Getting Your Read On: Dragonwitch Blog Tour loaded with Goodies! Review, Interview and Giveaway!

Dragonwitch

by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Paperback, 432 pages

Published July 1, 2013 by Bethany House Publishers

Submissive to her father’s will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves–Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.

But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta’s tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.

And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice…and for the one person who can wield it.

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Dragonwitch is, I confess, the first book in this series that I have read. <hangs her head in shame> That is perhaps why I was a wee tad bit confused in the beginning and why I felt like the beginning part of this book just dragged. I had to work to push through until I found the rhythm of the book and started to put things together. Once I got to that point though, I was totally in.

I love how this book weaves two stories together. There are bits of a past story intermingled with a present day story. As each story progresses, they eventually become one. It's awesome. I really liked it.

The underlying messages in the book were so good too. Each character seemed to have a journey both of self discovery and of knowledge. They all played a part in something bigger and even though they didn't believe in themselves one hundred percent, they kept moving forward- facing their fears and trusting in their instincts. It made for a very gratifying ending.

This fantasy book was good. I'm happy to say that I've picked up a couple other books in this series and I hope to read those and even get my kids started on them. My kids love fantasy books and I think these will be a hit in our house. This book had no swearing or sexual content but there was some intense and violent scenes. I'm hoping the other books follow the same pattern.

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of HEARTLESS, VEILED ROSE, MOONBLOOD, and STARFLOWER, with DRAGONWITCH due to release in 2013. HEARTLESS and VEILED ROSE have each been honored with a Christy Award.

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For this blog tour, each blogger was given the chance to write up several questions for Anne. My questions were sort of random~ I go from book questions to a kitty question. That's because Anne rescues cats and has lots of experience with them. :) The last question is about vacations because I like to hear where people want to travel. I hope you enjoy the fun. Every stop on this blog tour has interview questions with Anne so check them out too! (There is a list of blogs at the end of this post.)

1. What sort of research do you do for your books? Is research a love part of the process for you?

The research is always very random for a fantasy novel. I often research interesting details from lots of different cultures and time periods in order to lend a sense of authenticity to my own world. I do enjoy the research, but not as much as the storytelling itself!

2. If you had to give your books a movie rating what would it be?

I would say PG-13. They are very clean stories, no sexual innuendo, so safe for the kids! But there are some very dark and frightening moments in all of them.

3. We rescued a wild kitten my girls found that was starving. It was a vicious little thing even as young and small as it was. Are they born with that feral instinct? That kitten seemed way too young to have learned that behavior. What do you do with the wild cats you rescue?

Kittens pick up their mother’s behavior from the very earliest days. If mom is friendly and loves humans, the kittens will too. If mom is feral, kittens will mirror that even within the first few weeks.

All of my feral kittens have been completely vicious when I first caught them. But they all have the domestic nature inside, and patience and love will bring it out. I have never yet failed to transform my feral rescues from snarling mini-tigers into loving lap-babies! Some of them take longer than others . . . one little girl took me a good six months, while several of them tamed within a day.

The trick that usually works best is to isolate the wild kitten in a small space where it cannot get away from you. Then, you have to become its only source of food. Don’t feed it unless you are there. I use Gerber chicken-flavor baby food on the tip of my finger so that my kittens directly associate me with comfort. Once they start taking the food from my finger, it’s only a matter of time before they are all mine! They’ll do anything for baby food! After they start taking the food from me, I’ll put them in my lap and hold them there while they eat, talking softly to them all the while and petting them with long strokes down the back and on the face, mimicking how a mother’s tongue would feel.

With this technique, I have succeeded even with kittens that were considered too old to tame! And I have found that the rehabilitated ferals make the best and most devoted pets. They appreciate the love so much more!

4. What is your dream vacation?

I would love to travel to Sri Lanka, my husband’s homeland. How much fun it would be to explore his childhood haunts, to research that country’s fantastic history . . . and, of course, to enjoy the fantastic curries!

Tour-wide Giveaway -

July 1 - 26
USA, Canada & UK - Print Copy of the entire series to date!
See Rafflecopter for giveaway details.