Today I'd like to welcome Elle Jacklee to Pure Jonel.
Let's see what she has to say!
Up until I got my first cat, I would have said that I'm definitely a dog person all the way. I grew up with dogs, and my parents shared with me that when I was a baby, if our dog was “standing guard” beside my crib, they weren't “allowed” near me. Having had dogs my entire childhood, when I was an adult and living on my own, the combination of wanting to have a pet and rental restrictions that didn't allow dogs, resulted in me becoming a cat owner, and about five minutes later, a cat lover. In fact, several characters in The Tree of Mindala are named after cats that I've owned (or that have owned me) through the years.
Q~ Do you have a green thumb? Do you enjoy growing things or prefer to see them where they lay in nature?
Q~ Do you have a green thumb? Do you enjoy growing things or prefer to see them where they lay in nature?
I LOVE trees, plants, nature in general. I think that's probably no surprise to anyone who reads my book, given the setting. What might be surprising, though, is that I do not have a green thumb!
Q~ What is your favourite season?
Q~ What is your favourite season?
I'm a summer girl.
Q~ Vanilla or Chocolate?
Q~ Vanilla or Chocolate?
Definitely chocolate!
Q~ How and when did you begin writing?
Q~ How and when did you begin writing?
I wrote my first story when I was seven years old. I was already a book lover, and I was having so much fun reading that I knew I wanted people to enjoy that same feeling of excitement and escapism that I felt when I read. Of course, at that age, that was probably not exactly the way I articulated it ;) I just knew that I wanted other people to have as much fun as I was having with reading. That's still my goal today.
Q~ What inspired you to write The Tree of Mindala?
Q~ What inspired you to write The Tree of Mindala?
The idea for the story just came to me one blustery autumn day. The wind was howling and it was near Halloween, and I thought about how much I've always loved the spookiness of Halloween. That's when Miranda Moon, the main character, was conceived. By the end of that day, I had a rough outline and several pages done.
Q~ Are any of your characters based on individuals in your life? In general, do you tend to pull characteristics for your cast from individuals that you know or have met or do you tend to lean away from that practice?
Q~ Are any of your characters based on individuals in your life? In general, do you tend to pull characteristics for your cast from individuals that you know or have met or do you tend to lean away from that practice?
My characters are not based on anyone. They're complete figments of my imagination, unless you count Miranda Moon who takes after me in that she loves Halloween. And like her, I have been accused of having an overactive imagination...
Q~ What’s coming next after The Tree of Mindala? Do you have a projected release timeframe?
I'm currently working on the second installment of the Wunderwood Series, The Triad of the Tree. I'm shooting for late 2013.
Q~ Would you mind giving us a sneak peak?
Q~ Would you mind giving us a sneak peak?
Not at all!
Raina stared at the spectacle in the sky with a familiar sense of dread. She glanced back at Thornton, who, after more than a year, lay still but for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and the occasional twitch of nose or eye. Baffled, she returned her gaze to the window.
Yesterday she had seen the first black bolt rip through the sky. That is, the first since her grandniece, Miranda Moon, had given Thornton the Essence of The Tree of Mindala, which soon after had rendered him unconscious. But yesterday, the jagged Darkning had taunted her and Skye during the flight to Silvercap Mountain from the Wunderwood Academy of Mystical Existence where Raina spent her days teaching. As they had flown toward Thornton, Raina had worried they were like moths to a flame. They had spoken no words. It was enough that thunder had boomed its ominous message. To Raina it could only mean one thing: that Thornton had awakened from his coma. The goodness in the Essence must have lost its war with the evil inside of him. He must be up to his old tricks. That could only spell terrible danger for Wunderwood. Again.
But when they had arrived at Silvercap, where Raina and her entire family had taken up residence for more than a year now, they had found Raina's father, Reed, reclined leisurely, book in hand, on a chaise beside Thornton's still prone form. Her mother, Flora, had been fixing dinner in the kitchen, humming a cheery tune. It appeared as though Thornton had nothing to do with the Darkning.
