Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Guardian's Wildchild: An Interview with Author Feather Stone

On tour now is Feather Stone and she's come by today to chat a bit about her book, The Guardian's Wildchild. Sounds like a fascinating read, so let us welcome her and open our minds to a new world.

MK:The Guardian's Wildchild is a story that's unlike anything you've read before. It's not a typical romance story of starry eyed lovers in the throws of passion.”...so what kind of story is The Guardian’s Wildchild?  

FS: While reading The Guardian's Wildchild you’ll escape to a world you’ve never been before.  You'll experience enticing plots and become a willing prisoner in your chair.  And the characters?  You've never met more sinister villains or gifted souls – all in a conspiracy to change the world from the stage of the Pacific Ocean.

The setting is primarily on a cruise ship converted by the American Navy to function as an armed supply ship carrying weapons and mysterious boxes for Admiral Garland.  You’ll enjoy intrigue and fall in love with an alpha male, Captain Waterhouse.  Ladies, get ready for the challenge to melt the heart of a rulebook toting naval captain bent on revenge, eyes dark as sin, and a body to go with his rigid demeanor.

It’s the year 2040 and humanity has recovered from the Great Quake’s devastation worldwide twenty years earlier.  An energy crisis now casts a shadow on the planet’s future.

Enter Madame, a woman without conscience.  She watched a South American tribe use crystals to turn water to sweet red wine.  Madame believes she’s on the verge to becoming as powerful as a god.  In an alliance with Admiral Garland, she’s poised to take control of the planet.

Magic is woven throughout the pages, drawing you deeper into the world of the mystic Guardians. Powerful and benevolent, they remain hidden from civilization.  In the hopes of protecting the sun crystals, Sidney Davenport leaves their safe haven to stop Madame.

Through their powers of clairvoyance and space/time travel, they watch as their Sidney struggles against being consumed by fear - and her attraction to the man who holds her life, and the future of humanity, in the palm of his hand, Captain Waterhouse.

If Captain Waterhouse’s troubles seemed overwhelming, his disciplined life is about to unravel upon receiving a prisoner for execution – Sidney Davenport.  Little does he know he’s met his match!  He soon discovers her people call her “Wildchild” for good reason.  She detests rules.

Upon learning that Madame has a trump card, a fallen Guardian by the name of Frank Butchart, the conflict appears insurmountable.  Captain Waterhouse is determined to get his life back at any cost, including his integrity.  Sidney must make a choice that could destroy what she values most.  To remain divided, Sam and Sidney will surely be destroyed. To join forces is unacceptable.  Or is it?

You'll cry and you'll laugh.  And, you will not be prepared for the ending.


MK: What kind of research was involved for the series? Did you find it became easier with each book?

FS: As most of the story takes place on a naval ship, I needed to interview people who had experience serving on a military ship.  Fortunately, I had a wonderful friend, Bill Stevenson, who served on a destroyer during WWI. Through him I learned about rank, military protocol, and the typical life of a seaman in relationship to his commanding officers.  I also have acquaintances who currently serve in the Canadian Navy.

I also needed experience in being on a ship.  In 2008, my husband and I went for a cruise in the Mediterranean – really tough research work (lol).

Much of the story revolves around the Guardian’s paranormal abilities.  Both my mother and I have had a lot of experience in this area, being gifted in space/time travel, telepathy, and other events which simply don’t have a worthy description in the English language.


MK:  Do you have a favorite character in The Guardian’s Wildchild? Who and why?

FS: You’d think my favorite would be one of the two main characters, Sidney and Sam.  However, my favorite would be a toss-up between Lorna Paddles, the Medical Assistant, or Danik Davenport, Sidney’s brother.  They were a relief to the heavy and dark aspects of the story.  Both of them were gifted with a remarkable and enduring sense of humor, even in the darkest of circumstances.  Even as much as I loved them, my hat goes off to Sidney and Sam.  They went through hell and made huge sacrifices to defeat the most wicked of all the characters, Captain Butchart.


MK: Without giving it all away, please tell us a little something about how Sidney and Samaru are going to get through their biggest challenges.

