Blog Tour: Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey

Welcome to my stop for Dragonswood tour. Today, I am going to tell you a bit about the book and share an excerpt. Also, you can read my interview with Janet Lee Carey, and have your chance to win a copy of the book!

Dragonswood

In a dark time when girls with powers are called witches, Tess escapes the witch hunter and hides with a mysterious huntsman until magical voices draw her deeper into Dragonswood where she learns the secret of her birth. Caught between love and loyalty, Tess chooses the hardest path of all, her own. 

Dragonswood is the second Wilde Island book following Dragon's Keep focusing on another generation of Pendragons.

Purchase Links: Indie Bound - Amazon US - Kindle Store

Excerpt from chapter five when Tess, Poppy, and Meg are on the run from the witch hunter:

Dragonswood was just across the road from our camp here in the cliff. I’d tried to convince Meg and Poppy we’d be safer walking inside the refuge. Dragonswood’s eastern wall traced Kingsway north to Oxhaven, where Grandfather lived, and beyond that all the way to Pendragon Castle. But my friends wouldn’t go over the wall. Poppy feared we might be fey-struck like Mad Jack, who’d gone off hunting one day, and returned a week later, singing, snarling, and pissing in public. Meg believed the gossip that the fey cruelly punished trespassers, casting spells on them and turning them into Treegrims. All the years I’d gone to Dragonswood, I’d never seen a dragon or a fairy harm a man or find a person magicked into a tree. Still, in our four days running north, I’d stayed on this side of the wall.

We’d not gone far enough; spent too many hours searching for food, begging in our leper’s garb. Tomorrow I would make my friends walk faster no matter how hungry we all were. I was thinking this, stirring the coals, when a woman’s high-pitched screams cut through the night. We all jumped up, alert and trembling.

“Where’s it coming from?” Poppy cried. 

We raced to the cliff edge overlooking town and harbor. Far below us, smoke rose from the town square. At first I thought a cottage was alight. Thatch roofs easily catch fire, and when they do, the house burns swiftly. But from our lookout spot, I focused on the rising smoke and saw now it came from a witch fire in the middle of the town square.

Townsfolk dressed in black moved in a great, slow circle around the bonfire. The girl they’d bound to the stake shrieked louder as the blaze raced across the logs, catching her white gown at the hem. Up on the cliff under the hawthorn trees, I clung to Meg and Poppy. Her screams ripped through us.

Two mounted figures rode in, the bonfire bathing them in golden light. Meg saw who it was and yelped. Poppy quickly covered her mouth. “The witch hunter can’t see us so far away up here,” she said. “And these trees and bushes will hide us.”

From behind us, I heard the deep woofing sound of pumping wings. A massive shadow swooped overhead. Against the night the dragon’s scales seemed black. Tail whipping in the wind, he dove for town. At first the townsfolk did not see him, so when the dragon swept into the square, tearing the girl and staff straight up from the burning pyre, the folk below had little time to run. Some few scrambled into shop doorways. Most dropped to the cobbles, covering their heads.

The dragon spooked Lady Adela’s horse, who galloped off full speed, the Gray Knight racing behind. High above the town, the dragon dipped up and down awkwardly, trying to reach the sea. The tip of his left wing burned, and so did the girl in his claws. He made it just beyond the harbor. Skimming but a few feet above the bay, he dipped both girl and wing in the water, and put the fire out.

Meg and Poppy stayed by the hawthorns, but I stepped out a little, watching the great dragon. Twice lit by the moonlight above and reflected in the sea, the dragon was the same old one I’d spied from the branches, the same one who’d dropped a turtle in the millpond. His yellowing scales and the long neck scar confirmed it. 

   His flight was so ragged from his damaged wing, I feared he might drop the girl, yet he kept aloft. Over the sound of waves, I heard the girl sobbing. She was injured from the fire and, no doubt, feared her rescuer, but I was sure the dragon meant to save her. I saw how he pressed her against his coppery chest scales as he soared closer to our cliff.

Somehow the dragon had unbound the stake the girl was tied to. He dropped the charred pole, and I jumped back as it hit the grass, tumbled off the cliff edge, and landed on the rocks below. 

Too late the church bell down in Hessings Kottle rang out a dragon warning. He had already flown back to the sanctuary. 

The bonfire burned. The girl was gone.

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Janet Lee Carey

photo by Heidi Pettit

Janet Lee Carey was raised in the redwood forests of California. In the whispering woods she dreamed of magic worlds. She is the award-winning author of eight Young Adult novels including Dragonswood, (Kirkus & School Library Journal starred reviews). School Library Journal calls her work, "fantasy at its best-original, beautiful, amazing, and deeply moving." Carey links each new book with a charitable organization empowering readers to make a difference. She taught college novel-writing classes for ten years. She now tours the US and abroad presenting at book festivals and conferences for writers, teachers, and librarians.