Now, Raina tore herself away from the sad sky outside the window to join the discussion that had begun yesterday when she broke the news of the Darkning to her parents.
“Could it mean that one of the Hoarders of Power is attempting to finish what Thornton started?” Flora asked.
“Well, at first I thought it had to have something to do with the HOPs, too,” Reed replied. “But have you happened to notice that your magic hasn't been the same lately?”
“What do you mean?” Flora asked, but her eyes said she already knew the answer. They all did. They just weren't quite ready to face it.
“Has it been stalling? Coming in fits and starts? As though it's... running out?” Reed pressed on.
Flora nodded slowly, not wanting to believe it.
“I thought it was just me,” Raina said. “I thought... I hoped... maybe I was sick? I was planning to visit Laurel about it. But if it's happening to all of us...”
“It can only mean one thing.” Grim certainty steeled Reed's features. “The Tree of Mindala is dying.”
Q~ Are you planning anything after The Triad of the Tree? How many installments are you planning for the Wunderwood series, or have you decided yet?
Raina stared at the spectacle in the sky with a familiar sense of dread. She glanced back at Thornton, who, after more than a year, lay still but for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and the occasional twitch of nose or eye. Baffled, she returned her gaze to the window.
Yesterday she had seen the first black bolt rip through the sky. That is, the first since her grandniece, Miranda Moon, had given Thornton the Essence of The Tree of Mindala, which soon after had rendered him unconscious. But yesterday, the jagged Darkning had taunted her and Skye during the flight to Silvercap Mountain from the Wunderwood Academy of Mystical Existence where Raina spent her days teaching. As they had flown toward Thornton, Raina had worried they were like moths to a flame. They had spoken no words. It was enough that thunder had boomed its ominous message. To Raina it could only mean one thing: that Thornton had awakened from his coma. The goodness in the Essence must have lost its war with the evil inside of him. He must be up to his old tricks. That could only spell terrible danger for Wunderwood. Again.
But when they had arrived at Silvercap, where Raina and her entire family had taken up residence for more than a year now, they had found Raina's father, Reed, reclined leisurely, book in hand, on a chaise beside Thornton's still prone form. Her mother, Flora, had been fixing dinner in the kitchen, humming a cheery tune. It appeared as though Thornton had nothing to do with the Darkning.
Now, Raina tore herself away from the sad sky outside the window to join the discussion that had begun yesterday when she broke the news of the Darkning to her parents.
“Could it mean that one of the Hoarders of Power is attempting to finish what Thornton started?” Flora asked.
“Well, at first I thought it had to have something to do with the HOPs, too,” Reed replied. “But have you happened to notice that your magic hasn't been the same lately?”
“What do you mean?” Flora asked, but her eyes said she already knew the answer. They all did. They just weren't quite ready to face it.
“Has it been stalling? Coming in fits and starts? As though it's... running out?” Reed pressed on.
Flora nodded slowly, not wanting to believe it.
“I thought it was just me,” Raina said. “I thought... I hoped... maybe I was sick? I was planning to visit Laurel about it. But if it's happening to all of us...”
“It can only mean one thing.” Grim certainty steeled Reed's features. “The Tree of Mindala is dying.”
Q~ Are you planning anything after The Triad of the Tree? How many installments are you planning for the Wunderwood series, or have you decided yet?
Currently, I've planned four total installments, but that's not written in stone. I'm having so much fun with the characters that I don't really want to think about a time when they'll be “done”.
Q~ Do you have any words of wisdom to live by that you’d like to share with us today?
"Do what makes you happy as often as you can, whether it be in your professional life or your personal life. Now more than ever, I'm a big believer that if you make room in your life for something that is fulfilling, the happiness that you get from it will carry over into every aspect of your life. That's not just a gift to yourself, but to everyone else as well."Connect with Elle online:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6547901.Elle_Jacklee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elle.jacklee
Twitter: @ellejacklee
Thanks so much for joining us here today Elle and I look forward to reading more of the Wunderwood series.
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