Emily Larkin's Blog - Posts Tagged "fey-quartet"
Ivy's Choice
The day has arrived when the third novella in the Fey Quartet is released into the world, so I’m very excited.
I started writing the Fey Quartet while I was working at Glade House in Fiordland National Park, a stunningly beautiful and remote part of New Zealand. When I needed a name for the forest where my characters’ adventures take place, I looked at the rain forest surrounding Glade House . . . and Glade Forest was born. Two very different forests, but both magical in their own ways.
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Of the four novellas in the Fey Quartet, Ivy’s Choice was the most challenging to write—because of the hero’s actions in one scene. (Poor Hugh spends much of this book trapped in the shape of an animal, and when he is human he sometimes struggles to control his behavior.)
When I sent the novella to my editor, I said to her, “Does this scene make my hero irredeemable?” and she said, “Uh, yeah.” So we brainstormed a way for Hugh and Ivy to react that was true to their characters and the situation, but that allowed Hugh to remain heroic.
Rewriting ensued, and I’m very happy with the end result. Of course, the most important opinion isn’t mine, but yours.
Is Hugh heroic . . . or not? If you read the novella, drop me a note to let me know what you think!
I started writing the Fey Quartet while I was working at Glade House in Fiordland National Park, a stunningly beautiful and remote part of New Zealand. When I needed a name for the forest where my characters’ adventures take place, I looked at the rain forest surrounding Glade House . . . and Glade Forest was born. Two very different forests, but both magical in their own ways.
[image error]
Of the four novellas in the Fey Quartet, Ivy’s Choice was the most challenging to write—because of the hero’s actions in one scene. (Poor Hugh spends much of this book trapped in the shape of an animal, and when he is human he sometimes struggles to control his behavior.)
When I sent the novella to my editor, I said to her, “Does this scene make my hero irredeemable?” and she said, “Uh, yeah.” So we brainstormed a way for Hugh and Ivy to react that was true to their characters and the situation, but that allowed Hugh to remain heroic.
Rewriting ensued, and I’m very happy with the end result. Of course, the most important opinion isn’t mine, but yours.
Is Hugh heroic . . . or not? If you read the novella, drop me a note to let me know what you think!
Larkspur's Quest
So, today is the release day for Larkspur’s Quest, my favorite novella in the Fey Quartet. It’s the most sensual of the four and the creepiest (thanks to the Faerie prince).
Here’s a portrait of the prince. He’s dead, but he’s also not dead, and he’s about to cause Cadoc and Larkspur a whole lot of trouble . . .
I fall in love with every hero I write, but some more than others, and Cadoc is definitely one of the love-more heroes. Poor guy, he’s torn between his loyalty to Dappleward and his love for Larkspur, and he is truly anguished by the events that unfold. (Which is not to say that all my favorite heroes are anguished; my second favorite hero in the quartet is Tam, and he pretty much laughs his way through life.)
But if I adore Cadoc because he’s so honorable, I must confess that I enjoy the dead Faerie prince because he’s not. If there's one lesson my characters learn in this tale, it’s to never trust a Faerie, whether he’s dead or alive.
If you read the novella, please do drop me a line to let me know what you think of Larkspur and Cadoc—and the Faerie prince!
[The portrait of the dead Faerie prince is courtesy of the Rijksmuseum's collection of public domain images.]
Here’s a portrait of the prince. He’s dead, but he’s also not dead, and he’s about to cause Cadoc and Larkspur a whole lot of trouble . . .
I fall in love with every hero I write, but some more than others, and Cadoc is definitely one of the love-more heroes. Poor guy, he’s torn between his loyalty to Dappleward and his love for Larkspur, and he is truly anguished by the events that unfold. (Which is not to say that all my favorite heroes are anguished; my second favorite hero in the quartet is Tam, and he pretty much laughs his way through life.)
But if I adore Cadoc because he’s so honorable, I must confess that I enjoy the dead Faerie prince because he’s not. If there's one lesson my characters learn in this tale, it’s to never trust a Faerie, whether he’s dead or alive.
If you read the novella, please do drop me a line to let me know what you think of Larkspur and Cadoc—and the Faerie prince!
[The portrait of the dead Faerie prince is courtesy of the Rijksmuseum's collection of public domain images.]
The Fey Quartet
I've just realized that although I wrote a bit about Ivy’s Choice and a bit about Larkspur’s Quest, I never wrote anything about Maythorn’s Wish and Hazel’s Promise, so here goes...
I started writing Maythorn’s Wish while I was working on the Milford Track, and Glade Forest is and isn’t the forest around Glade House, where I was based. The Milford Track is pretty magical, but when you go exploring off-track you’re more likely to run into these guys, not Faeries.
Yes, that is an actual photo of an actual kiwi that I bumped into one night! It was a pretty exciting moment for me—and a little unnerving for the kiwi.
Hazel’s Promise was written after I’d finished working on the track, but before I went back to civilization proper. I was on Stewart Island, which is very remote, but does have electricity, a few cars, cellphone coverage, and a tiny library that’s open one hour a day, four times a week.
Hazel’s Promise is the only novella in the quartet that takes place outside the fairytale safety of Dapple Vale. Hazel encounters the reality of Medieval England—and it’s dirty, dangerous, and smelly! This drawing isn’t Mottlethorpe, but it easily could be.
I guess that doesn’t really tell you much about the novellas though, does it? Let’s see...
Maythorn’s Wish is an emotional story about courage and new beginnings; Hazel’s Promise is a light-hearted tale about disguises and seeing people for who they really are. Both novellas have strong heroines, and they both have heroes I adore—Ren Blacksmith because he’s so kind and wise, and Tam Dappleward because he laughs his way through life.
What else can I say about them?
Someone told me that Maythorn's Wish made her tearful at the end. That's good, right?
And Hazel's Promise makes me laugh in several places.
So there you have it: a little bit about Maythorn’s Wish and Hazel’s Promise.
Happy reading!
Emily
[Kiwi image © me! Mottlethorpe image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum public domain collection.]
I started writing Maythorn’s Wish while I was working on the Milford Track, and Glade Forest is and isn’t the forest around Glade House, where I was based. The Milford Track is pretty magical, but when you go exploring off-track you’re more likely to run into these guys, not Faeries.
Yes, that is an actual photo of an actual kiwi that I bumped into one night! It was a pretty exciting moment for me—and a little unnerving for the kiwi.
Hazel’s Promise was written after I’d finished working on the track, but before I went back to civilization proper. I was on Stewart Island, which is very remote, but does have electricity, a few cars, cellphone coverage, and a tiny library that’s open one hour a day, four times a week.
Hazel’s Promise is the only novella in the quartet that takes place outside the fairytale safety of Dapple Vale. Hazel encounters the reality of Medieval England—and it’s dirty, dangerous, and smelly! This drawing isn’t Mottlethorpe, but it easily could be.
I guess that doesn’t really tell you much about the novellas though, does it? Let’s see...
Maythorn’s Wish is an emotional story about courage and new beginnings; Hazel’s Promise is a light-hearted tale about disguises and seeing people for who they really are. Both novellas have strong heroines, and they both have heroes I adore—Ren Blacksmith because he’s so kind and wise, and Tam Dappleward because he laughs his way through life.
What else can I say about them?
Someone told me that Maythorn's Wish made her tearful at the end. That's good, right?
And Hazel's Promise makes me laugh in several places.
So there you have it: a little bit about Maythorn’s Wish and Hazel’s Promise.
Happy reading!
Emily
[Kiwi image © me! Mottlethorpe image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum public domain collection.]
