Hi guyz! I read Promising Light (The Protectors #1) as part of the blog tour and I really can't enjoy it more! Read my review here to know more about it.
Here we have a guest post by the author, Emily Ann Ward, where she shares the locations in Promising Light and where she got the inspirations from. Promising Light is an epic fantasy/romance, bordering on historical locations. So, you get how interesting this post can get. Just read this guest post, you will surely read to your must read books, and hopefully, buy the book soon. Or still enter the giveaway mentioned below for a chance to win the copy! Hope you enjoy!
Locations in Promising Light and their inspiration
Hey, everyone! I’m so
happy to be here with Vidya and all of you on my blog tour for my fantasy
novel, Promising Light.
In Promising Light,
Dar suddenly leaves Grace, breaking off their secret relationship, and she
searches for answers, reluctant to let him go. Then she’s kidnapped by Dar’s
family, who are shape changers who claim she can break a curse set on their
family. If the curse endures, Dar’s family could die out forever. But to help
them, she’ll have to leave behind everything she knows.
When creating a
fantasy world, a lot of thought goes into the new locations, some inspired by
real life, some not. I thought for this guest post, I’d tell you about the
various locations of Promising Light and my inspiration for them. There are
quotes from the book and pretty pictures, too!
Renaul
The royal city of the
country Haltar. This is where the protagonist Grace lives, where her family and
friends live. We don’t see much of Renaul except for the city square on Victory
Day, the day Haltarians celebrate their independence, and the castle.
“Victory Day was
Grace’s favorite time of the year. The celebrations spread through the country
of Haltar, and its capital Renaul filled with people. The city square was
bustling with activity. Grace had to hold onto Jocelyn’s elbow as they weaved
through the crowds.
“Entertainers stood
on every street corner, competing for attention. One man was juggling dozens of
oranges, another was doing magic tricks, and a trio of children, probably
siblings, were singing the customary songs of the holiday. The smells of exotic
food hung in the air. Merchants yelled out, hawking their mirrors, dresses,
weapons, fabrics, and more.” ~Chapter 2
I was lucky enough to
visit a castle in Segovia, Spain that served as the inspiration for the castle
in Sleeping Beauty. I think it’s a great example of the strong, stone fortress
I had in mind when writing about the royal castle of Renaul.
Nyad
A city west of Renaul
with a warmer climate. When writing about Nyad, I thought a lot about Hawaii. I
know the climate couldn’t change that much with just the travel of a couple
days, but I may have stretched the boundaries a little bit. I had a lot of fun
with Nyad.
“Grace then saw that
the library opened to a garden. Leaving the book behind, she walked outside.
The warm sun shone down on the flowers and elaborate paths between the plants.
As she moved down the dirt path, she noticed dozens of plants she’d only seen
in books. Pink flowers with round, smooth petals. Orange buds with long stems.
Palm trees. Nyad was close to the ocean, but she hadn’t thought it would be so
different from Renaul.” ~Chapter 3
The Manor in Belisha
The manor where
Lisbeth and Jeshro, two elders of the shape changers, live. I’m not really sure
where I got the inspiration for this. I just loved the idea of a manor being a
building but also being part of the earth, too.
“They passed through an
eerie forest and traveled for another hour before they finally approached the
manor. It was an old stone building, at least three stories, and it looked
hidden inside the hill behind it, the mossy stone blending in with the grass.
Some of the rooms were lit, the windows glowing warmly in the night. . .
“The corridors
twisted into confusing patterns. Most of them were lit with torches, but some
were dark except for the girl’s lantern. Each door they passed looked different
to Grace; some were made of wood, others stone, some tall, others short, some
with signs, others with paintings, others bare. She felt as if they were still
outside, breezes without a visible source blowing through her hair, vines and
ivy woven in the stone walls, the fragrance of dirt surrounding them. It seemed
as if they were in caves under the hill instead of a manor.” ~Chapter 7
I wasn’t sure what
kind of picture to put for the manor. I found a neat house here (http://www.simondale.net/house/)
that’s a “low impact woodland home.” The manor would be kind of like this, but
more medieval-style.
Aron
A town in the
mountainous country Kleisade. The characters enter this humble town looking for
answers about the shape changers’ ancient texts. I grew up in the Rocky
Mountains, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to pass over the mountains
with horses while spending the cold nights in tents!
“Aron bustled with
activity, carriages and horse-riders filling the narrow cobblestone streets.
People kept bumping into Grace and Sierra and getting frustrated with their horses
when they wouldn’t move forward into the space they saw. The buildings were low
and mostly built of wood.
“The lively city was
a welcome relief from those barren roads with nothing but trees and the six of
them. They passed a collection of merchants: a woman selling roses, an older
couple with pastries, a man with colorful blankets.” ~Chapter 26
I can see Aron as
something like this little town in the Rockies.
Mumbar Jungle
A jungle near Nyad.
When writing about Mumbar Jungle, I had a lot of fun researching about jungles
and rain forests. Poisonous snakes, quicksand, rabid animals. I actually had a
scene where Grace fell into some quicksand, but I decided to take it out for
the sake of pacing.
“Grace walked beside
Dar, holding his hand as they moved deeper into the jungle. The humidity stuck
to her skin. The rich scents of the plants around them filled the air.
Gradually, the sounds of insects grew louder. Clicking, clattering, squeaking.”
~Chapter 32
Near the end, the
characters come near a waterfall. I pictured it like this, though our heroes
would have been at the foot of the waterfall instead of having a bird’s eye
view of it.
It’s gorgeous, isn’t
it? It’s the San Rafael falls in Ecuador. Makes me want to go to South America!
I had so much fun
with this beautiful new world. The book has more, exciting locations that I
didn’t talk about here, and in the sequel, some of the characters end up on the
coast of the Mediterranean-like country of Jolen.
Thanks to Vidya, for having me, and thanks for reading!
Giveaway
If you think you’d
enjoy the book, you can enter the ebook giveaways (http://emilyannward.com/giveaways-galore)
or the paperback giveaway (http://riteshkala.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/giveaway-of-2-paperback-copies-of-emily-ann-wards-promising-light/).
If you buy the book before the 15th and send your receipt to emilyannward at
yahoo dot com, you gain 5 entries into the contest to win a $20 Gift Card for
Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice!). Comments on stops also count as
entries, so let me know what you think about the locations in Promising Light!
See the full lineup
for the tour here (http://wordsofeward.blogspot.com/p/promising-light-blog-tour.html).
We have author and character interviews, guest posts, giveaways, and more fun!
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