FS:  In a nutshell, Sidney had to rethink and readjust her aversion to rules, and yet remain true to her qualities as a unique character.  Sam, had to soften just a smidgen, and let go of his strangle hold on the military rulebook.  They could see that if they joined forces against their common enemy, survival was possible.  It was a huge change for both of them.  Both had to risk the pain of leaving the life they once enjoyed. 


MK: What has been your greatest writing challenge?

FS: My greatest challenge was to put down on paper descriptions and scenarios about evil.  My belief is that if you focus on the darker aspects of our being, you risk bringing that energy into your physical life.  I decided to take a course at the University of Alberta Extension on this aspect of writing.  I was terrified.  Finally came the day when I was required to write a sample for the next class.  It was to be over the top evil.

Driving home from that class, I thought about the assignment.  My palms were sweating, my breath came in short gasps.  The vision of evil began descending, stealing its way into my psyche.  By the time I arrived home, the force of darkness had me in its grip like the hungry lion latched onto the gazelle, wide-eyed but blind with fear.

When I returned to the next class and read my assignment, my classmates became silent as death.  It was truly a masterpiece of evil.  To my relief, I escaped the lion’s claws and survived dark forces.

MK: What has been your greatest pleasure in writing this book?

FS: Normally, I think an author might say that the greatest pleasure was finding a publisher willing to launch your manuscript into the hands of the world’s readers.  That is truly a sublime experience.  However, the joy I felt in writing the story was far above anything else I’ve experienced.  It was a journey into the unknown, creating something mysterious, even bizarre.  Hour after hour, I never knew where the story was going to take me.  As the intuition and inspiration flowed, I became a witness to a world I’d never been before.

MK: What is about a paranormal story that drew you to that genre?

FS: The Guardian’s Wildchild grew out of a paranormal experience I’d had.  For a brief moment, I had been teleported to a ship.  I stood at a railing as the ship slipped through the waves.  The moon skipped over the peaks of the white caps, kissing each with its silver light.  Beside me was the captain, silent and strong.  I felt his despair though no words were spoken.

The experience was so profound that it followed me for days after.  I decided to write about it, hoping the exercise would dissipate the energy of having shifted so clearly to another time and place.  Instead, I became more enamored by the story, searching for answers of who the captain way.  With each question I asked, I received answers from a disembodied narrator.  I became a slave to a story which unfolded effortlessly for five years.

MK:  What is your favorite non-writing pastime?

FS: Oh, you shouldn’t have asked that.  I’ll shorten the list for sake of my readers’ limited time.  Currently, I’m knitting an afghan that’s nearly completed for a friend.  I’m blogging daily in the effort to get the message about my book out there in cyberspace – and learning a lot about emarketing in the process.  I walk my sheltie, Jasper, and if the weather is acceptable to my cat, Leo comes along.

Currently, I’m doing research for my next book’s story which takes place in the Middle East.  Reiki and Shamanism are two practices that I hold dear to my heart.  When the ground thaws, I‘ll be out in my flower beds digging and planting.  When I find time, I love to paint with watercolors.  I’ve learned to speak French, Spanish, and a tiny bit of Japanese.  I play the piano and the accordion, and a bit of the guitar.  Shall I stop there?


MK: What do you have in store next for your readers?

FS:  Next in store for my readers is “Cursed Angel”, a working title.  It still involves the paranormal but the characters and setting is completely different from The Guardian’s Wildchild.  In fact, I’ve gone from being in the ocean so travelling over the desert.  Another difference is that the passion has been turned up several notches.  And, again, the ending will be unpredictable.  Below is an excerpt, a scene where in the dark street, the two main characters have just been in a battle against a killer - unedited.

Abdul-Muqtadir ran up and inspected the body of Captain Khizar.  “Got him right between the eyes, Lizzy.  Great shot!” he said grinning at her.  She was kneeling on the pavement, vibrating with shock.  “Course, I got him first right through the temple.”

The moment felt surreal.  She had killed again.  And Hashim, was he really dead?  Abdul-Muqtadir helped her stand up.  “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded, “I think, maybe.”  She looked about, still trembling like a leaf.  It felt like a nightmare, unreal.  “Hashim?”

