Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Guest Post: Meghan Ciana Doidge author of Spirit Binder




Author: Meghan Ciana Doidge
       Website
       Blog
       Twitter 
      Facebook
Series or Stand Alone:
             Book One of the Cascadian Chronicles
Publisher: Old Man in the CrossWalk Productions
Genre: Young Adult / Urban Fantasy/ Eco-thriller
First Published: June 21, 2012
Buy it from: Amazon
                  Barnes and Noble
To Be Released:
            Currently available as an ebook,  available in print Fall 2012

Spirit Binder is a fantasy set a thousand years after spirit (aka magic) rises to take back the world in an apocalyptic event. It is book one of the Cascadian Chronicles.The first book of the Spirit Bound young adult series, TIME WALKER, will be released in the fall of 2012.

The GIST:

"Theo woke severely injured, covered in blood, and missing ten years of her life. Just to complicate matters further, Theo was born under a prophecy; one that has rabid followers with three different interpretations, all of whom are willing to sacrifice her in order to fulfill it. 

Not knowing if she can trust the stranger she’s betrothed to, the warrior visiting her dreams, or even her own mother, Theo tries to piece together her past only to find that her present is far more dangerous. It’s the power of her own blood that scares her most of all. This is a responsibility Theo never wanted, and a destiny she cannot deny, “All because of a prophecy she was trying not to believe in, but kept fulfilling.”

Setting is important especially in a post-apocalyptic fantasy so I'm happy to have a guest post from  Meghan Ciana Doidge, author of the upcoming Spirit Binder, here to talk about it. And she came prepared with visuals!

What Inspired Spirit Binder: Setting/Location

When tackling a new story I always come up with, and then explore, the central idea – the inciting incident that (hopefully) pulls the reader into the story – often this incident takes place in the very first scene, as it does in Spirit Binder when Theo wakes covered in blood and missing the memories of the last ten years of her life.

At some point in the writing of this initial idea, I usually feel like I need to ground the story in a setting, and, as with Spirit Binder, I often default in using the very setting I see out my office window every day. Now, seeing as this is a post-apocalyptic fantasy set a thousand or so years in the future, Theo’s world does not look exactly like mine, actually it looks quite different, but I thought it might be fun to share the view that Theo gazes upon when looking for a little bit of peace.

The first half of the novel takes place in Holyburn Castle, where Theo watches the sun set over the ocean and mountains. She references the Twin Sisters (mountain peaks) and, later, the Salish Sea, which tells us that the castle is nestled within the North Shore Mountains. Another hint, further into the story, references a major change in geography, and something that is dominant in my own spectacular office view, no longer exists in Theo’s.

Wiki article links:

The second half of the novel takes place in the Aerie, home to the Chancellor of the NorthWest. Here Theo sees “a granite monolith that looked like the weathered but proud face of a man staring down at the massive fjord that cut through the valley below.” This is a big hint as to where the Aerie is situated.

Wiki Article link:

That’s a lot of links, but I thought it might be fun to share the setting of Spirit Binder. And, hopefully, that provides a little insight when reading the novel.

Thanks Markella, for the opportunity to guest post!

Meghan
Author of After The Virus, Spirit Binder, and Time Walker (Fall 2012)

Can't you just feel that fresh mountain air?
Anyway, thank you Meghan for the guest post and the links! They really help when thinking about the scene.


Author BIO




Meghan Ciana Doidge is an award-winning writer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has a penchant for bloody love stories, superheroes, and the supernatural. She also has a bit of a thing for chocolate, potatoes, and sock yarn; though not all together, that would just be yucky.