Description
Sarah was once a wildlife ecologist in Colorado and worked closely with several wildlife rehabilitation programs. One day, she met a turkey vulture named Lurch. Lurch was sassy, audacious, and a bit self-important. But Lurch’s personality gave Sarah an idea for a character in a fantasy novel. Although this is her first fiction novel, Sarah has written stories most of her life. She received an award from world-renowned author, Wally Lamb, for a short story she wrote in high school. She’s written dozens of scientific articles, opinion pieces, and travel content for her full-time jobs. Whispers Among the Willows is her debut novel and is currently in the drafting stage.
The Story
Whispers Among the Willows begins in the kingdom of Lios – a land of light. A young woman, Wynter, spends her days as the head metalsmith running the kingdom’s armory. She is drawn to hard earth magic while her grannie gravitates towards the softer side. It’s why she runs the town’s apothecary. Wyn’s younger sister, Adeline, is about undergo her Fledging – a large celebration to recognize “adulthood”. Addie, as most like to call her, stuns the entire village with her incredible flight skills. There are no planes in this world, though – only feather-winged beings. Both Wyn and her sister have beautifully, feathered wings. A vision impairment, however, prevents Wyn from seeing well in daylight hours. For her, images and objects blur with light which is unfortunate in a kingdom that has 20+ hours of sunlight a day. Her blurred vision makes for difficult flying and, as a result, she finds her life is much better on the ground.
One day, Wyn gets a mysterious whisp – a message on the wind. A raspy voice that leaves Wyn with a lot of questions especially after tragedy hits her family. Wyn and her sister must travel to the capital of Salix to find the answers the stranger says reside there. But when they arrive, nothing is as it seems. Wyn finds a darkness that is spreading throughout her kingdom of light. It’s here that Wyn meets a dark and mysterious stranger with an even stranger accent. Will she take the unknown road to get the answers she needs? Or will she stay behind and risk losing herself forever?
Sarah is already a published author for her Hiking with Kids New England guide and under contract for a Swimming Holes of New England hiking guide.
The World
There are two kingdoms in the world within Whispers Among the Willows: Lios and Skahl. Lios, the kingdom to the south, has neverending sun (think Alaska in the summertime) with upwards of 20+ hours of daylight in a day. Skahl, on the other hand, is its exact opposite where shadows reign and the sun barely makes an appearance. The two kingdoms are separated by The Currents - a raging canal of torturous winds and water. Neither of its people can travel between the two kingdoms. Or can they?
The Characters
Wynter (Wyn), Whispers main female character, lives in Selvedge - a tiny village in the northern part of Lios where her days are filled with hammering out axes, swords, and various weapons for her kingdom's legions. She has wings (akin to a bird rather than bat, fairy, or butterfly) as does her sister and many of the people that live in her village. Wyn doesn't know it yet, but her whole world is about to change when she hears a stranger's voice on the wind carrying a cryptic message.
The Magic
In the world of Lios and Skahl, there is a close connection to earth and wind. Characters are able to harness these elements depending on what they are drawn to. Messages are carried among the wind - whisps as they are called in the world of Whispers. Depending on a person's magical power, they can direct whisps acutely to a single person or can only blast it across the winds hoping it gets to the person they are intended for. Not everyone has magical powers and those that do have a wide variety of abilities. You'll have to read the book to find out more.
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