2014 Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #17: Anne Elisabeth Stengl!

 

Welcome to the 2014 Spring Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! It is awesome to have you here, and we hope you have a blast this weekend. :-) The hunt officially begins at 12:00 Noon Mountain Standard Time on April 4, 2014. If you're here early, not all the sites might be ready yet...so if you come across some problems check back a little later and they should be all ironed out! 

To start the hunt, head on over to Robin Lee Hatcher's starting post Stop #1, and follow the links--gathering all the clues!--until you end back up on her site for Stop #33. 

The hunt ends on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at midnight MST. So you have all weekend! No rush. 

Now onto the instructions!

At each stop you will collect a CLUE IN RED. Write them down as you go. At the end of the hunt, you will enter all the clues into a Rafflecopter form (which you will find at the final Stop), at which point you'll be officially entered! 

The hunt is open to international entries. The grand prize is a Kindle Fire HDX + $100 gift certificate. Even if you don't win the grand prize, there's still a chance you'll get something! There will also be two runner-up prize packs, containing a book from all 32 authors. 

And who knows? Some of the authors might be hosting individual giveaways on their own websites...;-) In fact, we're giving away a fairytale necklace over here....

So what are you waiting for? Good luck!

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Welcome to Stop #17 on your Scavenger Hunt journey! Hopefully you've already met lots of awesome new authors and are on your way to discovering new books to roost in your heart. :-) We are hosting author Anne Elisabeth Stengl, and she would like to introduce us to Lady Daylily, the heroine from her newest book, Shadow Hand. So without further delay...

Throughout The Tales of Goldstone Wood, Lady Daylily has remained one of the most complicated characters of all, inciting feelings of both pity and hostility within the readers. Now at last, her story is revealed in Shadow Hand . . . and it is a dark, strange, and powerful tale.

But today we are going to ask Lady Daylily a few questions to discover who she is before Shadow Hand begins . . .

Stengl: Despite how you present yourself, Lady of Middlecrescent, you were once a child. What was your favorite fairy tale of old? What ancient hero did you consider yourself most like? Who did you wish you were most like?

Daylily: It seems so long ago since I was a child. I was obliged to grow up rather quickly in order to fulfill all of my father’s plans for me. But I seem to recall a few childhood games. I believe I once pretended to be the ancient hero King Shadow Hand, set to rescue the damsel in distress . . . a most unladylike game, I’ll admit, but I did not care at the time. Prince Lionheart played my nemesis, the dreadful Cren Cru, and his cousin, Foxbrush . . . Well, Foxbrush played the damsel.

I never wanted to be the heroine of these fairy tales. I always wanted to be the strong hero, ready to fight and to win the day.

Stengl: You take after your father more than your mother, but then, you’re not much like either of them. What are your opinions on your individual parents and how have they affected your life?

Daylily: I do not like to consider myself as resembling either of my parents. My father, the Baron of Middlecrescent, is a tyrant, and even those closest to him would never suggest otherwise. He is a tyrant with the good of our nation at his heart, and he does not care whom he hurts in his desire to see Southlands ultimately succeed. Perhaps he is the sort of ruler Southlands needs in these dangerous times . . . but he is no true father.

My mother . . . she has always seemed so weak to me. Why, after all, would she continue loving my father so dearly after all these years? Can she not see what he is? Does she not care? I could not do as much, nor would I wish to. I am not my mother. I could never love so fiercely or so foolishly. At least, I hope not.

Stengl: Prince Lionheart and Foxbrush also have a deep effect in your life. Though they are cousins and bear some resemblance, they are vastly different. What do you think is the largest difference between them and what is the greatest similarity?

Daylily: Prince Lionheart is youthful at heart, full of jokes and merriment and high spirits. His cousin, Foxbrush, was born an old man. He is solemn and takes everything most seriously. But of the two, it is Foxbrush who seems more often the fool . . . perhaps because Lionheart is so quick to make others laugh, while Foxbrush longs only to make others proud.

They are also different in their pursuits. Foxbrush, for one, is devoted to me. He has been since we were children, and I have always known it . . . and always made use of it as I could. Lionheart, however, never thinks of me from one day to the next. I know he doesn’t, and I know he never will.

Their similarities? It is difficult for me to see much similarity between these two, cousins though they are. But they do both long to see Southlands free of the Dragon’s poison.

Stengl: This might seem like a silly question, but one can’t help but notice that you are a pale-skinned, blue-eyed, and red-haired Southlander, though most other Southlanders are dark complexioned. Do you have any idea where you got your coloring from?

Daylily: In this day of growing trade, it is not uncommon for pale skin to be found among the Southland houses. But my blood is pure Southlander, and my complexion stems from ancient sources. Our family bears a tradition that long ago, back before Southlands traded with the broader world, a man from the North Country (Parumvir, as it is called today) found his way through the mountains and gained such favor with a powerful lady chieftain that she took him for her husband. His hair was red like mine, and the children the lady chieftain bore by him were equally pale. This story is possibly no more than a legend, but I like to think it might be true.

Stengl: You’ve seen your dreams die, and you’ve retreated into a colder state than ever before. What is it you fear now, Lady Daylily?

Daylily: I fear that others may know the secret truth of who I really am. I fear they may learn my deepest wishes, my deepest weaknesses.

I fear they may discover that I am no lady but truly a wolf at heart.

_________

Will Daylily escape the manipulations of her controlling father? Will she be able to forget her love for handsome Prince Lionheart and accept the heart of foolish Prince Foxbrush? Will she be able to play the part of the valiant hero and escape the wolf she fears she is inside? Will Southlands be rescued from the brink of collapse?

To learn more about Lady Daylily, Prince Lionheart, and Prince Foxbrush, do pick up Shadow Hand, book 6 in the ongoing Tales of Goldstone Wood.

Tales of Goldstone Wood: Shadow Hand

This is a story about blood.

And love.

And  things that lie Between.

By her father's wish, Lady Daylily is betrothed to the Prince of Southlands. Not the prince she loves, handsome and dispossessed Lionheart, but his cousin, the awkward and foolish Prince Foxbrush. Unable to bear the future she sees as her wedding day dawns, Daylily flees into the dangerous Wilderlands, her only desire to vanish from living memory.

But Foxbrush, determined to rescue his betrothed, pursues Daylily into a new world of magic and peril, a world where vicious Faerie beasts hold sway, a world invaded by a lethal fey parasite . . . . 

A world that is hauntingly familiar.

About the Author:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Her books include Christy Award-winning Heartless and Veiled Rose, and Clive Staples Award-winning Starflower. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. She studied illustration and English literature at Grace College and Campbell University.
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Thanks for reading! And, of course, don't forget your clue. ;-) Here it is: "is thinking.'"

Onward to the next stop!