August 05, 2013

Blog Tour: Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl -- Interview & Giveaway!

dragonwitch tour



Dragonwitch A New Tale Is Added to this Christy Award-Winning Fantasy Saga! Submissive to her father's will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves--Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country. But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta's tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war. And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice...and for the one person who can wield it.  
 



Interview with Anne Elisabeth Stengl

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your latest release.

Hi, there! I am Anne Elisabeth Stengl, author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, a series of adventure fantasy novels told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Dragonwitch is book 5 in that series, and it tells the story of a character who has been hinted at in several previous books—the Dragonwitch herself. She is a frightening character who has gone down in the histories of her world as a horrible monster. But what might be her perspective on the story . . . ?

2. What was your inspiration for the book?

I was seventeen when the first idea for Dragonwitch came to me. I was reading a book on Norse Mythology, and suddenly a vivid image popped into my head: An image of a woman, covered in flames, standing atop a mountain as rivers swelled up around her. It was quite a startling picture, and I tried first to sketch it. When that failed, I began writing down notes . . .  just simple ideas for what her story might be. And so the Dragonwitch herself was born. It was a good eight years before I finally sat down to write the novel, however.

3. What are you working on now? 

I am working on book 7 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood, an exciting novel of epic proportions, dealing with three warring nations and one brave young woman trapped at the center of the conflict. Currently, it is under the working title Golden Daughter, though that isn’t absolutely settled.

4. How different would you say the final version of Dragonwitch is from the first draft?

Very different indeed! I had to write several drafts of this book to get it right. I wrote four or five different beginnings, each about 40,000 words long before realizing they weren’t right and tossing them. But finally, when I stopped trying to cling to some of my favorite ideas and simply let the book be what it wanted to be, it started coming together in its current form. But it took a while! Dragonwitch was the hardest book I’ve written so far.

5. Do you have a book in your house that's just destroyed because you've read it so much?  

Well, my copy of Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones has definitely seen better days! It’s worn down to a stump from all the times I’ve read it and loaned it to friends.




 Tour Giveaway $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 8/13/13 
  a Rafflecopter giveaway  





Author Anne Elisabeth Stengl Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, MOONBLOOD, STARFLOWER and DRAGONWITCH. HEARTLESS and VEILED ROSE have each been honored with a Christy Award.

  

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