Guest Blog Post: Rowena Cory Daniels + book giveaway (COMPETITION CLOSED)

Today I'd like to present Rowena Cory Daniels as the guest blogger.

Rowena has written a brilliant (well, the first book is brilliant. I'm presuming the rest will be as good as the first one) fantasy trilogy with over four engaging main characters who all have my interest. She kindly prepared a blog post for me....and is holding a giveaway of The King's Bastard! 

For the chance to win a copy, please answer Rowena's question! (I posted this a bit late in the day...and um yes forgot about the question!) Those who answered my question will also be put in the draw.

Please leave your answer in a comment to this post (I haven't sussed out google doc form yet. I'm working on it). 

You don't need to follow to enter. Please also leave your email. If you are under 18, please get the permission of a parent or guardian. 

The winner will be selected by a random number generator, and will receive a copy of The King's Bastard

Deadline is midnight GMT Thursday 5th August. 

On with the blog post! (the rest of this post is written by Rowena) 

Writers are born, not made.

Okay I admit there are writing craft aspects to learn, and I think everyone is born with an innate sense of story. As children we all crave stories. Many stories for children are cautionary - they contain a message about how the world works and what to watch out for. Don’t follow fairy lights into the forest. On a more serious note, they help us make sense of the world.

As we get older a lot of people put the wonder and magic of discovery aside and restrict their world to the every day. People with a certain type of mind keep looking. Creative people are always seeking stimulation and challenging themselves. There’s a difference between intelligence and creativity. Creativity is much harder to measure. Catherine Ahearn says:

 ‘To be intelligent one has or shows understanding, is
clever and quick of mind, whereas to be creative is to bring
something into existence, to give rise to something or to
originate.’ See her full article on Intelligence Vs Creativity.

Writers, painters, musicians … all creative people bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. Where does it come from?

I think it comes from the kind of mind that is able to cross-link information and make intuitive leaps. Even as children, writers are always looking at the world, observing people, trying to make sense of it. A lot of my writing friends were outsiders as children, looking on. As children they loved books and reading. (Still do).

I used to have a second-hand bookshop in my early twenties. I’d read a book before lunch, a book after lunch and a book after dinner. If I loved a book I’d read it once to enjoy it, the second time I’d read it to find out what worked and the third time to see what didn’t work, to find out where the pacing flagged. At this rate, even with new stock coming in, I soon ran out of books to read. (After all Georgette Heyer and Fritz Leiber only wrote a finite number of books. Sad, but true).

Once I’d read everything in the shop that interested me, I began to write. It was a natural extension of reading. I couldn’t find the books I wanted to read, so I wrote them.

King Rolen’s Kin arose from the same kind of feeling. This is the book that I’d want to read if I’d had a tough week at work and then on Saturday morning I’d done all the cooking and cleaning and washing. Come Saturday afternoon I’d be ready to reward myself. King Rolen’s Kin is that kind of book - it’s a grand rollicking read, designed to sweep you away to another world, rich in adventure and intrigue.

So … open the book, sit back and enjoy the ride!

The give-away question is – Can you name one of Rowena’s favourite authors?

(Rowena lives in sunny Queensland, Australia with her husband and varying combinations of her 6 children. The older ones keep leaving home and coming back).

See her KRK blog.

See her web site.

See her writing group ROR blog.