Gillian Bronte Adams

YA Epic Fantasy Author

Year of A Thousand Words: Encourage – Stand in the Gap

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Epic stories stir the soul. The blend of joy and sorrow, heartache and victory, tragedy and glorious deeds awakens a desire within us to strive and fight and seek to do the same. So often epic friendships form a marvelous strand of these epic stories.

Frodo and Sam. Legolas and Gimli. Sherlock and Watson. Merlin and Arthur.

Their friendships inspire us and leave us longing (or grateful) for such friends of our own.

(On a side note, I racked my brain for an example of a great literary friendship between girls, and the only one that I could come up with on the spot, where the two girls weren’t sisters, was Anne Shirley and Diana Barry. Maybe you guys can think of some? But honestly, I wonder if this lack of truly great girl friendships isn’t worthy of a post in and of itself?)

One of my favorite friendship pairs is actually David and Jonathan from the Bible. You see, Jonathan is an unsung hero. Compared to David’s many exploits (slaying Goliath, leading Saul’s army, playing a mad man among the Philistines—tales worthy of a bard!), Jonathan’s own heroic deeds are often forgotten. Ever heard about that time when Jonathan and his armor bearer scaled a cliff to single-handedly fight a whole outpost of Philistine warriors, and how God sent a panic afterwards that put the whole army into rout? (1 Samuel 14)

Pretty awesome, isn’t it?

In his own right, Jonathan was a warrior. By right of blood, he was heir to Saul’s throne. By all customs, the kingdom should have passed to him. But Jonathan was a humble man and faithful enough that he was willing to stand aside and recognize God’s sovereignty over David’s anointing as king in his stead.

He sacrificed everything for his friend, including the love and trust of his own father. Many times, Jonathan stood before Saul and sought to turn his anger away from David. He brought that wrath down upon himself, until Saul in his madness sought to kill his own son with a spear. Even then, Jonathan did not turn against David, resent him, or abandon him. Instead, he journeyed to where David was hiding out from Saul and “helped him find strength in the Lord.” (I Samuel 23:16)

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

I Samuel 23:17-18 (NIV)

To me, that is the true purpose of friendship. Encouragement and strength in the Lord. I think that too often in the world that we live in, encouragement has come to mean nothing but “feel-good” words that are often empty and ultimately meaningless. But the word courage is found in encouragement. It bears the connotation of rallying, of strengthening, of girding up and supplying confidence and boldness, as if for the fight.

And especially when we encourage our friends in the Lord and help them find strength in Him. I love that picture! This concept where friendship is like standing in the gap of the shield wall, of stepping forward when your friend falls down. Of spurring your friends on to better and braver deeds. Of speaking truth to their souls when the night closes in.

Words are powerful. As readers and writers and lovers of words, we know that. But so often in this digital world of ours, where we can hide behind screens and online personas, people seem to forget. So many of the things that are typed online would not be said face to face. Kindness flies out the window. Courtesy is unknown. And the urge to tear down instead of building up wins the day.

But it isn’t always like that. Recently, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to see the fruit of encouragement in my own life. Faithful friends who wrote a letter at just the right time. Readers who took a moment out of their own busy lives to type an email. It’s a simple thing, and yet it means so much to have this reminder that I’m not alone, that there is someone who has my back, who will fight at my side, and will stand in the gap when I can stand no more.

Recognizing the impact that those words have had in my life, I have started to seek out opportunities to do the same. And do you know what? It takes very little effort—in the grand scheme of things—to send an email, pen a note, or text an encouraging word that can embolden someone to stand strong and carry on throughout the day.

And let us not forget the other side of this: strengthening one another in the Lord. How do we do that? By being open and vulnerable with one another. By bearing witness to the awesome things that God has done in our lives and pointing others to view His faithfulness. By standing upon God’s Word and the promises within and helping our friends to do the same.

Let us be brothers and sisters in arms. Let us stand side by side in the shield wall, stepping forward to protect one another and to encourage one another to rise!

Your turn! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

  • Who are your favorite literary friendships?
  • Has someone been this type of friend for you lately, encouraging you and strengthening you in the Lord?
  • What are some ways that you can encourage and strengthen others today?

The Everyman Hero – Reflections on Wonder Woman

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“My father told me once, he said, ‘If you see something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing, or you can do something.’ And I already tried nothing.”

– Steve Trevor

I stepped out of the movie theaters the other night after my second viewing of Wonder Woman, and that line continued playing on in my head. A post such as this is late to the game. The movie has already been out for months, so you have all already likely digested the film, savored the flavor, and moved on.

