“Shall we continue our conversation inside?” Kade asked with a wide grin.
We trudged through the snow, holding hands. “I wish we could just freeze this time together, and all the—” I waved, indicating the future problems that waited for me “—would disappear.” It was quite a list, finding Ulrick, switching his soul, convincing the Council not to arrest me, discovering how my new powers would affect Sitia.
Kade kept quiet for a while. “This calls for a glass analogy.”
I groaned, but he ignored me.
“Life is like molten glass. It flows, it’s flexible, it can be molded and shaped and…what do you say? Ah, yes. It holds vast potential. You have a number of uncertainties in your melt right now. But they will always be there in one form or another. Always. Unlike molten glass, life can’t be fixed or frozen into a pretty vase and placed on a shelf to gather dust.”
“I wouldn’t mind a little coating of dust instead of facing the Master Magicians and the Council. What if they just lock me away?”
He stopped and drew me into a tight hug. “They won’t. Because you’re smart, Opal. You’ll figure it out.”
“You said the same thing in the storeroom and I almost killed us.”
“But you didn’t. And that reminds me. What exactly did I promise you?”
I thought back to his description of me, arriving like an unwelcome squall when all he desired was to be left alone. “You promised me that the next time you decide to languish in the sun, you’ll take me with you. I’m in desperate need of a vacation and I’m sure you know the best beach for languishing.”
He laughed. “There is this beautiful little cove along Bloodgood’s coast. White sands, crystal-clear water, but it can get hot during the day.”
“Perfect. I hate the cold.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks go to my husband, Rodney, and my children, Luke and Jenna. For being patient when I need to finish a book, and for not complaining (too much) when I travel to book signings and conventions. Without you three, there would be no books to write.
A special thank-you goes to my critique partner, Kimberley J. Howe. She rose to the challenge when I hit a dead end and dumped three hundred pages of this book on her, crying for help. Your encouragement, phone calls and comments helped pull this book together.
Huge thanks go to all the hardworking people at Harlequin Books. Your enthusiasm and love of books has made working with you a joy. Special kudos go to my editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey, whose expert comments greatly improve my stories. Thanks to Elizabeth Mazer and the PR goddesses: Michelle Renaud, Marleah Stout, Amy Jones, Heather Foy and Diane Mosher for all the extra effort!
Thanks to my agent, Robert Mecoy, whose help has been invaluable, and to his daughter, Dash, for her wonderful support. Many thanks to Michael Alberstat, Photography, and Allan Davey, Retouching, for this beautiful cover.
For this book I once again enrolled in a variety of glass classes at the Goggle Works. I would like to thank a quartet of teachers and artists who helped me: Helen Tegeler, Sandra Kaye, Karen Lesniak and Louise Mehaffey. I think I’m addicted to glass.
And a continuing heartfelt thanks to my army of Book Commandos! Your efforts in the field are greatly appreciated! Special mention to those who have gone well above and beyond the call of duty: Suzanne Ledford, Alethea Allarey, Patrice de Avila, Elizabeth Darrach, Jeff Young, Heather Tebbs, Megan Knight, Jamie Perry and Jen Runkle. The Commander would be proud.
Map of the Magician's Keep
For those who love maps, I have added a map of the Magician's Keep's buildings. I had drawn a rough sketch to help me when I write, and Chris, my tech-savvy brother-in-law converted it to a nicely labeled map.
Map designed by Christopher Phillips.
Interview with Maria V. Snyder
Who are your main influences?
Ever since I can remember, I've loved to read. My mother introduced me to the mystery genre and I quickly went from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys to Agatha Cristie, Dick Francis, Ed McBain and Robert B. Parker. Dick Francis is my favorite mystery writer, and, I've been told by many that my fast paced, page turning, and cliff hanger chapter endings remind them of Dick Francis' books. I also enjoy writing stories from the first person point of view.
What made you turn to Fantasy?
When I was in high school, my sister, Karen started dating her future husband. Chris introduced me to fantasy and science fiction. He lent me Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven and, while I still enjoy a good mystery, I've been hooked on fantasy and science fiction ever since.
Where do you do your writing?
In my home office. My husband enjoys woodworking and he has made me a beautiful desk, cabinets, and built-in bookcases all made from cherry wood. The wood is from his father's farm so it has special significance to both of us.
Do you have a particular routine when writing?
Yes. After the kids go to school in the morning, I procrastinate on the computer by answering email and blogging. Then about 10 a.m., I get a fresh cup of tea and write until my kids come home around 3:30 p.m.
What's the most challenging aspect of writing?
All the little details about setting and emotion and description. If I could have it my way - my stories would be all action and dialogue!
If you were to have one special magical power, what would it be?
The ability to heal. I always feel so helpless when someone I love is sick or in pain. And quality of life just isn't good when you're sick. The cliché about health versus prosperity is true for me. I'd rather my family has good health than millions of dollars.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
What spare time?:) I enjoy travelling, playing volleyball and reading. And someday, when I have more time, I hope to get back to playing the cello.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?
