SONG OF THE ADOËL
Kevin King
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GENRE: YA Fantasy Adventure
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BLURB:
Raendel is one of the Adoël, the cursed people. Passed on to each generation, the curse drains his body of color, leaving his skin and hair a ghostly white. To protect himself from the commoners who fear what they don’t understand, all of the Adoël live as servants to the royal family, using their unique skill with illusion magic to entertain bored nobility. Raendel is bound by traditions, but also by his own lack of self-confidence. Prince Kenan is the younger of two princes, frustrated by his gilded cage and the combat tutoring that feels pointless in a secure and peaceful kingdom. He dreams of adventure, of making a name for himself with heroic deeds. An unexpected assault from an ancient enemy sets the two on a quest that begins as pursuit of vengeance, but soon leads them into a struggle for survival that will teach them both that they are small pieces of a long, dark history. But even the smallest actions can change the fate of a kingdom.
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EXCERPTS
Raendel wove through the room with practiced ease, gliding between isolated clumps of noblemen scattered across the room, passing the time with idle gossip as they waited for the guest of honor to arrive. His gaze flicked along the way in front of him, choosing the path that would keep him farthest away from the guests. Most of them wore enough perfume to give him a headache from five yards away. The enhanced sense of smell shared by the Adoël only added to Raendel’s trepidation. All the nobles stank of pride. The smell of fear drifted in clouds, especially near visitors who had never seen one of the Adoël before. Raendel spent most of his day inside the castle, serving Prince Kenan.
His distinctive features would have drawn stares even without the stories. The name Adoël had been used to frighten children for generations. Mothers would clutch their children as he passed in the street. Don’t go outside at night or the Adoël will get you. Don’t wander into the woods, the Adoël will catch you and suck the life out of you. Each passing generation believed the stories a bit more than their parents. To encounter an Adoël in person resurrected the terrors planted in the hearts of children now grown.
Whispers swirled in his wake. Ghost-child. Cursed. Tainted. Touched by the Necromancer. Raendel had heard them all before, but he still flinched with every sting.
Write What You Love
Guest Post By Kevin King
A common piece of advice I hear for writers is “write what you know.” Taken literally, this would mean nobody could ever write speculative fiction, because we can’t know about things that don’t really exist. What do I know about dragons and vampires and fairies? I’ve never seen one. Never read a peer-reviewed scientific journal about them. I’ve never stepped through a wardrobe into an enchanted wood to talk with fauns and dwarves and white witches.
The idea behind the advice is good – you shouldn’t try to write something you’re completely ignorant of. But if you want to write about something you have no knowledge about, you can always learn about it. The one thing you can’t just go out and get is passion. In place of ‘write what you know’ I would say ‘write what you love.’
If you love something, you’ll probably know it pretty well also. If not, then you’ll enjoy learning about it. You can write something you don’t love, and you might even make it pretty good. But it will lack something. I feel like it will be rare for readers to love something that the author didn’t love writing.
There may be exceptions, of course. Some genres, which shall remain nameless, depend on formulas and familiar tropes so much that anyone who takes the time to learn the patterns can write books that will sell. But in those cases, do the readers really love those particular books? My bet would be that they read them and then move on to the next new thing.
Writing what you love is not a magic formula for success, or even for good writing. You’ll still need to put in the work to learn the craft, develop good characters, hire a good editor, fill in plot holes, etc. You have to do all those things whether you love it or not. The difference will be that without love, the end result will likely feel stale, robotic, dead. If you love what you write, your love will infuse the work – it’s what gives the tin man a heart, breathes life into the patched-together body on the laboratory table.
Love will energize your story. More important, love will carry you through the rough patches of writing. Because, like any relationship, even love doesn’t make it fun all the time. There are some times when it’s just plain hard work, and you’d rather do anything else in the world. It’s those times, when you remember the joy you once had but no longer feel it, that you have to believe the end result will be worth the struggle and keep pushing forward. If you can do that, you might just bring something beautiful into the world.
I love stories of noble character, of self-sacrifice and redemption. I love to explore deep emotion, including the less pleasant ones sometimes. Those are universal, timeless things, and can be woven into any kind of story. If you read enough of my writing, those are the things I hope you see shining through.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Kevin works as a software developer in the Seattle area by day, and an author by night. He enjoys Renaissance Fairs, bookstores, fencing, and daydreaming. He has been reading fantasy from age six, and writing from age twenty-two. He loves exploring fantasy worlds, especially exploring human nature through fiction. Fantasy is his first love, but he also dabbles in sci-fi, creepy horror, and devastatingly sad dramas. He posts regular flash fiction stories to his Instagram account and website.
Website: www.kevinkingauthor.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinkingauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinKingAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinKingAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/KevinKingAuthor
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GIVEAWAY
Kevin King will award a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
Thank you for hosting!