Argetallam Saga Playlist

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argetallam saga, book playlist, celtic thunder, music, playlist, the chalice of malvron, the key of amatahns, the secrets of the vanmars

With The Secrets of the Vanmars new edition just out, I thought I’d finally unveil my series playlist! While I don’t listen to music while I write (I have concentration issues), I have been known to compile playlists and rock out to them while working through writer’s block. Here are a few song I find inspirational for the Argetallam Saga.

 A New Day Dawning ~ Celtic Thunder

 

This our land, this is where we belong

And here we are destined to be

This is our land where our fathers have spilled

Their blood and their sweat and their tears

We’ll drive the invader back over the sea

Again and again and again and again

Ignore the oceanic reference and this might as well be Brevia’s national anthem. The talk of fighting off invasions, generational love of kingdom and country all fit perfectly for the people of Brevia.

Because of You ~ Kelly Clarkson

 

Because of you, I never stray too far from the sidewalk

Because of you, I play it on the safe side so I don’t get hurt

Because of you, I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me

Because of you, I am afraid

I first heard this song years ago when I started work on the earlier books. It makes me think of Janir and Lucan talking about their father and all the ways he’s ruined their outlook on the world—especially Lucan.

Young and Beautiful ~ Lana Del Rey

 

Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?

Will you still love me when I’ve got nothing but my aching soul?

When I heard this, I couldn’t help think of Janir and Saoven. In my mind, this is their official song and it brings to mind their struggles with disproportionate lifespans and their sweet, innocent romance.

Look at Me ~ Celtic Thunder

 

Look at me! I’m bold and I’m charming, debonair, and disarming!

That’s me to a “t”!

Cocky and overconfident. It kind of reminds you of Karile, doesn’t it?

Hail the Hero ~ Celtic Thunder

 

Hail the hero—strong and true!

Fought the fight and saw it through

Swore he’d never be a slave

And gave his life

Our land to save

Everything about this makes me think of something the Argetallams would sing on patriotic holidays and celebrations. Very martial, lots of drums, and brimming with a sense of ethnic pride. (Yes. I listen to lots of Celtic Thunder.)

 

The Key of Amatahns ~ Debut Novel Blog Hop

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blog hop, facebook party, indie author, the key of amatahns

To celebrate the re-release of The Key of Amatahns by Elisabeth Wheatley, Inkspelled Faery is hosting ten days of visiting your favorite authors as they talk about their very first novels, topped off by an all-day Facebook party with fun, games, and giveaways. Check out the full line up of authors and don’t forget to join the Facebook party on the 25^th!

In a land where those with magic are esteemed and revered, Janir guards a secret that would send her to the headsman’s block at a word. As one of the reviled Argetallams, she has the power to destroy enchantments and steal others’ magic—an ability that has caused bloodshed for generations.

Raised as the illegitimate daughter of an influential lord, she was determined to turn her back on her heritage, but when her power manifests, leaving a nobleman dead, she has no choice but to flee her adoptive home. In exile with the help of a fearless young enchanter and an elf sworn to protect her, she finds herself entangled in a quest to hide an ancient artifact from the kingdom’s enemies.

But they are not the only ones after the relic and soon their paths cross with a rival from Janir’s distant childhood. With no hope of help or rescue, the fate of nations will depend on a fifteen year old girl and her mastery of powers she doesn’t understand.

Kindle

 Paperback

To start us off, can you sum up your first novel in a tweet, 140 characters or less?

The heir to a legacy she hates is forced to flee her adoptive home and fight monsters, brothers, and other horrible things to save the world

What are you most proud of in this title?

Um…I think I’m going to have to go with Lucan, the brother I mentioned up there. I’m very proud of how much more developed he is now versus the original version, but that’s reediting for you.

Do you think your writing has changed since your debut? In what way?

My writing has changed A LOT since I first wrote this book. I’m much longer-winded for one and have been churning out epics lately, but more importantly, I would say I’ve definitely gotten better. At least my stories have a sense of logic from the beginning, not like the Helenistic drama that was in the very first drafts of this one.

If you could give one piece of advice to yourself when you were writing your first book, what would it be?

Get it done already, girl. Really, I think I learned a lot of things just through writing this book and others that I couldn’t have learned any other way. It took me years to write this because I didn’t take it seriously at the time, but that’s not the case now! I feel like I could have learned much faster if I had been serious from the beginning, but who knows?

What was the first thing you did after finishing that very first draft?

I hid it on my computer whilst dreaming of the day it would be adapted into a multi-film franchise.

