The Fallenwood Chronicles Series by Leslie D. Soule ~ Guest Post & Giveaway

The Fallenwood Chronicles
by: Leslie D. Soule
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC

The Fallenwood Chronicles is the ongoing story of Ash Kensington, a young woman who finds herself transported into a fantasy world, where she must take up arms in a battle of Good vs. Evil, against the Dark Lord Malegaunt. Tragedy strikes her life in the real world, but she finds friends in Fallenwood, like her mentor Will Everett, a talking cat named Greymalkin, and a court jester named Terces. Working together, they battle against the odds as Ash faces attacks from the world and from within. Eventually Ash finds the strength within herself, to attempt the fight against Malegaunt, against overwhelming odds, come what may.

A Place Where Ideas Are Made

So where do ideas come from? Writing is a land where ideas are made.

When it comes to characters, it’s often easy to think about people or animals in the real world, to base your characters off of. Think about fun characteristics, things people have said, etc. If you decide to base your characters off of people that never were, that can work as well. I have a Pinterest board called “characters”, that I can turn to for inspiration if need be. Sometimes, characters will come to you of their own, unbidden. They can come to you in a dream, like Greymalkin did when I thought to write Forgetting Fallenwood (book 2 of my series). Or they can appear as a tantalizing merman, like I write about in book 4.

The naming of people and places, is often a giant obstacle. For that, I’ve found that Fantasy name generators are a huge help. Also, resources like Orson Scott Card’s book How to Write Fantasy and Sci-Fi, can help you figure out what specific details of your fantasy world, need to be worked out (like what the price of magic is, and how your technology works, etc.).

Drawing maps can be helpful, because it shows you what countries in your novel, might have wars or allegiances for strategic purposes.

And sometimes a bit of imaginative alchemy can come into play, like C.S. Lewis explains – when you take two perfectly mundane elements and combine them, it can sometimes create fascinating fantasy creatures.

When it comes to fantasy as a genre, the Dungeons n’ Dragons books and Monster Manual in particular, can be a great resource. Don’t take directly from the Monster Manual, however, as there are certain creatures like the Beholder, that are in fact DnD intellectual property.

“A dark, difficult, dangerous path lies before you, Ash Kensington.” Ash’s heart grew heavy. In truth, she knew that she was destined to some terrible, dark fate. For so long, her life was filled with sadness and doubt, and one horrible thing after another. What else can I hope for? “But Ash, you must not lose hope. Our world needs you, and you must learn to be strong, so you can find the power within yourself to change things for the better. Prove that you are stronger than your Fate. Prove that you are worthy of this life that you have been given. William Everett has agreed to guide you, and there will be others in this realm that you must learn from. But your future, your life—everything from this point on is up to you. For you have been granted a precious gift—to return to the place and time you left in coming here, once your quest is through.”

Purchase The Fallenwood Chronicles Series from Amazon:

Fallenwood (Book 1)

Forgetting Fallenwood (Book 2)

Betrayer (Book 3)

Retribution (Book 4)

(Affiliate Links Used)

Leslie D. Soule received her M.A. in English from National University. She is a scholar, artist, citizen journalist, and martial artist. She has been an established writer for a decade, and has novels published by Melange Books, Terror House Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Nat 1 Publishing. The Fallenwood Chronicles is her 4-book fantasy series and features the novels Fallenwood, Forgetting Fallenwood, Betrayer, and Retribution.

Places to find Leslie D. Soule:

Twitter | Amazon Author Page

You can follow The Fallenwood Chronicles Book Tour here.

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