by: Lindy Enns
Series: Shadows of the Vale
Genre: Teen/Young Adult Fantasy/Coming of Age
Release Date: June 5, 2023
Publisher: Lindy Enns
“Everything I hated and feared was outside that window. There was nothing between me and the night, nothing but a boy I didn’t know and shouldn’t trust.”
When the sun sets in Merak, a terrifying shadow world appears, guarded by nightmare beasts that prowl the darkness enforcing the rule of a tyrant lord.
Terrified of the night and plagued with crippling panic attacks, seventeen-year-old Ara Holstenner’s only solace from her anxiety is the bond she shares with her brave younger sister. But when Lan is taken by shadow creatures, Ara must embark on a perilous quest to rescue her, aided only by a strange boy who claims to be from her past.
But the night is not what it seems. If Ara cannot untangle the dark secrets lurking within its shadows, she will condemn her sister—and herself—to a lifetime of unimaginable torment.
I’m doing well, thank you!
Congratulations on being a debut author. When Shadows Falls is the first book in your Shadows of the Vale series. Can you please tell me about the world you have created for this series?
Thank you so much! The story takes place in Merak, a land steeped in ancient mystery and dark terrors. Every night when the sun sets, a shadow realm takes over the country, plagued with dark creatures that serve the tyrant lord who rules over the townships where our protagonists live. It is through this shadow realm that Ara must journey if she wants to save her sister from The Lord’s castle.
As I mention, the book is called When Shadows Fall. Can you tell me about it?
The story revolves around Ara Holstenner, an anxious seventeen-year-old who suffers from trauma-induced panic attacks. Ara is the last person in the world who would ever defy the tyrant lord who rules her people, but when her sister is taken by The Lord’s shadow creatures, Ara is forced to face the perilous night world in a desperate attempt to save her.
Along the way, she will have to put her trust in a boy from her past who suffers from a strange affliction. Together they must navigate the dangers of the night and the dark secrets hidden within its shadows.
This all sounds so good. Tell me about the characters of Ara and Lan.
Ara and Lan are about as different as two sisters could be, though they share an exceptionally close bond. Lan, the younger of the two, is energetic, mischievous, and often reckless. She is quick to take risks and isn’t afraid of the consequences, as she believes a person’s regrets come not from what they do, but from what they don’t do.
Ara, on the other hand, is reluctant and cautious. She overthinks pretty much everything, and feels anxious when she’s outside of her comfort zone. Where Lan is confident, Ara suffers from constant self-doubt and is far too hard on herself.
For most of her life, Ara’s greatest wish is to simply live a safe life with her family, however, she does have a keen interest in emotionry—a type of machinery run by emotions which is prevalent in the story world. This interest is rekindled when she helps the town’s machinist fix an emotionry mule, and is subsequently offered an apprenticeship.
Who are some of the other characters readers will meet in the story?
One character readers will meet early on is Meddin, a rough and ill-tempered man who works as the town’s only machinist. His gruff demeanor is a result of having lost his wife and two sons, but Ara is surprised to discover he has a softer side and ends up having an unexpected connection to him.
Another character readers will meet is Nat, a boy from Ara’s town who went missing two years ago after an attempt to save his brother from The Lord’s castle. Nat’s circumstances in the book are mysterious and seemingly inexplicable to both himself and Ara, however, he knows more about the night than anyone. Although Ara is initially reluctant to trust him, she knows that she must rely on his help if she is to have any hope of saving Lan from the castle.
The readers will also meet Kav, The Lord’s cold and calculating right-hand woman. Kav is cunning and clever, and her ambitions make her even more dangerous than she first appears. She has a way of commanding the attention of everyone around her, and her intimidating presence makes for some tense interactions between her and Ara!
Ara sufferers from debilitating panic attacks and anxiety. I don’t think it’s a spoiler as to why this happens. Can you explain why and give the reason behind it?
Ara’s panic attacks stem from a tragic event that occurred in her town ten years ago. The townspeople, fed up with paying the outrageous tribute demanded by The Lord, decided to withhold a portion of their offering. Retribution came the following night in a town-wide punishment, in which many of the townspeople—including Ara’s papa—were taken by shadow creatures. Ara’s memories of that night haunt her to this day, and can trigger a panic attack if she lets them overtake her.
