Tag: Hayalda

The Theme of Rothana: Sarah Delana White

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I’m so excited to introduce Sarah Delana White to my blog today. Her new book Rothana is the sequel to Halayda (which I read and enjoyed!) I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy of Rothana! *grabby hands*

Did you ever wonder how authors manage to weave such fantastic themes into their stories? I’ll let Sarah address that question.

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I never plan the themes of my books in advance. They emerge as I write, as the characters grow and make hard choices. One of the unexpected themes in Rothana was regret. I didn’t expect this to emerge so strongly, but as I delved into each character’s backstory and hidden issues, I realized most of the major characters were dealing with past failures they wished they could undo.

Sylvie feels like a failure of a queen. When events spiral out of control and she loses her throne, she feels she has let everyone down. She regrets she couldn’t help Faerie in all the ways she wanted to, but instead left the realm vulnerable to new threats. She also still carries hurts from her past in Sabellyn. She wishes she could have saved more of the changelings she adopted, and she still partly blames herself for not confronting Casimir years ago when she first realized he was scheming against Faerie.

Taylan regrets many, many things. He killed countless people and used harsh means to rule Faerie for centuries, and he is constantly haunted by this. When he is forced to deal with the darker side of his shadow-magic—the power that connects him with the fae underworld—it is all too easy for him to believe he is destined to be a monster. Taylan’s scenes in Rothana were some of the most painful I’ve ever written because he is so deeply entrenched in his terrible past and in the lies he tells himself. (All I can say is… thank goodness he has Sylvie and Diza around to keep him from wallowing TOO much!)

The one that really surprised me was Casimir. Before I wrote Rothana, I thought he was just a cold-hearted madman who delighted in trying to bend the world to his will. Guess what: he was holding out on me. A lot. In this book, we see the true motivations that lurk beneath his pompous speeches, as well as the pain that drove him to make some desperate decisions. Does he regret the choices he made in Halayda? Well, maybe… in a very Casimir way. In other words, he’s still a special bundle of special. But even villains can have regrets.

Each of these characters deals with regret in different ways, but it seeps into each of their motivations and reflects in the choices they make. The events of Rothana force them to confront their past choices and failures and choose whether to be defined by them.

So, why does Rothana deal so much with regret? Again, I don’t consciously choose the themes of my books, but I’m not really surprised this one emerged. It has always been a struggle for me to let go of past mistakes. The Star-Fae Trilogy was born during a time in my life when I felt like I’d failed in major ways, including destroying the career I’d intended to pursue lifelong (long story). It was cathartic to watch my characters wrestle with those same emotions, and I rejoiced as they began to shake off the lies that weighed them down. I hope their journeys connect with readers in the same way.

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Thanks, Sarah! I loved hearing about this theme in Rothana.

Would you like to know more about this fantastic book? Read on….

A new queen falls. A death lord rises. An ancient foe looms in the shadows.

Sylvie Imanthiya is desperate to lead Faerie well and deepen the bond with her  husband, former king Taylan Ashkalabek. But all hope of that vanishes when the winter solstice ceremony ends in disaster, stranding her and Taylan in the Deathrealm, and stripping the kingdom from her.

With Faerie in chaos, Zad and Diza are separated once again: Zad to reconcile with an old mentor to stabilize the kingdom, and Diza to confront the nefarious Casimir in the mortal realm. But Casimir claims that a greater evil seeks to destroy both realms, an evil that Diza’s unique death magic can hold at bay—if she could only remember how.

In the Deathrealm, Taylan is succumbing to the lure of specters from his past, and pushing away Sylvie’s love. Overwhelmed by decay and darkness, Sylvie must  summon unexpected magic from the soul of Kyure to fight for her convictions and her husband’s heart.

Shadows divide them. Their friends are in peril. If Sylvie fails, her marriage and her world will fall.

Purchase Links
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Signed Paperback
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42637351-rothana

And don’t forget to join us for the Rothana Facebook party! There’ll be prizes, guest authors, and fun bookish information! Don’t miss it! *throws confetti*

 

 

Sarah Delena White was raised by wolves in an alternate dimension. She writes eclectic speculative fiction that reworks mythology with a fine balance of poetry and snark. She’s an experienced world traveler who loves to weave world folklore and ancient concepts into vibrant, original story worlds. She is the administrative manager for Uncommon Universes
Press. When she’s not writing, she can be found making elegant designer bead jewelry, traveling to festivals as a professional ballad singer, drinking tea, and seeking to create the perfect latte. She can be bribed with dark chocolate.

