Discover ...The Master's Book

Today we are gathered here to learn more about...

The Master’s Book

Sean moves to Brussels to a house that is a crime scene...

For a FREE copy of THE MASTER'S BOOK to review, just scroll down to the end of this post and answer the simple question...

Philip, thanks for agreeing to share a little about yourself and your novel today.

Your book has been released through Museitup Publishing. Can you tell us what inspired you to write The Master’s Book? Reading the blurb, it sounds like a thrilling YA adventure

.

First of all, I lived in Brussels at the time when my son and daughter were the ages of Sean and Maeve in the story (but there the resemblance ends, I must stress!). I started writing the book at a time when I was a bit down and wanted to re-capture that happy period of my life. Stephanie, the main female protagonist, was inspired by the many beautiful mixed race children that my own children mixed with in the European school, although again her personality is her own.

Did your characters follow your plot path or did they take on a life of their own? Do you keep them in check or let them take control?

They very much take on a life of their own so that any prior plotting tends to end up in the bin! Still, I have to keep some rein on them or the story can go off-piste (you can see that I’m learning to ski just now).

Writing the story is only half the exercise though, isn’t it. Becoming published is not always easy. Even with self-publishing as an option. What do you think is the most important thing a writer needs to face, along the road to publication?

First of all, especially with children’s writing, it’s very important to be realistic. Lots of well-meaning people remind me of J.K.Rowling’s experience but that is so untypical. Most authors struggle, even when they get published. Also, while you mustn’t give up writing, you need to learn to move on from one project to another after a certain point, because otherwise you just risk disappointment and demotivation. Besides, trying different styles and scenarios is good practice.

What has been the hardest hurdle for you in getting your novel published?

Both this novel and a previous project twice got to second readings with potential publishers before being turned down so I experienced the frustration of knowing I was doing something right but not knowing what I was doing wrong. All in all it’s just been a long haul and if I’d taken the advice I just gave above I’d have moved on (I had, in fact, started on another project).

Have you always been a writer?

Not since my teens until about seven years ago, when I was inspired to write after reading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. So it’s no surprise that I like feisty girl characters – although in the case of The Master’s Book, the feisty girl (Stephanie) is counterbalanced by a more uncertain boy, who is the narrator.

What is your favourite pastime, when not writing?

Anything that revolves around food and drink; either cooking food, eating it, reading about it, watching food programmes on TV, or just talking about it! That said, I love reading (fiction and history), cinema and classical music. In terms of physical stuff, I live in the mountains so I’ve plenty of opportunities to walk or ski. I also like swimming and I go to the gym to work 

off the food!

BLURB

In 1482 Mary, the last Duchess of Burgundy, lies on her deathbed in a castle in Flanders. She is only 24. In her final moments she makes a wish that, 500 years later, will threaten the lives of a boy and a girl living in Brussels.

The Master’s Book is the story of Sean, an Irish teenager, just arrived in Brussels to a house that is also a crime scene. Together with Stephanie, his classmate, he finds an illuminated manuscript, only for it to be stolen almost at once.

Where did this manuscript come from? Who was it originally made for? Is there a connection with the beautiful tomb Sean has seen in Bruges? Above all, why does someone want this book so badly that they are prepared to kill for it?

Part thriller and part paper-chase, this book is aimed at boys and girls of twelve and over.

EXCERPT:

“So tell me more about this murder.”

What am I to say? I’d love to tell her what I found this morning, but can I trust her?

“There’s not really much more to tell,” I said. “The house was ransacked, but we don’t know what they were looking for.” 

“Hmm. So you don’t think there’s still something hidden somewhere in the house?” 

She’s near the mark.

“No, I’m sure there isn’t,” I said, trying to hide my surprise.

“Oh, come on.” She poked my shoulder. “You realise you’ve missed a chance to make up a really good story.”

The laugh I gave mustn’t have been very convincing, maybe because I’d fixed my gaze on the floor. She stared hard at me and suddenly gave me a nudge. 

“You’re not telling me everything, you sly thing,” she cried. “You did find something. You were trying to keep it a secret, weren’t you?”

Inside, we could see neat stacks of framed pictures against both walls, their backs facing out. Starting with the left-hand stack, I pulled them forward one by one: an old-fashioned painting of some horses in a field, another of a mountain waterfall, one of a woman in a blue dress, and then a painting of a vase of flowers. 

