to a "Sugar on Snow" party at a friend's farm, and he was showing me the livestock/animals, and my dog decided to lift his leg on his welly. He jumped back but laughed it off, saying, "It happens!" I was mortified. Then years later, at an English Shepherd gathering, a very handsome young (male) dog came over, got some head scritches, decided he liked me and lifted his leg on my shin. (I wasn't so quick to move).
I brought my first (neutered Australian Shepherd) dog to a "Sugar on Snow" party at a friend's farm, and he was showing me the livestock/animals, and my dog decided to lift his leg on his welly. He jumped back but laughed it off, saying, "It happens!" I was mortified. Then years later, at an English Shepherd gathering, a very handsome young (male) dog came over, got some head scritches, decided he liked me and lifted his leg on my shin. (I wasn't so quick to move).
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