Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I’ve been eagerly awaiting sharing the guest author features I’ve been working on for #WyrdAndWonder with Odyssey Books and their authors. This morning I get to share my first one – a topical response to a reader’s curious enquiry about an author’s world-building and their cover art. Since this publisher and their authors are from a part of the world whose awake whilst my country is generally sleeping – I’ve decided to try to feature these authors during an hour of their day which will give them a happy surprise to see the features running live on Jorie Loves A Story.
For instance, this guest post is going live @ midnight (NYC, EST) on Monday, the 25th (Memorial Day, stateside) whilst it is already 2p (AUS) on Tuesday, the 26th! Aren’t time zones wild when you start to talk about crossing over the International Date Line?!!
I was quite smitten with all the stories I’ve selected to feature from this Independent Publisher – each of the guest features will tuck us closer to the stories themselves, introduce us to the writers and give us a newfound appreciation for the Fantasy stories which are being independently published by publishers who champion the crafting of stories and the writers who have created these fantastical worlds for us to discover.
I wanted to begin this series of features with Ms Nightingale – as her world is a rather curious one – both from the perspective of what initially inspired her series and how she first fused curiosity to building the foundation of this world she’s given us to read and by how her characters simply step forward from that world and embrace our imaginations.
I didn’t get a chance to gather a copy of this novel during #WyrdAndWonder – however, from what I was researching about the story and the series through the author’s website left me dearly curious to ‘know more’ and to peer inside what inspired her to write down such an imaginative tale which just begs to be read as soon as its found!
Brew yourself a cuppa and enjoy what I have to share with you,…
Harlequin's Riddle
Subtitle: Book One of the Tales of Tarya
by Rachel Nightingale
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Nadia Turner
Ten years ago, Mina’s beloved older brother disappeared with a troupe of travelling players, and was never heard from again.
On the eve of Mina’s own departure with a troupe, her father tells her she has a special gift for storytelling, a gift he silenced years before in fear of her ability to call visions into being with her stories.Mina soon discovers that the travelling players draw their powers from a mysterious place called Tarya, where dreams are transformed into reality. While trying to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance, she discovers a dark secret to the players’ onstage antics. Torn between finding her brother or exposing the truth about the players, could her gifts as a storyteller offer a way to solve Harlequin’s riddle?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1922200990
Published by Odyssey Books
on 12th June, 2017
Published by: Odyssey Books (@OdysseyBooks)
Converse via: #HistoricalFantasy, #YAFantasy, #TalesOfTarya
as well as #OdysseyBooks & #WyrdAndWonder
The topic I pitched to the author & what I was most curious
about knowing about this lovely world she’s built behind the ‘stories’ of her series:To spin a story is a craft in of itself, as all readers are aware of however how did the artful nature of the craft behind how a story can be spun inspire the lead-in for Mina to discover Tarya? Almost as if the portal itself is hinged to the story or rather the way in which the story eludes to establish itself connected to Tarya?
I was curious about this particular component of the series – the portal of entrance and the fundamentals of what fantastically creates this bridge in Mina’s life? Specifically as your series is linked to two of my favourite subniches of the genre: Magical Realism and Period Fantasy – I suppose in a way I wanted to see a glimpse behind the veil of how you created your world-building but not enough to have it spoilt for readers like myself who haven’t yet read the story.
I also was happy to read one of your reviewers commending you for expanding readers awareness about alternative spiritualities as I feel this is too oft overlooked or under-represented. This combined with the shadow-world effect is such a wicked stellar concept for a Fantasy series of this nature.
“I firmly believe we are all creative beings. Creativity is our natural state. When we immerse ourselves in some form of creative practice, we grow into our true selves. I also believe there is more to life than what we see. Although we live in a time of rationalism, where mystery is dismissed, there are unanswered questions and longings that simmer inside us – our wish to connect to something MORE than banal reality never quite goes away.” – Rachel Nighingale
Ms Nightingale shared with me a person of inspiration to her about how to look at life and how to process the layers of our own individual experiences are the writings & teachings of Toko-pa Turner. You can visit her website and/or follow her on Twitter. She has a beautifully intuitive way of looking at our world, of seeing past the surface of living and truly honing in on a more upper level plane of seeing what sometimes can be overlooked.
From the time I was a small child, the world inside my head has seemed a lot more real, and a lot kinder, than the real world. My imagination flowed unceasingly throughout my teen years in particular, letting me escape from the prison-like boredom of high school. My diaries of the time are full of snippets of thoughts and sketches of other places. As I’ve got older, reality has become harder to avoid, but as a writer, I can escape into my stories now and then. So I’ve always seen the world as having two layers – the dreary every day, which has no order or shape, and within which we all seem to be at the whim of politicians and rule makers, who lack imagination and vision. And the world of mystery, magic and wonder that grows from the human mind set free.
