Fairy Tale Mashups I Want to Make Reality (Ft. BitS 1st Book Birthday!)

Hey'a, everyone! So, exciting thing: tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of Blood in the Snow's release! As of tomorrow morning, I will have been a published author for exactly one year. Sadly, I don't have the time to do a giveaway in celebration, but I do have Blood in the Snow set to free on Amazon today through Sunday, so if you haven't read it yet or you have a friend who needs to read it, now's a good time to pick it up!

Edit: I goofed when setting up the free book promotion and accidentally made Mechanical Heart, my steampunk Rapunzel retelling, free instead. Blood in the Snow will instead be free from October 27 to October 29.

Since tomorrow is Blood in the Snow's book birthday, I wanted to relate my post to either the book or publishing somehow. That said, doing a "Things I've Learned Since Publishing" seemed a little cliche — plus, I'd rather save that post for when I've gained another book or two's worth of experience. And, while I have been working on figuring out what the next year or two looks like, publishing-wise, I don't have solid enough plans to announce five more books that I'm going to publish. The one thing that I can say about the future is that it's going to include quite a few more fairy tale mash-ups like Blood in the Snow, though not all of them will be in the same world. And, at the suggestion of the wonderful Jenelle Schmidt, I'm spotlighting five such stories that I want to write at some point.

Fairy Tale Mashups I Want to Make Reality

1. Sleeping Beauty/Rapunzel featuring a benevolent witch and the tower as a refuge rather than a prison . . . though, of course, it still feels like a prison at times. In this case, Rapunzel's parents send her to the tower under the protection of the good fairy who modified the Sleeping Beauty curse in hopes that they can protect her from the full effects of the curse . . . but of course it doesn't work out quite as well as one would hope.
2. The Odyssey/Beauty and the Beast, which I'm counting even though one of those is an epic myth and not a fairy tale. This would be more of having one as a sequel to the other — the Odysseus character becomes Beauty's father, and in the process of all his adventures, encounters the beast and gets into that whole situation. Then he returns home and reunites with his family — only to be sad because he just got back to his daughter and now either he or she is going to die. But she's all like "Dad, I'm your daughter. I got this. Have a little faith," and the whole Beauty and the Beast story plays out from there.
3. The Seven Swans/The Little Mermaid, which was actually suggested to me by my roommate while I was working on this post, but which I like enough to include in here. In this case, the little mermaid character would want to go to land not for love of a human prince or for curiosity about the human world but because she wants to save her brothers and knows the only way to do so is on land. She may or may not know that the witch she goes to was the one who cursed her brothers, but her enchantment does get her wrapped up with their curse somehow, so if she doesn't save them, she's doomed along with them.
4. Beauty and the Beast/East of the Sun, West of the Moon — though they're almost too easy to combine; they're so similar. But you could add in elements of another fairy tale at the end, if you wanted to mix it up a little. Technically, I already wrote this one, but it needs a hefty rewrite — basically, I need to rework it from the ground up to fix the plot holes and pacing problems, not to mention the irregularities in style (caused by the fact that the first draft was written over a period of two years). At its core, though, it's a story that I really like and look forward to going back to.
5. Rapunzel/The Tinderbox/maybe Aladdin? Rapunzel and The Tinderbox already share some common elements — a maiden in a tower, a witch, a rescuer of dubious repute — and so do The Tinderbox and Aladdin — namely that they both involve a magical being summoned from some kind of light source and a man who uses that being's help to win a princess. Combined all together, I think it could be quite an interesting story.

There are other fairy tales I could mention as well, but some of those (for example, Gan's story) are an odd sort of fit that can't be easily explained, and others aren't developed quite enough to post. But what about you? What fairy tales do you think would fit well together? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Hello, everyone! Spring is finally here (and the weather's actually cooperating with that statement), which means it's time for another season of reads! Now, I'm still way behind on my winter releases (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), but that's no reason not to be excited for more new books. After all, you can never have too many books. And this season actually has a lot of pretty promising releases, so let's get started!