Guest Post by Sarah Delena White, author of Halayda

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Today at Jilligan’s Island, I’m thrilled to have Sarah Delena White joining me.  Sarah has recently released her fantastic debut novel, Haylada. More information on the book is below, along with its beautiful cover! But first, she shares what she discovered while working on the novel.

 

 

Halayda was a first for me in more ways than one. It’s not just my first published novel; it’s the first novel I successfully finished. Don’t get me wrong—I wrote quite a bit before that. I started ten other manuscripts in the space of twelve years, but ended up abandoning them for one reason or another. When I started Halayda, I wanted to see it through to the end. I read up on writing strategies and tried out a lot of different advice. Here are a few of the things I learning during the process.

It’s okay to prioritize writing.

For my entire adult life, I had pushed writing aside, labeling it a fun hobby at best and an utter waste of time as worst. I felt guilty whenever I prioritized writing, always wondering if I could put the time to better use. It took me a long time to realize how hypocritical this was. Stories have tremendous power—it’s not an exaggeration to say that some of them have redefined how I see the world. It’s easy to value other people’s stories—or any kind of art—more than we value our own, but this isn’t doing anyone a favor. I decided to set aside chunks of time and make sure I made progress each day, no matter how impractical it seemed.

Find what works for you, even if it’s weird.

Each writer is wired differently. It’s easy to fall down the black hole of writing advice and end up doing things that worked for someone else but don’t benefit you. For example, I tried to be a “plotter,” writing thorough outlines and planning every detail in advance. This works great for many people, but for me, it killed the story every time. Despite being a natural planner, I decided to approach Halayda differently. I made sure I had a story structure and kept the characterization consistent, and then let everything else unfold in the moment. Each scene held new surprises, which meant I never got bored with the story. Then I broke one of the cardinal rules of first drafts by showing each scene to a critique partner as soon as I wrote it. Getting someone else’s reactions early on was helpful in making sure I was on the good track with the story. In other words, there’s no right or wrong system for writing a book!

You’ll never have the process completely under control, and that’s okay.


This was the hardest part of writing Halayda! I wrote a clean first draft and anticipated a straightforward editing process. My characters had other ideas. I ended up working a major character into the story after the first draft was complete, making some big changes to the world-building, and shifting my main characters’ arcs in order to set up the rest of the trilogy more effectively. It was a long process, and incredibly frustrating at times, but In the end it made for a much stronger book. I had to let go of a lot of preconceived ideas and let the book be what it wanted to be, even when it meant putting in a lot of extra time and effort. Like anything in life, there’s nothing predictable about writing. It’s a journey that will test you at every turn, but it’s ultimately worth it.

Thanks so much, Sarah, for sharing with us what you learned during the writing process. For those of you wondering what Halayda is about, read on!

A mortal alchemist. A faerie king. A bond that transcends death.

Betrayed by a trusted mentor, Sylvie Imanthiya hides on the fringes of society, caring for half-fae orphans and trading her alchemical creations on the black market. She lives for the one night each season when she can see her dearest friend—a man whose destiny is far above hers.

King Taylan Ashkalabek knows better than to exchange halayda vows with a mortal. Even their friendship is a risk; love is an impossible dream. Then a brutal alchemical attack poisons his realm, unearthing a dark power within him—and leaving Sylvie with the ancient mark of Faerie’s savior.

Manifesting unpredictable abilities and aided by allies with their own secrets, Sylvie and Taylan journey into the wilds of Faerie to heal the damage and confront Casimir, an invincible star-fae determined to claim the realm as his own. But only their enemy knows Sylvie’s true capabilities—and Taylan’s weaknesses—and how to use them in his vicious schemes.

Her fate is life. His fate is death. With Faerie in the balance, Sylvie and Taylan must stand together before reality as they know it is destroyed.

Review/buy links:
Author bio:
 
Sarah Delena White was raised by wolves in an alternate dimension. She writes eclectic speculative fiction that reworks mythology with a fine balance of poetry and snark. She’s an experienced world traveler who loves to weave world folklore and ancient concepts into vibrant, original story worlds. She is also the Benevolent Firebird (acquisitions editor) for Uncommon Universes Press. When she’s not writing or editing, she can be found making jewelry, singing Irish ballads, drinking tea, and working a variety of odd jobs. She can be bribed with dark chocolate. 
You can find Sarah here: