Wild Geese Flying + Plenilune Cover Reveal

#dailyjoyfulness

"All men--all peoples--rise in the east like the sun, and follow the sun westward. That is as sure as night follows day, and no more to be checked and turned again than the wild geese in their autumn flighting."

- The Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff

Though through the wind-blown passage of time, like the wild geese flying away in the sky, acute moments of pleasure, and joy as well as grief and sadness grow more dim and vague over time, and yet there is a whole host of memories to treasure and soak up as well. I have always longed to be a recorder of such memories, through little gleams and iridescent scratchings of my pen, halting though they may be. And though I am not able to always write up such memories faithfully as they happen, I should like to share them by and by on Fullness of Joy with you all. So here are a few things, a few updates, both happy and sorrowful. Yet all filled with the Lord's comfort and strength! 

Last week, my grandma (Dad's mum) passed away, after many years of illness and suffering. Dad, Mum, and my sisters and I will miss her so much! But now she's with the Lord Jesus in rest, in His Arms of healing and joy, and be with Him is far better, and that gives joy to us as a family in the sadness of her passing; and trusting that one day, we'll see her in Heaven is something we look forward to very much. The Lord is indeed a wonderful Comforter! Also, it has been really touching, with the encouragement He has given to us through the support and condolences of sweet friends. Thank you all, very much! 

For a more happy memory, back in July of this year, our family went on a three-week trip to England, staying over in London, Oxford and Cambridge throughout the course of our stay; it was such a memorable, rich and joyful time and I can't wait to share with you on my blog soon more about what we did while we were there, along with a load of photos! It might take a while to write and upload the photos though, as my computer is rather slow-loading, and also I am quite pressed for time these days with lots of school-work and such. But anyway, without exacting any promises, I shall definitely try to come up with a few stories and photos of our time in Britain for you to enjoy :).

And on a totally random note - I have started driving. 

permission to freak out on my behalf given.

Also, I am trying to stay calm trying to finish some twenty-something PACE's before the end of November; enjoying perfecting my violin pieces into great pieces of music while pressing on with E melodic minor scales and fine tuning octaves and thirds; still scrubbing pans; furthermore I'm thinking of participating in NaNoWriMo again this year as "a certain glee has overtaken me to write", you know? I have just finished the first three "Love Comes Softly" books by Janette Oke, which I enjoyed surprisingly well. Now I am reading "The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ" by J. G. Ballet, "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot, and "Lantern Bearers" by Rosemary Sutcliff.

Speaking of books, I have something rather special to share with you all today. Ever since I first met her and her sister Abigail through their blogs, Jennifer Freitag-- or Jenny as her friends mostly love to call her-- author of the historical novel, The Shadow Things, has had a great influence on me as a writer over the past few years, and in the way she's inspired me (as well as many other young writers) to view words and stories, faith and literature in a totally rich and meaningful way. I'd be fibbing to say I've always agreed with her point-of-view on some points, but the stuff I have learnt from her on the art and glory of stories and a faith-inspired worldview that colours one's tales with glory and beauty has far outweighed those points, I can tell you! To Jenny, I owe her my love of Rosemary Sutcliff (who has become a favourite historical-fiction author), Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Tales of Goldstone Wood series (which is a favourite modern fantasy series for me), and a growing interest in ancient legends and mythology (born initially from Tolkien and Lewis' stories). I can well remember the lengthy comments I used to leave on her Penslayer blog asking her about the topic of faith in fantasy, and the element of magic in myths and fairy-stories. Some of the things Jenny would share helped me grasp the difference between "recapturing the wonder" of life in a way that brings back glory to God, versus a twisted pagan form of sorcery and worshiping the created rather than the creator in modern fantasy stories. Another thing that I have learnt, though not exclusively, from Jenny was through her encouragement that I should read and educate myself in reading different books of  philosophy and history; ignorance is rarely a virtue! I think what I have most enjoyed and learnt though in knowing Jenny has been through her own writings, and seeing through snippets of her own novels "in-the-making" how she puts to practice those things, and writes with a rare golden pen and blaze of flaming colour stories of battle, legend, glory, suffering, blood, crowns and faith. For a long time, we readers of The Penslayer blog have been reading glimpses of her "planetary fantasy" books with bated breath, eager for the actual, whole live thing. . . 

And now, finally, we can all get this chance! Plenilune, the first in her planetary fantasy series is coming out on the 20th of October, and today we actually get to see the cover-reveal! 

I actually really love this cover - it is both intriguing and pleasing to the eye and while mythological and grim-of-face with the flames and helm on the woman's head, I have to say that I appreciate that the cover is not overly dark or improper. I would have been disappointed if it was; instead it captures something of the ancient legends in the woman's upright stance, in the shield by her, and the flowing leaf-branch on her shoulder that makes me want to read this book so much. And to match this wonderful cover, here is what Plenilune seems to be about. . . 

The fate of Plenilune hangs on the election of the Overlord, for which Rupert de la Mare and his brother are the only contenders, but when Rupert’s unwilling bride-to-be uncovers his plot to murder his brother, the conflict explodes into civil war.

To assure the minds of the lord-electors of Plenilune that he has some capacity for humanity, Rupert de la Mare has been asked to woo and win a lady before he can become the Overlord, and he will do it—even if he has to kidnap her.
En route to Naples to catch a suitor, Margaret Coventry was not expecting a suitor to catch her.

I am definitely looking forward to owning and reading Jennifer Freitag's novel, Plenilune, come the release date - if the reviews are anything to go by, it will be well-worth being penslayed yet again by Mrs. Freitag!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

JENNIFER FREITAG lives with her husband in a house they call Clickitting, with their two cats Minnow and Aquila, and their own fox kit due to be born in early December.  Jennifer writes in no particular genre because she never learned how, she is make of sparks like Boys of Blur, and if she could grasp the elements, she would bend them like lightning.  Until then, she sets words on fire.

Living with her must be excruciating

Plenilune

by Jennifer Freitag

October 20tth

Author blog // "What is planetary fantasy?" post // Goodreads Page

Stay tuned for an interview with Jennifer Freitag on Fullness of Joy on the 9th of October!