Welcome to the seventh stop in the #exploreleira 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 G for … George Eregius Waltham III.

G is for George Eregius Waltham III, the yellow cat

Cats in fantasy have always been some of my favorite characters. Because they have so much personality in and of themselves, transforming them into fantasy creatures— often with the ability to speak— allows for so much more awesomeness to happen.

As a general rule, cats are concerned mainly with the most important thing in the entire world: themselves. Humans are their minions, existing only to satisfy their needs. Cats frequently come and go as they please. Unhindered by loyalty or a desire to gain their master’s pleasure … because they have no master. They are remarkably self-satisfied creatures, and will often show off their hunting prowess, not because they want to please you but because they are simply so delighted with their own awesomeness.

And you can never, ever quite tell what a cat is thinking.

A cat serenely posed in a patch of sunlight may simply be napping and reflecting upon the many fine qualities of sunshine … or calmly planning ways to murder you in your sleep. And there is no earthly way to tell which …

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule—my own cat, Finn, being one of them. (I’m not sure he even knows he is a cat.) He is cuddly. A perfect big fluff ball with a purr like a lawn mower. He is ridiculously fond of scaling your body like a tree so he can ride on your shoulder. He is slightly overfond of eating. And he likes car rides and tries to steal my coffee. (Weird, right?)

(Here we see Finn’s progression from a little stray kitten curled up in the backseat on the ride home to a ginormous fluff ball who wants my coffee.)

But as a general rule, cats tend to hold themselves in the highest regard and look upon the world through a unique cat-shaped set of lenses … which just makes them oh so fun to write and read about in fantasy novels.

And George Eregius Waltham III is no different.

“Well, that went marvelously, didn’t it?”

Birdie jumped at the unexpected voice, knocking over an unfastened stack of crates, and scrambled away. A yowl set her skin tingling, then a fluffy yellow face poked around the side of a barrel and glared at her.

“Can’t you watch what you’re doing? Nearly broke my tail. Imagine! Me, George Eregius Waltham the third, wandering around with a crooked tail! Horrors. Unthinkable horrors.”

– Orphan’s Song

Unthinkable horrors. Oh dear George! He makes me grin every time he spouts some new, over the top, drama-infused bit of nonsense. I imagine he has a very refined, highborn British accent that only serves to make it more amusing.

George winked. “That’s why I’m the master and you’re the pupil. Hmm, master of the Songkeeper. I rather like the sound of that.”

“And what makes you the master?

“Simply because, my dear girl, I know more than you do.” The cat curled a paw over his mouth to conceal a yawn. “And in this splendid world of ours, information is currency.”

– Orphan’s Song

Since writing George, I have since stumbled across several fictional cats who have impressed me with their incredible portrayal of catness. (Not to be confused with Katniss, hero of the Hunger Games, lol.) These are some of my favorites:

• Eanrin, Tales of Goldstone Woods by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Nope, there’s no comparison for this one … Eanrin is pure awesomeness, and I know that anyone who has read the series will agree.)
• Llyon, Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
• Fennel, Fool’s Errand and Golden Fool by Robin Hobb

Who are some of your favorite fantasy cats?

Trivia Question: How does George introduce himself to Birdie when they first meet?

1. incredibly wise and strikingly handsome
2. wild rover and fierce adventurer
3. master of all awesomeness
4. traveler extraordinaire

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Want to find out more about George? 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

Welcome to the fifth stop in the #exploreleira 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 …

 

E is for Emhran, the Master Singer …

Emhran is the Master Singer. At the beginning of time, his Song brought the entire world of Leira into existence. A remnant of that Song flowed through a river that ran through the entire land. But when the river failed, the melody was lost save for a few broken notes that formed the life-breath of every living thing. That is when the first Songkeepers appeared, tasked with keeping the memory of the Song of the Master Singer alive.

[Gundhrold’s] eyes closed and his voice assumed a rhythmic cadence until Birdie could scare tell if he were speaking or singing. “It is said that long ago, before the stars burned or the sun awakened, the Master Singer wove the fabric of the world through the threads of a Song and bound the melody within a river that flowed throughout the entire land of Leira. It became a source of life and of healing to all the people and creatures who lived here, and the music sang in every fiber of their being.”

– Songkeeper

When it came time to settle on the Master Singer’s name, I knew that I wanted it to sound Gaelic. After a fruitless scan of Gaelic names, I decided to run a search on the Irish Gaelic word for “music” and then “Creator” and eventually settled on “Song.” Amhran. I liked the look and sound of it, and yet, I wanted to make it my own. Put my own spin on it. Make it Leiran.

