Blog Stop and Giveaway: Éire’s Captive Moon by Sandi Layne

 

Today I’m very excited to share author Sandi Layne’s new release Éire’s Captive Moon.  Sandi Layne is no stranger to publishing novels; she’s self-published many stories.  This is her first title released by TWCS Publishing House.  When the opportunity came up to read an ARC of Éire’s Captive Moon, I jumped at it.  You can read my review here.  

 I had the opportunity to interview Sandi Layne and pick her brain a bit.  Sit back, enjoy the interview, and get ready for an exciting adventure!

I’m giving away a copy of this exciting new book!

Want to win an ebook copy?  Leave a comment on this post or Tweet about it!  If you are a new or existing subscriber to my site, you get an extra entry.  Winner to be announced early next week.  Good luck!

 

 

To start things off, tell us a little bit about who Sandi is—outside of the typical bio details.

 

Well, according to the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), I’m an INTJ. Meaning I’m an introvert. I’m just not necessarily the kind of person you would immediately peg as being an introvert, because I am lots of fun at parties. But I’m…not inclined to go to them. I’m a fantastic public speaker, though, and do really well in front of an audience. Go figure.

 

 

How did the idea for Éire’s Captive Moon evolve?

 

 

Well, when I first began writing, I had just read Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization. Loved that book. I thought I could perhaps create a romance between a man who was a manuscript illuminator, as I read about in Cahill’s book, and a druidic woman of some sort.

After due thought and planning and even prayer I abandoned the druidic plot line and focused on my hero and realized I needed a conflict for him beyond the romance. Well, the Vikings seemed like the most likely, but they came centuries after my budding storyline would have happened so… I had to rework a few things. But since I really wanted Charis to be an herbalist without any faith in the supernatural (though she is of that realm herself) I decided that her village would be remote and rather out of the general stream of the social structure of Éire at that time.

Then, it was just a matter of making a timeline with the Viking invaders and slipping in my story ideas into what history showed me had happened.

 

 

Éire’s Captive Moon was originally self-published as Captive Irish Moon. How do the two books differ? Are the endings the same, and did you always intend for this to be a trilogy or were adjustments made to allow for the continuation?

 

 

Great question! The books are, in essence, the same save for a prologue being added to ECM. This prologue is reworked from my award winning short story “Turn of the Wheel” which I wrote in 2003 – before I completed CIM. ECM has had the pleasure of being polished by a team of editors, which is lovely. They suggested some slight changes to some names as well as to further illustrate a character. It was very subtle, I think. The ends to both these novels are the same, however. In my mind, back when Charis started becoming who she is in this series? This story arc was something I wanted to write. I was satisfied, though, that CIM ended in a satisfactory manner for a stand-alone as well. I would guess it has, for years. 🙂 The adjustments made for the continuation have largely to do with how one of the key characters is presented in just a few scenes. I think it’s worked out well.

 

 

Your descriptions are very rich and poignant. While reading, it’s easy to become lost in your words and feel as if I’m right there. Tell us a bit about the extensive research you must have put in to lend such an authentic “ring” to the story.

 

 

Thank you for your kind words. I did indeed work hard to give sensory depth to my story. First thing to know is that ancient civilizations have long been a hobby of mine. I have loved reading about how the world was a thousand-plus years ago since I was in my teens, at the least. The mores of ancient people, their landscape, their warfare — all of it has long fascinated me. Coming to write about these particular places, I used information that was a part of my knowledge-set and added to it extensive investigations into the early Viking raids, Irish poetry of the era, and towns where artifacts have been found so I could see what the people saw then, to the best of my ability.

 

 I also looked up a great deal of vocabulary. *laughing* I love languages and getting the words “right” was hugely important to me. It still is.

 

 

Are there any images you used for inspiration when writing Éire’s Captive Moon?

 

 

When I wrote this story originally? The only image I had was the one of Charis that had been done for me when that character was an herbalist in a Yahoo Group game back in the year 2000. The artist is Reneé Spahr and I have known her for many years. Otherwise, I really didn’t have a lot of visuals, aside from some old pictures of ruins in Ireland.

 

 

 

 Without giving away the bigger story, of course, can you give readers a little taste of what’s coming over the course of the trilogy?

 

 

The Éire’s Viking Trilogy is meant to be a microcosm-view (of sorts) of the Viking incursions and settling into Ireland. Sounds horribly ambitious of me, but that’s what I had in mind. First, there was discovery and fighting. There was the time when the Vikings came to the Green Island, intending to bring their gods and customs, and instead married the local Irish girls and became Christians. Additionally, a Viking named Tuirgeis (or Thorgest or Turges…) set himself up as High King in Dublin before he was killed. (The histories do not agree entirely upon the manner of his death.) I will be touching on all of these aspects in the trilogy. Charis is a character in all three books, but as to her prominence, I will leave it to the reader to discover with each new one.

 

 

You’re a very busy woman. What advice can you offer other authors out there who struggle to fit writing in between all their other activities and obligations? What’s your writing process like and what do you require for your writing time to be productive?

 

 

First thing is to try not to be picky about how you write and your environment. If you’ve got children at home or a job (or both) and social obligations and are taking care of the house it is easy to throw up your hands and say, “I’m too busy! I’ll just wait until…” or to become increasingly frustrated with the way your world won’t accommodate your writing. Prioritize it for those closest to you. If your loved ones know it’s important, and they see that you make it so, they will be more willing to give you the odd moments in which to write.

