Blood Crystal Blog Hop

Today I’m hosting author Jeanette O’Hagan as part of a blog hop to celebrate the release of her new novella, Blood Crystal. Jeanette first spun tales in the world of Nardva at the age of nine. She enjoys writing fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardva stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and fantasy.

Here she answers some of my questions about the latest book in the Nardva world.

All the main characters from Heart of the Mountain appear—especially the shapeshifter Zadeki and the twins Delvina and Retza, but also members of the Greenstone South crew. However, there are some new characters who play important parts as well—Zarah, Gilarth and Javot in the Underground realm and some of Zadeki’s kin like the Kinleader Telsima as well.

Good question. Lakwi’s Lament and The Herbalist’s Daughter occur a few centuries after the evens in the Underground realm and in the adjoining area of Tamra (the Tamrins are referred to as Tamrak’s offspring in Blood Crystal), so the are part of the Tamrin Tales.

Nardva grew in my imagination over time. After reading Narnia as a child, I began creating my own stories, initially about a young boy called Agwynallen whose land was invaded by the Karians—and the world gradually expanded as the stories grew and encompassed greater areas until it circled the world of Nardva with its two moons.

This is a hard question to answer. I have another two novellas planned for the Under the Mountain series and ideas for further adventures for Zadeki as well as other stories surrounding the earlier story of Ruhanna’s Flight (the story in Glimpses of Light anthology).
In addition, I’ve been working on my Akrad’s Legacy series which is set mainly in Tamra around the time of The Herbalist’s Daughter and Lakwi’s Lament (and with many of the same characters). I already have six to seven of these books plotted and most at first draft stage and hope to publish the first, Akrad’s Children, in the near future. If I write my ideas for the prequels behind the Akrad’s Legacy series, that could lead to at least another five or six books.  And I’ve a couple of short stories set in the Five Lands (of which Tamra is one), about 600 years later when it has become an Empire centred on Kuta.
Then there are the stories set in the northern hemisphere, most so far in the Barrakian mountains (The Barrakian Tales, eg Broken Promises in Another Time Another Place), which occur closer to my original stories and which could possibly extend to Kar and beyond.
And last year, I wrote a short sci-fi piece which has expanded into a trilogy (I have a very rough first draft of the two books and am writing the third). This story is set some thousands of years after the events of the Under the Mountain series. So quite a few.

At the moment, I’m editing Akrad’s Children and finishing off the first draft of book 3 in the futuristic cyborg trilogy.

Not really. I do try to write in the morning if I can—but can write most places and times.

Making up worlds and characters and following where they take me.

I had to think about that and am not sure if I got it right. But maybe a young Keanu Reeves for Zadeki, Gigi Hadid or perhaps Rebecca  Ferguson for Delvina, Cillian Murphy for Retza, Judi Dench for Havilah, Gemma Thompson for Barekia, George Clooney for Gilarth, Gwyneth Patrow or Mary Steenburger for Telsima, Eddie Redmayne for Javot and Josh Hutcherson For Putarn. Not sure how the heights would work, though.

Opportunities to win:

Comment below
Comment below on this post (and on any of the posts in the Blood Crystal Blog Tour)—the best comment (imo) will win a copy of Heart of the Mountain: a short novella.

Scavenger Hunt

The Blood Crystal Scavenger Hunt will run throughout the  Blood Crystal Blog Tour.  Each blog will have a reflection or memory related to themes within Blood Crystal—and a related question. The first person to answer all NINE questions right will win a $50 Amazon voucher. The runner up will receive copies of both Heart of the Mountain and the sequel Blood Crystal.Follow each post on the blog tour to find the questions and list your answers in the comments on the final blog post of the tour on 28 July. There will also opportunities to win prizes at each blogspot.

This week’s question is taken from The Crown (Verindon #2). Read the passage below and answer the question that follows it:

We packed up our camp and set off again in our usual procession. This time, the mood was a little lighter. We would soon leave the Forest. Although we all knew the danger wouldn’t necessarily leave us then, at least it would be an end to the continual night we had endured in the thickness of the trees. We stopped three times during the course of the day and ate the remainder of our rations. I offered mine to the agents—there was a small amount of sugar in them, which I was sure they needed more than I did—but of course, they refused. I sighed. It was difficult being Overlord.

Question: What do the agents need more than Sarah?

To find the question from the previous blog hop, visit The Vince Review here. Next week’s blog will be hosted by Cindy Tomamichel on her website here.