Some consider finding ways to venture into this side of being to be escapism. I think it provides nourishment – creatively and spiritually. It is the place of inspiration. But, as with all the classic stories, you can only find the way to it if you believe and are open to the possibility of more, beyond what we see as ‘reality’.
I firmly believe we are all creative beings. Creativity is our natural state. When we immerse ourselves in some form of creative practice, we grow into our true selves. I also believe there is more to life than what we see. Although we live in a time of rationalism, where mystery is dismissed, there are unanswered questions and longings that simmer inside us – our wish to connect to something MORE than banal reality never quite goes away.
The inspiration for the Tales of Tarya series began when I read a quote by the actor Alan Cumming. He talked about the moment before an actor steps onstage, describing it as an in-between place where you wait to enter another world. That moment seemed to me to be rich with possibility. With my own background in acting and theatre, I had experienced that sense of moving into a different world when you perform – a world that felt so real, you left your everyday self behind and transformed into someone different. And it always amazed me that, as a writer, whatever I imagined could actually take place in a story, no matter how far-fetched. It always seemed like an extraordinary, exciting power to have.
All these different threads crystallised in my thoughts when I started to wonder what might happen if that power was literal. The idea for Tarya was born. Tarya is a place just next to reality where inspiration and imagination can change reality. Anyone who taps into their creative gifts can reach it. So Mina, who is a storyteller, discovers she can conjure illusions and change the fabric of the world through her stories. But others can use Tarya in different ways. Actors can draw on Tarya to create characters so real the audience see them as real people. Dancers can change the weather. Sculptors can capture feelings within their creations.
So Tarya is fundamentally connected to creativity and imagination. Using these gifts opens the portal to Tarya and all it offers. But there is another aspect to this otherworldly place. My experience has told me that energy constantly flows between people, and other living beings, and the world. We all have those intuitive times where we connect to someone instantly, or feel the energy in a space, negative or positive. We know that some experiences are uplifting, and others make us feel drained. Spending time doing art, whether singing or painting or anything else, can place us in a state of flow where we can feel like we are drawing energy from something beyond ourselves. It can be healing and restorative. And when we share our gifts with others, through performing or exhibitions or books, there is an energy exchange that occurs. If you have gone to see an exciting concert or show, you will know that feeling of walking out energised by what has just happened. On the other side of the stage, actors or singers feel this too – they have received energy from the audience in exchange for their gift.
I wanted to play with the idea of energy flow. This flow can be beneficial, but it can also work in negative ways. What if someone had learned to use Tarya, not for the gifts it provided, but for their own, darker means? In real life one example of this might be energy vampires – people we find draining, whether emotionally, physically or mentally. After all, everything has a shadow side. Exploring the darker aspects of Tarya became the inspiration for the mystery element of the story.
My central character, Mina, works hard to develop her creative gifts as a storyteller. And the more skilful she becomes, the deeper into the heart of Tarya she can go. She comes to understand how Tarya is being misused, and the cost of this. Because she is brave and committed to doing what is right, she starts to see a clear purpose in her life, linked to her newly gained abilities. Sometimes having creative gifts can be a burden, but ultimately I think we are happier if we don’t deny our creative, intuitive side.
I love my book covers so much because I think they capture the sense of mystery and magic that is at the heart of Tarya, and the books. The artist is Nadia Turner. I had seen her artwork in a local artisan shop and thought she was the perfect artist to create the covers. At that stage I didn’t have a publisher so I didn’t have to ask anyone else – I just contacted her and gave her the first book to read. Luckily she thought the story and her art were a good match, and the cover for Harlequin’s Riddle was born. I loved the painting so much I bought it!
Then I was offered a contract by Odyssey Books. There are so many stories about publishers wanting to have control over the cover process that I was very nervous about asking my publisher whether I could use this piece of art I’d already bought. But luckily she loved it too. So Nadia has created all three covers for the trilogy, and they are absolutely perfect.
What I love about Nadia’s work is that she has an intuitive grasp of the essence of the characters, not just their appearance. All I give her is a rough idea, such as ‘can Pierrot be reaching for the moon?’, and she finds the perfect mood, colour palette and emotion for each image.
So there you have it – the Tarya novels, and their covers, were born from a journey into the heart of imagination and creativity, which is the very thing that I hope they capture. Because I believe these are the powers within us all that can transform the world.
On the note of sheer boredom in school, specifically high school, I can seriously relate to the author’s declaration as that is when I began my own writerly journey. It was much more interesting to knock round my own worlds I was building (as I started in Speculative Fiction – sorting out my own style of narrative for Science Fiction) than to deal with the constant doldrums of actual ‘school’. I was the definitive geek in sweats at PE who instead of mucking about at Phys Ed. did the bare minimum to get the ‘pass’ and curled into my notebook with pen, thoughts and imagination!