Where To Find Janet:
Website - Twitter
Blog: Dreamwalks - Blog: Library Lions Roar
Author Facebook Page


Where did you find the inspiration to write Dragonswood?
I’m inspired by myths, legends, and fairytales, and by the redwood forest I grew up in. Thousand year old trees towered over my childhood. The redwoods have grandfathered many of my stories, and the mystery and magic of Dragonswood stems from there. The original story idea also came from the horrific things that happened to women during the time of the witch trials in medieval Europe.


Was there a scene in the book you found particularly hard to write?
The scene where the Blacksmith beats Tess was difficult to write. I never thought I’d put child abuse in a book, but it was necessary to show that Tess was running away from more than just the witch hunter – she’d grown up with abuse and wanted out of her old life.


Did you get inspiration from someone specific to write your characters?
I can’t point to someone I know and say a character is based on them. For me character creation is more internal. I meet the characters in daydreams and get to know them slowly as you get to know anyone in life. I put them in scenes where they come alive and after a while they open up and talk to me. Sometimes they get angry and talk back. That’s a good sign.


What kind of research have you done on the location?
I travelled to England and Scotland and walked about on the seashore and in castles to get a sense of the rooms, the echoing stairwells, and the history that still lives under the surface of things. I also have shelves and shelves of books on medieval times including daily life in towns and castles, medieval medicine, illustrated bestiaries, even books describing the witch trials and strange torture methods.


How did you become a writer?
I longed to be a writer since I first fell in love with fantasy books around age ten, but it took many years for the dream to come to fruition. I began by writing poetry and songs and expanded to writing full-length novels. It’s a long apprenticeship.


Do you have a writing process/schedule?
I love writing in the mornings when my mind is fresh and the dream state is still present. In the book Zen and the Art of Writing Ray Bradbury talks about jumping out of bed and running to the typewriter. In my case it’s a computer, but I don’t run. First I meditate and do a bit of yoga and read inspirational books while downing an entire pot of black tea then I head up the stairs to my office.


Is there a particular place you feel more inspired to write?
I write best when I’m alone surrounded in silence. Silence is a creative well. Sometimes I light a candle and watch the flame before I get started. When I’m stuck in a scene that’s not budging, it helps to lie down and daydream or go outside and walk or play. Lately I’m into riding my son’s razor around and feeling the fresh wind hit my face. It’s not as good as riding dragonback, but it’s still fun.


What is the most satisfying part of being an author?
I love the moment when the story comes together and I feel the character speak to me from the heart. Sometimes that doesn’t happen until I’m partway into the first draft. I felt Tess strongly when I wrote the prologue of Dragonswood (see prologue below). I also love it when I hear back from a reader who says the novel touched them in some way. That’s magical.


What do you usually do when you're not writing?
I’m never not writing . . . But okay I do enjoy swimming and hiking and I get dressed up to attend my friends’ book launch parties. We have so many talented writers here in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve gone to five launch parties in the last six months (including my own for Dragonswood). We’ve celebrated Holly Cupala’s Don’t Breathea Word, Katherine Grace Bond’s The Summer of No Regrets, Peter Kahle’s Passage of the Kissing People, and Martha Brockenbrough’s Devine Intervention.
What a blast to read beautifully crafted novels by people I actually know! If anyone wants to see some fun book launch photos of my party and Katherine’s you can swing by here.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?
I’m so glad you asked that! Jackrun appears in the epilogue of Dragonswood. He came to the page bearing his own story which unfolds when he’s seventeen in book three. Dragon’s Gift -- Love in a time of magic and murder.


What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start writing?
Apprentice yourself to the work. It takes a lifetime to learn how to write a good novel, but we all start at the same place – a blank page. Begin where you are and start laying down words.
It helps to find a good critique group. Learning to revise from critique helped me years later when I received my first editorial letter. Read. Write. Attend writing conferences to hone your craft and learn more about the writing profession. Finally every writer gets rejection. Don’t give up on yourself or your stories. Write as if your characters’ lives depended on it, because they do.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!! You all have been patient, getting to the bottom of this endless post, so now you will be rewarded. Janet is kindly offering a signed printed copy of Dragonswood and a bookmark!!

The giveaway is US ONLY, and all you have to do is fill the Rafflecopter form & follow the instructions! The winner will be chosen and announced on June 16th and they have 48 hours to respond, otherwise another winner will be chosen.

Ready... Set... Go!

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