But I’d like to take a moment to relive the feast. Wonder Woman may well be my favorite movie of 2017. That may not be saying much—2017 is still far from done, and since hectic is really the best word to describe my schedule, the movie theater and I have been more unfamiliar acquaintances than fast friends. Put those things aside though, and I still think it is a fair statement.

Visually, the film is incredibly striking and beautiful. Personally, I’d love to take a one way ticket to the Island of Themyscira to train among the Amazons. (Seriously … who wouldn’t like to train like them?) Gal Gadot’s Diana is at once formidable and eye-openingly innocent. I envy the strength of her conviction and courage. It is so inspiring, so refreshing, because no matter how many times she is told that she cannot help, that she cannot make a difference, she is determined to do what she can. (Which, admittedly, is quite a lot. It helps to have superpowers.)

Critics can quibble over plot and storyline all they will, but when she scales that ladder, rises above the trenches, and charges across No Man’s land, I don’t know about you, but I wanted to jump out of my seat and charge after her. Because I am weary of being jaded and matter-of-fact when it comes to those who are hurting and suffering around me.

And the best heroes are those who inspire us to do the same.

But instead of focusing on Diana, I want to focus on the other hero of the film: Steve.

Steve is the everyman hero. He is a normal guy, like you and me—at least when it comes to superpowers, (although admittedly as a soldier and spy, he’s probably got a little more training than the average everyman)—who steps up and gives above and beyond the call of duty.

Unlike Diana, he has already come face to face with evil and suffering from both sides of the war. He may not have Diana’s abilities, but he willingly charges into the fray, putting his life on the line time and again. Where Diana is convinced that she can stop the war if she can just defeat Ares, Steve has had to face the realization that he cannot save everyone, cannot win the war on his own, and that each battle may be his last, but that doesn’t stop him from giving his all to do all the good that he can.

There is much that is wrong with the world. Much suffering. Much anger. Much hate. And we cannot stop it. Not on a global scale. It can be discouraging. And while we know that the power of Christ’s love is ultimately the only thing that can truly change the world, when we are faced with the overwhelming depth of the problems around us, we can be tempted to deny any part in the battle. To sit on the sidelines and leave it to others to fight.

Or we can make the choice to act.

To wade into the fray. To enter the grime and grit of the battle. To draw the fire. To affect change around us, in our sphere of influence, in every interaction that we have with others.

We can choose how we will respond. Whether we will ignore suffering. Whether we will feed anger and hatred. Whether we will accept the world the way that it is.

Or whether we will love—as Christ has called us to—and act, in each moment of the day, out of love toward others.

I see that as being the true power of the everyman hero. As much as I can watch a movie like Wonder Woman and dream about training as an Amazon warrior or leading that charge across No Man’s land, I know my limitations. Unfortunately, those limitations don’t allow for leaping buildings in a bound, single-handedly defeating a squad of enemy combatants, or blocking machine gun fire with magic gauntlets.

But Steve’s heroism—the choice to rise and fight and do whatever good you can do, regardless of the odds—that I can put into practice, and so you can you.

It begins with the simplest of choices: the choice to do something instead of nothing.

Are there any fights or causes near and dear to your heart?
Have you found a way to do whatever good that you can do today?
Do you have a favorite “everyman” hero in movies or books?

From the Camp World to the Writing World

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Somehow, the year has already slipped into June. I am not entirely sure how or when that happened. For those of you who have not been following my blog for long, I work full time at a youth camp as their Equestrian Director and Assistant Junior Camp Director. When the summer begins, work at camp becomes all-consuming, so my involvement in the writing world – blog, social media, etc. – tends to fall by the wayside for a time.

This back and forth between two very full and distinct worlds reminds me of all those portal fantasy novels I love to read, where the main characters are torn between two places that they love, and when they are in one world, that world is the most important thing and the other one fades into the background. But as soon as they return to the first world, that other world becomes more and more like a dream.

Although it’s a bit of an exaggeration to compare the two aspects of my life to two separate fantasy worlds, the novelist in me can’t help but enjoy the similarity.

So here I am, emerging from the camp world of horses and kids and long days and late nights and sharing the Gospel under the stars, to give all of you here in the writing world a bit of an update!

(And before you get your hopes up, I do not yet have a release date for Book Three in the Songkeeper Chronicles! More news will hopefully be forthcoming soon on that front. For now, all I can tell you is that I’m very excited about this book, it is currently in my editor’s hands, and I already have an incredible image in mind for the cover art!)

