{Wattle Fire} Know The Novel and The Language of Worlds!

Today we have a treat because the wonderful, amazing Christine has created a new linkup which looks like it’ll be a lot of fun! I’ve already introduced my NaNo novel Wattle Fire but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to share a little bit more. I’ve also continued doing The Language of Worlds linkup, which I did last month as well, so I’ve mashed them into this one post. Hopefully you enjoy *bows out*

What first sparked the idea for this novel?

I’ve already talked about this a bit. I was inspired by an epic fantasy novel idea I had years ago. The story idea evolved and changed a lot, and then I came up with the idea of an Australian fantasy and kind of blending the ideas together. 🙂

Share a blurb!

Yilla was born as the wattles bloom, and seventeen years later, as the wattles bloom again, an assassin’s knife in the heart of the queen changes her life forever.

A child bride, married to the king of Traumlant, High-Praise has everything she ever wanted–position, money and comfort. She only wishes for two things–friendship to ease the lonely ache of court life, and a romance with her young husband.

When an attempt on her life goes awry, High-Praise vows to change Traumlant’s court for the better and orders a search made for a girl willing to teach her the ways of the land.

And so, Yilla arrives at the royal court, unprepared for the wave of betrayal, pain, heartache and change that will flood Traumlant when she does so.

Where does the story take place? What are some of your favourite aspects about the setting?

The story takes place in a fantasy country called Traumlant (which is actually German for Dreamland, weird fact for the day). Traumlant has been inhabited for goodness knows how long by innumerable clans of all sorts of different cultural backgrounds, but in the last few hundred years it has been colonised by some people of a sorta pseudo-Germanic background who come from an archipelago in the middle of nowhere.

Anyhow, my favourite thing about the setting is obviously the Australianness of it. I also like the fact that I’ve managed to include such a diverse array of cultures in it. Obviously, my cultures are all made up, but since I struggle to create a completely singular culture once let alone five or six times, I have stolen inspirations from various different settings as diverse as Scotland, New Zealand, traditional Aboriginal Australian, early colonial Australia, Germany, England, India, ancient Persia etc, etc.

Oh yes, I like a challenge 😛

 

Tell us about your protagonist

I’ve already told you about my three protagonists, Yilla, Courageous and High-Praise, so instead of directly answering this question, I’m going to give you a short song playlist for each of the characters!

Yilla-–Schließ dein Herz in Eisen ein {from Mozart!}: This song is all about setting your heart in iron so that you don’t get hurt. Yilla is definitely very much like this. Her life has been pulled apart thread by thread, and she’s got to the point where she’ll crack if she cares anymore, so she sets her heart in iron in order to keep herself safe.

Courageous–Do You Love Me? {from The Fiddler on the Roof}: Courageous and High-Praise haven’t been married for twenty-five years and High-Praise is a queen so she doesn’t do any of the things Golde does for Tevye, but you know…it’s the sentiment that counts. Wie Werd Man Seinen Schatten Los {from Mozart!}: Courageous isn’t nearly as full of angst as Mozart is, but the idea expressed in this song–can you get away from your shadow, aka, your destiny–is very much Courageous’ feelings.

High-Praise–When The World Was Mine {from The Count of Monte Cristo}: High-Praise lives a fairly miserable existence for a fair amount of the book and all she wants is her old life in Dhaku (her home country) back. Pretty Lies {from The Count of Monte Cristo}: Again, High-Praise feels somewhat cheated that her life never turned out the way she thought it would. She wants to embrace life the way it is, not the way she’s been told it is and she’s eager to begin again, so this song really fits her.

These pictures do not belong to me.

Who (or what) is the antagonist?

There is no human antagonist in this story, but if I were to choose one thing that plays the part of an inanimate antagonist, that would be Courageous’ shyness. Its his low self-confidence and shyness that causes pretty much all the problems he and High-Praise have to deal with, so it plays the part of antagonist. And as someone who has struggled with shyness a lot, I can tell you that it’s a much scarier antagonist than any villain dressed in black.

What excites you most about this novel?

Everything! I love this novel a lot (second only to Stars Fill Infinity, but shush. no one knows that). Probably one of my favourite aspects to write will be the setting, but I also love the characters. Courageous, in particular (if you couldn’t tell) I find interesting. He also has a stammer, which is something I haven’t tried to write since a bad (and probably quite ignorant) attempt almost two years ago in my discarded novel “Black and White”. I also like Yilla, my main character, and her relationship with her sister, and her friendship with High-Praise and Courageous. Those are all things I’m looking forward to writing.

Is this going to be a series? A standalone? Something else?

I’m planning for this book to be a standalone, but I have two ideas for companion novels. They focus on the same sort of theme (retellings of the lives of famous women), and would take place in the same world, but wouldn’t deal with the same characters or the same country/culture. So I guess it could be seen as the first of a series, but using the term “series” very loosely.

Are you plotting? Pantsing? Plansting?

