Hey'a, everyone! It's another blog tour day! This time, I'm joining up with the tour for Prince Nácil, a new reverse-portal-fantasy from debut author R.R. Goodwill. This book sounds very cool, and I'm excited to get to share about it. I'll be interviewing Goodwill about some of the process behind Prince Nácil, but before we get to that — you know the drill — a little bit about the book and author.
About . . .
Prince Nácil
But several odd occurrences indicate that Victor is more than he admits to. When the secret of his heritage threatens Jane’s safety, he sets out for the homeland he has long been banished from, to find Jane and return her home.
Unbeknownst to his friends, Victor is doomed to die thirty days after setting foot on his native soil, with only one hope of breaking the curse. But surely thirty days is far too short a time to find True Love...
R.R. Goodwill
Find her online at: Blog || Goodreads || Instagram || Pinterest || Amazon
Interview with R.R. Goodwill
Hello, R.R. Goodwill! Welcome to the blog! To start out, can you tell us a little about yourself? Who you are, favorite hobbies (other than writing), favorite books (outside your own), coffee or tea?
Who I am: *Resists the urge to go all philosophical and exsitantial* In a nutshell, I'm a plain country spinster with the active, furtile imagination of a child, to whom God has given the ability to traslate my mental imagry into text with relative success. I express myself best in the written word. My stories are a channel for my inner world, and how I share my faith. On the Meyers-Briggs Personality Charts, I seem to straddle the fence between INFP and INFJ. I'm also a wee bit obsessed with red hair ...
Favorite hobbies: Yarnwork (knitting, crochet), jewely-making, and fashion/costume design are at the top of the list--what I call "cratfy bits." Also thrifting/yard-saling/
Favorite books: Just off the top of my head: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the Anne of Green Gables Series (books 1-6) by L.M. Mongommery, The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire by Hoyard Pyle, and of course the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Hobbit and parts of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Coffee or Tea? Cocoa. 😜 I'm kind of allergic to coffee, and despite my mostly-English heritage, I find tea a bit too ... earthy ... for my liking (although mint is good, and there are a couple medicinal blends I enjoy during the Cold and Flu Season). There's something about cocoa that just ... satisfies ... in a way tea and coffee never can. 😊
Haha, I will agree with that, though I love tea myself. Where did the idea for this book come from, and were there any additional sources of inspiration along the way?
It began as a Faerie-tale-esque writing exercise that eventually grew into an entire imaginary world, combined with a previously-conceived Peter Pan-inspired story and a weird dream I had several years ago. I also took a lot of inspiration from Tolkien and Lewis (heh, me and every other fantasy author, I daresay), as well as old Faerie-tales and bits of folklore.
Those sound like some excellent inspiration sources! What were some of the biggest challenges you had in writing this book, and how did you deal with those challenges?
Figuring out what the story was going to be about, and developing the Romance angle properly. The main plot went through a major reimagining (which meant I had to start almost from scratch), and a big editing session that left a gaping hole in Part One. I thank God for my family's willingness to brainstorm with me wheneven I hit the proverbial brick walls with my inspiration, and especially for my brother Peter, who approaches things at a different angle, and so offers a fresh perspective that gets me thinking again.
As for the love-story ... it was fun to write, but this was my first serious foray into the realm of Romance, and well ... it was one of those areas where imagination had to take the place of experience, so there was a lot of polishing to do. 😝 Specifically, Müriel was all blushes and fearful self-depreciation right up to the end at first. And all her conversations with Nácil followed the same formula (playing out like practically every Adrienette scene in Miraculous Ladybug, OY 🙄).
Interesting. What's the most unusual or unique piece of writing advice you've ever received?
I seem to recall Kendra saying in one of her blog posts, "If an idea seems too weird, do it anyway." Or words to that effect.
That sounds like advice Kendra would give. Prince Nacil is your debut into the writing world. Can you share a little about your journey up to this moment and how you decided that this was the time and the story with which to introduce yourself to readers?
Ever since girlhood, it's been my dream to be a published author, but I never had the confidence to pursue it seriously (and frankly, I don't think I had the skill level or maturity before now). When I finished writing and editing PN in February of last year--and realized it was the first of my books I still enjoyed re-reading afterwards--I prayerfully decided to investigate publishing options. Long-story-short, I decided to print it out myself and have Staples do the finishing work ... but the minute Kendra heard about it, she figuratively grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me along on a crash course in self-publishing through Amazon, LOL. (See the full story here.) I honestly can't thank her enough for all the hard work she's put into this.
Kendra is pretty awesome. If you could spend an afternoon with one of your characters, either in their world or ours, who would you pick and what would you do?
Oddly enough, while I relate to Nácil and Müriel the most personality-wise, I think the Characters I'd most enjoy spending time with would be Lady Cambria or Miss Prescott. Miss Prescott and I could discuss our favorite works of literature, and analyse the stuffin's out of them, and perhaps add new favorites to our respective To Read lists. As for Cambria (personal handmaiden to Iceheart, and something of a spy for the House of Othniel) ... it's not mentioned in this book, but she was a jeweler in her spare time (before she became the Palace mole). So it'd be fun to hang out in her workshop and do some wire-wrapping together, or just look through her supplies. 'Cos we all know how much crafty folk love to show off their Stash. 😉
That does sound fun! What can we expect to see from you, writing- and publishing-wise, moving forward into the future?
Writing-wise, I intend to continue Nácil's story via the rest of the Children of Light Series--don't know how many books that will take. However many the Lord gives me material for, wot?
I also have a prequel series planned (House of Othniel), which gives more background on Nácil's family and how their feud with the House of Lucrísha came about.
I also have a prequel series planned (House of Othniel), which gives more background on Nácil's family and how their feud with the House of Lucrísha came about.
I have a couple spin-off series in the works, as well as some standalone novels, all set in the world of Ýdära, that I'm looking forward to working on.
Publishing-wise, I'm thinking of releasing a shorter, standalone novel (novella?) in time for Christmas (Lord willing!)--Princess Starflower. It's basically a mash-up of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and E.T.A. Hoffman's Nutcracker and the Mouse King. After that, I'll probably focus on my Ýdära Multiverse again, unless the Lord directs otherwise.
Check out my Pinterest storyboards to see all the other ideas I have cooking up in my noggin! 🤓
Well, that was fun! Thanks, everyone, for stopping by; make sure you check out the rest of the tour stops! And please tell me in the comments: what do you think of this book from what you've heard so far?
Thanks again!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)
Monday, July 6 Tour Stops:
Rambling Rose: Looking Forward
Dreams and Dragons: Interview - R.R. Goodwill
Knitted by God's Plan: Miss Prescott
Hi, Sarah! Thanks again for having me over and helping spread the word. I'd actually forgotten about this interview, so it was fun re-reading my answers. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGod bless, and Happy Writing,
~R~
You're welcome; thanks for doing the interview!
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