“I’ve no idea if these are valuable,” I said, “but they’re certainly old.”

I turned to the right-hand stack, all black-and-white stuff like sketches and architectural drawings. 

“What’s in here?” Stephanie asked, turning the light on a steel cabinet with an airtight door that was set into the end wall. “Here, hold the torch.”

The big handle of the cabinet reminded me of one I’d seen on a walk-in meat store once. Stephanie had to use both hands to swing it open. Inside we could see two rows of folders hanging sideways like files from metal frames. She pulled on the lower frame, and it slid out. She lifted one of the folders out at random.

It contained several yellowing sheets of paper with old-fashioned writing, each one separated from the next by a piece of tissue paper. We tried another folder and found more of the same. 

Stephanie fingered them gently. “What can these be, I wonder? I’m not sure if I can read them. Some of the words look like Flemish, and some like German.”

She put the folder back carefully and took out another. “I think these ones are in French, but I’m not sure. Some of the words are strange.”

“Well it doesn’t look like there’s anything here in English, anyway.” I looked into the gap where she’d taken out the folder. 

That was when something else caught my eye.

“Wait a minute,” I whispered, the hair on the back of my neck standing up.

“What?” asked Stephanie, also dropping her voice to a whisper.

“There’s something else behind these folders. Here, help me get a few more out.”

She did as I asked, and we looked into the space again. 

“What the—” I began, but Stephanie got there first.

“Why is there a safe hidden back here? It’s not as if this room is easy to find.”

“Or that the rest of the stuff here isn’t worth a lot,” I added.

 “Exactly.” Stephanie exclaimed. “What on earth was this guy up to?”

The safe looked like the ones you see in hotel bedrooms, with buttons instead of a combination dial, only a bit bigger.

“Whatever’s in there must really be in a different league,” I went on, probing the buttons.

“I don’t suppose you can figure out the combination, can you, mister smart kid?”

“No,” I muttered. I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic when she called me “mister smart kid”.

“Pity. You’ve been doing so well up until now.”

I still didn’t know if she meant that as a compliment or not. Best not to take the credit if I didn’t know her intentions.

“Well, it was Maeve who first spotted that the basement was smaller than it should be,” I reminded her, trying to sound as if I didn’t care about her compliments. 

“I forgot about that,” said Stephanie, laughing. “Maybe we should bring her in on the whole thing now.”

“No way.” The last thing I wanted was for Maeve to butt in on my time with Stephanie, not that I was going to admit why I didn’t want Maeve there. “If we do that, we might as well tell my folks, because I reckon that’s what she’d do.”

“Oh, well, we can’t have that. At least, not until we see if we can work out for ourselves what’s in there. It might be diamonds or something. Maybe the guy was a crook. We could get a reward.”

“Well, Dad said the neighbours didn’t like him, but that doesn’t mean he was a crook. Still, I suppose you never know. Anyway, we’re not going to find out one way or the other if we can’t work out the combination, are we? 

“He’s probably written it down in code somewhere.”

“Yeah right. Now who’s been watching too much TV?”

“No, I think people actually do that. If this guy—what did you say his name was?”

“Jan. Jan de Meulenaer.” I’d heard Dad mention it often enough to remember.

“Well, maybe this Jan guy made some kind of a note of it somewhere to make sure he wouldn’t forget. But if the safe is this well-hidden, he won’t have just written it down somewhere obvious where everyone can find it. He’d leave himself a clue somewhere.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, reluctantly starting to put back the folders. “The house was completely empty when we moved in. They’d even redecorated it.”

“Let me think,” said Stephanie slowly, fingering her lower lip.

“Well, we can’t stay down here, anyway.” I glanced at my watch. “The folks might walk in anytime. And Maeve is always nosy.”

“All right. Let’s lock up then.”

Sounds great Philip... Thanks for sharing a little about The Master's Book with us today.

You can discover more about Philip, at THE RELUCTANT IRISHMAN

Now... the simple question to answer to get yourself a FREE copy of THE MASTER'S BOOK

Where does Sean move to?

Email your answer to CaleathsQuest @ Gmail.com (no spaces) and I will forward your request to the author.

Thanks again for dropping in.

Meet Margaret Fieland, author of Relocated...

