An Echo of the Fae: Themes and a Sequel Sneak Peek

When writing a book, knowing what themes you want to explore is generally a good idea.

But I almost never start with that. My writing is driven by a weird mixture of world-building, character, and plot. Plot usually comes last. The world and the characters come first… and which one comes first varies from story to story.

An Echo of the Fae was no exception to the rule. As I explained earlier this week, a lot of the story came together after I had figured out who the players were and what the world looked like.

For me, the themes usually stand out to me more after the story is written, and one of my jobs is to pull those themes out and polish them off in the editing stages.

Some of the themes in this story surprised me, but I am quite pleased with how they wove themselves through the plot.

ideas, Technical Aspects, My Books, Personal, Fairy Tales, CharactersJenelle SchmidtJune 28, 2021 Comments

Through the Portal: a back-page pass

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Some of you know this already, but An Echo of the Fae was supposed to be a Rapunzel retelling. In its very earliest stages, it was simply the glimmering of an idea as I tried to come up with something that would work for Kendra’s Fairy Tale Retelling Challenge and multi-author-release. She told us that the theme would be Rapunzel back in… I believe it was 2018. And while I didn’t quite make it in time to be part of the release, and my story really didn’t end up being a retelling… like… at all… that is where the first flickers of idea began. That’s where it all started.

Art Contest Winners, a Giveaway, a Sale, and a Birthday Celebration

Today is An Echo of the Fae's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!⁠

I still can't believe this little story is a whole year old already. I have been overwhelmed by how much people seem to enjoy this heart project that God gave me.⁠

Many thanks to all who entered the fan art contest!

I absolutely love each and every one of these pieces, which made choosing my favorite extremely difficult (as I knew it would be). But the time has come for winners to be announced!

Fairy Tales, Fan Art, Giveaway, SaleJenelle SchmidtJune 21, 2021 Comments

Madness Solver in Wonderland by E.E. Rawls: Book Review

My friend and fellow Silmaril Awards host, E.E. Rawls has released not one, but TWO new books!

You may remember seeing these around the interwebs a month ago when we got to share the gorgeous new covers. Well, the books themselves are here, and they are just so much fun!

Rawls is back with her characteristic whimsical style, this time taking us from Earth into Wonderland (and back and forth between the two) on an exciting romp with Madnes Hatter and his friends.

I was going to just give you a review of the first book, but upon reaching the end, I realized that these two volumes are really more like a single book, so I am going to give you my thoughts on both of them. Two reviews for the price of one!

Book Reviews, ReviewsJenelle SchmidtJune 16, 2021 Comment