I also realized that many of the names in my world already began with the letter A. Amos McElhenny. Artair. Auna. The list kept expanding. And as trivial as it seems, it is actually something that authors have to consider. Names are important, right? And too many names that start with the same letter can become confusing! (It’s such a struggle!)

So Amhran became Emhran instead. Close enough to the original to please my inner-lover-of-all-things-Irish-self and yet different enough to be Leiran.

Somehow she found herself muttering words she never meant to admit out loud. “I don’t know how to do this … any of it.”

The griffin’s gaze slammed into her. “You have a gift that no one else can even fathom. Emhran, the Master Singer Himself, speaks to you through the Song.” There was awe and wonder in his voice. “You must listen, little one.”

– Songkeeper

It should come as no surprise that there are Christian themes woven into the Songkeeper Chronicles, and yet whatever allegory there may be is not intended to be either precise or direct. Allegory is an imperfect tool. It is meant to serve only as a reflection, as in a woodland pool, with the purpose of drawing the reader to that which is reflected. For that reason, Emhran, the Master Singer, is not a perfect image of God. Nor is he meant to be.

And yet, the way that he works through the Song, speaks through the Song, and prompts Birdie to respond through the Song draws somewhat upon the workings of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, where the Spirit would come upon someone in power for a specific time and a specific purpose and yet it was not a permanent indwelling such as believers have through the new covenant in Christ.

She stood, blinking in the red glow of the fire-lit cavern, striving to understand what had just happened. For she had heard a voice speaking to her out of the melody, out of the light. A whisper, not even words, a distinct melody that she somehow understood, forming thoughts out of the notes, grasping the Singer’s intent.

The voice had called her Songkeeper. Child. Beloved.

– Orphan’s Song

Birdie’s growth in her understanding of the Song and of the Master Singer has been a beautiful thing to write, for it is a story of discovery, of hope, and of belonging. It is a journey that continues throughout Orphan’s Song and Songkeeper and into book three as well.

The notes crept toward her and around her, visible now, like specks of fire, of light, of power untold. They swept over and through her, gentle but fierce. Tearing but rebuilding anew. Behind them, the vast melody rose in all its glorious splendor to surround her, and she felt herself pulled into the warmth of that embrace.

Listen, little Songkeeper, the voice whispered, and I will sing you a Song.

– Songkeeper

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Want to find out more about Emhran? Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books:

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

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

Welcome to the third stop in the #exploreleira 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 C for … Carhartan!

C is for Carhartan …

Carhartan serves the Takhran as the Second Marshal of the Khelari and plays the role of the antagonist in Orphan’s Song. I’ll admit to having a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Carhartan. But it wasn’t always that way. When he first appeared on the page, I despised him and did everything I could to make him completely unlikeable. And it was great.

He was so wicked and villainous …

Only, he wasn’t very human.

So, I went back to the drawing board. I figured out his backstory, started peppering the novel with hints, and even threw in a scene with the Takhran to garner a little sympathy. And it worked. At first. Only I still didn’t like him … and it bled through into every scene, into every word that he said, every action, every little mannerism or characteristic, so that once again, he was a villain …

And he wasn’t human.

So I went back to the drawing board again, and this time, I threw out all my preconceived notions about Carhartan the villain … and started thinking about how to make Carhartan a hero instead. If you follow my blog or Facebook page, it’s no secret that I practically grew up on the Lord of the Rings books and always adored Aragorn. And in the movie, Ranger Aragorn (as opposed to King Aragorn) was the height of coolness.

So … in order to get over my dislike of Carhartan, I decided to make him like Ranger Aragorn. (Crazy, right? Isn’t he supposed to be the villain? Why pattern any part of him after a hero?) I’m glad you asked. I realized that in order to create an antagonist who would come across as human, rather than as a cardboard cutout of an evil villain, I had to give him some redeeming quality. Something that would make me as the author like him.

It started with giving Carhartan a pipe … and yes, the scene in which we first see Carhartan’s pipe is reminiscent of the hobbits’ first glimpse of Ranger Aragorn at the Prancing Pony inn. Call it a nod, if you will, to Ranger Aragorn.

She followed Madame’s directing arm into the common room, her bare feet thudding against the cold, stone floor. The long trestle table gleamed in the firelight. Its lone occupant sat at the far end like a lurking shadow. A pipe in his mouth, meal untouched, studying Birdie with his strange dark eyes. Carhartan.