Update One: New Series

In other news, I am hard at work on a completely new series. This series has been whispering siren songs to me in the dark for the past four or five years, simply begging to be written, but the Songkeeper Chronicles was still at the forefront of my mind, so I kept logging notes and trying to quell my rising excitement at the prospect of getting to write this story. Guess what? I am now, finally writing it, and I am beyond excited about the tale that I am getting to tell. It is a thousand times bigger than it was when I first imagined it, so I am grateful that the story has had time to grow in the back of my mind all these years.

Even now, because of the time of year that it is in the camp world and the hours that camp work requires, I am forced to write the story much slower than the impatient writer side of me would like. But in the long run, I can tell that it is building a much richer, much more developed first draft than I would get otherwise. So I am writing in sessions of paragraphs and sentences, crafting slowly, layer by layer, and the story is being paintstakingly folded and hammered and heated and cooled, like a marvelous Damascus blade.

Can you tell how excited I am about this one?

Part of me is simply bursting to spill it all and reveal every last beautiful, heart-achingly, epic moment of this tale to you all right now. So I’m going to change subjects before I lose my last ounce of self-control and simply point you all toward my Pinterest and Instagram accounts where I’ll continue posting sneak peeks of my research and inspiration as the story progresses.

Update Two: Instagram

Speaking of Instagram, this woefully-behind-the-times author just recently acquired an account! Still learning the ins and outs, but for those of you who follow my Facebook page, my Instagram account is intended to be a slightly more relaxed and intimate view of my life as a writer, wanderer, and wordsmith. (Don’t you love that alliteration?) I would love to connect with you guys over there if we haven’t yet!

Update Three: Short Stories

As a fantasy reader and writer who loves nothing better than devouring massive books, I have never written much in the way of short stories. I have penned a few here and there but never devoted much time to it. After all, why tell a story in 1000 words when you can tell it in 100,000? (Right?) Actually, wrong.

Now that my work on the Songkeeper Chronicles is drawing to a close, I am also spending a lot of time studying different aspects of the writing craft, seeking to grow in my abilities and learn new techniques and methods of storytelling. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with a massive book (thank goodness!), learning to write with the sort of sharp, beautiful clarity and impact of a short story is incredibly useful.

So, I am experimenting with short stories, particularly now when (in the camp world) my schedule is so busy!

And I recently sold a short story to Splickety Magazine for their Medieval Mayhem issue that only just released today. It was my first experiment with historical fiction – although the medieval side of things kept it much closer to the fantasy settings where I feel so at home – and is the tale of a repentant crusader who is wracked with guilt over the bloodshed at Constantinople.

Isn’t that a cool cover? Care to read the stories within?

Purchase a copy here!

So there you have it, an update to those of you in the writing world from me in the camp world, and now I would love to hear an update from you all too! What have you been reading lately, where are you wandering, and for those of you who are fellow writers, what have you been writing?

Courage, Dear Heart

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When I read, I occasionally stumble across certain phrases that seem to catch me by the heart. There is such beauty in them—a wild beauty that contains such a depth of truth that it must be explored, pondered, tasted, and then simply rolled across the tongue. Again and again, until you sink into the full force of the meaning contained within.

Is it any wonder that Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia provided me with one such phrase?

Courage, dear heart.

This is taken from one of my favorite scenes from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It may even be one of my favorite scenes in the entire Chronicles of Narnia, though I hesitate to make that claim because I am sure to think of another, better favorite scene later on.

In this scene, Lucy and her fellow voyagers on the Dawn Treader have just entered the darkness that lies around the Island where Dreams come true. Not good dreams, of course—because wouldn’t we all love to visit that place—but true dreams … nightmares.

Once they realize their heading, they instantly swing around and strive to get out. And that’s when the panic sets in, because it seems to take them twice as long to get out as it took them to get in, and they begin to fear that they are trapped. That they will never get out. That they are doomed to forever sail in the fear that haunts the darkness around the Island where Dreams come true.

As a child, I suffered from nightmares, and my dad knew just how to help me. He had introduced me—at a very young age—to Tolkien’s work through nightly read-alouds from The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. So when I became frightened at night, he encouraged me to follow the example of the heroes that I loved and even fashioned a sword for me out of aluminum foil. I promptly named my sword “Sting” and stored my bright blade close beside my bed.

Knowing that my sword was close to hand in case I needed to slay any monsters that emerged from my dreams helped me to sleep at night.

