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Author: Tracey Dyck

Five Magic Spindles Reveal

I have a thrilling announcement to share with you! I’ve been looking forward to this for half a year, and now that it’s finally been revealed—well, I’ll share the news with you first, then blabber.

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Rooglewood Press is delighted to
introduce their third fairy tale novella contest—

Five Magic Spindles

a collection of “Sleeping
Beauty” stories



Cover created by Julia Popova (aka ForestGirl)
 www.forestgirl.ru
The
challenge is to write a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or
setting you like. Make certain your story is recognizably “Sleeping Beauty,”
but have fun with it as well. Make it yours!

Rooglewood
Press will be selecting five winners to be published in the Five Magic Spindles collection, which
will be packaged up with the phenomenal cover you see here. Maybe your name
will be one of the five listed?

All the
contest rules and information (how to enter, story details, deadline etc.) may
be found on the Rooglewood Press website. Just click HERE and you will go right to the
page.

Rooglewood
Press’s first collection,
Five Glass Slippers
is available for purchase, and our second
collection, Five
Enchanted Roses
is scheduled to launch on July 27, and is currently
available for pre-order. Be certain to get a copy of each and see what
previous winners did with their wonderful retellings.
~*~
 
Isn’t it exciting?! I had the pleasure of writing entries for the first two contests, and I’m eager to start brainstorming ideas for this one. And seriously, that cover is gorgeous. Can you imagine your name on it?
 
Whoever winds up winning, I know it will be a delightful collection. Five Glass Slippers, which I have on my bookshelf, was amazing. (If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for? Shoo!) And from the glimpses I’ve seen of Five Enchanted Roses, it’s going to be another delicious installment. Now we have this to look forward to! I have a feeling you’ll hear more about it here in the future, as I dream up my own retelling.
 
So have you heard of the previous two contests? Have you entered? Do you think you’ll enter this one? What do you think of that cover? Share your thoughts!

Subplots and Storylines

Time has a way of marching along at a rather quick pace. I feel as if I’ve blinked and May has whirled by in a blur of color. It’s been an eventful month! If life were a story, this particular chapter would be chock full of new subplots. Shall I unspool them all for you? Yes. I shall.

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I’ve started working at a new job. Last month I had some training shifts, and the beginning of May brought with it a sizable chunk of online learning. In the meantime, I’ve been asking hundreds of questions as I learn the ropes and get settled into a new schedule. This job was a real answer to prayer, so I’m glad to adjust to a new season of life!

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Another notable happening was two dear friends’ graduations from two different Bible/leadership colleges. So exciting to celebrate their accomplishments!

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The first couple weeks of May were grey and rainy. Perfect weather for curling up with a book, either one to read or one to write. I’m not a slow reader, nor am I the devour-ten-books-a-week sort of girl. But I am pleased with the six novels in which I’ve spent time this month.
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Outlaw—really different from the usual Dekker book, but still with his distinct hue. Not for the faint of heart!
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Divergent—a reread, and a good one at that. It was interesting to remember how the book differed from the movie.
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The next three books are the result of a little something I did with my siblings. The four of us visited the library and picked out a book for each of our sibs to read. So we all ended up with three new books to try. It gets us out of our usual reading zone, and also gives us some common reads to discuss afterwards. 11 Birthdays was chosen by my youngest sister, and was an adorable tale of two friends stuck reliving their eleventh birthday over and over and over again. The Storybook of Legends was picked by my middle sister, and basically smashed a bunch of fairy-tale characters into a story about choice versus fate. The False Prince was selected by my brother, and lulled me into the happy trance of a good fantasy before jolting me awake with a great plot twist. I was a wee bit jealous of the author’s idea, to tell you the truth.
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Right now I’m in the last third of Insurgent! And, um, it’s kind of . . . sad . . . and heavy . . . but really intense, so I’m not complaining. Apparently I like getting my literary heart ripped out.
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Oh! Speaking of which, in May I have also had my heart ripped out by some awesome movies.
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The Battle of the Five Armies: all I have to say is OUCH. Well, that and OHMYGOODNESSITWASAMAZING. Intense battles, fabulous character development, and great set-up for LotR. An epic conclusion to the Hobbit trilogy!
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Guardians of the Galaxy . . . What. In. The. World. Okay, it was quite hilarious, and I loved how it didn’t take itself seriously at all. (And guys—Lee Pace was in there! I didn’t know until I heard him speak, because he looks nothing like the Thranduil I’m used to.) My main complaint would be the language. But you have no idea how much I loved this:
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And perhaps my favorite flick of the month (okay, it’s tied with TBotFA) was Age of Ultron. I’ve heard people say it wasn’t as good as the first Avengers film, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. This was EPIC. And it ripped my heart out too. See, I’m just a bleeding puddle of feels this month. (Ew. That was graphic. My apologies.)
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Anyway, I did say it was the perfect rainy weather for writing books as well as reading them, did I not? So because my book 1 is sitting on the backburner for now, I decided to tackle book 2. I wrote the first draft three years ago at the ripe old age of sixteen and declared it marvellous, full of tight writing and great characters. I recently reread it and . . . well, yes, I did marvel at it, but only in the sense of “Ahahaha, you say I wrote this monstrosity? Did I really?” The writing was . . . er, yes, we could call it tight. We could also call it bland and lackluster and far too fast. The characters displayed great amounts of inconsistency, passivity, and stupidity—so of course sixteen-year-old-me was partially right in labeling them ‘great.’ And let’s please ignore the plot’s gaping, dragon-sized holes. Yes. We won’t comment on that.
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Needless to say, I was (and am) faced with a good deal of work. All of which I’m very excited about, don’t get me wrong! I can’t wait to plow into this project, kick it all into pieces, and put them back together again in a much better way.