Actually, that’s not far from the truth. I was scared my dad wouldn’t approve of my literary endeavors, so I sat on this story forever until my mom finally persuaded me to show it to him. (I was 15 at the time, so what he thought was still a freaking big deal.) He asked around for advice and as a result a family friend introduced me to indie publishing. There was no coming back after that and here I am!

 If you thought this was fun, drop by the Facebook party going down on the 25^th for more interviews with your favorite Fantasy authors as well as games and goodies galore!

Two giveaways and a party

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facebook party, Giveaway, indie author, random giveaway, the key of amatahns, ya fantasy

 

Feast your eyes on that gorgeous signature!

I realize it’s been a bit silent around here these past few days and I apologize, but I have been busy. Remember that Facebook party I was talking about? Well, we now have 11 awesome YA authors lined up for fun and games on the 25th, not two mention two giveaways going on now!

Sadly, not signed, but brand new. Look, it’s even shining in the photo.

The first giveaway is for a signed copy of Jadie Jones’ Moonlit to whomever can bring in the most people to the event. The second is a random drawing once we reach 250 attendees for a shiny new copy of Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers or, for guests outside the US, the eBook of your choice up to $4.99. You can check out the lineup and times of authors below and find the event here. So invite lots of people, tell lots of people, and don’t forget to join yourself for the chance to win!

 

Event Schedule ~ Saturday, April 25th. All times CST:

9 am: R E Sheahan ~ Storm of Arannon
10 am: T. L. Shreffler ~ Sora’s Quest
11 am: Nancy Chase, Author ~ The Seventh Magpie
12 pm / noon: Morgan Wylie ~ Silent Orchids
1 pm: J.L. Bond & Val Richards ~ The Primortus Chronicles
2 pm: Intisar Khanani ~ Thorn
3 pm: Melissa Sasina, Author ~ Defiance
4 pm: S.M. Boyce ~ Lichgates
5 pm: Jena Baxter ~ Reflections
6 pm: Eli Hinze, Author ~ No Angels
7 pm: Elisabeth Wheatley, YA Fantasy Author ~ The Key of Amatahns

Great and Glorious News!

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Announcement, argetallam saga, epic fantasy, my books, rerelease, the key of amatahns

At long last…
After months and months of revisions, formatting debacles, printing mishaps, and typos, I am pleased to announce that The Key of Amatahns is ready to be unveiled to the world! There will be a blog hop and Facebook party to celebrate and you can check out this page for more information. Check out the new cover and blurb below and don’t forget to tell your friends!

In a land where those with magic are esteemed and revered, Janir guards a secret that would send her to the headsman’s block at a word. As one of the reviled Argetallams, she has the power to destroy enchantments and steal others’ magic-an ability that has caused bloodshed for generations.

Raised as the illegitimate daughter of an influential lord, she was determined to turn her back on her heritage, but when her power manifests, leaving a nobleman dead, she has no choice but to flee her adoptive home. In exile with the help of a fearless young enchanter and an elf sworn to protect her, she finds herself entangled in a quest to hide an ancient artifact from the kingdom’s enemies.

But they are not the only ones after the relic and soon their paths cross with a rival from Janir’s distant childhood. With no hope of help or rescue, the fate of nations will depend on a fifteen year old girl and her mastery of powers she doesn’t understand.

Buy in paperback

Download for Kindle

Now, STAY evil!

Tags

chracter development, the key of amatahns, villains, writer chat

In the year of our Lord 2006, I was an eleven year old with too much time on my hands, a notebook, and an overactive imagination. I began to write a story and shortly after I had figured out who the heroine would be, the next step was finding the villain.

I set out to compile three characters—the Lord Argetallam, Lucan, and Malkalar—who were to cause as much hardship and difficulty for my heroine as conceivably possible. I had them be as bad as I could make them, giving them all a certain creativity when it came to nastiness and short tempers to match. Villains are, by their nature, villainous, right?

As I developed characters, grew as a writer, and explored the world, I ran into some trouble with the Lord Argetallam. He had a tragic back story and as I delved into the details of his relationship with my heroine’s mother—I found myself finding him to have an alarming number of not-bad qualities. But he was still a psychotic dictator and definitely a villain, so we were good.

When I went to write a prologue for the second book in the series—BOOM! All of a sudden, Lucan has a crush on the slave who’s nursing him back to health and feels guilty about the little girl he killed in the last book. Soon, Lucan was a boy struggling under the weight of his father’s and an entire race’s expectations, seeking approval through violence because he didn’t know another way—this was starting to get out of hand.

But at least I had Malkalar, right? The ethnocentric, genocidal bigot who wants everyone who’s not an elf dead. No way I had to worry about him getting any sympathetic qualities.

