#Fairies, #Myths, & #Magic 2018 Author Spotlight Guest Posts, “Myths of the Mirror,” by Author, D. Wallace Peach

Posted on by 170 comments

fairies,myths& magic

Hello, and welcome to my Spotlight Author Guest posts where you can meet independently published authors and sample some of their work. My inspiration was to give independent authors another place where they could connect with readers.

I asked for posts dedicated to the themes of fairies, myths, and magic where authors could show off their writing skills by stretching their wings and stepping out of their genre comfort zones if need be. I also wanted them to tell you about their books and to share the magic it took to create them.

fairy dust wand

This week, I am pleased to introduce you to author, D. Wallace Peach. I’ve just recently started reading The Rose Shield series also written by Diana. I’ve reviewed the first book, “Catling’s Bane,” and you can read that review HERE. If you LOVE fantasy, this is an author whose writing will speak to you in ways you didn’t think possible. I am enthralled by her writing, her world-building, and the magical stories she weaves.

So, grab a cup of coffee or tea and take a few minutes to meet and read the magic behind D. Wallace Peach’s first book, Myths of the Mirror.

122517_2210_ColleensBoo4.jpg

Author, D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life after the kids were grown and a move left her with hours to fill. Years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books, and when she started writing, she was instantly hooked. Diana lives in a log cabin amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon’s Coastal Mountains with her husband, two dogs, and Pinky the Cat.

In the distant mountains of the Mirror, exiled skyriders fly dragons in the old Way, merged in flesh, blood, and bone. Twenty years past, they fought for the freedom of the valley’s dragons … and lost.

 

Imprisoned in the stone lair, the captive dragons beat their webbed wings and thrash serpentine tails. They tear their flesh and batter their bodies against the black bars of their cells, iron grating against iron. The once peaceful creatures howl, tormented by spine and spur, their fury matched only by their despair.

 

Treasa, the daughter of exiles, seeks the secrets of a hidden past and a father she never knew. Gifted with visions, she glimpses pieces of years long lost and a veiled future that only raises more questions. The dragons visit her dreams, laden with contradictions that tear at her heart—for one day she sails in unfettered flight, her arms thrown wide, and the next she writhes in tortured darkness, desperate to be free.

 

The lair’s black-garbed riders sense the dragons’ growing savagery. Yet Conall longs to grasp their power, to subdue them and soar. He will endure the reek, filth, and terror of the lair to earn his right to fly. With a heart encased in steel, he masters the weapons of compliance to see his will done. At the cost of the woman he loves.

 

Then, a curved talon rends flesh and dragon scale, rattling against white ribs. Blood falls like rain and the world shifts. Treasa and Conall must decide who they are and what they stand for. Thus the battle for the dragon soul begins again. Alliances form, old myths are revealed, and new myths are born.

***

Myths of the Mirror may be read as a stand-alone coming of age fantasy novel appropriate for young adult readers or as the first book in an epic adventure that stretches from the small village of Taran Leigh and the mountains of the Mirror to the Anghard Archipelago in the western sea.

 

Conall and Treasa face a world where wealth and power rule. Fear is the weapon of choice, and cruelty is tolerated for a pocket of gold. It’s a world that forces a choice—indifference, complicity, or defiance—each choice defining the core of who they are and who they will become.

 

The dragons of Taran Leigh, souls of grace and beauty, hang in the balance. Will they descend into the howling violence of terror and pain inflicted upon them by their tormentors? Or will they fly free, the creatures they were born to be? With each book, the stakes rise and far more than the dragons’ souls lie at risk.

 

“The nervousness he felt upon mounting the dragon had ebbed, and he stroked its back, almost affectionately. He sensed a growing bond between them, a grace in their flight as natural as breathing. There were times when he glided over green fields, gazed into the weave and texture of leaves, that he released the reins and simply let the dragon fly. In those rare moments, he felt a profound sense of peace and deeply free.” –Myths of the Mirror.

Dragon 2

I used magic to write my first book.

