My good friend and author Marian Allen is here with us today. Marian writes fantasy...right up my alley. She has generously shared chapter one of Eel's Reverence with me and I elected to give you all a taste.Chapter 1
Priests can get their noses out of joint, and old women still have their pride. I'd been a priest of Micah for 68 of my 82 years and a woman for all 82 of them; when my congregation began drifting away to the flashy new temple down the street, something snapped. If my parish wanted a new priest, I wasn't going to stay and hang on by my nails.
I announ
ced my intention of going on a Final Wandering, dismissed my sexton, and said goodbye to my temple, my plants, my parishioners. I released my wolves from our devotion, posted my temple as vacant, and started walking. North, why not?I took a sour pride in the picture I presented: a tiny, yellow-brown raisin of a woman in a cassock of forester's green; a poor unwanted old woman with iron gray hair and tin gray eyes, staff in hand and a bindle on my back, making my lonely way throug
h the morning mist.
One of my erstwhile parishioners, a floatboard salesman who traveled by dory, spoiled the effect by asking me to keep him company around Windycliff and up the coast to Malmana.
I gratefully accepted passage, but not his offer of breakfast nor his apology on behalf of his fellow votaries.
I left Malmana on foot, moving pretty briskly along the road of hard-packed sand. The road became more frequented as the morning passed, but my fellow travelers seemed strangely disinclined to speak to me. No one offered me food or a ride, and only one person, an old man, even gave me any money; he dropped a handful of pennies at my feet, made as if to pick them up, then waved them down with an "Ah! Let them go!" and went
on.
All rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2010 by Marian Allen
NR: As writers, we are told to grab the reader in the first line, paragraph, page. I don't know about you, but I was grabbed. Our heroine is an 82 year old priest and a woman. Already I'm intrigued that at that age she would even consider going on a trip and walking to boot.
Marian, I'm curious, how did you come up with such a character?
Marian: How did I come up with Aunt Libby? I was thinking about my Aunt Ruth, actually. Aunt Ruth was in her 60's when I wrote the book, but I wanted Aunt Libby to be older--so old that a lot of people would discount her effectiveness and strength. I wanted somebody who would seem like a pawn to powerful people, but who knew who she was and what her non-negotiable principles were. My Aunt Ruth was the oldest, strongest woman I knew at the time, so I started with her. Any time I wasn't certain what Aunt Libby would do or say, I asked myself what Aunt Ruth would do or say.
NR: That is very interesting Marian and unique I believe to fantasy. Now onto the royalty donation.
Marian: About a month ago, all authors of Echelon Press got an FYI notice that one of us, D. M. (Dave) Anderson, was in the hospital. He had the flu, which went into pneumonia, which triggered an inflammation of the lining around his heart. Dave has written a wonderful Young Adult sf/humor book called KILLER COWS, available in print and electronic version, so he has some royalties coming in. But guess what? Dave has pledged all his electronic royalties to a former student of his who has cancer.
Our publisher asked us to spread the word about KILLER COWS, recommending the print version, for which the royalties would go to Dave. In fact, she pledged to match his print royalties dollar-for-dollar through Christmas, in hopes of giving his family a bit of cheer.
Another of Echelon's Young Adult writers, Martin Bartloff, pledged the electronic royalties of his moving novel TORN FROM NORMAL through Christmas to the Dave Fund. I followed suit. I just heard from one of my nephews, Joshua Allen, who isn't published by Echelon and has no connection to Dave except through me; Joshua is also pledging his electronic royalties to the Fund through January 1.
And people claim the Internet is impersonal and online friendships aren't "real" friendships.
If you’d like to get more info on Dave’s condition, you can visit a site set up by family at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/killercows.
You can get KILLER COWS at Amazon.com, Kindle, or a special offer from Echelon Press.
Give TORN FROM NORMAL as a gift or purchase a copy for yourself by clicking here.
Joshua S. Allen's books are available for Kindle.
EEL'S REVERENCE is available for your Kindle and at Fictionwise.
Amazon UK
Eel's Reverence
Killer Cows
Torn from Normal
Joshua Allen
Thanks for helping me spread the word, Nancy! You're a peach!
Marian Allen
You can buy Eel's Reverence from Amazon, or any of the other great books listed above.
Thank you Marian for stopping by today with your amazing e-book, Eel's Reverence.
Do you have any questions for Marian? She'll stop by throughout the day to read your comments and answer your questions.
