HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

It's Thanksgiving Break!  First day, and I am so thankful to be out of the dorms and in a real house, sleeping in a room with just myself, baking to my heart's content, and having all the time I want to write!
Yes, I have definitely been baking today.  I made two pumpkin pies and two loaves of bread, and I am planning on getting up early tomorrow to make some cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
As for The Daulots, I have worked on it a little.
Other good news!  I received an email today, and I am being put into the 2012 International Who's Who of Poetry book!  This is AMAZING news!  I have so much to be thankful for.
So, God bless you all, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends!
Thanks for reading,
Kathryn

Loren D'Nore

I AM OFFICIALLY EXCITED!!!!!
Thanksgiving Break is in THREE (3, III) days!
And here is a post about Princess Loren from The Daulots.

Loren is sixteen at the time of The Daulots.  Her father is the reigning monarch of Torte, but even though she is next in line to the throne, she is physically weak and most people don't think that she would be a good ruler.  Many of Torte's leaders think that Elizabeth, who is ten, healthy, and possessing a strong personality, might try to take the country for herself when the king dies.
When Zame Jadrez, the most pwerful man in Torte, stumbles across a group of weak, recently escaped Amian boys, he learns of a plot hatched by Slograv to take over the great kingdom of Torte.  Part of that plan includes killing both Loren and Elizabeth.  It's at this time that Loren has to prove herself strong, even though she can barely lift her father's sword or stay conscious in a crowd
One really good thing about Loren is that she loves to read, especially fairy tales and old legends.  Because of this, when Srlago sends a desperate message for help, Loren knows exactly where to turn, even though she can't ride a horse or shoot a bow.

I really do like Loren.  I wanted to create a character exactly opposite from the stereotypical warrior, bow-and-arrow princess that is in so much of our modern fantasy fiction.  Even Arda won't be doing much fighting.  Kalai certainly won't be fighting, and Enlavaria only fights in one battle and that is an emergency.  The mysterious sister fights, but that is her whole job in the first place.  Most of the actual fighting in The Daulots is done by the men.  I wanted to give the whole story an air of chivalry and have the men do the fighting and the women sit in the castles and do everything else.  I wanted to give The Daulots a knight and lady approach, and that is actually a little harder to do than you might imagine.  The temptation is great to give Arda a bow and finally allow Loren to lift a sword, but I am not going to do so.
By the way, here is Slograv and Kalai's son:

What do you think of him?  I still don't have a name for him, but he does seem like he could be a villain's little boy, doesn't he?

Slograv, except that he should have black hair

Kalai (She would have been Queen of Amia one way or another.)

Let me expand on that caption under Kalai's picture.  She was betrothed to marry the rightful king of Amia before Slograv kidnapped her.  Of course, she didn't really like her conceited cousin at all, but she likes Slograv even less.  We shall see what comes out of that!

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Kathryn

Arda and Srlago

Arda and Srlago at the Schlezimein ruins

Were ever two less alike?  The sister and brother that figure first in my story The Daulots are definitely not the closest in personality.  With my characteristic bigotry, I made Srlago, the boy, the steady, sensible, clever, likable, courageous one.  Arda, on the other hand, is scatterbrained, know-it-all, and sometimes she is really annoying.  She is one of those characters that really gets on my nerves.  She refuses to take advice and is always trying to push the limit, whereas Srlago makes it a point to ask for help and is always ready to take others advice.  In a way, they are the perfect companions, because they sort of balance each other out.  Alone, Srlago would be vulnerable to the crafty devices of so-called friends; Arda provides enough suspicion to get them through potentially tough situations.  Alone, Arda would stubbornly refuse to get anywhere even if she thought she was working hard; Srlago has enough common sense to know when to turn to someone else for help.

Arda during the flight to Eltra

When they were younger, they had to flee to the mountain refuge of Eltra for safety.  Now that they're both ten years older, their uncle Mendan has sent them both on a mission--they're to penetrate Slograv's castle and prepare the way for an all-out attack.

Srlago during the flight to Eltra

Of course, nothing goes the way that it is planned.  The first problem is that Arda and Kalai look so much alike.  The only way to get around that problem is to disfugure Arda's face. (I can't wait to get to that scene!)  Unfortunately, you won't see any pictures because there aren't any that I have seen of Arda just the way I imagine her face to be when Srlago gets through with her.
One of the other interesting elements that I forgot to mention is that Slograv and Kalai had a son.  He's five at the time of the story.  I haven't given him a name yet, but that will come.  He's really important.  By the way, I made a poster for the book.  What do you think?

Thanks for reading and God bless,

Kathryn

The Daulots: Main Character List!

Here it is!  The main character list for The Daulots, as well as pictures for some of them.

When I saw this picture, I knew that I had found my two main characters:  Arda and Srlago Daulot.  They are a brother and sister, children of the Royal House of Amia.  Somehow I can't separate them, so it was appropriate that they should be together in this picture.