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A peek at my brilliance. 😉
So during this month of May, I have been masterminding. What’s that, you wonder? Well, it stands to reason that if I, the author of this obstinate fantasy series, am the mastermind behind the story, then the act of worldbuilding and hatching brilliant plots could be called ‘masterminding.’ We can definitely change a noun to a verb, right? (Aaaand I just checked. Apparently I’m not as original as I thought: masterminding is already a word. Phooey.)
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Anyway, this masterminding is more than plotting. It goes beyond worldbuilding. It’s not even the same thing as brainstorming, although all three of those things play significant parts. For me, it was pulling my scattered notes, thoughts, and ideas together and deciding, once and for all, exactly how the big story elements work. I took a look at the people, worlds, and objects that are important in these books, and documented how/where/when/why they do what they do. It was great fun! My file isn’t entirely complete, but it’s a good launch pad for what I have in mind.
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Oh, and did I mention that I decided on almost three thousand years’ worth of history in another world? Just the big events, but still, it left me feeling quite powerful in an author-ish sort of way.
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While I found the drizzly weather lovely for bookish pursuits, one of the resident robins felt that the wet conditions were perfect for nest-building. This would not normally be a notable thing, except for the small detail of where he decided to construct it: on top of an outdoor light.
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(I apologize for the poor zoom quality.
Birds don’t like you getting too close.)

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I suppose he was tired of living in trees like a sensible bird, and wanted a better view of the goings-on around him. Not the tidiest nest-maker, either, is he? Sadly, we did not allow that pile of seaweed slop to stay. (At least I thought it resembled seaweed.) But lucky for the robin, there are plenty of spruces in which to nest instead. Thankfully the rain stopped and the sun returned in time for garden planting, walk taking, and sun tanning.

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And with the big series elements in place, I took a deep breath and plunged into outlining book 2. Version One (or Version Horrendous; you choose) is itty bitty. 68,000 words, eighteen chapters. The new version is looking to be twenty-eight chapters or more. I am positively bursting with excitement! Since I’ve grown so much as a writer in the last few years, this will be an entirely different book once I’m through with it.

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And that, fellow questers, is what my May looked like! The life of an employee has begun, a new book is underway, some friends are entering new phases of life, and several literary/film adventures wriggled their way into the cracks in my busy schedule. How was your month of May? Anything new happening, or perhaps something old-yet-significant?

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(By the way, if you’re still reading this longwinded thing, my hat’s off to you.)
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And just a quick heads-up—I have a special announcement coming early next week. Stay tuned!
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Oh, and one other thing. I’ve been wanting to do these summary-of-the-month posts because they’re excellent places to throw in all the random bits of life that don’t necessarily merit their own individual articles. But I’m not sure about the title, Subplots and Storylines. What say you? Does it fit? Too cheesy? Other ideas I had were Wanderings or Far-Flung Paths or Motley Tales. Any suggestions? Nothing’s too out of the box around here.
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Well, here’s to an adventuresome June! Wherever the road may take you, I hope you find courage to step around the bend and strength to lift your sword.

