Waterspell-The Warlock by Deborah J. Lightfoot Review/Q&A/Giveaway!

Date Published: November 2011

Synopsis:

          "Drawn into the schemes of an angry wizard, Carin glimpses the place she once called home. It lies upon a shore that seems unreachable. To learn where she belongs and how to get there, the teenage traveler must decipher the words of an alien book, follow the clues in a bewitched poem, conjure a dragon from a pool of magic -- and tread carefully around a seductive but volatile, emotionally scarred sorcerer who can't seem to decide whether to love her or kill her."

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Review:

I absolutely loved The Warlock. It was extremely intriguing and wonderfully written. The descriptions/details were vivid and imaginative. The charcters were fun and interesting. I was hooked right away and loved that I couldnt predict what was to come next. The only thing that I didnt like was the cliffhanger ending! Im not a cliffhanger fan at all, however I enjoyed this beautiful book enough that I can't wait to read more.

5 out of 5 stars!  Highly recommend to young adults and older- especially to anyone who loves fantasy and Lewis Caroll!

Author Bio:

Castles in the cornfield provided the setting for Deborah J. Lightfoot’s earliest flights of fancy. On her father’s farm in West Texas, she grew up reading extraordinary tales of adventure and reenacting them behind tall ramparts of sun-drenched corn. She left the farm to earn a bachelor of science degree in journalism and write award-winning books of history and biography, including The LH7 Ranch (University of North Texas Press) and Trail Fever (William Morrow, New York). High on her Bucket List was the desire to try her hand at the genre she most admired. The result is WATERSPELL, a complex, intricately detailed fantasy that begins with Book 1: The Warlock and Book 2: The Wysard, and concludes (for the present) with Book 3: The Wisewoman. But a legal pad filled with notes and tucked away in a desk drawer suggests a possible Book 4 before the saga may fairly be said to be finished.

Deborah is a professional member of The Authors Guild. She and her husband live in the country south of Fort Worth, Texas. Find her online at www.waterspell.net.

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Q & A with author Deborah J. Lightfoot

Hi Deborah, Thank you so much for interviewing with me today.

 Thank you, Brianne, for hosting this stop on my book tour and for the great interview questions!

 Can you tell us a little about yourself?

 I’m a country girl. Grew up on a farm in West Texas and studied journalism at a land-grant university. Except for a brief time right after college, I’ve never lived in a city. My husband and I have a few acres outside town, close enough to drive in for shopping but far enough away to feel rural. About the only time I willingly become part of a crowd is during the State Fair of Texas!

What inspired you to be an author?

Growing up in a semi-isolated rural environment, I read a lot. Books brought me the world. And more. In the pages of books I toured distant galaxies and traveled through time. The first book I bought with my own money was Daybreak 2250 A.D. by Andre Norton. Cover price: 60 cents. I loved Norton’s science-fiction and fantasy novels but also devoured classics like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, all things Poe, and of course The Lord of the Rings.

 In college I majored in wildlife science and didn’t make the switch to journalism until my junior year. My first job after graduation was as a copyeditor for a Texas newspaper. It took me a while to work up the courage to try my hand at the genre I most admired: fantasy. I really wanted to write an intricate, multilayered trilogy. The three books of WATERSPELL took me more than a decade. I had to re-educate myself as a writer.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I make my living as an editor for a national nonprofit organization, working on projects that tend to be long and complicated. They take serious concentration and attention to detail. To rest my work-bruised brain, I like long walks in the woods. I’ve been on nearly every hiking trail in every nature preserve or state park within driving distance. Most times, I take along a camera. Nature photography is a hobby. Not that I’m particularly skilled at it, but I enjoy capturing the great outdoors in pictures. You can see a couple of shots from the Big Thicket of East Texas on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Waterspell

 My husband and I like to travel to beautiful places in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and England. We also like movies when we can find time to watch.

 What project are you working on now?

My work in progress is called “Out of Mind.” It’s a story of the paranormal set in the American West of the far future. Eventually, too, there may be a WATERSPELL Book 4. I’m mulling over the threads from the trilogy that could weave a framework for a fourth book.

What is the best writing advice you can give?

JUST WRITE IT! I can’t tell you how much time I wasted, tinkering with Chapter One of Book One. Looking back on it, I see how the editorial half of my mind kept intruding itself into the creative process. A rough draft should be just that: Rough. But my editor mindset kept wanting to polish up the draft. I was tripping over myself at the beginning. But finally I forced myself to move ahead. For me, “Just Write It” meant finishing Book One, then Two, and eventually Three. THEN came the time to go back through and give the whole saga a deep, detailed, painstaking edit.

 I’ve known other writers who got hung up on Page One of Chapter One. They kept worrying that they weren’t doing it “right.” Over time, I’ve come to realize that the first draft doesn’t need to be anywhere NEAR right. The important thing is to write the story. Just capture the idea. The words of the first draft may be only a rough approximation. That’s fine! It’s only possible to rewrite and revise a book that EXISTS, however roughly. A book that doesn’t yet exist because the writer can’t manage to “Just Write It” is a book with no future.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

 Blue Bell’s Banana Split: sliced bananas, crushed pineapple, diced maraschino cherries and roasted almonds in vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and chocolate sundae sauce. To die for!!!

Thanks, Brianne, for a fun interview.

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DISCLOSURE –
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*