In a way, I suppose all first books are magical. Characters barge into our heads. They start yapping and running off on adventures, falling in love, and making choices regardless of our opinions and plots. It’s surprising the first time it happens. I thought I was channeling spirits. Honestly, I did.

I pantsered that book with only the barest inkling of a plan, and I let those characters run amok. Who was I to argue with magical beings pouring their stories from the ethosphere? I followed wherever they wandered, on tangents and around in circles.

It wasn’t until I dotted the last sentence that I learned all writers feel their characters’ tugging on their stories this way. So maybe it wasn’t magic, or maybe we all have a little magic in us.

But that’s not the only way that magic had a role in writing that book. Each morning, I meditated and the next chapter played in my head like a movie. All I had to do was write it down – describe what I saw and transcribe the conversations. I wrote 189K words in 30 days without breaking a sweat. (Then it took a year to carve 70K words out! That part wasn’t magic at all – it was pure unadulterated torture!)

runes

And that wasn’t all! At intervals in the writing process, I chose runes from a blue velvet bag.

Runes are small stones with ancient symbols, a means of divination, of receiving guidance, or perhaps more accurately, they guide us to ponder and find our answers within. I’ve had my bag of runes for 30 years, and their wisdom has always felt pertinent.

The runes I chose determined the story’s direction, and I never wavered from their guidance. I never groaned and shuffled through the bag for a different one that fit my preconceived ideas of where I wanted the story to go. I bequeathed the rune’s messages to the Droom, the book’s cryptic healer, so when she chose a rune (an “eye”), it was the one I chose in real life.

At one point, halfway through my first draft, I had a severely injured character I intended to kill off. The Droom (me) picked a rune, and suddenly, not only was the guy destined to live, but he became THE main character of the book!

Well, well, well. I had to backtrack and rewrite huge chunks of the story to accommodate that rune!

Here’s the message that saved his life, as spoken by the Droom:

“Ahhh. The shift come into hisself, open to blessings, joy here.

Now crossed through the gap by the will of the World.

Draw light down to the Mirror,

Light up from deep hisself.

All is changed, nothing the same.

New knowing, now hisself here Belonging.

Eye of rebirth.”

The Droom picked many runes, all but that one puzzling into the story with uncanny precision. And despite the hours of toil it demanded, the wisdom of that rune proved sound.

Funny thing… like my character, I was also experiencing a significant shift. I’d begun my writing journey, one of joy, lightness, and belonging, and coming into my own – a rebirth.

The book, Myths of the Mirror, continued its magical journey and was my first book picked up by a publisher.

Now you know its secret.

©D. Wallace Peach, 2018

icon-2486501_1920

Ready for an adventure? Click HERE to visit D. Wallace Peach’s Amazon Author Page to find all of her books.

The Sorcerer’s Garden
Sunwielder
The Bone Wall
The Melding of Aeris

The Rose Shield Tetralogy:
Catling’s Bane, Book I
Oathbreakers’ Guild, Book II
Farlanders’ Law, Book III
Kari’s Reckoning, Book IV

The Dragon Soul Saga:
Myths of the Mirror, Book I
Eye of Fire, Book II
Eye of Blind, Book III
Eye of Fire, Book IV

Grumpy Ana and the Grouchy Monsters: A Children’s Space Tale

How to Connect with the Author

For book descriptions, excerpts, maps, and behind the scenes info, please visit:  http://dwallacepeachbooks.com.

For her blog on all things writing, please visit http://mythsofthemirror.com.

TWITTER: @Dwallacepeach

FACEBOOK: Myths of the Mirror: @DWPeachbooks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dianapeach33/pins/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/activities/d-wallace-peach+0_2F1UmSg–qRIqYJlk2W1Q_?trk=nav_responsive_sub_nav_yourupdates
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101899993447765818692/posts

 

witchey kissesThanks for stopping by to hear about Myths of the Mirror and to meet D. Wallace Peach. By the way, would you be interested in appearing in my Author Spotlight – Guest Posts? I’m looking for themed posts about fairies, myths, and magic. If you are an enthusiastic author and would like to be featured on my blog, please click HERE to find out more.” ~Colleen~

tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

170 comments

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.