Ara is 17 and Lan is 14. They’re like night and day. Ara seems to want to walk the straight and narrow path, not break any rules. Lan seems to be very open and a little fearless. She even describes herself as being the brave one and Ara as being the smart one. When Lan is taken, it’s Ara who braves the unknown to find her. Outside of the love she has for her sister what motivated her “break the rules”?
The main reason Ara decides to break the rules is her love for Lan, as you’ve said. However, she is also strongly motivated by her fear, at least at first. Facing all the unknowns of the night world scares Ara less than the idea of living the rest of her life without Lan, who she relies upon to help her cope with her fears and face the uncertainties of life. She simply doesn’t believe she’s strong enough to survive without Lan.
As her journey continues, however, her motivation changes to a desire to overcome her own self-doubt. She wants to believe in herself and what she is capable of, instead of letting her fears define her, and so she pushes herself to do things she never would have been able to before.
The first three to four pages of the book hooked me. How did you come up with the idea for this story and series?
The initial inspiration came from a dream I had while I was in high school. I dreamed that I was in my creative writing class and we were given an assignment, in which we had to write a story using a random, made-up title. A classmate got the title “When Shadows Fall” and complained that he didn’t know what to do with it. I told him it was a brilliant title and proceeded to rattle off a premise for a story where the world takes on some terrifying change at night and the main character has to rescue someone using a road that only appears after sunset (when shadows fall).
I was so pleased with the idea that I wrote it down when I woke up, though it wasn’t until many years later that I actually started working on the book!
Speaking of series… Does When Shadows Fall end in a cliffhanger and how many books are you anticipating being in this series?
The main conflicts of the story are resolved by the end, however, the reader is left with many unanswered questions, and there is one important issue that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger!
Right now, I plan to write three book in the Shadows of the Vale series, however, there is always a chance three books becomes four, as there is still a lot of story left to tell!
I know When Shadows Fall just came out. Are you currently working on the second book now?
I am indeed working on the sequel! I have a second draft of book two already done, and am currently working on the first draft for book three.
Lindy, thank you for answering some questions for me.
Thank you for inviting me to do this interview!
Lindy Enns grew up on an acreage in Saskatchewan, Canada. For the past ten years, she has divided her time between her writing projects and her work as an educational assistant. She currently lives with her cat, Kaylee, and a rapidly shrinking collection of house plants. When Shadows Fall is Lindy's debut novel and the first book in her Shadows of the Vale series.
Thank you for inviting me to do this interview!
The shadows from the forest licked the western edges of town, dangerously close to our house. I broke into a run, dragging Lan behind me. She craned her neck for a last glance at the Changing, but I refused to look back. I hauled her inside, and Mama shut the door behind us with a heavy thud.
Metal rasped and clunked as she did up the door’s lock and chain. She’d already fitted the thick wooden planks over the windows, sealed in place with their own set of locks. Stifling heat filled the house, the fire stoked high and the fat tallow candles lit in a futile attempt to dispel the night’s ever-present shadow.
When the last lock was in place, Mama spun on Lan. Anger glinted in her chestnut eyes, and her typically brown Larik skin had turned ruddy.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded. There was no question about which of her daughters was to blame.
“It’s not dangerous until after the sun sets, Mama.”
“Tell that to Elik Frostenner,” she said. “He stayed out until five minutes to sunset and two days later he was taken.”
“That doesn’t mean The Lord was punishing him. Technically, he didn’t even break curfew—”
“It doesn’t matter! Lan, staying out to watch the Changing is an act of defiance. Besides, it’s dangerous out there. What if you had crossed shadows?”
“That’s just a silly superstition,” Lan said. “People never used to be scared of their own shadow.”
“People used to be safe in their own homes,” Mama countered. “Now, the slightest misstep, and they vanish in the night!”
Panic shot through me, and I tried not to take her words to heart. We’re safe, I told myself. The door is locked. But then, the door had been locked on that night as well…
Lan flopped down on her belly, legs swinging above her as she picked at the loose threads of the worn living room carpet. “We didn’t cross shadows, Mama. The Changing barely even started.”
But Mama was not placated. “And what if something had happened to you? What if you’d twisted your ankle, or gotten lost?”
“We were just behind the chicken coop. We couldn’t have gotten—”
“Seven minutes!” Mama’s voice cut through Lan’s defense. “If you had been delayed by just seven minutes, it would be over. You would be gone, just like your father.”
Cold flooded my body, but I pushed the words away unregistered, refusing to give them purchase. Lan sobered, lowering her head to stare at the carpet threads.
