D. Wallace Peach and the Necromancer’s Daughter

Tags

Ball gowns, D. Wallace Peach, Dragons, fantasy, Legend, Magic, The Necromancer's Daughter

Greetings Shey, I’m so happy to be visiting with you and the Dudes.

We often chat about gowns and your heroines’ beautiful attire,

so I thought today we could touch base on the topic of fashion.In The Necromancer’s Daughter, my poor character Aster spends most of the book dressed as a peasant and filthy from weeks of rough travel. But there’s one point in the book where she’s dressed up to meet her uncle, the king. Here’s a peek (slightly condensed):

Layers of rose, cream, and violet silk cascaded around her legs like water. Even on the high wooden soles of her embroidered slippers, the wide openings of her sleeves nearly brushed the floor. Two women wrapped her waist in a blue sash and smoothed out the puckers in the final layer, a sleeveless blue robe embroidered with dragons along the hem.

The queen entered and stepped behind her, tall and imposing. The two of them gazed into the standing mirror. “The colors suit you, Aster. Anything brighter would have left you looking like a ghost.” The queen swished around her for a final inspection. “We have completed our transformation. Let us see if the king approves.”

One lady bustled for the door while the others pinched at Aster’s clothing, correcting invisible oversights. Despite the supple apparel, Aster stepped into the hallway as if she balanced a tea set on her head.

“You’re not posing for a portrait,” the queen whispered. “You must let the clothing flow. Therein lies the beauty of silk.”

I also created a graphic for a gown! 

This isn’t Aster’s gown, since it’s not the right colors. But it’s the style – based on traditional hanfu Chinese clothing.  And that’s the dragon Grandfather with Scars behind her.

Thanks so much for letting me come over and play!

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Blurb:

A healer and dabbler in the dark arts of life and death, Barus is as gnarled as an ancient tree. Forgotten in the chaos of the dying queen’s chamber, he spirits away her stillborn infant, and in a hovel at the meadow’s edge, he breathes life into the wisp of a child. He names her Aster for the lea’s white flowers. Raised as his daughter, she learns to heal death.

Then the day arrives when the widowed king, his own life nearing its end, defies the Red Order’s warning. He summons the necromancer’s daughter, his only heir, and for his boldness, he falls to an assassin’s blade.

While Barus hides from the Order’s soldiers, Aster leads their masters beyond the wall into the Forest of Silvern Cats, a land of dragons and barbarian tribes. She seeks her mother’s people, the powerful rulers of Blackrock, uncertain whether she will find sanctuary or face a gallows’ noose.

Unprepared for a world rife with danger, a world divided by those who practice magic and those who hunt them, she must choose whether to trust the one man offering her aid, the one man most likely to betray her—her enemy’s son.

A healer with the talent to unravel death, a child reborn, a father lusting for vengeance, and a son torn between justice, faith, and love. Caught in a chase spanning kingdoms, each must decide the nature of good and evil, the lengths they will go to survive, and what they are willing to lose.

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MY REVIEW. -SHEHANNE MOORE.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, fantasy is not my preferred genre. But a  special author and  story will always convince me to click ‘buy.’ And D. Wallace Peach is such an author.  Her world building –for me a key element in fantasy writing—is second to none.  Set against that we have Aster, the stillborn daughter of the King of Verdane.  Yes, you may wonder how a stillborn baby can go on to be the heroine in a fantasy novel, but trust me she is because the man tasked with saving her has the gift of bringing the dead back to life. He just doesn’t manage it immediately.  The themes are universal. An ageing  man suddenly aware he has an heir, an Order that will stop at nothing–not even murder–to thwart this,  a  perilous journey through lands torn between ,hunted and hunters, in other words, good versus evil at every turn, and a fantastic cast of characters along the way, all in the skilled hands of a writer who knows how to deliver.

The dudes give it 5 paws.

D. Wallace Peach.

A long-time reader, best-selling author D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life when years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books. She was instantly hooked.

In addition to fantasy books, Peach’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of the arts in her local community, organizing and publishing annual anthologies of Oregon prose, poetry, and photography.

Peach lives in a log cabin amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon’s rainforest with her husband, two owls, a horde of bats, and the occasional family of coyotes.

