Today I am so pleased to welcome Edale Lane to Joyfully Jay. Edale has come to talk to us about her latest release, Walks with Spirits. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Edale has written some questions and answers to share with us today!
When did you know you wanted to write, and when did you discover that you were good at it?
I have been composing stories since I learned to scratch words on paper with a pencil. My first “book” was completed when I was in grade two (Mama was so proud!) It was about dinosaurs, featuring my favorite ones, completely plagiarized but I did do the artwork. In high school, my friends all wanted to read my stories and swore they were wonderful, but they just said that because they were my friends. I discovered I was good at academic writing while completing my master’s degree in history, which I embarked on to raise my teacher’s salary but also because by then I truly wanted to write historical fiction. I was in my thirties when I completed my first full-length, well written, fully fleshed out novel and I recognized it was good because my mother, the perfectionist English and literature teacher, was overwhelmed that her little girl could produce something as complex, imaginative, and exciting as Viking Quest, which, after reworking and bringing up to date, is a published reality.
Have you ever taken a trip to research a story? Tell me about it.
I wished to take trips for all of them, but that was not practical. I did, however, travel to Charleston, S.C. doing background research for a lesbian romance set in Antebellum Charleston. Even though being from the Civil War city of Vicksburg, MS and knowing all about the Old South, I wanted to see the architecture that is particular to that city, walk its streets, go inside the old churches, and learn first-hand everything there is to know about rice plantations. Every book set in the Old South is woven around a cotton plantation, but the low country of South Carolina was one of the very few rice producing parts of the south and I wanted to tell about something different. Behind the Door is a wonderfully unique book–maybe I’ll finish it one day!
How did you choose the topic for this book?
I had been thinking about wanting to write a Native American story for a while, but when my partner and I began making plans to move to British Columbia that interest hopped from the back burner to the front. When we got here and I became immersed in the majestic beauty of the region, I became completely inspired. The idea was to create an epic romance while introducing a civilization to readers that few are familiar with. I have also been studying the law of attraction and knew this would be the perfect opportunity for me to pass some of that wisdom seamlessly along to others.
What secondary character would you like to explore more? Tell me about him or her.
Two Rivers Running is an important secondary character. She is a two-spirit woman living in the body of a man and is a talented basket weaver of note. When the story begins, she is sad because the man she has loved for years married someone else and just had a baby with her—something she can’t do. Two Rivers grows her confidence and spiritual side throughout the novel and a happy ending awaits her. I think if Walks with Spirits is ever made into a movie, some gifted thespian has the potential to win a Best Supporting Actor Award with this role.
Were you a voracious reader as a child?
Goodness no! I was a slow reader–no problem with comprehension, could always answer the questions, but reading was a very difficult endeavor. I was never diagnosed but later discovered that I have dyslexia. But my mother was an avid reader and our house was filled with books from classics to Agatha Christie. I spent many afternoons or nights–even into my teens–lying in bed listening to Mama read to me. Now I listen to audio books.
What other artistic pursuits (if any) do you indulge in apart from writing?
I was first, and am still, a musician. Starting with the piano, I moved to French horn and sang in my church choir. In high school, band was my life, and it was my dream to become a band director. I graduated with a degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1982 never to stand on the podium lifting my baton to give the downbeat. Life got in the way, but I did spend many enjoyable years as a church choir director and playing my French horn in the Mississippi Wind Symphony.
What fantasy realm would you choose to live in and why?
This is a tough one with a myriad of wonderful worlds I would love to explore! But if I could only choose one it would have to be Middle Earth, the land of Tolkien. Rivendale is so beautiful, the shire so peaceful. My intellect would revel in learning anything Gandalf would teach me and I would canter my steed with Riders of Rohan anytime. Besides, elves are just too cool!
What’s your drink of choice?
For every day, water and iced green tea with lemon. On that special occasion, give me a frozen lime margarita!
What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?
Perilous Passages, The Wellington Mysteries, Vol. 2: Adventures of a Lesbian Victorian Detective. You can watch for this sequel to my best-selling Daring Duplicity in June.
Blurb
Bound by love, separated by circumstances; can two women realize their happy ending?
In a time when people believed everything had a spirit, there was a two-spirit woman who chose the life of a hunter. Human beings live in the physical world, while spirits dwell in the land beyond; Walks with Spirits inhabits both.
Daughter of a shaman and an herbalist-midwife, Laughing Brook holds a prominent place in her society. She is training to be a healer like her mother, but her one wish is to spend her life with Walks with Spirits.
When a misunderstanding crushes their dreams of happiness, both women must learn to face the trials that await them in a land where danger lurks behind every tree and honor means more than life. Will the spirits intervene on their behalf, or are they fated never to manifest their visions of love?
Walks with Spirits is a historical fantasy set in an ancient time. Packed with Native American themes, heart-touching imagery, and an epic love story, Walks with Spirits will immerse you in an inspiring view of life.
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VBGQF27/
Bio
Edale Lane is an award-winning author (Rainbow Awards, Imaginarium Awards, Lesfic Bard Awards) who is realizing her dream of being a full-time writer. She is the alter-ego of author Melodie Romeo, (Tribute in Blood, Terror in Time, and others) who founded Past and Prologue Press. Both identities are qualified to write historical fiction by virtue of an MA in History and 24 years spent as a teacher, along with skill and dedication regarding research.
A native of Vicksburg, MS, Edale (or Melodie) is also a musician who loves animals, gardening, and nature. After driving an 18-wheeler cross-country for eight years, she now lives with her partner in beautiful Chilliwack, B.C. Canada.
- Author Website: https://pastandprologuepress.lpages.co/
- Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/melodie.romeo/
- Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/Pastandprologuepress/
- Author Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/EdaleLane
- Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edale_lane/
- Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15264354.Edale_Lane
- Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/edale-land/
- Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/edale-land/
- Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Edale-Lane/e/B07GRFPDRZ/
Giveaway
Edale is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:
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- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Welcome, Melodie, and thanks for sharing some of your own story. Best wishes for the success of Walks with Spirits!