Mama stormed into the kitchen corner of our one-room house and slapped her hand on the emotionry kettle. The metal panel lit with soft blue light, and I could hear the faint whirring of the kettle’s inner workings. The water boiled in just over a minute, evidence of Mama’s frustration. Usually, it took two or three minutes, four if one was in a good mood. Maybe that was why she always made tea when she was angry.
The clatter of creamware dishes cut through the tense silence as Mama smacked three chipped cups onto the table, followed by three plates, a tray of oat cookies, and a teapot. She tossed in a tea bag and filled the pot with steaming water, then sat down in stormy silence.
Mutely, I joined her at the table. My body was still tense, like a spring wound too tightly, but I knew if we didn’t have tea with her, her black mood would build until the entire house hung heavy with it. Lan knew it, too. With all the attitude a fourteen-year-old girl could muster, she trudged to the dining table and plopped into the chair beside me.
I drew a candle closer as the tea steeped, trying to chase away the shadows. The darkness was inescapable. It huddled in the corners and pooled under the furniture, penetrating our home even with every crack shut tight to keep it out. The unsteady flickering of the firelight made it appear as though things were moving in that darkness. I tried not to think of the shadows lurking under the table, waiting to reach out and grab my—
I took a sharp breath, cutting off the thought before it could finish forming. It had been eleven months since my last episode, the longest I had ever managed. I couldn’t let my runaway imagination ruin that now. We were home, and we were safe; as safe as possible in Merak. Emptying my mind of dangerous thoughts, I focused my attention on the tray of cookies, my eyes tracing their uneven edges.
Once Mama had poured the tea, she shoved a cookie into her mouth, chewing as if it had been the one to defy her.
“No sugar again?” Lan complained, wrinkling her nose at her cup.
Mama shot her a warning look; they’d had the argument many times. Merchant Tregarr only visited our Larik towns once a year, and these days, it was rare for the other merchants to risk coming at all. Each household was given an allotment of the goods traded for by the town, and they would not get more until the town replenishedits stores. Mama insisted on using these goods conservatively and deemed the tea flavourful enough that it did not require sugar—an assessment Lan did not agree with.
I blew on my tea, watching the steam curl away. It was too hot for tea. Outside, the world would cool to a moderate temperature, but with our windows sealed and the fire and lanterns kept burning to protect us, we would feel nothing of the night’s refreshing air. Mama didn’t care; when she was upset, she drank tea, and we drank it too.
Something screeched outside, and I jumped, despite myself. After seventeen years, I should have been used to the night sounds; the piercing wails and ungodly shrieks, the low growls and cruel snarls. Lan and Mama hardly even noticed them, but I could never shake my unease. Not since that night.
Mama sipped her tea and sighed, the harsh lines of her face easing. The tea and cookie treatment was working; I wished it would work half as well for me. My hands were still so unsteady that the teacup shuddered whenever I raised it.
I glanced at Lan enviously. Her hands didn’t tremble. She leaned back in her chair, teacup slung from one finger, unperturbed as ever. What would it be like to be her? To be confident and secure, without a hundred worries weighing on the mind, without panic slumbering fitfully at the edge of awareness? To glimpse the Changing, and not be afraid?
The image of the sinking sun flashed in my mind, the world fuzzy and strange, shadows reaching out to devour the town.
My anxiety flared, but anger quickly bubbled up to replace it. It had been careless of Lan. Careless and cruel. She knew how afraid I was of the night, and she’d stayed out anyway, knowing full well I wouldn’t go back without her.
Metal rasped and clunked as she did up the door’s lock and chain. She’d already fitted the thick wooden planks over the windows, sealed in place with their own set of locks. Stifling heat filled the house, the fire stoked high and the fat tallow candles lit in a futile attempt to dispel the night’s ever-present shadow.
When the last lock was in place, Mama spun on Lan. Anger glinted in her chestnut eyes, and her typically brown Larik skin had turned ruddy.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded. There was no question about which of her daughters was to blame.
“It’s not dangerous until after the sun sets, Mama.”
“Tell that to Elik Frostenner,” she said. “He stayed out until five minutes to sunset and two days later he was taken.”
“That doesn’t mean The Lord was punishing him. Technically, he didn’t even break curfew—”
“It doesn’t matter! Lan, staying out to watch the Changing is an act of defiance. Besides, it’s dangerous out there. What if you had crossed shadows?”
“That’s just a silly superstition,” Lan said. “People never used to be scared of their own shadow.”
