I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Wendy D. Walter. Wendy is a fellow member of California Writers Club, San Francisco/Peninsula Branch. Be sure to enter her contest for a free copy of Ambril’s Tale: Return of the Dullaith. There are also grand prizes. See the details listed below. Congratulations on your novel, Wendy! 12/6/12 Guest Post from Ambril’s Tale, Return of the Dullaith Stumbling on Wellies and my Welsh heritage A few years back, I was aimlessly zipping around the internet, looking for a good book to keep me out of trouble, when I stumbled upon a genealogy site. It claimed that in just a few clicks, my true heritage would be revealed. I laughed…but of course I had to try it. I was shocked when, with just a few clicks, I really did find myself back in a small Welsh village, where my ancestors had stumped around in Wellies, and whatever came before Wellies, for nearly 500 years. It was a little place, a village called Trelawnyd. I expect if you’re European or Asian, ancestral roots that go that deep might be a yawn. But for me, a child born of the American melting pot, it was intoxicating. Suddenly, I had history, a heritage! I giddily began researching all things Welsh: rain, sheep, their obsession with consonants, rain and, of course, my ancient ancestors, the Celts. Move over Lion King The Great Tree of Life, the Celt’s version of the Lion King, popped up almost immediately. A Celtic saying, As above, so below, conveys the balance of nature, by using a tree with its branches and roots entwined as its symbol. It resonated with me. I tried to imagine what a village, filled with people who looked like my stodgy grandfather would feel like. I knew, first hand, how tough it would be for a sunny Californian like me to move to a tiny Welsh village. Not knowing the customs or politics, how long before I put a foot wrong and was barred from the one and only pub in town? I wouldn’t last a week. Having weathered a move from California to Utah as a kid, I knew something about how it felt to suddenly find that, overnight, you were suddenly perceived as some sort of alien creature. And I remembered how much it had hurt when I changed everything about myself, just to fit in. A Village called Trelawnyd Slowly, the concept of building a story around that long ago move, with a nod to my ancestors, started to gel. In Ambril’s Tale, Return of the Dullaith, Ambril moves from San Francisco to a village in the middle of nowhere, and struggles to unlock the mystery of her heritage. Ambril’s family crest is a version of the Great Tree of Life. Her friends’ names, Ygg Drasil and Sully, (short for Iramsul), are names also used for the Great Tree of Life. And where does Ambril’s Tale take place? You guessed it; it all takes place in a small, fictional village of Trelawnyd, California. Ambril’s Facebook page Wendy D. Walter on Twitter Ambril’s Tale, Return of the Dullaith on Amazon Some of the Illustrations for Book One are available here: About Ambril’s Tale, The Return of the Dullaith Fourteen-year-old, Ambril struggles with the mystery surrounding her father’s death when she moves back to the mysterious town where she was born. When she accidentally uncovers a secret which threatens to destroy her entire family, she continues her quest, against all odds, to clear her father’s name. But will she be able to claim her magic and and heal the rifts in her family? Ambril’s Tale, The Return of the Dullaith has received great 4-5-star reviews. Readers are impatiently demanding Book Two, which will be out early Spring 2013. At each blog stop on her tour, Wendy is giving away a prize, a copy of one of her books (paperback or e-book). You can also enter her 12-12-12 Grand Prize Giveaway of a sterling silver pendant of the Tree of Life, and an End-of-Tour Grand Prize Giveaway of a hand-painted gnome, hand-painted by Wendy herself! There will also be some surprise giveaways along the way! Stay tuned! 1) To win a book: leave a comment on this blog post about what you like about trees to be entered to win a copy of Ambril’s Tale: The Return of the Dullaith in paperback or e-book format. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends five days after the post goes live. 2) To win one of the Grand Prizes: Click the link to go to Wendy’s website and enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the page. A winner will be selected on Dec. 12th for the 12-12-12 for the sterling silver pendant of the Tree of Life. Here’s Wendy’s site: http://wendydwalter.com/blog-tour/. About The Author: Wendy D. Walter Writing was an early passion for Wendy. As a kid, she wrote lots of stories, but being shy, they usually ended up under the mattress. When she finally set out to tell Ambril’s Tale, she decided not to write a story but a world, full with her own marvelous illustrations. She considers The Return of the Dullaith as just the curly tip of the fairy boot. Wendy lives near San Francisco with her husband, daughters, cat and border collie. For more information about Wendy’s book and art, check her site: http://wendydwalter.com. http://www.amazon.com/Ambrils-Tale-Return-Dullaith-ebook/dp/B008EALE3A/ https://www.facebook.com/ambrilstale http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6472928.Wendy_D_Walter
Wendy D. Walter
written and illustrated by Wendy D. Walter
Wendy’s Facebook page
Wendy’s blog: WendyDWalter.com
Ambril’s Tale, Return of the Dullaith at Barnes and Noble
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Laurel Anne Hill Welcomes Wendy D. Walter (Author of “Ambril’s Tale: Return of the Dullaith”)
(From Laurel Anne Hill, author of the award-winning novel, Heroes Arise.)
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