Depends on what "it" is—if I could go back to when I was in high school—I would have focused more on the arts. I would have designed my house a little different, and I would have used ALL that time I had before the kids were born to write, write and write. If I had to write Poison Study again, I really wouldn't change that much. Maybe add in a few more elements so I can use them in the fourth book.
The Master Magicians of Sitia
First Magician: Roze Featherstone
She was the strongest magician in Sitia, and the leader of the Sitian Council. Her underworld guide was Ying Lung—a sky dragon. Like all the Master Magicians, Roze could use magic to move objects (including people), to heal or inflict physical harm, to light fires, for mental communication, and to read minds. Reading minds washer strongest skill and she was frequently called to interrogate criminals. Her control of fire was also the best in the land. When she was younger, she used to entertain her fellow students with fire dances—a complex ballet of individual flames set to music.
Roze was born in Robin's Nest, a small town in the Featherstone Clan lands. Her parents died when she was a child and she has no other living relatives. Statuesque, she had a powerful build, amber-colored eyes, and almost black skin. Her hair was pure white and cut into a military buzz cut. She liked to wear long cotton sleeveless dresses. Like all the Master Magicians, Roze never married and has no children.
Second Magician: Bain Bloodgood
Was the second most powerful magician in Sitia. As a member of the Sitian Council, he imparts wisdom and knowledge whether the Council members want it or not. His underworld guide is Fei Lian—a wind leopard. His strongest magical skill is mental communication. His range of communication with other magicians is much further than the other Masters. He enjoys history and is the reigning expert in Sitia's long history. He also loves to document current events in Sitia for future generations.
He was born in the Red Hills of the Bloodgood Clan lands. The youngest of three sons, Bain would rather read than play. His fondness for long, brightly colored robes has earned him the nickname of Wizard. Hi
s curly white/gray hair is frequently unkempt and messy.
Third Magician: Zitora Cowan
Third most powerful magician in Sitia, Zitora is the youngest of the Masters. Her underworld guide is Kioh Twan—a unicorn. Her strongest magical skill is being able to control other people's minds and bodies. While she won't control a person's mind unless absolutely necessary, she will freeze them for self-defense. She abhors violence and spent much time avoiding the weapons training required for the Keep's students. Zitora is very sweet and has a difficult time earning respect from her fellow magicians and trust from her fellow Masters.
She was born in Booruby, the capital of the Cowan Clan lands. She was raised by her older sister and has no memory of her parents. Her hair is very long and honey-brown in color and matches her skin tone. She has pale yellow-colored eyes and is as cute as a kitten, which doesn't help her in being taken serious.
Fourth Magician: Irys Jewelrose
Last of the Masters in power, Irys brings a serious determination to the Sitian Council. Her underworld guide is Pyong—a hawk, which matches her no nonsense personality. Irys's strongest magic is healing, both mental and physical. She is the only magician able to sneak into Ixia without being caught, and has set up a whole other persona when she's in Ixia as a hawk mistress. She keeps in top physical condition and enjoys hunting with her red-tailed hawks.
Born in the tiny port town of Pearl Bay, Irys is the oldest child of two girls. Her younger sister, Lily is married with four children and lives a few blocks from their parents. Irys has black shoulder-length hair that is always pulled into a severe bun. Her almond-shaped eyes are emerald green and her skin has a beautiful bronze tone.
Research: Kiki – the Magical Horse
One of my favorite aspects of writing is doing research. In Poison Study, I studied how to taste foods for certain flavors and textures. With Magic Study, I needed to learn how to ride a horse. Having grown up in Philadelphia, I had zero knowledge about horses. My friend, Susan offered to teach this city girl how to ride her horse, Kiki.
Kiki, an American Saddlebred, is 16.1 hands tall. While I can't tell you exactly how high that is, sitting on her for the very first time, I felt I was about ten feet from the hard, hard ground below. I was wearing a helmet, but it seemed inadequate for protection – full body armor would have been more preferable to me. And it didn't help my nerves when Kiki's head went straight up, her left ear cocked back, and she gave me the eye without turning around. With almost 360 degree vision, she only needed to move her head a little to keep me in sight. And I knew she was plotting how to dump this stranger on her back into the nearest mud puddle.
Kiki though was a perfect horse for a terrified beginner. At 22 years of age, she had seen it all, and we spent many hours slowly walking around the training ring. It was July, she was hot and I probably could have gotten off and pushed her faster. The pace was soothing for me and soon I was feeling my.…well…oats, and wanted more excitement than doing figure 8's at 1 mph.
Once I felt comfortable, Susan started teaching me how to guide Kiki into a trot. Although Susan insisted that Kiki is a Cadillac of horses, the bone-jarring gait threatened to dump me onto the ground. Susan has an English saddle—the one without the horn, and, in my mind, the one without anything to hold onto—so posting was required. When it comes to posting letters, I'm a pro, but the equestrian posting—where you raise your body with your legs to the movement of the horse so you're butt's not slammed into the saddle with every step—was beyond my abilities.
Eventually Kiki and I graduated from the training yard to the trail, and I was getting rather cocky. We were having fun without Susan reminding me to keep my heels down and straighten my back. Trotting and walking with trees and wildlife all around. Peaceful, idyllic, singing with the birds until Kiki startled and did a 180 on me. She went right, but I flew left.