My childhood nightmares are very different from the fears that I find myself in constant battle against today. Fear of failing. Fear of what others will think. Fear of being vulnerable. Fear of what I might lose. So many of these fears—if you could pluck them out of the darkness and force them to stand, cringing, in the clear light of day—would be revealed to be nothing more than incorporeal phantoms. Monsters spun by the wild workings of my own mind.

And yet, in my own mind, they are no less real and fierce, and the fear will not be simply forgotten. It gnaws at me. So I stand, gritting my teeth, staring the fear in the face, and thinking by simply staring at it—standing on my own two feet, fists clenched—I am brave.

But there comes a time when such bravery is not enough. Something more is needed.

Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered, “Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.” The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little—a very, very little—better.

– The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

In giving me a sword to quiet my nighttime fears, my dad taught me to face them head on. At the same time, however, he also taught me that it is no less courageous or brave to be willing to ask for help. I didn’t have to face fear on my own—brand new weapon, notwithstanding. Like the good father that he was (and still is), he showed me that he would listen whenever I needed him, and he also taught me that my heavenly Father was always listening too.

He taught me that prayer was the best way to combat fears.

Notice in the above passage that the darkness did not grow any less after Lucy called out to Aslan. Often our prayers for help, for strength, and for courage, do not immediately bring about a transformation in our circumstances.  But through them we can receive the strength and courage and guidance that we need to live through our circumstances through trusting in God, our Father.

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan helps Lucy by appearing in the shape of an albatross that descends on a beam of light and guides the ship through the darkness and out into the light of day.

It [the albatross] called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them … But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage dear heart,” and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.

– The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Courage, dear heart.

Some days, my heart seems a cold, dead thing in my chest, and the thought of hope beyond the voice of the fears seems as incomprehensible as a flower growing through a snowdrift. Then courage seems the farthest thing from my mind, and the darkness of that terrible island where dreams become reality, seems to cloud my vision.

Have you ever felt the same?

And yet when I can find a moment to sit in stillness and let the Word of God speak peace into my soul, it is as if those very words are whispered into my heart. Courage, dear heart.

And all at once, everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been.

– The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Guided by the albatross, the Dawn Treader emerges from the darkness at last, and there in the light of day, the fears that had haunted them are revealed for exactly what they are: phantoms with no power to harm. And I think that is a beautiful truth: when we are guided through our fears through prayer and reliance on God, our fears are relegated to the place they deserve.

Nothingness.

They all looked. But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished forever.

– The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

And isn’t that a beautiful thought?

So for now, I will whisper “Courage, dear heart” one last time to you and to me, and pray for us both as we embark into the wild journey that awaits us today.

Explore Leira Blog Tour – Winners!

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Thanks to all of you for participating in the #exploreleira tour over the past month and a half! Would you believe it – Songkeeper is now officially one year old! Honestly, I’ve had WAY too much fun exploring the characters, places, and creatures in the world of Leira and hope that you have too.

But now, at last, the moment you’ve been waiting for …

It’s time to announce giveaway winners!

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE

In scanning the entries, I was excited to see so many old familiar faces, as well as many new names and faces that I am thrilled to meet. (I hope you new friends will stick around post tour as well! We have lots of “boggswoggling” fun here. Just saying.) While I would love to be able to give a copy of the Songkeeper Chronicles to everyone – because I do just love sharing the books with readers – I’m afraid we will have to stick with our three winners this time around.

Winning the grand prize package, including a copy of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and this gorgeous handcrafted mug:

Caryl Kane!

And each winning a copy of Songkeeper:

Jane Maree and Elizabeth Russell!

Congrats to the winners and thanks to all for entering! If you weren’t lucky enough to win this time and the #exploreleira tour whetted your appetite for the books, you can also purchase them online in the following places:

Amazon: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

And for all you lovely fans of the series, consider telling a friend about the books or writing a review on Amazon or other retail site. Missed a stop or two on the tour and want to catch up? Find all the posts here: #exploreleira.

Until next time, happy wandering, fellow travelers!

Explore Leira Blog Tour: Z is for Zahar

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Welcome to stop number twenty six in the #exploreleira tour blog tour where we’re celebrating the (almost) one year book birthday for Songkeeper! It is the second book in the Songkeeper Chronicles, which tells the story of a girl who can hear the song that created the world.

If this is your first encounter with the blog tour, we are continuing a series of alphabet posts looking at the world and characters and magical creatures of the Songkeeper Chronicles.