Then I started questioning his motivation for :SPOILER: rescuing the seeress Zeerla in The Key of Amatahns. :SPOILER OVER:. By the time I wrote a short story to explain that, my endeavor to create a purely evil villain had sunk like the Titanic.

The theme of relatable villains has become a fascination of mine and with the exception of some characters in a new project (and they don’t count because they are literally supposed to be the Devil and her—that’s not a typo—demons) one of my favorite parts in writing a new series is discovering all the little ins and outs of my villains. I often come to adore them as much as my heroes.

In other words, I have given up. No more purely evil bad guys. It feels sloppy now and I think a story feels more authentic if you feel sorry for the baddie *coughcoughKhanLokiRavennacoughcough* even as he/she is doing dastardly deeds. Besides, it’s just too much of a problem getting them to stay completely evil.

Good news and bad news

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argetallam saga, my books, the cats eye chronicles, the key of amatahns

As the title of the post implies, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have received the first proof copy of The Key of Amatahns, the bad news is that I don’t think we’re going to meet the original January 26th re-release date. I thought I could get it done over Christmas break, but I’m finding that there was a whole lot more work I wanted to do with the story. I want to get it right, so I’m (quickly) taking my time to get it to you by the end of next month. Seriously, this time I’m not kidding.

Me with the first copy of the newly reedited The Key of Amatahns proof!

In between polishing up final edits on The Key of Amatahns, I am fawning over an ARC of Ferran’s Map by T.L. Shreffler. You’ll all get to see my review for the blog tour next week and I’ve been waiting for this book for over a year, so I can’t wait to tell you all how much I loved it (because I know I will). The author is also my cover designer for the re-released versions and I am just giddy to show you what her brilliance has whipped up to be the new faces of the Argetallam Saga.

Hang in there, everybody, and hopefully my next batch of news will be for a solid re-release date!

Freebie Friday #21 The Key of Amatahns (Argetallam Saga, #1) by Elisabeth Wheatley

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elisabeth wheatley, epic fantasy, friday freebie, my books, the key of amatahns, ya, young adult

If you know of any Kindle books listed for free today or on upcoming Fridays, I’d love to hear about them! (Okay, so I know this is one of mine, but it’s on Kindle and it’s free today and tomorrow. It counts.)

Janir had the misfortune of being born with one of the hated Argetallams for a father. But unlike other Argetallam children, she was mostly granted a normal childhood, away from the rest of her family. It looked as if she would live a relatively normal life as the foster-daughter of a powerful lord. Until one critical day Janir’s powers awakened and she became entangled in a young enchanter’s quest for a long-lost treasure called the Key of Amatahns…

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

Download The Key of Amatahns for free! (free today and tomorrow)

I started a mailing list and a giveaway!

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argetallam saga, fanged princess, Giveaway, mailing list, my books, the key of amatahns

After months (okay, years) of procrastination, I’m finally getting around to setting up a mailing list. This will be a way for you guys to stay updated on my cover reveals, latest releases, and other earth-shattering news without having to stalk me all the time. (Not that I mind. 😉 )

To celebrate the creation of this mailing list, I am giving away signed copies of The Key of Amatahns and Fanged Princess as well as ecopies! So fill out the Rafflecopter below and don’t forget to tell your friends. Vita Beata!

Sign up for the mailing list
Enter the Rafflecopter

Get the first two books in the ARGETALLAM SAGA for FREE!!!

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argetallam saga, free, indie author, kindle, kindle freebie, the key of amatahns

Today, tomorrow, and Sunday, you can grab both The Key of Amatahns and The Secrets of the Vanmars for absolutely free! Help yourselves to a copy of each and tell your friends!

Janir had the misfortune of being born with one of the hated Argetallams for a father. But unlike other Argetallam children, she was mostly granted a normal childhood, away from the rest of her family. It looked as if she would live a relatively normal life as the foster-daughter of a powerful lord. Until one critical day Janir’s powers awakened and she became entangled in a young enchanter’s quest for a long-lost treasure called the Key of Amatahns…

Download The Key of Amatahns from Amazon now!

After her adventures with the Key of Amatahns, sixteen-year-old Janir Caersynn Argetallam returns home to find Brevia on the brink of war with a neighboring country, Stlaven. Her foster-father and even Saoven—a brave young elf warrior—think it will be safe at the castle where Janir grew up. However, while trying to unravel a looming mystery, Karile—self-taught wizard and Janir’s self-appointed best friend—becomes certain that there is danger in the mountains surrounding Janir’s childhood home and that it has something to do with Stlaven’s most powerful family, the Vanmars…

Download The Secrets of the Vanmars from Amazon now!