One
author's journey : The Prophecy Series - Kathryn Royce-Martin
Hi everyone, my name is Kathryn Royce-Martin
and I'm here today to tell you a little about myself and my debut novel
Prophecy Unravelled. Before I start, I wanted to say a big thank you to Nancy
Lee Badger for having me as her guest.
So, to begin, you should know that I'm addicted to rugged,
sexy heroes, in my books that is, as long as there's also a strong and
beautiful heroine supporting them, however, trouble along the way is a given
and so much fun to write!
Just to let you know a little about myself,
my family came to Australia from the U.K. in 1962. We lived in the migrant
hostel "Silver City' for a short while, while my father looked for work.
Someone told him that there was work in Geelong and we journeyed on the train
to stay briefly with the friend of a friend for a while until we were able to
purchase a home.
Being the youngest of three children, I
would spend hours as a young child making up stories in my head. I always asked for a book for Christmas and
remember the first time that I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My
family wasn't particularly well off so I had to wait for my birthday for the
next in the series and Christmas for the next and so on. This was the beginning
of my lifelong love of reading.
At secondary school, I was one of those nerds who loved the Library! I also
loved English classes, especially when we were given a reading task or a prompt
to write to and I won a number of awards for my stories.
Now, I'm all grown up, well maybe! I only
read what I enjoy. If a story doesn't grab me within the first few pages I find
it hard to continue reading, that's what I aspire to in my writing, to grab the
reader from the outset.
My claim to fame is that I went to school
with Isobelle Carmody - Of Obernewtyn fame...
Oh, and I've met Richard Dean Anderson at
OzComicon!!!!! :-)
I've thought about writing a manuscript for
many years, but put my writing aspirations on hold several times during my life
for a variety of reasons, not least of which was a lack of confidence that my work
would be good enough for others to read
So, to that end, I located and undertook numerous
online writing courses with the wonderful Terry Spear. With Terry's help and
encouragement both my writing and confidence improved.
Once again I began work on my novel, this time
with a clear picture of my goal and the storyline in my head. My final
inspiration to actually knuckle down was watching The Adventures of Merlin,
although that had a most dissatisfying end and I vowed that my stories would
always end happily, one way or another.
So, inspired by an image of my favourite
Knight, Sir Gwaine, played by the Irish actor, Eoin Macken, Prophecy Unravelled
began to flow onto the page with a working title of The Golden Stone. I
connected with Eoin on Twitter and shared my inspiration with him. He was very
supportive and it was enough, with everything else, to make me determined to
have my manuscript published.
The characters grew as I wrote. I always
knew that I wanted the story to revolve around a heroine, but in the end,
several of the main characters shared the limelight with Tarienne. Tarienne
evolved into a complex blend of fierce
and vulnerable, a powerful, yet sensual and loving Fae princess who becomes the
glue holding the men she cares about together during their difficult quest to
return the balance of magic to the Kingdom of Therin.
Before Prophecy Unravelled was finished,
I'd edited the entire manuscript around 5 times. My beta readers were amazing,
providing suggestions and constructive criticism and finally it was finished.
So here I am, excited that I achieved my initial
goal and well on the way toward finishing Secret Alpha, the next story in the
Prophecy Series.
BLURB
Prince Aidan’s
life was mapped out. He would be the King of Therin when his father died. He
would protect the people, lead the army to fight for the Kingdom and he liked
to think that he would be remembered for his skills as a warrior and
strategist.
The arrival of
Tarienne at Castle Therin changed everything. In the space of three years, she
had managed to turn his world upside down, challenging everything Aidan
believed in.
Charged with
protecting Prince Aidan so that he could fulfill a prophecy that he knew
nothing of, Tarienne didn’t expect to become friend and confidante, nor be part
of a ruse, feigning courtship with the classically handsome Prince. Despite her
relationship with Aidan, the passion that Daien, Aidan’s dearest friend and one
of the King’s Guards, ignites within Tarienne from the moment they meet,
complicates her life at court.
Can she keep her
magical abilities a secret, maintain the pretence of loving Aidan, convince him
of his role in the prophecy, and, make the breathtakingly handsome warrior,
Daien, aware of her interest, all under the ever watchful scrutiny of an
unforgiving King, who is vehemently opposed to magic?
EXCERPT:
Tarienne
called out, her heart pounding with terror as she searched the battlefield for
Aidan and Daien, unable to find them in the aftermath of the bloody conflict.
Her stomach churned at the sight of broken and bleeding bodies strewn across
the battle field. The river ran red with the blood of the dead and dying. Her
face dripped with tears, shed for the soldiers she knew, their limp, lifeless
bodies, crumpled on the muddy ground. Never to return to their loved ones. Was
anyone left alive?
Suddenly
she spotted him, the
lifeless body of Daien, his battle garb slick with his own blood, his brown
eyes open, empty of the warmth and laughter that had lived there. She cried out, rushing to him. She almost
slipped in the slimy mixture of blood and mud as she navigated around the
corpses. The stench of death threatened to overwhelm her as she sank to her
knees at Daien's side. Her body racked with sobs as she grasped at his now ice
cold hand. She flung herself over his chest, "NO, NO, NO." She
screamed and couldn't stop.
Tarienne woke in
a cold sweat, her heart pounding. Sitting bolt upright in bed, she fought to
retain the contents of her stomach. Her breath coming in short gasps, it took
her a few moments to realise it had been a nightmare. Not real. She shivered despite the first shafts of warm sunlight
peeking through the edges of the heavy curtains that covered the thick glass
windows. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shook her head to dispel the
disturbing images. A tear escaped, trickling down her cheek. It felt too real.
If you'd like to read more
you can purchase
Prophecy Unravelled
at:
You can also connect with me on
What's next?:
What's next for
me? Well, I'm currently writing the second book in the Prophecy series,
entitled Secret Alpha. This follows the story of the wolf changeling, Tere from
Prophecy Unravelled.
I'm also working on a time travel romance with a working title of Second
Chances, that deviates from my usual paranormal genre but began forming in my
brain a while ago. I took the opportunity to put pen to paper, so to speak,
recently when I had a bit of a brain freeze about Tere's story which is now all moving along
nicely, evolving into a suspenseful tale of hardship, love and loss. Tere's
story is at times heart wrenching, the tale of a young cub raised in violence
and fear, whose strength and compassion rises against all odds.
Next will be
Raef's story, Tarienne's brother and the Crown Prince of the Fae Kingdom of
Darewood. Raef is a powerful and handsome Fae warrior who has a dark secret
that he fears will drive away the only woman he has ever loved...stay tuned.
:-)
About the author:
Kathryn's love of reading and writing started in her school years, where she
earned many awards for her poetry and short stories. On leaving school, Kathryn
put aside her dream of being a journalist, opting instead
for the more stable
choice of a nursing career. When fate brought her to a job in a Library, her
dreams were rekindled, but put on hold to raise her family. She contented
herself with reading widely, always searching for new authors' works to devour.
From Narnia to the Lord of the Rings, magic, shifters and highland romances,
her printed book collection is one of her greatest treasures, although she also
loves to read works downloaded to her kindle. She has undertaken many online
writing courses.
Kathryn works full time as a Librarian in a University Library in Victoria,
Australia. She lives with her husband, grown-up children, two dogs named Daisy
and Milly, an aging Chinchilla x Persian cat, called Matilda and a canary with
the perplexing name of Roy.