Today, we’re looking at the letter …

Z is for Zahar

Can you believe it? We are already at the end of the #exploreleira tour! I hope you have enjoyed our little rambling trek through the world of Leira. I know that I certainly have. If you have read the books and enjoyed them, consider spreading the word through writing up a quick review online or telling a friend about the series.

In the meantime, we have one more #exploreleira post to enjoy.

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a short story that delves further into Zahar’s tragic tale. I hoped to be able to share it here as the culmination of the tour, but true to form, the short story has grown beyond what I expected, so a blog post is no longer the best medium for sharing. (And I am not quite finished yet. Almost. But not quite.)

For now, we will simply discuss the formation of Zahar’s character and how she fell into her role in the story, and I will save her full tale for another time. Zahar first appears toward the end of Songkeeper, so I shall endeavor to share her backstory without revealing too many spoilers about her role in the book.

For those of you who have read the book, here’s a fun bit of trivia. In the first draft, Zahar’s role was originally filled by Auna, Birdie’s grandmother and the previous Songkeeper. In that version of the story, Auna had survived her initial run in with the Khelari (seen at the beginning of Orphan’s Song) and wound up being led astray by the lies of the Takhran over years of captivity in the Pit.

There was a fair bit more to it than that, and it was tied into several character development ideas and plotlines. But my editor wasn’t a fan of that storyline and encouraged me to try something different, so I went back to the drawing board, sketched out an idea for a new character, and voila, Zahar appeared on the page. And honestly, I’m so grateful for my editor’s suggestions there, because the book became so much stronger through the changes made.

As soon as I began developing this new character, I immediately went for a name that began with the letter Z. I searched on various naming websites and wound up with a long list of Z names, but as soon as I said the name “Zahar” out loud, I knew that it sounded right. Naming characters is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. It usually takes me a little while, but once I settle on a character’s name, I very rarely change it.

Certain names just feel right.

But I digress.

Who is Zahar?

Well, we first hear portions of her story from Gundhrold when he, Amos, and Birdie are in Serrin Vroi. Originally a daughter of the Nordlands, Zahar lived a nomadic life with her brother, Rav, after the untimely death of their stepfather. By all accounts, she was a beautiful woman, but hers was the beauty of a frail, wind-shorn leaf.

“ … robed in the blue of the Shantren, with hair like autumn leaves that hung in long, silver-banded braids to her waist. A red crystal dangled from a chain about her neck. Save for the dark hollows beneath her eyes and cheekbones, neither age nor worry had yet lined her forehead or marred her skin.”

– Songkeeper

At a young age, she discovered her ability to hear faint strands of melody, but the ability never fully developed. Even so, her brother, Rav, became convinced that she was the next Songkeeper. He dragged her to the desert, insisted that the council of griffins recognize her gifting, and became almost violent when they labeled her a Songling and not a Songkeeper. (For more on Songlings and Songkeepers, check out this post!) For the next year, Rav and Zahar vanished from the desert. Little is known of what befell them during that time. None can say why they returned to the north, nor how they wound up wandering the lightless paths below Mount Eiphyr …

But into the Pit they went.

A year later, they marched ragged and sand-blasted to stand before the council of griffins, and once again, Rav demanded that his sister be recognized. When they refused yet again, he unleashed an ambush. A group of chimera lurked in the shadows beyond the meeting place of the Protectors. To Zahar’s horror, they fell upon the griffins with flame and fang, and in the sudden onslaught, the Protectors were slaughtered.

Alone of the griffins, Gundhrold escaped, with Auna at his side.

“But as we fled, I saw her. Zahar. Standing on the brink of the fight. Then she plunged in after her brother only to fall at the feet of one of the beasts. Dead. I am convinced of it.”

– Songkeeper

I did warn you that hers was a tragic story, yes?

Unfortunately, I’m afraid we’ll have to end the post there in order to avoid too many more spoilers from Songkeeper. In the meantime, I am enjoying wordcrafting on Zahar and Rav’s short story. Sibling tales offer so many fascinating dynamics.

I always get ridiculously excited about the telling of a new tale, so I am loving every facet of developing this new short story, drawing from the strengths and weaknesses of this established character and following them back like footprints to determine who she was at the beginning. It is fascinating … and oh so much fun.

Hope to be able to share it with you all at some point too!

Want to find out more about Zahar? Check out the links below to purchase the books:

Amazon: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, Song of Leira

Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, Song of Leira

free short story: Of Shadow and Rust

Preorder: Of Sea and Smoke

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