Welcome  to my blog Margaret. Thanks for being here today. In 2012 you are to release your Science Fiction novel RELOCATED for young tween readers through Museitup Publishing. 

 BLURB: 

When fourteen-year-old Keth's Dad is transferred to planet Aleyne, he doesn't know what to expect. Certainly not that Dad grew up here and that he studied and work with Ardaval, a noted Aleyni scholar. Keth discovers he's developped psi, illegal in the Terran Federation,  and he flees to Ardaval, only to learn later that the Aleyni is his grandfather. When Keth's friend's father, Mazos, is kidnapped by the terrorists, Keth tries to free him but is captured himself. Will he succeed in freeing them both and catching the terrorists, and what will be the cost if he does?

Congratulations! The planet of Aleyne sounds like an amazing place.

Other than ‘author’ what are three words you would use to describe yourself?

Musician, reader, messy, compulsive – and yes, that's more than three words. I'm not always great at following rules.

Do they influence you as a writer? Or the genre you write?

Everything influences me as a writer, because it's all part of who I am. The musician has had a huge effect on my ear, especially my ear as a poet – I have a good feel for meter, and the reading has influenced my vocabulary. Because I started out writing poetry, I am aware of the importance of the correct word choice. I love www.thesaurus.com.

What is it about science fiction that fires up your muse?

You know, that's funny. I started reading science fiction as a kid, and by age 10 was already a devoted  fan – I selected Robert A. Heinlein's “Farmer in the Sky” for my 10^th birthday. But I wrote for years without going near science fiction. My first novel, which won't be published until 2013, after “Relocated,” is a kid's chapter book. I had sort of a phobia about writing science fiction, in fact, so last year for NaNoWriMo I decided to write a sci fi novel – for kids, of course, in order to “get over” my phobia.
 That's a great way to get over a phobia...it obviously worked a treat!

You are about to be published with Museitup, what inspired this story?

As I said, I wanted to write a sci fi story, and to me the most daunting part of that was the world building, so that (and the characters) were where I put most of my pre-NaNo planning. I tell myself stories in my head all the time, and I'd been thinking about a society based on mutual responsibility, rather than on law, for a long time. I liked the idea of the psi, because making the aliens have psi – and not the Terrans – and having psi illegal for Terrans made for a ready source of conflict.  Then, too, the idea of relationships with more than two people had been rattling around in my head for some time, also. I made my aliens dark-skinned for a couple of reasons – I wanted to make them distinctive looking, I was really, really tired of the good guys always being the fair-skinned ones,  and it allowed me to play against type.

Do you have a regime when writing? A special place, time, mood or do you snatch opportunities to pen ideas or write a few lines?

I don't have a set regime – other than that I'm committed to writing every day. I'm a member of a poetry writing group, so that I have weekly commitments there, and I recently joined another writing critique group for fiction. I keep paper and pen handy everywhere, but I keep “master” copies of my work online in Google documents. I do this for a couple of reasons: they have to back up the data, and since it's their business, they take it seriously, and the stuff is accessible from any computer. Plus I can share it. Having my writing organized and accessible is a huge reason for my ability to progress as a writer.

Does your Muse follow rules and plot lines or does she offer ideas on a whim?

She spews out idea. I''ve started to keep notes – I have a file for each of a number of book ideas. Right now I'm working on a successor to “Relocated,” where my main character, Keth, is four years older. I've noted a couple of more ideas in that universe as well. Anything can spark an idea.

What are the most dramatic changes you have made to a story you have written? What prompted the change?

Yikes. The first book I wrote, I wrote in a weekend. It was 5000 words. Then I spent the next couple of years learning enough about fiction to rewrite it and really make it into a good story. There were major changes in what happened, in the characters, in where I started the story. And that was prompted by my having learned enough about writing to see what I had to do. It ended up about 11,000, and it went through at least 3 major revisions.

Has there been one event in your life that changed/inspired your writing career? For example, meeting an author, finding a publisher, joining a critique group?

It was a couple of things. I'd complained to one of my sons one weekend that I wanted to work on a poem, but the latest copy was on another computer. He told me about Yahoo Briefcase (I've since switched to Google Documents), and so I put copies of all my poems up. Then, since I knew what I had, I could start to progress in my writing. I entered a contest (only possible because I had my poems handy and knew what I had), entered a contest, and was a finalist. I was psyched, so I joined an online community and started working on my poetry.