Meet Slograv the Korvaskian, the villain and invader of Amia.  Imagine him with black eyes.  (You probably have an idea of how impossible it is to find exact pictures.)  Slograv is one of those people that you sort of like even though he is rotten clean through.  He has taken over Amia, and he has also kidnapped and married

Kalai Daulot, also of the Royal and older sister to family Arda and Srlago.  But Slograv's injustices have also extended to the commoners, including                                                                     

                                                      

Timotheus, the son of an Amian barbarian warrior, who has been suffering for ten years at the hand of his conqueror.  Now Slograv is about to use Timotheus for his own ends, which include taking over the rich and powerful nation of Torte.  Part of the plan includes killing the two daughters of the king,

Loren and Elizabeth D'Nore.

  Now the greatest hope for Amia and Torte seems to be Maldr Daulot, the rightful heir to the throne of Amia.  The only problem is...Maldr doesn't want to accept help from those who can help him.  Maldr is proud and unforgiving.  Maldr is as unfamiliar to the meaning of mercy as Slograv, which is pretty sad if you think about it.











Also important is Enlavaria Daulot, the cousin of Maldr and Arda, Srlago, and Kalai.  She has shorter hair than that, though.  In case you're wondering how this family works, Maldr has three brothers.  He's the son of the king who was killed in the invasion of Amia.  Then there's Kalai, Arda, and Srlago's dad, who was also killed. He was the king's brother.  Enlavaria's dad is still alive; he's the youngest of the three brothers and his name is Mendan.  I don't have a picture of him just yet.  I do have a picture of Eltra, though, which is the retreat of the Daulots when they were running from the Korvaskinas.  This is a place in the mountains that is so well hidden that there is hardly any way for the Korvaskians to find them.
Don't forget Kabiak!  He's Slograv's general and right-hand-man.  In some ways he is worse than his ruler.  Kabiak is selfish, evil, and thoroughly disgusting in every way.  He even has horrible table manners, which is going to add to an important (hopefully funny) scene in the novel.












In the end, a mysterious brother and sister come to Amia in response to a desperate message sent out by Srlago.  The only problem is, the rest of the Daulots need to learn to swallow their pride and accept the help of others if they are truly going to be free.









Thanks for reading and God bless,
Kathryn

Writing a non-Christian Book with Biblical Influence

Yes, I really think it's important to implement Christian principles into all the stories that I write.  That's why I try NOT to have feminist heroines, which are VERY annoying anyway.  That is why my heroes are actually manly, not whining little wimps.  That's why the bad guys get punished in a bad way, and the good guys get rewarded.  That's why my children get into serious trouble if they don't listen to their parents, and my older characters are wiser (for the most part) than my young ones.
But, in case you haven't noticed, I am not writing Christian books.  That is, I am not writing books in which characters are Christians (obviously, since I write fantasy set in a different time period!).
HOWEVER, you may have noticed that not every good book is strictly Christian.  And I don't want to write to only Christians.  To use a phrase I learned in English class, I want to write to a "broad, general audience." I want my work to appeal to many people, but I also want it to glorify God.  Is that possible?
Maybe we should look at my current favorite book, A Tale of Two Cities.
I really don't think that Charles Dickens was a saved man, but he certainly exhibited a very Biblical principle in the end of this book.  Sydney Carton, the main character, is despairing about the sacrifice he is about to make until he realizes an important truth:

A trading-boat, with a sail of the softened colour of a dead leaf, then glided into his view, floated by him, and died away. As its silent track in the water disappeared, the prayer that had broken up out of his heart for a merciful consideration of all his poor blindnesses and errors, ended in the words, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Carton gains peace through this great verse, which he repeats several times.  (My overbloated imagination likes to say that he got saved, but I don't know if Dickens really intended for that to happen.)
The point is, in a secular book, the fact that Jesus is the only Savior comes across clearly.  And Dickens books are certainly enduring classics.
Aside from this, there is always the fact that people are influenced by what they read, much as they try to deny it.  If you can put principles directly from the Bible into your writing without saying that it is from the Bible, if you can make the theme of your story moral without directly quoting the Bible, and if you can portray wickedness in the evil light in which it should be portrayed, then you have my great respect.
So much modern fiction today is so dry, and even Christian books, so called, are really Christian in name only.  If we could raise the quality of literature back up to where it was two hundred years ago, when secular books expounded the Bible, then we could, I believe, raise the quality of society itself.
After all, people WILL be influenced by what they read.
So...how should we do it?
First of all, pray that the Lord would bless your endeavors to glorify Him through writing for many people.  Think of a main theme for your story that is directly from the Bible, such as "You reap what you sow," "Children obey your parents," or "Obey them that have the rule over you."  Make certain that the characters in your stories get WHAT THEY DESERVE.  None of this getting away with wrong trash, please and thank you!  It's OK to have characters that are role models, too.  I promise, writing a non-Christian book with a Christian theme is rewarding!
Thanks for reading, and God bless,