Spring 2019 Reads!

1. The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds (March 5). Ok, so I normally avoid contemporary books unless I'm being paid to review them because, let's be real, if I want real-world angst, I can just walk outside and find the nearest awkward couple. But this one has time-travel in it, and . . . ok, it's a time-travel trope I'm a little iffy on. Still, I'd be willing to give it a try if I have time.

2. To Best the Boys by Mary Weber (March 19). I honestly thought this was a contemporary, just based on the title, and so avoided it on principle. Then everyone I knew abruptly started yelling on the internet about how good it was, and I decided that I'd better look into it. And what I found? Scientist girls, mysterious mazes, and potentially-deadly challenges. With all those factors in its favor, I just might have to pick this one after all.

3. Once and Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cory McCarthy (March 26). It's a sci-fi King Arthur retelling! With a cranky teenage Merlin! (I'll bet you and anyone else five bucks that the authors took at least a little inspiration from the BBC Merlin.) I am, naturally, down for this. I might even buy it if it turns out really good, if only so I can shove it at my roommate and tell her to read it too.

4. We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett (April 2). Y'know how I keep yelling about how I want more historical fantasy in unique time periods? We've got historical fantasy set during the Civil War, "complicated friendships" (yes please!), and spying! What more could I ask for? (Don't answer that.)

5. The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews (April 4). And here we have one of the few authors whose books I'll read even if they are contemporary. I'm 99% certain that The Boy Who Steals Houses will make a mess of my emotions just based on what Cait Grace has said about it. All the same, I'm looking forward to reading more of her books and hopefully getting some cute found-family moments. We'll see!

6. Descendent of the Crane by Joan He (April 9). Asian! Inspired! Fantasy! I still haven't gotten to most of the books in this genre that came out this winter, but that just means I can binge-read all of it once I get home on summer break. It'll be fabulous. Also, reluctantly responsible rulers and murder mysteries are two of my favorite things. So, yeah, I can't wait to read this one.

7. The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala (April 23). And now we've got Indian/Hindu mythology in the mix, which is probably going to be a wild ride, but I'm not complaining. We've got assassins, we've got politics, we've got masterminds . . . if it goes right, it'll be awesome. Admittedly, some things in the synopsis make me a little worried about whether or not it'll actually go right, but we can hope!

8. Romanov by Nadine Brandes (May 7). More historical fantasy! About Anastasia! Not that I know a whole lot about Anastasia, but still: historical! fantasy! In Russia! My reading list is deliciously multicultural, and I'm so excited. Plus, I've been meaning to read Nadine's books for ages — I have Fawkes on my shelf, but I just haven't had time, but maybe Romanov will change that.

9. We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal (May 14). Ok, we all know how this one's going to go — any time a young, reasonably attractive person in fantasy is sent to kill another young, reasonably attractive person, they end up falling in love and having to make semi-complicated moral choices. But the characters themselves sound interesting, and the last Arabian fantasy I read was beautiful, so I'm hoping for a repeat experience. We'll see how it goes.

10. The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (May 28). The first time I heard about this book, I passed it by. However, since I've been taking a class on AI this semester, I'm more interested in how modern media presents artificial intelligence and deals with the question of whether or not a program can be a person. With that plus the fact that this is a mystery, I think it's worth including on the reading list.

What reads are you most excited for this spring? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Christianity and Mythology: Daniel and the Triune Quest Blog Tour

Want to win prizes? Look for the secret word in this post and follow the Rafflecopter giveaway instructions at the end.