Then , through someone in the community, I found out about the Muse Online Writers Conference. I hooked up with Linda Barnett Johnson, and joined her writing forums. At the time, I was writing only poetry, but Linda insisted that everyone write fiction also. I was lucky enough to get my first story accepted to a  website. I got hooked on fiction, and I now write both fiction and poetry. I started writing for kids for a couple of reasons – I love kids fiction, and read it constantly, I have three sons, a stepson, and a stepdaughter, and the shorter length made it less intimidating. Little did I know that in lots of ways, children's fiction is more difficult than writing for adults. But I got hooked on writing it, and here I am.

Would you like to tell us about the main character of your book and/or the villain? Or would you like to share an excerpt? Either or both… we are keen to learn more about the story. The whole idea of four person relationships sounds intriguing and makes me want to know more. Psi is always interesting and a great draw card to grab my attention.

Well, I wrote 30 poems while writing the book, by an ancestor of one of the characters in the book – and my main character's namesake. I'll share a couple that doesn't appear in the book.

 Who Will Play Music?
Who remains to play the  music, now musician’s dead?
Which lips set bright brasses blowing? The man’s cold in his bed.
Whose hand renders strings a strumming now the fiiddler’s gone?
Whose hand genders drums a drumming as night turns to dawn?

Our hands start the drums a drumming as dawn turns to day,
ours the fingers on strings, strumming,. We’ll sit down to play.
Our lips put to brasses blowing, knowing he will hear.
We will keep his music going, from us to his ear.

The Choice
The hour has come to make our choice,
listen to the still, small voice,

choosing values to uphold,
the way of love, the way of gold,

empire with hands across the sky,
riders in a desert dry,

those who love the outer shell
or those who honor inner selves,

the way of dark, the way of light.
Our feet upon our path this night.

Who is publishing your story?

MuseItUp publishing division, MuseItYoung. It will be available in July, 2012.

Where can we get this book?

You can't, yet.

We must be patient a little longer...  So in the meantime, how can we follow your career?

Check out my website and blog, http://www.margaretfieland.com/

Thanks for participating Margaret, 'Relocate' sounds amazing and your poetry is wonderful. What a talented writer you are! I am so glad you decided to take up writing Science Fiction.

Rebecca Ryals Russell speaks out...

30 Years to Write a Book?

When asked why I wrote this book, the first of a five-book series, I always pause to think. The idea for the book began about thirty years ago while reading David Eddings’s series, one right after the other, and everything of Terry Brooks I could get my hands on. Originally, the story in my head resembled High Fantasy with a wizard, dragons and elves. But I knew I wanted to incorporate kids from around the world as heroes.




Since I was teaching Middle Grades at the time, which meant leaving the house at 6:30am to be at school in time, I got up for a while at 5am and plunked away at my manual typewriter. This lasted for about three chapters before I found I needed sleep. Principals frown on teachers falling asleep in class--although the kids thought it was funny.



But the ideas wouldn’t stop. The story continued to grow. Then my family began to grow, one child every three years or so, until I was teaching and mothering. And overwhelmed. Anyone who knows me will tell you I don’t do anything half-way. My students were as important to me as my own kids, just ask my kids, they’ll tell you.

So I put eighty to a hundred hours a week into my teaching and the rest went into my family. Even when I quit teaching to be a full-time mom, I then put all of that energy into them. I tried writing, but was too distracted, tired and busy. But the story continued to grow. I began to see a shift in the violence and news of evil deeds being told every night or displayed in the morning newspapers. Demons were gaining the upper hand in our world, with the tightest grip on our children. And every time I mentioned what I saw happening in music, or movies or video games, my kids got mad and ignored me, saying I was crazy. I had to find a way to open eyes.

After twelve years out of the classroom, with my kids all in high or middle school, I went back to the classroom. But things had changed too much for me to catch up. The pressure was immense and I was miserable. My husband said, “Quit and write that book you’ve always wanted to write.” So I did.
On our five acres, we have a log house that my father built to live in. After he passed away we didn’t know what to do with this beautiful empty house. So we decided to rent it out as a vacation home. But until it got busy, I used it as a writing office. Surrounded by my parents’ furniture and quilts, rustic log walls and flat Florida landscape out the windows, I began again. But I didn’t rehash what I’d started twenty-five years ago. I started over. The story had changed.


