THIS IS A LATE BEAUTIFUL BOOKS, K? I DON'T CARE. I DO NOT CARE FOR ONE SECOND. IT'S A QUESTIONNAIRE THAT I CAN USE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT MY BOOK. THANKS.

So, hello, lovely readers! I am currently drowning in schoolwork and SOOOO thankful that it's almost Thanksgiving break. The prospect of two days off is beautiful. I can't wait.

I'm also editing feverishly (or at least pretending to edit feverishly) for the Rooglewood contest! I have, like, one month to get that submitted. HOLY COW WHAT AM I DOING?????

I'll tell you what I am doing: I am writing a blog post about my brainchild. This is the one that I have had brimming in the bottom of my brain (although usually also at the top of my brain) for about eight years. It's a story about the triumph of good over evil and never underestimating the short girl who looks like she can't wield anything besides a pen.

It's a story I've been in love with since it first came into being when I was eight, when I wrote a little twenty-page story to submit to a novel writing contest. To this day I have no idea if my parents actually submitted it or not, but this is one thing it did: it forced me to finish a project. It was valuable, and important.

So without further ado, let me give you some real information about the badly named Pentegreen Series.

I am linking up with an older archive from the Beautiful Books meme by Cait and Skye. Enjoy!

LES QUESTIONNES

What inspired the idea for your novel?

But I think I wanted to write a cheap Narnia ripoff that my eight-year-old self thought was genius initially. You can read THIS POST for more information on that story (scroll down to entry #1, The Tunnel.)

Otherwise, I have no clue where the form that the story is now in came from.

But you get a little story anyway. I originally had (as the post above says) a sprawling ten-book series that I wasn't really enthusiastic about anymore. I had written a rough draft for one of them and was working on a draft for another one, but it just wasn't working.

Then my family went on vacation to Florida, and while I was lying on a noodle in the hotel pool, reflecting on my story, it hit me like a ton of pounds.

What if I condensed the story and took only the characters and plotlines I actually cared about for a four-book series? 

That's what I did. And obviously, new characters sprang up all over the place unintentionally, and the story keeps blooming out of control all over the place. Several of the characters begged for their own story when I realized that my protagonist didn't need them and so I took them out and dropped them in Washington, D.C., in the year 2032. The result was Watched. 

Good gravy, I'm proud of this series.

And this was probably a much longer answer to this question than you wanted to read, so let's move on to the next question!

Describe what your [series] is about!

There's a princess in the city of the Pentegreens. A princess who longs for peace, who only wants to live her life surrounded by her beloved parents, her dear friends, and her people. The last thing she wants is war with an unknown enemy in the North. But that's just what she's going to get. 

The army besieging Princess Esma's city has leaders--leaders who know her parents and will use her against them. But the general of the enemy army has a son...a son who could be the wild card who decides the whole war. His loyalties are shifting, tearing him between what he knows is right and the one person he loves. Can he possibly leave her behind?

The princess and the general's son never thought they'd meet. But it turns out they may need each other more than they could have imagined. There's an enemy in the city of Misue--an enemy who wants them all dead.

 And the king's daughter is going to have to fight back. 

 What do you think? This is such a bad synopsis, but I can't come up with anything else that might work for the current form the story is in. So. This is what you get, dear reader.

What is your book's aesthetic?

Introduce us to each of your characters!

She entered the dining hall in the pair of high heels she’d dug from the closet and a dress that, most unfortunately, was pink.

Derek Ternarnthien and Kariana Winslet--the rising commander and the talented spy

“I need some tea.” Kariana clutched at Derek’s shiny and metallic armored arm. “Derek, make me some tea.”

Derek grew up a humble farmer's son until he decided he wanted to make a name for himself and moved to Misue to attend military Training School. Maybe at one time his brothers could laugh at the stupid things he did to get attention, but not anymore. He's confident and brash, but gets himself into huge trouble with his issue of speaking first and thinking much later, if ever. 

Kariana is one of the toughest girls you'll ever meet--but that solid exterior is hiding her secret insecurities and trauma from childhood abuse. She's incredibly talented and a brilliant spy, but her struggles with forming relationships may just be the key to her undoing.




Bernathel Pentegreen--the queen of Misue and Esma's mother (not pictured: Martin Pentegreen, her husband and the king)

List three things about your novel's setting.

Well, I worked very hard to set my storyworld up so that all the parts of Esma's kingdom have real functions and both imports AND exports. Even the capital city. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing. ^_^

Then the world is also sprawling and takes up a whole continent. Which is awesome and fun. Except when I have to actually draw a map, at which point everything decides to conveniently shift around. Super annoying and not at all pleasant.

Basically, there are three countries in the continent of Sildalone: Venaria, which has been conquered by the evil dictator in the North and tends towards cold and extreme weather; Lascogine, which is held by the Pentegreens, who reign justly and fairly; and Brue, which is basically fantasy-world version of a completely closed country where the few powerful people abuse the rest without end. That country doesn't figure in much, although in the prequel that will most likely not be written unless people beg, it's where a lot of the action takes place.

There's also lots of racial diversity, because I approve of that. Although none of the races are quite comparable to the races we have here on Earth. Believe me, I've tried to come up with photos of models. It's a lot harder than you might imagine. :P

What's your character's goal and who stands in the way?

Well, basically Esma's goal is to win the war that came out of nowhere to take over her kingdom, and also to find happiness in her personal life.

What stands in the way is this evil army led by a mysterious dictator who won't rest until he's kidnapped Esma, for some reason that still isn't clear to her. (Although I, the evil authoress, have it figured out in its entirety...mwah ha ha.)

There's also a lot of subplots. Which will not be expounded upon now because #Spoilers. Mwah ha hah.

How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

What are your story's themes? How do you want your readers to feel at the end of the story?

I haven't answered all the questions from the Beautiful Books prompt, but not all of them are relevant. So...I'm not going to. But I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my beloved precious little baby. And when I talk about the Pentegreens, well, now you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about. <3

What do you think? Chat with me, lovelies!