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Links:

US: https://www.amazon.com/Necromancers-Daughter-D-Wallace-Peach-ebook/dp/B0B92G7QZX

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Necromancers-Daughter-D-Wallace-Peach-ebook/dp/B0B92G7QZX

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Necromancers-Daughter-D-Wallace-Peach-ebook/dp/B0B92G7QZX

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Necromancers-Daughter-D-Wallace-Peach/dp/B0B9FY6YZJ

IN: https://www.amazon.in/Necromancers-Daughter-D-Wallace-Peach-ebook/dp/B0B92G7QZX

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple

Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/D.-Wallace-Peach/e/B00CLKLXP8

Website/Blog: http://mythsofthemirror.com

Website/Books: http://dwallacepeachbooks.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dwallacepeach

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The Dudes aren’t in the kitchen with D. Wallace Peach.

Tags

Catlin's Bane, D. Wallace Peach, Epic Fantasy, fantasy, The Rose Shield, World Building

D. Wallace Peach. Thanks so much for the invite to visit with you and the Dudes, Shey. What a treat to hobnob with the famous (infamous?) Hamstas.  Hi guys.

Question one. ·  Fantasy  can stand or fall on the world building and making a reader completely believe in that world.  When you first sat down to write Catling’s Bane, what came first, the world  she inhabits or Catling?

D. Wallace Peach. For me, both happen at the same time.  Usually, the theme comes first – in this case, the ability to manipulate emotions. That bit of inspiration starts a cascade of character, world, and plot ideas that inform each other as the story takes shape. Not until that magic has run its course, do I begin writing.

D. Wallace Peach. Oh I am definitely a plotter.  And I wrote all four books before I published the first. That way all the details line up from start to finish. I can’t help obsessing about the cohesiveness of my stories, so it’s how I’ve written all my series.D.Wallace Peach – I’ve definitely considered it. Hamsters have fabulous personalities. So dashing and clever. 

D.Wallace Peach —And handsome! I forgot to mention how incredibly handsome they are.

D. Wallace Peach—. Most of my books have an element of social or political commentary, usually based on the corrupting influence of power. A timeless theme, right?!  I like asking “what if” questions about issues I’m passionate about and turning them into fantastical tales.

D. Wallace Peach. Ha!  Great question, but no recipes. I’ve eaten just about everything my characters have, including eels, snakes, and crocodiles (crajeks). None of my characters eat hamsters, by the way. That would be unforgivable.

D. Wallace Peach. Find a way to get constructive criticism!  It’s wonderful to hear about how great your books are, but you need to know what’s not working in order to improve. Well-considered and specific criticism is a huge gift!

D. Wallace Peach I hope to have another stand-alone book out this summer called The Necromancer’s Daughter. Adventure, danger, flight, dragons, love, and raising the dead!  Stay tuned.

Thanks, Shey, and the Dudes for having me over. This has been great fun.

A book that puts the e in epic, the f in fantasy and the w in world building.

All within the first few paragraphs too. In that brutal early part we also meet Catling, a little girl who can do what no-one else in that world can—see through the power of the ‘influencers,’ to the horror that lies beneath. I did say fantasy, didn’t I? And maybe you’re saying I don’t read fantasy, but that’s all right, normally I don’t either, but I will now be reading more. Certainly of this series. The map is magical and the writing spell-binding. That any book can stand or fall by the believability of the world created, is especially true of fantasy, which is I why want to say that the world-building wasn’t just engrossing, it was effortlessly done, people, places, plants, all leap off the page, but the idea of a world where thoughts are shaped, something that resonates in today’s actual world, leapt in huge print, alongside political intrigue, inequality and yep…less than wonderful leaders. Meantime, a previous mysterious and mystical culture peeps, a culture squashed and slaughtered beneath the boot of the existing rulers, adding even more layers to the story.
I absolutely loved the idea of this book. How can this be fought, especially when only one person can see it. AND even worse, that person is a lowest of the low child who’s already fallen through several cracks? That they are also the only one with the power to break the system, means the ride is not going to be easy. People have their own needs and plans after all.
All in all, a book that delivers on every level, an amazing constructed world, with gripping characters and a plot that whips us along on the promise of more to come in book two.

Links:

Blog: https://mythsofthemirror.com

Author Website: https://dwallacepeachbooks.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dwallacepeach

Bio:

A long-time reader, best-selling author D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life after the kids were grown and a move left her with hours to fill. Years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books, and when she started writing, she was instantly hooked.

In addition to fantasy books, Peach’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of the arts in her local community, organizing and publishing annual anthologies of Oregon prose, poetry, and photography.

Peach lives in a log cabin amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon’s rainforest with her husband, two owls, a horde of bats, and the occasional family of coyotes.