For six months I created the world of Dracwald, invented my characters, monsters, mythological creatures and a basic plot. I illustrated everything to get a clear picture of my creations. And I researched, researched, researched. A story of kids fighting an evil wizard had blossomed into a story of multicultural teens battling demons encroaching on Earth after destroying other civilizations across the Megaverse. As I continued thinking and researching, the focus became Myrna (after about twelve name changes), the lead demon-hunter-slayer, who is responsible for finding the rest of the Vigorios and getting them trained on the island of Majikals. And along the way she would encounter real, actual news-story violence and evil taken straight from the newspapers from around the world. It would be eye-opening for her and the reader.

Then I began to write. After another six months I ended the story at 215,000 words. That was enough to make two and a half books. So the rewriting began. I broke the original story into sections and wrote and tweaked and revised and edited. Two years later I had two complete novels and a novella: Odessa, Guardian and Harpies, the first three books of the series.

In addition, I had enough material to begin a Middle Grade series called Stardust Warriors, based on the same concept but downgraded in violence and with age appropriate characters. Hence was born Zarena, Jeremiah, Laman, Mercy, Magaelbash and the upcoming Long Tu, Phoebe and Liam.

After a couple of years of revising I finally found the true story—one that will hold a reader’s attention and keep them on the edge of the chair while showing some of the evil that is happening around us. But there’s a lot of fantasy, mythology and imagination mixed in there, too. Anyone who pays attention to language usage will recognize names of places, people and things and how they relate to history, mythology or Latin word meanings. I love language and had a ball creating many of my own words and names.

Now that Odessa, Guardian and Harpies are scheduled for release, I’ve begun thinking seriously about Majikals, the next book.
It will be the most fun to write as it will contain tons of High Fantasy elements, including a wizard, elves, faeries, dwarves and creatures I invented. I’m thinking about pirate ghosts, mermaids and of course dragons, as well. Oh, and there will be love. How could eight teens live together on an enchanted island for a year without someone falling in love? But will it be with the right person, or shall we say, being? Even I don’t know that, yet.

BLURB

17-year-old Myrna is drawn into the middle of an epic battle between Seraphym and Demons. An average High School student from Florida, struggling with inner demons resulting from an attack when she was 15, she wakes one morning on the Steampunk planet of Dracwald, home of the demon-dragons responsible for her brother’s recent murder as well as many other atrocities in the news.

She meets sweet and sensitive Michael, who explains that according to prophecy, Myrna must gather the remaining six Vigorios (teen warriors with special talents) then train with the Majikals on an enchanted island. 

He accompanies her on the quest, but harbors a secret past that ironically would destroy all the faith she has placed in him. 

A handsomely roguish Scientist with suspect motives haunts her dreams and makes sudden appearances in unlikely places, while a sensual dragon warrior defends her against her will. 

Will love and lust, jealousy, greed, deceit and distrust break the delicate tie that binds these teen warriors called The Vigorios? Can a troupe of teens help the Seraphym finally defeat the massive empire of evil dominated for eons by the demon-dragons of Dracwald? 

BIO

Rebecca Ryals Russell writes MG and YA Dark Fantasy and Horror while living with her family in a Victorian house on five acres of North Florida countryside. She also runs a Vacation Rental Log House on the property: Florida Black Bear Cabin. ( http://flablackbearcabin.com )

She is a fourth generation Floridian. She was born in Gainesville, grew up in Sunrise, lived in Orlando and Jacksonville before moving outside Lake City to care for ailing parents. The family now wishes to return to Jacksonville, which is why the house is for sale. (http://mcleranhouse.com )

The daughter of an Elementary-school principal and secretary, for fourteen years she taught Middle Grades, preferring English and Creative Writing. She had several students’ works published in anthologies as well as her own poetry, photography and stories. Her main interests are her four children ages 22, 19, 16, 11 and Irish hubby of 35 years. She enjoys spending her time writing, drawing, going to movies, reading, discussing philosophy with her 16-year-old son.
Over the course of the next few years she has several books being published.

LINKS

Author Website: http://rryalsrussell.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/vigorio
Goodreads http://goodreads.com/user/show/1941846-rebecca-ryals-russell
Series Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/vigorio
Personal Facebook Page http://facebook.com/rebeccaryalsrussell