Blessings, C.F.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods
I've started a new novel. It's a Young Adult Fantasy called Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods. The main character, Siobhan Willowshee, is a fourteen-going-on-fifteen ages old fairy. By age fifteen, Siobhan must start training for her life's service. Most young women in Willowsong and its surroundings have no choice; they follow the path of service taken by their mothers and grandmothers. Siobhan, however, has two paths from which to choose. She can be a banshee like her mother or a unicorn protector. Being a unicorn protector is a service that is gifted to a select few and Siobhan has been chosen. But she isn't interested. She sees nothing special about unicorns and considers them pampered, silly-looking horses. This is especially true, she feels, of Cay, the unicorn who selected her and whom Siobhan considers to be nothing more than a nuisance. Nor does Siobhan want to spend her life as a weeping, wailing banshee. Instead, she wants to become a Dragon Learner like her father. This idea scandalizes her mother since, after all, a woman's heritage is from the maternal line. Still, Siobhan is determined to follow her heart rather than tradition. This decision sets her on a journey through the mysterious and dangerous Dragonsword Forest and to Shadowshield Mountain, home of Riordan, King of the Dragons.
Blessings, C.F.
Blessings, C.F.
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Like "pampered, silly-looking horses". Like the Dragon Learner aspiration. I want to know what happens! Don't like the name Willowshee, for some reason. Siobhan is fine. Does she even need a surname? Maybe a nickname? (Which is what most surnames were, originally, when they didn't designate occupation or parentage. Perhaps Willowshee designates parentage.)
ReplyDeleteJust thinking out loud--obviously!
Hi Marion,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback. I'm so glad that you want to know what happens! That's encouraging(and I want to hear more about your novel).
In regards to Willowshee, the name is symbolic. Siobhan is a fairy (a sidhe in Irish) and the Willow is a significant tree in Celtic tradition with some attributes / powers that are connected with the character of Siobhan. To be honest, however, I'm not totally crazy about the name either, so there is a good possibility that it will be changed before the final draft of the the novel. In the story, Willowshee also does designate parentage -- from the maternal side as that's the way things work in Siobhan's culture. Still, as I said, I'm not completely happy with it, so I agree with you.
I'm glad you liked the description of Siobhan's opinion of unicorns and her aspiration to be a Dragon Learner. Of course, she runs into complications and there are a few twists and turns. I've been having fun developing her journey and she, as characters often do, has changed some of my initial plans.
Blessings!
CB