Hey'a, everyone! Christmas break is upon us, or nearly upon us, and that hopefully means that we all suddenly have about 5x as much time for reading as we did a week ago. Huzzah! Some of us already have a long list of books to catch up on, but for those who don't- or for those who, like me, might wonder to themselves why they can't say no to another book- I'm here to tell you about a new Middle Grade Christian fantasy release: Daniel and the Triune Quest. This book is the second in Nathan Lumbatis's Sons and Daughters series, which combines a modern setting with Aztec mythology and honestly sounds pretty cool. Better still, the author is also here with a guest post about how he decided to combine Christianity and mythology, plus there's a giveaway at the end! But first, a little about the book and author:

About the Book

The past year of Daniel’s life has been anything but normal. Adoption by his Heavenly Father? Check. Become the Vessel for the mystical Sun Sword? Check. Charged with a quest to fight the source of all evil? Check. But hey, he made it look good.

Now it’s his best friend, Ben’s, turn to become the Vessel for the Triune Shield, and Daniel’s ready to lead the charge on another adventure. But, they only have three days to find the shield before the Enemy catches up, and obtaining it will require the last thing either of the boys is ready for: self-sacrifice. Daniel must die to his pride, and Ben must pay the ultimate price. They’ll need a miracle if they hope to survive.


Find it on: Author site || Amazon || Goodreads

To learn more about the first book in the series, Daniel and the Sun Sword, feel free to check it out on Amazon or Goodreads or watch the book trailer. 

About the Author

Nathan grew up in the woods of Alabama, where he spent his time exploring, hiking, and dreaming up stories. Now, as a child/adolescent therapist and author, he’s teaching kids and teens how to redeem their stories using Biblical principles. He still lives in Alabama, where you will find him with his wife and three kids every chance he gets.​

Find Nathan on: Author Site || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram (nathan.lumbatis)

Guest Post: Christianity and Mythology

 Speculative Fiction begins by presuming the basics of a Christian worldview and then asking "What if?". One of the central What if's of Daniel and the Triune Quest, and the Sons and Daughters series as a whole, has to do with the origin of worldwide mythologies: What if every culture's myths grew out of man's fallen memory of the one true God, his plan for redemption, and the rebellion of dark angels? Wouldn't there be traces of truth and the thread of redemption in those ancient stories? 

No doubt some believe as much. For Christians, we find support for this in at least two places. According to legend, the Mazzaroth, the Jewish zodiac, was a mnemonic device for orally teaching the story of redemption since the time of Adam. It’s easy to imagine how details could be lost and altered through oral tradition passed down over the centuries, which would then be woven into myth.

Even more interesting in my mind is the fallen angel theory which most church fathers, and nearly the entire Jewish culture of the 2nd temple period (525 B.C. to 70 A.D.) believed. For those unfamiliar with this, this is the theory that fallen angels had children with mortal women, thus giving rise to “demigods.” Scriptural reference for this would be Genesis 6, Numbers 13, 2 Peter 2, Jude 4-8, among others. For an exhaustive, and terribly interesting discussion of this, I recommend you to Dr. Mike Heiser’s book, The Unseen Realm. With this view in mind, it’s no surprise that such detailed mythologies could arise throughout the world: they weren’t just imagination, but were based on eye witness accounts of supernatural beings interacting with mortals.

For nerds like me, the real fun starts when you begin looking for the roots of truth in ancient mythologies. It’s like a scavenger hunt for dorks.

So, what are we looking for? Let’s set our parameters as:

1)     An all-powerful creator-god or supernatural force

2)     A race of lesser beings; mortal and in peril

3)     A god-man who plays some sort of savior role

4)     A god or an immortal filled with evil or destructive power

Here are three myths* that fit the bill. Since the first book in the Sons and Daughters series, Daniel and the Sun Sword, took place in Peru, we’ll look at the Incan myths woven into that story first. We’ll then move on to the Indian myths included in Daniel and the Triune Quest, and then one extra mythology just for good measure.

Incan Myths

Viracocha: The Incan creator-god. After creating the natural world and the cosmos, he turned his mind to mankind. His first attempt at creating people displeased him, as the first versions were brainless giants. So, he wiped them out with a flood, and created a less barbaric race. Then, he took to wandering the world as a kindly beggar, helping those in need, and appearing in times of trouble.