Liebster Award

My, my, another tag! How fun! This one comes from Skye Hoffert over at Ink Castles. Go check out her Liebster post. She had some great answers.

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And now on to her questions (which are also great!):

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1. Why do you write?

Because I can’t not write—story is in my bones. Whenever I take a hiatus, by the time it’s over, I am positively itching to get back to writing. But the biggest reason I write is because I believe God planted this seed in me, and I want to develop this gift and use it to glorify Him. Stories are powerful vessels of truth. They pierce the heart like nothing else and deposit eternal treasure there. If I can use a tale to make someone think, to inspire them or give them courage . . . I’ve done my job.

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2. Favorite fictional character this month?

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Ooh, that’s a hard one. I’d have to say Tris, because I just reread Divergent. (Insurgent is waiting quite impatiently on my stack of books to read.) I admire her bravery and identify somewhat with her angsty “what-should-I-choose” moments. Not that I agree with everything she does, but she’s spunky and fascinating, I’ll give her that.

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3. What summer songs are you listening to?

Owl City’s Ocean Eyes: Deluxe Edition, which I just recently bought. His music is perfect for summer! Also Hawk Nelson’s new album, Diamonds. Fun music, encouraging lyrics.


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4. Favorite book you’ve read this month?

Skye, please, are you trying to torture me?? Ahh, fine. Outlaw by Ted Dekker.

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5. What is a movie or TV show you would recommend?

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, for sure. I watched it last year and it impacted me so much. It’s one of those movies that you can’t just walk away from; I sat through the credits and didn’t move for a while after it stopped, reeling from the blow. It’s an incredible portrait of humanity, war, and family. (And yes, I did cry.)

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6. What is your favorite summer activity?

Vacationing with my family and just lazing in the sun with a good book. Oh wait, can I pick two?

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7. What is something you admire about yourself?

My efforts to encourage those around me, or, I suppose, my determination/focus in certain areas.

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8. Favorite Bible verse?

One of my favorites is Isaiah 41:10. “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

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9. Do you play video games? If so, what are your favorite games?

No, not really. Or at least, I don’t consider myself a gamer. All those buttons and attacks to remember! I fail epically at anything resembling Super Smash Bros Brawl, for instance. I’m more of an Animal Crossing type of girl. Simple, no frantic fighting . . . But no, I don’t play video games that often.

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10. What is something you’re scared to do?

Jump off a cliff, parachute, swim with sharks, get within a twenty-foot radius of a tarantula . . . Oh, you mean something deep and serious? Okay. Well, some days thoughts about the unknown future can be scary. (Hello there, college/career/BIG LIFE DECISIONS.) But it’s another one of those areas where I’m learning to trust God. His plan for me is far better than anything I can dream up.

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11. What is your goal this month?

May is almost over—where does time go?! But I do have a goal for the remainder of this month, and that is to finish outlining book 2, which I’m about to rewrite. Whether I make that goal or not depends on how many snags I run into during this plotting phase. But here’s hoping that wave after wave of brilliance carries this outline to the smooth, sandy shore of epic story-ness!

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Now ’tis my turn to come up with eleven questions and tag some more bloggers. I’m borrowing a couple of Skye’s questions, but the rest are my own.

1. What’s one of your favorite summer reads?
2. What’s your favorite way to cool off on a hot summer day?
3. What’s a combination of three authors’ “special somethings” that you’d like to emulate in your own writing? (E.g., Tolkien’s worldbuilding, Lewis’s appeal to both children and adults with Narnia, and Bryan Davis’s characters.)
4. What music are you currently listening to?
5. Which superhero (from either Marvel or DC) are you most like?
6. What’s your favorite fantasy creature you’ve ever read about?
7. Chocolate or vanilla?
8. What’s something you admire about yourself?
9. Which do you prefer: writing by hand or typing?
10. If failing was impossible, what would you do?
11. What’s something God has taught you recently, new or rediscovered?

I hereby tag . . . you.

I would be specific, truly I would, but this time around, many of the bloggers I would’ve picked have already been tagged. So I leave it open to all of you reading this! If you’ve never had the Liebster tag, grab it. If you’ve done it too many times to count and want to do it again, grab it. If you suddenly have the urge to answer all 11 questions, or maybe just one or two catch your attention—doesn’t matter. You can snatch any or all of them and do with them as you please. 🙂 Or even just answer some in the comments. I’m curious to see what your responses are!