Remember how I said there was no horn on the saddle to hold? Well Susan's been telling me for weeks to grab Kiki's mane if I was going to fall (she won't feel pain—I checked) and she did a great job of training me. I automatically grabbed her mane, and Kiki, a very smart horse, stopped dead while I pulled myself back up from the brink. All my cockiness was gone in a flash. Although, I still think Kiki didn't really get spooked, she just wanted to stop my singing ;>
It was a scary, fun and interesting time. I learned about horses and I learned about myself. Mainly, that I like to be in complete control. Even though I held the reins, I knew Kiki was in charge.
Research: The Study of Fire
I thought I would relate a little of my own sizzling adventures in the world of molten glass. In order to write the scenes with Opal, I signed up for a class in glass blowing (gotta love this job).
The first day of glass class, the teacher made it look so easy to gather a slug of glass. But when it was my turn—yikes! It was HOT! The big cistern of molten glass is kept in a rip roaring furnace at a toasty 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. I held a metal rod, and, while squinting through an eye-melting orange light, I dipped the end into the thick goo and spun it, gathering a glob of glass onto the end. The incandescent glob glowed as if alive.
Once acquired, the slug then needed to be quickly shaped. Glass cools at a rapid pace, and, even though heat waves pulsed from the slug, it didn't stay pliable for long. With glass you need to keep re-heating it in the glory hole – which is another furnace that's empty and hot – but it softens the glass so you can try to get the lumps out while making a whole new set of lumps. Did I say you have to keep turning the metal rod? If you don't your lump becomes lopsided and you don't want a lopsided lump.
Eventually we made paperweights—which the insides look great because you want that first gather of glass to be lumpy but not lopsided. You get to pinch the blob with tweezers and twist it—fun stuff. You also dip it into powdered colored glass which colors the glass. Patience is required when working with glass—you get a few seconds to twist and tweeze before having to get up off the bench and reheat everything again.
My first paperweight was a misshapened blob. But after hours of practice, my ability improved, and I created a paperweight worthy to hold down my next novel's manuscript pages. All the time spent in class helped me in writing about Opal.
I learned that working with glass required deft coordination, arm strength, tons of patience, and a good partner—it's a good thing I have a day job!
Research: Naming Characters
I always have fun when naming my characters (and no one else can argue about it—unlike with my children—can you believe my husband wanted a say??). I own 5 baby name books, and am frequently on the Social Security website, checking out popular names. My favorite book is From Aaron to Zoe, 15,000 Great Baby Names, by Daniel Avram Richman. I also use the phone book and take note of everyone's name tags at restaurants, hotels, airports—you see some interesting names (I always try and ask the person what their name means). Even newspapers, magazines, and books can yield a perfect character name.
One of my requirements when choosing a name is to find one that has a special meaning. My main protagonist in Poison Study, Yelena is a Russian name and it means "shining one" which I thought appropriate since she starts out in a dungeon awaiting execution. Her situation is dire, but she still shines. My assassin/chief of security's name is Valek. I always liked Val Kilmer in the movie Top Gun—so Valek is a composite of him.
Some names I do make up:) For Magic Study, I wanted the Sitian people to have earthy names so I chose Fern, Irys, Roze, Leif. I also seem to like jewel names—Perl, Topaz, Garnet. One of the characters is, Cahil which means inexperienced (so that should give you a hint about his personality).
When I'm starting a novel, I'll decide what the theme is or the overall feeling of the novel. Then I'll comb through my baby books and write a list of names both male and female that fit into the theme. For Storm Glass, I wanted powerful names and ones that had meanings about the sun, wind and rain, so my list included Kade (powerful), Raiden (thunder god)
, Nodin (wind), Aydan (little fire - he's my glass maker), and Ulrick (ruler of all). All these names are listed in the baby book and they were so fun to find!
I know there are writing books available about naming your characters. Also when deciding on names, I try and avoid weird spellings and unpronounceable names, basically because I don't like it when I'm reading a book—it stops me dead as I try and figure out how to pronounce them (guess I shouldn't have daydreamed when my class was learning about phonics in 6th grade!).
And sometimes, my editor makes me change a name. In Magic Study I had Gale (Tula's sister) and Goel (bad dude) and she said I had to change one because they were too close and could confuse the reader. So I changed Gale to Opal and then used the name Gale in Fire Study since Goel didn't.…er.…isn't in that book.
My son also pointed out to me (he's reading Magic Study now) that I prefer short names, which I hadn't realized, but when I thought about it—is very true. Guess I don't like typing long names!
For more information on Maria V. Snyder and her books, visit:
Her website:
http://www.mariavsnyder.com
Her MySpace page:
www.myspace.com/mariavsnyder
Yelena Zaltana’s MySpace page:
www.myspace.com/yelenazaltana
Poison Study book trailer:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&channelID=217972504
Join the conversation about Maria’s books and more on fantasy and paranormal romance, at www.paranormalromanceblog.com and in our community discussions at eHarlequin.com (http://community.eharlequin.com).
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