She also broached a keen observation about keeping distant from the ‘world’ as we know it – from the cycles of newsfeeds and the external stimulus of the world’s living hours – as if we follow it too closely it will overtake us, rob us of our innocence and distract us from further reaching towards our own purpose whilst alive. It is good to have a balance of knowledge about what is happening in the world as long as it doesn’t circumvent our healthy outlook about life, the world and society as a whole. Retreating offline or turning off the news is good for our mental health as much as it allows us to listen to our inner spirit where creativity can naturally find its own voice to thrive.
I love how she shared her personal philosophies with us and how she ruminated over something I’ve been saying myself throughout my life – “Not all questions are meant to be answered and not all answers have questions”. Sometimes the best way to seek what we do not first understand is simply to be open to the experience which will lead to personal growth and personal enlightenment.” It is by removing a reason for everything which occurs you can grow fuller in the experience of how your life is moving forward because there is still a lot of unknowns within our lives. Some are meant to be understood as we greet them and others, take time to consider and/or to have their purpose revealled at a latter date.
I, too, love the beauty of being creative – this is one reason I loved getting into mixed media collages, rubber stamp art and knitting. The latter of course was one I felt was outside my own wheelhouse as a dyslexic learner as I was forever striving towards understanding how the stitches were meant to go against my needles and not being able to achieve any kind of progress towards that goal. Four instructors later and a Mum gifted with watching YT videos to tutor me afterwards – we became a Mum & daughter team of creatives who like to dip in and out of different art practices and savour the joy of it. Knitting though is something we’ve become passionate about and yearn to expand what we can knit – socks, afghans, fingerless gloves and sweaters top the list but so do dusters and larger comforters!
I had to smile when she mentioned Alan Cumming – I had only just streamed & loved his serial “Instinct” which is many ways reminded me of “My Life is Murder”; the latter I’ve streamed this past April/May whilst “Instinct” was seen in late Winter/early Spring 2020. It was a very short-lived tv series and you might have seen my tweets about his character and his husband on the show – as you grew so dearly attached to these characters!! It was an emotional rollercoaster for my family and I – one of our top favourite series now of all-time and it sadly was cancelled far ahead of where it ought to have ended. Yet, I knew immediately why his words connected to her because if you watch “Instinct” it is a firm lesson about the craft of acting and the gifted talent of performance Alan Cumming has in his spirit.
My favourite part of this essay is how the pursuit of creativity and the imaginative world of Tarya is what led this author on such a wondrous journey of discovery! I was cheering for her and her cover artist knowing Odyssey Books allowed her to keep the relationship viable for all three covers – as I’ve seen them together and they become this serial triptych of art! I can definitely see why she bought “Harlequin’s Riddle”‘s painting! It all but leaps straight off the page to become a part of our living reality!
This guest author feature is courtesy of: Odyssey Books
This author guest post is part of my showcases during #WyrdAndWonder: Year 3:
This is part of my showcases for a Fantasy event I am co-hosting during our 3rd Year of #WyrdAndWonder – follow us socially via @WyrdAndWonder – stalk our tag (across social media) and/or join us in a month long celebration of how the fantastical realms of Fantasy give you wicked JOY.
Ideas of how you can participate – an initial welcome post by my co-host Imyril as well as the first Quest Log (map into the book blogosphere for #WyrdAndWonder) and the first Roll Call Log by my co-host Lisa!
Read our Creative Roulette #WyrdAndWonder Interview!
Be sure to visit my Announcement & TBR List!
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Harlequin’s Riddle”, book synopsis, author biography and author photograph of Rachel Nighingale were all provided by Odyssey Books and are used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Wyrd And Wonder 2020 banner created by Imyril (Image Credit: Flaming phoenix by Sujono Sujono from 123RF.com) and is used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Conversations with the Bookish banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
?NEW #WyrdAndWonder Guest Post
feat. Indie #Fantasy novelist @NightingaleRA?A world within a world
? The art of world-building
?Masks, Illusions & Creativity
? Look inside the series #TalesOfTarya??https://t.co/xHRFWYdXcs#bookblogger | #WritingCommunity pic.twitter.com/JPcT6zcbOj
— Jorie (#WyrdAndWonder) ?? (@joriestory) May 25, 2020
Comments via Twitter:
"the shadow-world effect is such a wicked stellar concept for a Fantasy series"https://t.co/ieE32LhL0U #historicalfantasy #yafantasy #talesoftarya #magicalrealism #wyrdandwonder @NightingaleRA @joriestory pic.twitter.com/rYH7peXWkD
— Odyssey Books (@OdysseyBooks) May 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/NightingaleRA/status/1265788446674579456
Loving this year's @wyrdandwonder If you love fantasy, get on it immediately! You're welcome. https://t.co/adCagnMioA
— Carolyn Denman (@CDenmanAuthor) May 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/NightingaleRA/status/1265864809364336640
https://twitter.com/ChicksandRogues/status/1264803135933108225
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