By day Yosyph appears nothing more than a mute
tavern-hand. By night he is the shadowy leader of a growing revolution.
When he learns that thousands of his people will be
sent as slaves to the mines, he must choose—fight the royal army with an
ill-prepared rebellion or journey to the land of his ancestors through the
deadly King's Trial, where he hopes to win the help of his kin.
His journey grows complicated when he rescues a
maiden and enrages a prince, but if he doesn’t return with help in time, the
people he’s loved and secretly served will be gone.
As a youth, I made up stories to help my little
sisters go to sleep. It backfired. We stayed up for hours continuing the tale.
The King’s Trial was born in those late, whispered nights.
Ever since I climbed up to the rafters of our barn
at age four, I've lived high adventure: scuba diving, mud football with my
brothers, rappelling, and even riding a retired racehorse at full
gallop—bareback. I love the thrill and joy.
Stories give me a similar thrill and joy. I love
living through the eyes and heart of a hero who faces his internal demons and
the heroine who fights her way free instead of waiting to be saved. I read
fiction and true-story adventure. I write both, though I'm starting with
publishing the fiction—fact will come later.
I create high fantasy, fairy tale retellings, and
poetry. I live a joyful adventure with my husband and six children. I am a
Christian and I love my Savior.
(Place your review here or remove this banner)
Top Ten List
1. As a child, I couldn’t walk
across a room. I danced, spun, skipped, ran, or otherwise moved, but I couldn’t
just walk.
2. I took calculus at a community
college at age 14. I planned to go to MIT and become an astronaut. Plans
changed—in wonderful ways.
3. I
love reading to my children. We’ve enjoyed books from Dr. Seuss to Les Misérables. Maniac Magee is one of our favorites.
4. I
lived in St Petersburg, Russia for half-a-year teaching English to
kindergartners. I learned to wash my clothes in a bathtub, filter and boil my
drinking water, and love my sweet, crayon-eating, kids.
5. I
have slight dyslexia. ‘b’ and ‘p’ sometimes flip flop on me. But it also means
I can read a book upside-down.
6. I
love climbing, rappelling, and horseback riding. But I hate roller coasters and
bungee jumping.
7. I’ve
journaled almost every day since I turned seventeen. I capture conversations,
descriptions, happenings, and quotes. I explore ideas. Through the years I’ve
written well over a million words. It prepared me to become an author.
8. Plumbing
Repair is my nemesis. I’m grateful I don’t have to battle it very often. In the
end, I always win, but I feel like I’ve fought an archvillain who pulled every
dirty trick in the book, including Chinese water torture in claustrophobic
conditions.
9. I
live with a vivid imagination. I dream in 3-D, technicolor, and occasionally
with my eyes open. This is a bane when it comes to nightmares. I will not watch
horror movies.
10. The King’s Trial started as a bedtime tale I
told my little sisters twenty years ago. Don’t worry. I wrote the second book, The King’s Shadow, in six months, and it
will come out this autumn.
Plus an extra: I
have an accent. People often ask me where I'm from. Maybe it's my reader
accent. I've read out-loud enough different books in character, that perhaps it
stuck.
Character Descriptions:
Yosyph:
Yosyph appears to
be a mute tavern-hand by day, but by night he is the leader of a growing
rebellion against the abuses of the crown. He is tall and lean, with swarthy
skin and black hair. Whip marks scar his back. His green eyes stand out from
his otherwise dark features. He prefers to speak with hand signs, but will use
words when necessary. He’s a brilliant strategist, but also a loner. Most only
know him by the title Yorel. And even those closest to him don’t really know
him.
Halavant:
Prince Halavant
is a spoiled godling. He is shorter
and more muscular than Yosyph, with tanned skin and a face rounded by opulent
living. He bleaches his blond hair and wears it in ringlets. Despite his dandy
looks, he is adept at sword fighting and insults. His two main focuses in life
are duels and his betrothed, Katrin.
Katrin:
Though short,
with pale freckled skin and red hair reaching almost to her knees, Katrin isn’t
small in personality. She goes through life with a fiery energy matching her
hair. Her wit can lift or wound others. Don’t get in the way of her throwing
knives.
Galliard:
An itinerant
laborer, Galliard laughs his way through troubles and annoyances. He is
sun-baked and topped with an untamed mop of sandy hair. His right hand is
missing the pointer finger at the first knuckle.
Thank you for featuring The King's Trail in your blog.
ReplyDelete