Dear Dreamwalkers. The path is hard right now. Many of us are brokenhearted, even as we come together to work for justice, to march, and do our part. Like many creatives, I also know it’s time for seekers to speak. One of the ways writers respond to crises is through story. In my own journey in this time of great social upheaval, when it feels as if the world is breaking apart under our feet, I kept thinking about the worlds breaking in The Dragons of Noor. The story seemed to speak to the troubles now even more than when it was first published with Egmont USA in 2010.
For now:
The forests are burning and threatened.
We need to solve old problems in novel ways.
We need to learn how to find allies in surprising places

The Offering
Since The Dragons of Noor was published in Hardback only, and it’s difficult to get copies now, I decided to offer the book to a new generation of readers in paperback and e-book form. I went to work to do just that with the help of Lyra Cupala, intrepid assistant and cover designer.

The new e-book and paperback version will be out this month.
Some will read The Dragons of Noor as an adventure.
Music lovers will love the role music plays in the mending of the worlds.
Mystery lovers will ask: Why are the worlds breaking apart? Why are the forests falling? Why is the Wild Wind stealing children and blowing them across the sea?

For others, the story might offer a glimmer of hope–a new way of seeing.

What it Offered Me
I never reread my published books because I’m always on to the next story and the next. This was the first time in 25 years I’ve reread my own work, and much of it surprised me. I’d forgotten quite a bit of the tale. The characters and the world stayed with me, as they always do, but some of the subtler messages hidden in the book hit me afresh.

Bear with me. This post explores what stories can do for you, how they can touch you, and change you. This can and will happen to you through some story at some unexpected time. It’s buried treasure for the soul, and it’s the main reason I return to my favorite authors and their books for sustenance again and again.

I did not expect my own story to hit me hard years later, but it did.
As I revised the book (I couldn’t republish it without tweaking it some, a common failing among authors) I reread a scene between Hanna and Evver. Evver was Hanna’s mentor on a challenging journey into unknown lands, but he could not continue on with her. His parting words to her were:

There’ve been a number of farewells in my life recently, the hardest of all being the death of my middle son, Sean.

Evver’s last words to Hanna felt like a prophecy given to my younger self, foreshadowing the difficulties I was about to face.

You have far and far to go to find the light beyond the dark

Revising the passage, I broke down and dug out my journal from the year I wrote The Dragons of Noor. I’d written many scenes in Children’s Hospital while my youngest son, Joshua, was having surgery. In the journal, I saw the beginnings of the struggles to come.

In the scene with Evver, I was telling myself that life was going to be challenging, and things would be hard for a long time. I was telling myself:
Feel the ground beneath your feet as you walk.
Heart to root, remember the ones who hold you up.

I would need to stay grounded. I would have people and Spirit helping me.
Some part of me saw what was ahead. Some part of me knew.

But to be honest, I tended to forget the second half of the message, trying too often to be heroic and handle things on my own. I often forgot to look around and see the ones who held me up. Of course, they were there, I just had blinders on. I still have a way to go with that part.

More to Be Revealed
I went into more detail about this in Katherine Grace Bond’s Free Master Class series for Writers and Creatives: How Do I Go on Creating When the World is on Fire? (Interviews with authors, artists, and publishing professionals. With craft and reflective exercises to rekindle your imagination as a tool for justice.)

You can view any or all of these sessions free using the link below:
“Hope Through Humor” with author/illustrator Dana Sullivan.
“Welcoming the Stranger” with agent/editor Chip MacGregor.
“Shelter in the Storm” with author Joni Sensel.
“A Bridge to What Can Be” with author and speaker, Gloria Burgess.
“Things We Don’t Like” with author/illustrator Kevan Atteberry.
“The Fences Between Us” with Newbery author, Kirby Larsen.
“Let the Story Speak” with Janet Lee Carey.

My session looks at how our stories speak to us and gives viewers a chance to play with ideas in “Message in a Bottle,” writing game, where you’ll have the opportunity to ask, “What message does the story have for my future self? Or for future readers?”

Click this link to join and view these inspiring Seven Master Classes

Please Note: This is a part of a series you can view at your convenience. When you click the link, you will receive several confirmation emails.
*First, an “Important” email, which will give you a free book.
*Then you’ll receive a “Welcome” email, providing the link to Enter the Zoom classes, which you can watch at any time that’s right for you. (Don’t skip that step, because it’s what gets those Zoom links sent to you automatically so you can watch the sessions.)

Until next time, Dreamwalkers. Walk well.

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