Rae of Light

I can't continue telling you about SDT without explaining about Faetaera  (pronounced Fay-terra) . The novel is nothing without this fairy world. It is intrinsically linked with events in Alanna's life. She  inadvertently  becomes aware of it when she discovers that her mother is ill. " Alanna was certain she saw a previously unnoticed jaundiced nimbus around her mother's seated figure. And a host of nightmare creatures consisting mainly of sharp dark claws and daggers were hacking away at Moxi's aura, tearing jagged holes, leaving ugly serrated edges; all the while grimacing with pleasure. "   © Rae Stoltenkamp Alanna is pulled into it further when she meets the pixie Sprax who she believes she has manifested through a kind of spell she created when she wrote a WANTED ad at the back of her sketch book. She is fully convinced she has conjured him into being when he appears shortly after she has written this ad. He mentions ot...

I thought writing the novel was hard. I mean, it's taken me 5 years to get to this point. But let me tell you – doing the synopsis is hell. Figuring out how to synthesis 80.000 words into 300 and   explain what the novel's central themes are along with the basic plot seems nigh on impossible.   But it has to be done. I'm planning on sending the novel off for an open submission which closes in June. Not to mention a few other competitions and open submissions fighting for my attention. The work of a writer after completing the novel is never done it would seem. Of course, I also have to write a synopsis which will make agents, publishers and competition judges think my book is worth reading. Aaaaaaargh! The re-ordered novel In my bid to get to grips with the synopsis I spread the novel out on my living room floor and tried to view it as a map. This was useful as it gave me valuable insight into the structure of my novel. It also made m...