– Orphan’s Song

It seems so trivial, doesn’t it? Transforming a character with a pipe. But as soon as I put that pipe in Carhartan’s hand, I stopped looking at him as a villain, and instead started thinking about him as a character. From there, I made a few more changes, giving Carhartan and his character things that I liked, instead of things that I despised.

The stranger’s voice halted any further movement. “Drop your weapon.” His horse—a massive armored creature with an odd reddish-black mane and tail—danced in place, but he scarcely seemed to notice, moving with the horse like a tree swaying in the wind.

– Orphan’s Song

I made him a good horseman and gave him spurs. I made his horse gray, since heroes typically ride “white” steeds. And lo and behold, that subtle change in my thinking seeped into Carhartan’s scenes and his true character began to emerge on the page. He became much less of a cardboard cutout of a villain and much more interesting to me.

All of a sudden, I found myself not only liking Carhartan but feeling a tinge of pity for him. After all, he was fated to be a villain. An author can’t help feeling sorry for that.

“Time to move out.” Carhartan tapped his pipe against the sole of his boot and stood, nodding toward Birdie and Ky. “Bring them.”

– Orphan’s Song

Who are some of your favorite antagonists and what things made them seem more “human” and less “evil villain?”

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Want to find out more about Carhartan? 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

Welcome to the second stop in the #exploreleira 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 …

 

B is for Birdie …

When I first set pen to page on the first draft of the first book in the series, it was with Birdie’s name, the idea of a world created through music, and a vague notion of a rascally, red-headed peddler named Amos. But even though I started with Birdie’s name, it took me a while to figure out who she really was inside.

On the outside, it was easy enough. A young girl. Petite. Dark haired. With eyes that often seem too large for her face. Orphaned and abandoned as a baby, she serves as a drudge at an inn at the beginning of Orphan’s Song. But when it is discovered that she is gifted to hear and sing the Song that created the world, she is forced to flee for her life. Simple, right?

On the inside, it was much more difficult. She is not a flashy, swashbuckling, show-stealer like Amos, nor an indomitable, fight-your-way-up-from-the-ground troublemaker like Ky. So nailing down her character was a challenge. But after a number of drafts, I felt like her true character at last emerged on the page.

She is young, yes. Untrained. Desperate for home and a sense of belonging. And yet … she has steel beneath her skin. There is built within her a sense of self that grounds her even when she does not completely understand what it means to be who she is. Her journey through Orphan’s Song and Songkeeper is one of continued growth.

And in Songkeeper, at last, we see Birdie begin to come into her own—though it is not without a struggle. Throughout the story, Birdie battles with overwhelming fear, anxiety, and an unsettled feeling in her soul. She cannot recall the last time that she felt peace. It is a feeling that I have experienced, and I am sure that others have as well. There are times when I allow the weight of the world, the burden of the things that I feel I must accomplish, or the relentless barrage of my own critique to fester inside, until the turmoil is so great that it feels like it must explode.

In Songkeeper, Birdie fears that she is an imposter. That she will fail in the end and the hope that others have put in her will prove wanting. (Hmm, now how many times have I felt like that as an author?) And in her fear, she seeks control, forgetting that the Song was never her power to begin with.

One of the verses that I thought a lot about when writing Songkeeper was Psalm 46:10. It is a verse many are familiar with, and yet when I truly stop and think about the words, I cannot help but be impressed with the weight that they bear.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Be still.

Be. Still.

Man, I need those words stamped on the back of my hands so I can see them all the time.

When I am anxious, be still. Know that He is God.

When I worn thin from striving, be still. Know that He is God.

When I am fearful and trying to wrest things under my control, be still. Know that He is God.

And notice that in our stillness and our knowledge of His power, His name is exalted. He gets the glory.

We see this truth reflected in Birdie’s journey in Songkeeper, and I think that’s what made her story resonate even more with me after the second book. For though there is steel beneath her skin, she feels like there is fear caged inside her chest … struggling to break free. And like us, she must combat that fear through learning to be still and to trust.

She held her breath.

The notes crept toward her and around her, visible now, like specks of fire, of light, of power untold. They swept over and through her, gentle but fierce. Tearing but rebuilding anew. Behind them, the vast melody rose in all its glorious splendor to surround her, and she felt herself pulled into the warmth of that embrace.

Listen, little Songkeeper, the voice whispered, and I will sing you a Song.

– Songkeeper

Have you ever struggled with being still and simply trusting that the Lord is God?

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Want to find out more about Birdie? Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books:

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

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