“People used to be safe in their own homes,” Mama countered. “Now, the slightest misstep, and they vanish in the night!”
Panic shot through me, and I tried not to take her words to heart. We’re safe, I told myself. The door is locked. But then, the door had been locked on that night as well…
Lan flopped down on her belly, legs swinging above her as she picked at the loose threads of the worn living room carpet. “We didn’t cross shadows, Mama. The Changing barely even started.”
But Mama was not placated. “And what if something had happened to you? What if you’d twisted your ankle, or gotten lost?”
“We were just behind the chicken coop. We couldn’t have gotten—”
“Seven minutes!” Mama’s voice cut through Lan’s defense. “If you had been delayed by just seven minutes, it would be over. You would be gone, just like your father.”
Cold flooded my body, but I pushed the words away unregistered, refusing to give them purchase. Lan sobered, lowering her head to stare at the carpet threads.
Mama stormed into the kitchen corner of our one-room house and slapped her hand on the emotionry kettle. The metal panel lit with soft blue light, and I could hear the faint whirring of the kettle’s inner workings. The water boiled in just over a minute, evidence of Mama’s frustration. Usually, it took two or three minutes, four if one was in a good mood. Maybe that was why she always made tea when she was angry.
The clatter of creamware dishes cut through the tense silence as Mama smacked three chipped cups onto the table, followed by three plates, a tray of oat cookies, and a teapot. She tossed in a tea bag and filled the pot with steaming water, then sat down in stormy silence.
Mutely, I joined her at the table. My body was still tense, like a spring wound too tightly, but I knew if we didn’t have tea with her, her black mood would build until the entire house hung heavy with it. Lan knew it, too. With all the attitude a fourteen-year-old girl could muster, she trudged to the dining table and plopped into the chair beside me.
I drew a candle closer as the tea steeped, trying to chase away the shadows. The darkness was inescapable. It huddled in the corners and pooled under the furniture, penetrating our home even with every crack shut tight to keep it out. The unsteady flickering of the firelight made it appear as though things were moving in that darkness. I tried not to think of the shadows lurking under the table, waiting to reach out and grab my—
I took a sharp breath, cutting off the thought before it could finish forming. It had been eleven months since my last episode, the longest I had ever managed. I couldn’t let my runaway imagination ruin that now. We were home, and we were safe; as safe as possible in Merak. Emptying my mind of dangerous thoughts, I focused my attention on the tray of cookies, my eyes tracing their uneven edges.
Once Mama had poured the tea, she shoved a cookie into her mouth, chewing as if it had been the one to defy her.
“No sugar again?” Lan complained, wrinkling her nose at her cup.
Mama shot her a warning look; they’d had the argument many times. Merchant Tregarr only visited our Larik towns once a year, and these days, it was rare for the other merchants to risk coming at all. Each household was given an allotment of the goods traded for by the town, and they would not get more until the town replenishedits stores. Mama insisted on using these goods conservatively and deemed the tea flavourful enough that it did not require sugar—an assessment Lan did not agree with.
I blew on my tea, watching the steam curl away. It was too hot for tea. Outside, the world would cool to a moderate temperature, but with our windows sealed and the fire and lanterns kept burning to protect us, we would feel nothing of the night’s refreshing air. Mama didn’t care; when she was upset, she drank tea, and we drank it too.
Something screeched outside, and I jumped, despite myself. After seventeen years, I should have been used to the night sounds; the piercing wails and ungodly shrieks, the low growls and cruel snarls. Lan and Mama hardly even noticed them, but I could never shake my unease. Not since that night.
Mama sipped her tea and sighed, the harsh lines of her face easing. The tea and cookie treatment was working; I wished it would work half as well for me. My hands were still so unsteady that the teacup shuddered whenever I raised it.
I glanced at Lan enviously. Her hands didn’t tremble. She leaned back in her chair, teacup slung from one finger, unperturbed as ever. What would it be like to be her? To be confident and secure, without a hundred worries weighing on the mind, without panic slumbering fitfully at the edge of awareness? To glimpse the Changing, and not be afraid?
The image of the sinking sun flashed in my mind, the world fuzzy and strange, shadows reaching out to devour the town.
My anxiety flared, but anger quickly bubbled up to replace it. It had been careless of Lan. Careless and cruel. She knew how afraid I was of the night, and she’d stayed out anyway, knowing full well I wouldn’t go back without her.
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