Mankind: Men were created when Viracocha breathed life into stones. They were seen as his children, and he loved them as a father.

 Inti: The god of the sun and the son of Viracocha. After being sent to earth by his father, he and his sister-wife, Mama Killa, taught mankind the basics of life and founded the great city of Cuzco

Supai: The Incan god of the dead, king of the demons, and the ruler of the underworld. He was such a nasty fellow, in fact, that the Incans would sacrifice their children to appease him.

Indian Myths

Indian myths are very different from other ancient stories, in part because there is so much variation, philosophy, and moral ambiguity. More specifically, evil and good are not so clearly defined, and elements of both frequently show up in even the most revered of gods.

Because of this, you’ll notice that what appears to be the most obvious parallel, is not always the best choice.

Brahman: The ultimate, highest, universal principle and the formal cause of all that exists. It is the transcendent, unchanging, eternal truth which puts all things into motion. For those familiar with Hindu myths, Brahma would’ve been an obvious choice since he is the creator-god. However, in many creation stories, he is equal in power and authority, if not less than, his counterparts, Shiva and Vishnu. Additionally, he, himself, was created or born, and thus was not the best choice for an omnipotent originator-god role.

Mankind: Created from Brahma’s body or soul, as the first and strongest “animal.” Manu and Shatrupa are the first man and woman, who ask Lord Brahma if they can have dominion over the world. Manu is later preserved by the gods through a worldwide flood.

Purusha: The cosmic man/consciousness who was sacrificed by the gods to create all life. How does this jive with Brahma? No idea. Welcome to Hinduism.

Shiva: A strange mix of good and evil, Shiva is one of the Trimurti, alongside Brahma and Vishnu. His job is to destroy the universe at the end of each age.

Egyptian Myths

Ra: The creator and father-god in Egyptian myths. He called everything into existence by speaking its name.

Mankind: Created from Ra’s tears, they were originally brutish and rebellious. They plotted against Ra, who sent divine retribution in the form of the goddess Sekhmet.

Osiris: Divine son of Ra, and god of death, the afterlife, and resurrection. He came to earth to rule as a king and bring civilization to mankind. He was tricked and murdered by his divine brother, Set, only to later be resurrected. 

Set: Evil brother of Osiris, and the god of chaos, war, storms, deserts, and destruction.

If these legends were derivative from the true redemption story, what likely led to the obscuration of truth in these cultures? One can only speculate. In Daniel and the Sun Sword, it was the fear of Supai that led to the Inca's deception. In Daniel and the Triune Quest, it was mankind’s rejection of moral absolutes. Regardless, the truth of redemption has endured...and makes the perfect backdrop for any great story.

*For any mythology aficionados out there: I know that for any one version of a myth, there are at least two others that vary in detail. I have presented here simply those versions which parallel the redemptive thread of Christianity.

  Giveaway Time!

As you visit the tour stops, you should be collecting secret words from each post. Once you reach the last stop, combine these words into a phrase and type it into the Rafflecopter linked below in order to be entered into the giveaway. One lucky winner will receive signed copies of both books in the Suns and Daughters series, along with series bookmarks; a second winner will get a signed copy of Daniel and the Triune Quest and a bookmark. Good luck!

Enter the giveaway!

Are you excited for Daniel and the Triune Quest? Are there any other mythologies you think someone really should write a book about sometime? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!
 -Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Don't forget to visit the other tour stops!Monday, December 18, 2017: Author Site
Tuesday, December 19, 2017: Light and Shadows
Wednesday, December 20, 2017: Dreams and Dragons- you are here.
Thursday, December 21, 2017: Christian Fiction Review Guru
Friday, December 22, 2017: Speculative Faith
Saturday, December 23, 2017: The Write Stuff Radio