SeaHeart

I had to change the name of The Flower Witch to something...that wasn't that. I'm also working on a book titled Rose Witch, and it was just way too close--Rose Witch is by Sarah and The Flower Witch is by Elora, and I just didn't want to be confusing to people. So then, if I changed the name, I had to change the cover because the name didn't go with the cover at all.

So this is where Exalted comes in. Jenn came up with the name, which I absolutely love, since the book is very much for her (our mutual obsession of angels knows no bounds).

Exalted is such a wonderful little book. Giving up (for now) on Ragged was one of the most painful things I've ever done, and I'm still frustrated at myself about it. So I needed something, coming off of not-actually-working-on-Ragged that would be gentle to write (not any Angst McAngsterton going on--that can come later after I'm done feeling crappy), that I would enjoy writing immensely. Tara can tell when the book I've worked on came easily or was painful, and told me once that the coming-easily books are lovely things of their own merit--not everything has to be Epic! Book! Of! All! Time! Some stories are only meant to be small and quiet and beautiful and touching and that's enough.

So, Exalted...I think it's one of the most emotional/diving-deep things I've ever written. Shiva's death and my own struggle with Ragged and other things move under the surface like a shadow, and I'm so happy with how the story is turning out, how the writing is going, how the characters are interacting with each other. It's a very difficult story, on one level. You have these three characters: Sophia, the girl whose father died, who must give away flowers to strangers; Elial, the Exalted (an angel), who took her father's spirit, who has been searching for millenia for someone to love; and Zoe, the dumpster diving anarchist who was supposed to fall in love with Sophia, whose fate line Elial stole. Elial is, by far, the most sympathetic character, even though you love Zoe. Zoe and Sophia feel nothing for each other (yet), because Elial stole the line that connected the two together. In this story, Exalted don't have souls, and--therefore--cannot have connections like normal mortals can. Elial "sinned" by moving that thread of fate, and guilt is consuming her. What part of free will plays in falling in love, and what part is destiny, and what part is attraction and what part is a connection to something greater? Elial has no soul, and should not be able to fall in love, but she has fallen in love with Sophia, a girl she will eventually never be able to have.

And, if it is found out that Elial moved the threads of fate, she will be Cast Out forever.

Sophia is filled with pain over her father's death, angry that flowers keep being delivered, angry that he's gone, angry that he got her to promise an almost impossible deed. Every morning, no matter how she's feeling, she must get dressed and give away the flowers. She's trying to heal, but sadness and anger keep getting in the way, and--in all of this--Elial appears.

It's such a sad story, such a heart-full story, and I'm so grateful I'm writing it now, that I got the idea for it now. It's exactly what I needed, and I hope that others enjoy it as much as I am creating it. <3

( An Excerpt: the Wreck and the Meeting )

Now tea and ice cream and working on some pretties for the Fable Tribe with my very warm my-bath-was-much-too-hot wife. <333333