Beautiful People – Leander

My first Beautiful People post! Yay! These linkups are hosted by the creative geniuses, Cait and Sky. I’ve been reading people’s monthly BP posts for quite some time now, and have long dreamed of doing it myself one day.

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Fellow questers, that day has arrived! (Am I not dramatic?)

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But yours truly is completely new at this. I’ve been hemming and hawing over which character to use from my big fantasy work-in-progress series. Should I pick either of my two main characters, Aileen and Josiah? The burdened and noble Lord Mauray? Gruff leader of the dragons, Captain Dauntless? Rex Nelson, a pilot from book 2 whose character arc desperately needs work?

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Or perhaps someone from a story that I’m not currently working on, like Will from Blood Rose? (For those of you wondering, that’s my novella retelling of Beauty and the Beast.) I just didn’t know who to pick.

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But at last it came to me: Leander. He’s a talking white lion living in Demetria, a country located in another world. These ten questions fit him perfectly, as he is one of my most broken characters. His backstory is just one heartache after another. I won’t divulge it all here, but perhaps this inside look at Leander will let you and I get a better understanding of him.

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1. Does he get nightmares? If so, why or what of?

Yes. In his younger days, he had frequent nightmares of his father. These days, the occasional nightmare involving his lost daughter plagues his sleep. Those bad dreams also include a white orb called ‘the Prophet.’

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2. What is his biggest guilty pleasure/secret shame?

There can be a big difference between guilty pleasure and secret shame. He has none of the former, but the latter . . . Well, he harbors very deep regrets. Firstly, that he was unable to stop his mother’s murder; secondly, that he failed to keep his daughter safe.

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3. Is he easily persuaded or does he need more proof?

Because of his traumatic past, Leander has trust issues. He requires substantial proof, and even then he may still doubt someone.

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4. Does he suffer from any phobias? Does it affect his life in a big way?

He is extremely wary of the Prophet, since it was responsible for what happened to his daughter. If he thought it could be destroyed, he’d do it, but in reality, he fears it. This fear almost prevents him from joining two young dragons on a life-changing journey.

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5. What does he consider his “Achilles heel?”

His daughter is the chink in his armor. He’s built up walls around himself to keep from getting hurt again, but if his daughter was still around, he would do absolutely anything for her. The only way Leander could be manipulated would be through her—hence, the weakness.

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6. How does he handle a crisis?

Depends on the crisis. If it involves any of the few people he loves, he will grit his teeth and charge right into the thick of things. If the crisis affects people he doesn’t care about, or requires him to face his own personal flaws, he will run from the problem as fast as he can.

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7. Does he have a temper?

Oh, does he ever. His father was always angry, so that doesn’t help. And the tragedies Leander has faced have filled his heart with bitterness. All it takes is the smallest thing to set him off. When he finally cools down, however, he will be left with the same old broken pieces as before. That hollowness is a worse feeling than the anger.

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8. What are his core values and/or religious beliefs?

He acknowledges God’s existence, but scorns Him. What use has he for a deity who stands back and watches the world’s pain?

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9. What things does he value most in life?

Family is the most important thing to him, period. But everyone has been taken from him, leaving him a wrecked soul indeed. He also values his dignity, and cannot stand the skin he’s in.

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10. What is one major event that helped shape who he is?

There are three events that shaped Leander—two that battered his heart into its current wounded shape, and one that started the journey of untwisting that heart. One: watching his father murder his mother. Two: losing his daughter. Three: a pair of dragons requesting his help on a rescue mission. It was then that his carefully constructed walls began to crumble just a bit.

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Leander’s had a special place in my heart ever since I started writing book 1 of this series, way back when I was twelve. For the seven years he’s been with me, he has developed in my mind from a grumpy, reluctant lion to a creature burdened with heavy sorrows. Book 2 (that tangled mess of a draft I once called amazing—ha, what a laugh) offered me an opportunity to explore his backstory. Although represented horribly on paper, his tale does gleam brightly in that netherworld of my imagination. One day it will all be properly polished and presentable.

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Oh dear, alliteration is a sign that I need to stop. Fare thee well, questers! If you’re doing this month’s Beautiful People, let me know! And either way, what are your thoughts on this bad-tempered beast? Besiege me with your brilliant—

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Botheration, I did it again. (Ack, that one was unintentional! I’m done now, I promise.)