Abdul-Muqtadir ignored her and set about ordering the men to pull up the vehicles to their location.  He returned to Captain Khizar’s body and gave it a nudge with the toe of his boot.  “Yep, he’s good and dead.”

Eliza turned back to see where Hashim had fallen.  Like a ghost in the night, he was standing a half block away from her.  She could see his silhouette, a halo of light surrounding his head and shoulders.  His face was dark, except for the sheen of sweat on his forehead.  He straightened his shoulders and began walking in her direction clutching his AK47.  She took a few steps toward him.  The cool night air made her shiver.  From the dampness of her clothes, she thought.

Finally, Hashim was standing in front of her.  She crossed her arms, still holding her gun cradled in the crook of her arm. He held out his hand, “Give me the gun.” 

She looked him over.  His flak jacket was torn.  Blood was flowing from his left arm and hand, along the barrel of his gun, and dripping onto the pavement.
“You need medical attention.”

“You’re a mess,” he said looking over her disheveled hair and torn blazer.  “I need to apprehend that gun.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  “You worried I might shoot you?  I did have some pretty nasty thoughts about you over the past couple of hours.”

“Nasty?  I’ve just saved your butt again, Miss Eliza.  Now hand over that piece.”

“Or else?”  She raised her eyebrows.

“I might have to get rough.”

“Promise,” she said with a sultry smile.

He shook his head.  “You keep up that casual attitude and you’ll end up dead.”

“You’re the one that’s bleeding.”

He stepped into her space, put an arm around her waist and yanked hard.  Her body was crushed against his.  “Eliza,” he whispered.  “Don’t you ever run off again!  You hear me?”

She saw his eyes were mixed with anger and relief.  “Uh huh.  You stop being such a grouch and I’ll stand on my head for you.”

A crooked smile slowly eased across his face and nodded.  “That’s a deal.”  He released her and stepped back.


Readers! Would you like to share a paranormal experience you’ve had, or heard about? What are your views on man’s ability to have special powers?


·       Visit Feather Stone!

10 comments:

  1. Thanks so much! Loved the interview!

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  2. It was a fun interview. Thank you for sharing with us today Feather Stone!

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  3. To answer the question, I've never had a 'paranormal' experience, but do have a fascination with places claiming to be haunted. The ability have special powers - I'm a little more skeptical I suppose.

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  4. That was a very interesting interview. I'm intrigued by the whole paranormal experiences the author has had. Pretty cool:)
    I for one have not had any paranormal experiences that I can think of. Do I wish to have one? Not really, lol. I'm kind of a scaredy cat when it comes to stuff like that so I think it would freak me out more than excite me.

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  5. I always thought it would be fun it did happen. I have plans to go on a haunted hotel and castle tour of Ireland and Scotland - just because. I stayed at a supposedly haunted b&b in northern California once and slept like a baby-no one else did. :)

    It must be fascinating to have those experiences though.

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    1. I would have been one of those people who did not sleep like a baby, lol! You are a lot braver than I am. I can barely sit through a scary movie let alone go on a haunted tour of castles:)

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  6. Question for Feather Stone: At what point during your experience did you realize it was real and not just a dream?

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  7. Just popping by to see you, MK. Great interview with Feather. I have her posted today, too. She's an interesting author...and the book is great. I like that we had different questions to ask her. Love your blog! Deborah

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  8. The interview was good and the story is interesting. Seriously. I have many books reading now, but I'd like to read that one.

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  9. Hi everyone: Thank you, everyone, for stopping by and participating in my book blog tour. It's exciting to meet people who are interested in not only my book, but also the paranormal experiences I've had. First let me say that when I first experienced what people call 'paranormal' I was never frightened. However, currently the public associate the word paranormal with vampires and other such dark personalities. There have been experiences when I was unsure about what was happening but I was never fearful. In fact, sometimes it was a bit boring (LOL). Most times I can't describe my experiences. Sometimes it's because I view some events as sacred; other times there are just too few words in the English language to do the experience justice. In essence, over the course of my life, I've come to understand that our physical world is minor compared to the truth of our being - spirit having a physical experience. We are loved unconditionally. We are eternal.

    Feather

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