For me, I find that I keep the stories in my head always cycling. I wrote the book that became ECM while I had two young children underfoot. I finished the novel literally just hours before my computer was packed up for a cross-country move. My younger son is autistic and was absolutely non-verbal at that time, and my older son was still of an age to need his mom. I would sit down at my computer and jot out a sentence at a time and then I had to get up and change a diaper or swap out laundry or whatever. There isn’t a magic wand you can wave to say, “Leave me alone!” You just have to carve out the time for yourself if writing matters that much to you.

To be productive? I give myself short spans of time and refuse to do anything else but type during that time. No research, no web-surfing, just writing. By short, I mean fifteen minutes to half an hour. Almost anyone can do that, if they focus tightly enough. You can write hundreds of words in such a span of time. Good words. They don’t have to be perfect, just good enough to get you through the scene. Give yourself a few of these every day and you can walk away with thousands of words, maybe, in a single day. That’s productivity. I do a lot of writing outside of these spans, understand, but when I find my stomach grinding in frustration at my lack? This is a good method for me.

 

 

You self-published quite a few novels before signing with TWCS Publishing House. How has your editing process changed and what do you see as the up and/or downsides to each path?

 

Well, my overall process hasn’t changed, to be honest. I am just now writing the sequel to ECM (due to finish up any day now, lol) and when it is done, I’ll do as I have done for many years: Read it, tweak it, print-copy-bind it, and send it off to a couple people I know who have an eye for detail who will mark me up unmercifully. ECM was actually read by twenty-odd pairs of eyes with the Writers’ Roundtable of Phoenix when it was in its first draft as CIM. The process was basically the same except that they got it chapter by chapter instead of all at once.

 

 Upsides to self-publishing include the total control one has over one’s material. From character names (I can see my editors laughing at me, now) to the font used for the cover, it’s all on the author. It’s heady. It’s stressful. But in self-publishing, I can dictate when my book comes out and how much I’ll charge for it and where it will be sold. That’s very cool.

Upsides to working with a medium-sized house like TWCS? I love that they have a marketing division. I adore editing with the team. I am thrilled that they put together promotional materials for me like bookmarks and cards. They run on a schedule and I absolutely appreciate that for that means I can work within their frame and that makes me feel really good about my own timelines.

 

 

What’s ahead for you? Are there other books already planned beyond the trilogy?

 

 

Do you see me rubbing my hands together in glee? 🙂 TWCS has been kind enough to also give one of my contemporary inspirational romances a shot. An Unexpected Woman, also previously self-published, is due to come out this summer. It’s a short and sweet romance between two unique characters. I’m also plotting out a contemporary romance involving a serial killer. . . but as that’s not written, yet, I don’t have a timeframe for it.

As far as historical work? I do not have a continuing arc for Charis & Co. planned beyond this trilogy, but I will confess to you that back in the day I did see her story going on for about ten books, ending in the 19th Century. As to whether they’ll get written, I cannot say at this time. In other historical venues, I have begun research on an 18th Century Colonial America romance, in a time before the French and Indian War.

When it comes right down to it, I see stories everywhere. My imagination flies constantly. The question usually comes down to, “Can I see a book-length conflict for this notion or is it a flight of fancy?” If I can, I talk it out with myself, write a chapter or two and do some research. Then I let it simmer.

 

So. . .I’m simmering. 🙂

I’m simmering, too!  After reading this incredible book, it will be a long wait for the next installment.  I’d like to thank Sandi Layne for the terrific interview and TWCS Publishing House for providing the opportunity to read an ARC and participate in the blog tour!

 

Want to win an ebook copy?  Leave a comment on this post or Tweet about it!  If you are a new or existing subscriber to my site, you get an extra entry.  Winner to be announced early next week.  Good luck!

Éire’s Captive Moon, the first book of Sandi Layne’s Éire’s Viking Trilogy, brings you to the unsettled era of the early Viking raids along the coast of Éire – today’s Ireland.

A wounded refugee from the violent Viking raids on Éire’s coast is healed so well by Charis of Ragor that Agnarr captures the moon-pale woman for his own and takes her home to Nordweg to be his slave.

Also captured is Cowan, a warrior gifted with languages. He is drawn to the healer of Ragor and finds himself helpless before her. In more ways than one!

Through the winter, Charis plans a fitting vengenance upon her captor for the men he killed. She also prepares to return to Éire and the children she left behind.

But will her changing feelings interfere with these plans? When two men vie for her heart, will she give way before either – or both?

Author Bio:

 

Having been a voracious reader all her life, Sandi never expected to want to write until the idea was presented in a backhanded manner. Once the notion occurred to her, though, she had to dive in the deep end (as is her wont) and began by writing historical fiction. She has since written more than twenty novels—most of which will never see the light of day.

Sandi has degrees in English and Ministry, has studied theology, spent years as an educator, has worked in escrow and sundry other careers, but research is her passion. She won an award for Celtic Fiction in 2003, but as well as history, she is also fascinated with contemporary research and has self-published several novels in the Inspirational Romance genre.

She has been married for twenty years to a man tolerant enough to let her go giddy when she discovers new words in Old Norse. Her two sons find her amusing and have enjoyed listening to her read aloud—especially when she uses funny voices. A woman of deep faith, she still finds a great deal to laugh at in the small moments of the everyday and hopes that she can help others find these moments, too.

 

Purchasing info:

Éire’s Captive Moon is available for pre-order on the TWCS site (link below) or iTunes.  It will be available in paperback and ebook on Amazon, iTunes, B&N.com and TWCS site on January 10th.

Link to purchase book: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/80

Author Webpage: http://sandyquill.com/

Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandi-Layne-Author/115692828503745

Author Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2264252.Sandi_Layne