Welcome to Realm Explorers! In this weekly series, we visit a variety of unique worlds created by talented science fiction and fantasy authors. Enjoy your travels! And don't forget to read to the bottom of the post to find out more about each author and see how to purchase the featured book.
Also, you can enter to win a free copy of one of her books this week!
Also, you can enter to win a free copy of one of her books this week!
Author’s name: E.
Kaiser Writes
Title of book and/or
series: The Thaw: series, Winter’s Child,
Winter Queen, & Prince of
Demargen
Brief summary of the
story:
Infused with a strong Christian ethic
and a historical feel, they're set in a quasi-Victorian world where portals to
fairyland show up every once in a while. Angels move unseen, doing their work,
but sometimes in special cases the Master sends them to interject in a person's
life, and change it forever.
Good vs. evil, patience vs. recklessness, and
the undeserved gift of grace for those who pray for it; the Thaw: series begins
with Winter's Child, (combining Snow Maiden/Schneekind/Snegurken
with Anderson's Snow Queen) where a barren king and queen pray for a child, and
when in their loneliness, they make one out of snow, their prayers are answered
in a special, and unusual way.
Sometimes, when we get what we wish for, we don't know what to do with it.
The story continues with Winter Queen, when princess Ilise allows her avoidance behavior to isolate her from the world... and it's only when she takes the final step that she realizes the wall she's built in the name of safety is also the one that will hold her prisoner forever... unless she discovers how to destroy it.
The only one who can break a neurosis... is the one who has it.
Third in the series is Prince of Demargen, which finally settles the matter of the Devil's Mirror. The whole world knows his guilt, and is absolutely correct about it, but how far can a man go to regain respect so swiftly lost?
Or is an honorable death the best a fallen star can hope for?
The only person who can help him... is the one he most deeply wronged.
Sometimes, when we get what we wish for, we don't know what to do with it.
The story continues with Winter Queen, when princess Ilise allows her avoidance behavior to isolate her from the world... and it's only when she takes the final step that she realizes the wall she's built in the name of safety is also the one that will hold her prisoner forever... unless she discovers how to destroy it.
The only one who can break a neurosis... is the one who has it.
Third in the series is Prince of Demargen, which finally settles the matter of the Devil's Mirror. The whole world knows his guilt, and is absolutely correct about it, but how far can a man go to regain respect so swiftly lost?
Or is an honorable death the best a fallen star can hope for?
The only person who can help him... is the one he most deeply wronged.
Brief description of
the world or location you created for this story:
I had a lot of fun setting the Thaw: books in a world that was much like
Europe, but without all the wars. So if fairytales are often set in Middle Ages
type feel, just imagine that being updated to a Victorian-style era, and going
from there.
When planning this my
brainstorming partner/sister and I definitely knew we didn’t want to be “in the
real world” because it is definitely a fairy tale world. So we basically drew
heavily from the map, cultures and customs, and changed anything we felt like.
It was a lot of fun!
For one thing, we wanted to
utilize the Norse cultures, but we wanted our Noran to be more towards the
middle of the map. So we switched where Norway and Sweden are, Noran is
interior and Svesser is on the outside.
What types of
vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to Noran?
The North kingdoms use horses and carriages for land travel,
sailing ships for sea voyages, and ferries for crossing rivers. Further north,
into the Wild Lands, the folk up there use dog teams and reindeer hitches to
pull sleds and sledges through the wintery months.
What types of plants,
animals, or sentient races might we encounter in Noran that we don’t see on Earth?
The Thaw: books are set in a world pretty
much like our own, although the Angels that orchestrate its seasons are
sometimes sent on small missions to interject into the lives of mortals and
carry out the will of the Master.
What role, if any,
does magic or the supernatural play in the lives of people in Noran? If there is magic, please give some examples
of what it involves or how it’s used.
Magic has been
actively outlawed in the world of our main characters, and this ban has been so
effectively maintained for over a thousand years has passed, years measured as
the Age of Reason. For in this era inexplicable happenings have virtually
disappeared. But the portals to
fairyland are beginning to be unsealed, which can lead to the dangerous and
rather more rampant effects that exist on the other side of that veil.
Items of prohibited
power are leaking back into society, and people have become so used to their safe lives that the first incidents blindside everyone.
But certain
individuals rise to the challenge, to keep the ways shut, and make sure the
avarice of fairyland stays on its own turf.
Is there a particular
religion practiced in Noran? Please
describe what it involves.
There is only one religion in the Thaw: books, and that is so self evident to everyone involved that
it ceases to deserve the term religion. It is universally acknowledged that the
Great King of All is watching, and when death claims us we slip out to stand
before Him in a judgment that will be final, and for which our mortal lives are
simply a preparation.
Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book?
We moved around a lot while I was growing up, but that most often seemed to end up in the northern states. I remember a winter in Minnesota that was so-o cold, and the way the frost covered the windows… looking out over the blue white hills with their trees all bare and gray against a sunrise… The Northern Rockies are no slouches either when it comes to winter weather… so I didn’t have to do much research to write the Cold North type of scenes! Since the kingdom of Noran is somewhat based off of Norway, I did get to do some fun research on traditional foods, etc. I found a list of Finnish dishes and based a lot of the meals in the books on those… and they made me hungry, I can tell you that! J
What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book?
I don’t think there are any “hot button” topics, unless the use of Angels and having a massively Christian underlayment to a fairytale retelling is controversial. Perhaps a few might think so, but to me it is the most natural thing in the world!
Author Autobiography:
Born in the Midwest, I had a unique childhood of many moves, giving me the opportunity to experience an array of locales and characters all over the nation. We always had three things; faith, family and animals... and I always had dreams. Now we're finally back on the Plains and make our home on a farm filled with critters!
Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your books?
And Thaw: Prince of Demargen will be available soon!
Where can readers
connect with you online?
And
the usual stuff... which I'd love to connect on! (I'm not super techie, and
most everyone I know on any of these I met online... so I'd love to meet
more!!! )
and...
Oh,
oh, OH!!!! You've GOT to go check out the Pinterest group boards for these
books! So much fun... (we've opened it for fans to pin, so sometimes the name
spellings aren't correct, or everything on there isn't "straight from the
author's mind" but it is so inspiring to see
readers getting excited about the tales! If you'd like to join,
just message me on there!!!)
Winter's Child board,
Winter Queen board,
I hope you all enjoyed the trip to Noran. Questions about the world or the book? Ask them in the comments and the author will get back to you!
Click here to read other posts in the Realm Explorers series.
Please join us again next Monday for a trip to Westering, in Realm Explorers Part XXXIII!
Click here to read other posts in the Realm Explorers series.
Please join us again next Monday for a trip to Westering, in Realm Explorers Part XXXIII!
-Annie Douglass Lima
2 comments:
These stories sound great! And thanks for including the pinterest links; I followed all 3 boards. Great idea! :D
The way you've described these makes me think of the show Once Upon a Time with Christian values. I am very much looking forward to reading these! Thanks for sharing at Booknificent Thursday this week!
Tina
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