Plotting, but not in particular detail. I have the outline done, but I’m leaving room to make changes and expand on as much as I want.

Name a few things that make this story unique.

Did I mention the Australian culture? Other than that, another thing that makes it interesting is Courageous’ stammer. I’ve never read a book where a character stammers, though, of course, stammering kings aren’t really that unusual (George VI, Queen Elizabeth II’s father, stammered, as did Charles I and Louis the Stammerer of Aquitaine) but I haven’t read many novels dealing with the idea of being a political person who can’t speak properly. I also am dealing with the idea of a princess marrying the man she’s arranged to marry, out of duty, and even though she doesn’t particularly like him. And the idea of “oh, everyone loves big brother because he’s smart and charming and handsome and I’m a socially awkward human, but oh, wait, what’s this? Big brother is dead and now I’m crown prince. This is bad”, which happens a lot to kings.

Finally, there’s very little romance in this story! Yilla, the MC, doesn’t have a romance at all, and Courageous and High-Praise (who are married) only have a little romance. So, there’s one thing that helps it stand out from basically every YA out there.

Share a fun “extra” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

You can find the Pinterest board here, and the YouTube playlist here

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Now, that’s the end of Christine’s link up, so I’m going to move on to Liv’s! I’ll be answering the questions for both High-Praise and Courageous, as I’d like to get to know the two of them a little more!

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What does your character fear the most?

Courageous fears public speaking. Or really, just talking at all.

High-Praise fears being forgotten and unloved. Especially if someone once did love her and has now thrown her by the wayside.

How would they handle it if they were to face their fear?

Um…not very well, at least in Courageous’ case. He tends to panic every time he’s put in a situation where he needs to speak to someone he doesn’t know very well and trust. However, *spoiler alert* he does face his fear toward the end of the novel. It doesn’t turn out particularly well, but he does it.

High-Praise is a bit different. I think she needs to be able to face her fears head on and learn that not everyone is always going to love her and that sometimes she will be forgotten, but that there’s nothing much she can do about it.

Do they want to get married? Why or why not?

Well, they’re both already married actually, to each other.

Courageous never wanted to get married, though, because he was afraid his wife would hate him and because he’s never had an interest in marriage or even really been attracted to anyone.

High-Praise held a very romantic view of marriage for her first fourteen years of life. She wanted to be swept off her feet by a handsome prince on a white horse etc, etc. She was, briefly, engaged to Courageous’ elder brother, Zeal, who pretty much fit all the stereotypes she had in mind. Of course, upon his death, she found herself married to Courageous instead. And he wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

Pictures not mine

What is their love language (i.e. words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts, quality time, acts of service)?

For Courageous, it’s definitely words of affirmation. Words mean a lot to him and are more precious in his eyes than they are in most other peoples. When someone uses their words to praise him, or even really talk to him, he is extremely grateful and it makes him feel loved.

For High-Praise, it’s probably gifts. Acts of service are pretty mainstream for her (being a queen and all) and she doesn’t see them as particularly loving, but gifts do flatter her. Especially if they are exotic gifts, such as strange animals or a horse of rare colouring or breed.

On a scale from 1 (messy) to 5 (organized), how do they rate?

Courageous would be about 4 1/2.

High-Praise is much more go with the flow, so she’d probably be about 2 or 3. She’s more relaxed when it comes to these things.

How do they feel about debates/disagreements?

Courageous hates them with a passion. He is very much set against anything that even borders on a disagreement, but if he can be stoked enough, he can burst out rather passionately.

High-Praise is very much for disagreement, but not so much debates. She likes to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but if it came to an articulated, academic debate, or even an intelligent debate, she wouldn’t be so keen.

What do they bring to a battle (figurative or literal)?

Courageous definitely brings humility. Humility and patience are two of his best characteristics.

High-Praise would bring intelligence and charm. She’s smart, witty and can charm people without even really trying.

What’s their favourite thing to eat for breakfast?

Courageous enjoys a typical English type breakfast, sausages, bacon, various other weird meats and probably tea and toast.

High-Praise prefers melted chocolate.

How do they treat them self after a long day?

Courageous disappears into his private chambers, ignores his paperwork and sings to himself. Or paints. or writes poetry.

High-Praise treats herself to coffee (a delicacy that comes from her country and isn’t widely drunk in Traumlant) and surrounds herself with entertainers. She’s an extrovert, if you can’t tell.

Picture not mine

What do you most want readers to glean from this story?

At this point, prewriting, it’s hard to know. I haven’t really nailed down the themes yet. But as always, I want my readers to feel refreshed coming out of this story. I want them to feel that it is always possible to fight with courage and hope and that there’s always a single beam of light, no matter how dark it gets outside.

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So there you have it. A little more about my NaNo novel Wattle Fire. Have you ever joined a writer’s link up? How have you been preparing for NaNo? Do you have a project you’ve been dreaming about for years but have never written?