Hello fellow traveler,

We're two weeks away from the release of The Rooted and the Winged, my debut epic faerie fantasy novel! Oh my goodness!!

Let's catch up shall we? As a reminder we're doing this fun format every Thursday until Earth Day, April 22 - when The Rooted and the Winged finally launches! Stick around for:

• A fun fact about the early release Kickstarter
• An art piece from the book
• A reading from the book
• And a photo of my cats

Kickstarter

As a reminder, you can sign up here to get notified when the Kickstarter goes live! :)

Years ago I bought a copy of one Cory Godbey's sketchbooks - he's a phenomenal fantasy artist and I highly recommend you check out his work! - and I paid extra for him to do a personalized pencil sketch on the first page. Every time I open up that booklet I think of that gift he gave me of his time and talent, and I feel so honored to own it.

I wanted to offer the same gift to you. Through the Kickstarter, you can buy a "Friend" tier where I will draw a unique sketch one of the main characters The Rooted and the Winged - either Esen or Fafnir, your pick - on the dedication page of your book.

Here's a sketch example! <3 With Fafnir.

Book Art

There are 43 full page illustrations in The Rooted and the Winged - and each one is made to look as though it were written by the faerie scribes of the palace, and you just happened to glance upon a copy of their ancient texts. Here's one of my favorites, titled "The Sage."

Book Excerpt

I want to share a piece from Chapter 2 which introduces Esen's struggles. She is a young dryad who uprooted from her parents and is beginning to walk the land, but she's devastated to see how much the forest is struggling to survive.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Sorrow of the Forest

Up ahead, the river dropped down, and fell laughing among a bed of stones. Walls surrounded the gully, sheltering the river within its own private space. As Esen approached the stone, she began to make out strange fissures, trailing lines carved over the surface…

Her eyes widened.

They were dryadic symbols.

She hurried forward and stood before the stone, her brow furrowed. Like the structure of a Rooted One, the sequence always began at the bottom and rose up. Stooping, she peered through the blue shade at the base of the rock, tracing her fingers along the form of the carving.

At the very bottom was the symbol for faerie, enveloped within a larger symbol representing dryad. The Union of Stór.

The stone was cool beneath her fingers. She dropped her hand, rubbing the opening in her chest where the wood gaped open. Inside was a tiny faerie-sized chamber—her heart chamber—where one day, a faerie might lie down atop the decaying leaf matter and sleep, then wake United with her, with wings of hazel, as a Winged One.

She wiped a tear from her eye, then traced higher. Walker. The symbol signified a Walker in the act of Rooting forever to the earth…

She traced on, rising to her feet, the imagery shimmering in her mind.

Marten—a pine marten sheltering her kits.

Bee—a worker bee dying for her queen.

Seeds falling from goldenrod in autumn.

The river pouring into the ocean.

And last of all…

She wobbled on the arches of her feet and felt above her.

The Mother Wind, her face shrouded in sorrow as she left her father—the Wind of Worlds—to breathe life into the land.

Esen lowered her heels. “The Cycle of Giving,” she murmured.

Shutting her eyes, she pressed herself against the cool stone, breathing slow.

“But now… it is broken…”

A soft wind drifted by her, caressing the leaves growing near her cheek. “Oh Mother. I do not know if you can hear me, but…” She wiped at her eyes and sank to her knees. “I am so afraid. My parents say the forest was once an unbroken canopy across the land, as far as eyes can see. They say the air had sung with rustling leaves and green dappled light. But now, there are so many gaps, and fallen ones, their bodies lying broken on the ground. And I can do nothing to stop it. I feel so useless…”

A shudder broke over her. The scent of rosemary ghosted on the wind as it murmured around her. She stilled, trying to make out words, but could discern nothing. Soon, the breeze passed, leaving her in stillness.

Tristan’s parting words echoed in her mind.

“I don’t want to wait around to die,” she whispered.

To be continued!

As before, I would love to hear what you think of the story so far! :)

Kitty Photo

A photo of Jamas, my mom's cat. He's an aggressive snugglebug and I love this kitty so much. His full name is Mr. Pajamas.

Almost there!!

Excitedly,

Samantha

P.S. Things I Love Right Now

1. The song "glow in the dark" by Vian Izak. It's so pretty!! And yes, really inspiring for one of my characters in the sequel story <3
2. Pirateship - I thought it was a scam site at first because of the name, lol, but it's a really handy shipping service for getting discounted rates!
3. Pledgebox oh my goodness. I'l be using it to handle VAT and other international fees for the Kickstarter so I don't have to try to calculate those in advance.