The Inquisitive Inkpot
Exploring Tales and the Art of Telling
Creative Projects: the more, the merrier?
Creative projects are like children: the more there are, the harder it is to keep track of them all.
For artists, this often leads to a physical mess, where the materials for their various creative projects get all mixed up or scattered around the house. But for writers, the mess often remains inside. All of the ongoing projects might stay segregated in their respective notebooks, but the creative juices are all trapped inside the same brain.
Is this dangerous?
I ask this as someone who always has more than one idea at a time. When I was little, you could always find multiple notebooks at varying stages of “full,” wherein lay stories about everything from talking dogs to princesses. Fast forward a couple of decades, and you find me still brewing up simultaneous creative projects of vastly different genres. You may not find anything about talking dogs, but you will find plenty about talking socks. And princesses.
There is a degree to which everyone thrives in their own element. For some, handwriting fuels their creativity. For others, the convenient editing of a computer enables them to write better. Night owls usually write better at night. Morning people… well, they’re just weird.
But is there anything harmful about entertaining multiple creative projects side-by-side?
Does hopping from one to another prevent the author from completely immersing in any one of them? Or does the variety enable the author to approach each project with fresh eyes every time?
While I cannot answer this question for all of you reading this, I can offer you my perspective.
Here are some reasons why I have found simultaneous creative projects feasible and perhaps even beneficial.
1) The burden of an incomplete project has often stunted the development of other, younger ideas.
Think of it as parenting. Say you have one child in middle school and another in preschool. If you spend all of your energy stressing out over the middle schooler’s drama, you are not going to be available to your preschooler, who is in a phase of critical development. But nor can you abandon the middle schooler to their own devices and focus entirely on the preschooler.
This analogy breaks down of course, because you can never actually place a child on the backburner to be picked up later. The child inevitably suffers. But some ideas and projects can be stowed safely in a folder until you have more time for them, and they might turn out no worse for wear. The danger is assuming that a tender, green idea will keep fresh while you spend months and years on more pressing projects.
2) Variety prevents burnout.
There are times when I simply need to put my nose to the grindstone and power through an obstacle. Walking away in these moments is nothing short of laziness. But there are other times when a roadblock resists brute force, and I need to think my way around it. The trouble is that a writer’s rut can often blind him/her to the path around the obstacle.
This is when you need a break. For some, taking a break might mean spending the next week binge-watching a show or going for long, extended walks somewhere new. It might mean actually resurfacing in society (golly, we writers are good at that disappearing trick!). Or… for some… it might mean tinkering with a new idea that’s been brewing in the back of your mind.
Mind you, I say tinkering. The moment we transfer our primary attention to a new project, we run the risk of leaving the first one by the wayside altogether.
The practice of nurturing multiple projects at once comes with some caveats—mainly that we risk losing focus and eventually losing interest in the original mission.
Depending on how your brain works, you might also run the risk of overlapping the two projects in a detrimental way. If you’re writing two vastly different stories, you don’t want your characters in one to start sounding like the characters in the other. Nor (as in my case) do you want the narration of your medieval Scandinavian novel to start rhyming or using alliteration like the children’s book you’re simultaneously working on!
Although the efficacy of multitasking is generally doubtful, I do think it’s possible to juggle a couple of creative projects without either of them suffering—depending on how you as a creator work…
As long as we don’t adopt the habit of abandoning half-finished projects for the allure of a new one!
How do you prefer to tackle projects? Do you require complete focus in order to finish a project, or are you able to handle more than one at a time?
What are some caveats or benefits that you see in taking on multiple projects at once?
A New Year, a New You?
The beginning of a new year always brings an onslaught of resolutions, goals, and promises.
It’s as if people think that the new year is somehow going to be “the one” in which they actualize their potential and fulfill their wildest dreams (or create a five-step plan to make that happen). It’s true that 2020 has been a wild ride, but how is the numerical change of “20” to “21” going to transform the world? I keep hearing folks say, “I can’t wait for 2020 to be over,” as if the mere page-turning of a calendar brings about a fresh, new world. If only…
Let me clarify: there’s nothing wrong with goals. In fact, without vision for the future, we will never achieve anything! But whether or not you jump on the annual bandwagon of New Year’s resolutions, we can all agree on one thing: the end of a year is a good time for introspection. I’m not here to suggest we avoid taking personal inventory—I’m here to suggest that we often take inventory of the wrong things.
We live in a world driven by numbers, figures, and results.
We measure our success by how many pounds we lose. How many miles we can run. How many dollars we profit. How many followers we acquire. How many books we publish. How many contests we win.
What we lose sight of is the fact that each of these achievements requires only a limited scope of character traits. You don’t have to be generous to lose weight—you just have to be self-controlled. You don’t have to be humble to run a marathon—you just have to be diligent. You don’t have to be honest to exceed last year’s profits—you just have to be strategic. You don’t have to be genuine to gain followers—you just have to be interesting. You don’t have to be skilled to publish books—you just have to be resourceful.
Please consider these questions with me:
Are you really better off if you lose that weight by adopting an eating disorder?
Are you really better off if you train for that race at the expense of family time?
Are you really better off if you rake in the cash by doing some under-the-table deals?
Are you really better off if you sacrifice your honest opinions in order to reach a broader audience?
If we only measure the value of each year by the number of boxes we checked off, we are missing out on the most crucial aspect of our lives: our character.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we are all characters. We all have a character arc. We all either grow or decline within the course of a year. And the beginning of a new year is a great time to ask ourselves which of these we did over the last year.
When we’re “in the thick of it,” it can be hard to see whether we’re getting better or getting worse. Challenges, trials, and setbacks all have a way of making us question whether we’re really getting anywhere at all. And for some of us, we are still in the thick of it by the turn of the new year. It’s not as if all of last year’s problems have dissolved because we’ve reached January. But we all fight multiple battles each year, and even if the outcome of one battle is still pending, we can still take stock of the smaller ones and ask ourselves how we’ve grown.
How has our perspective changed over the last year?
Have we become more cynical?
Have we developed a healthy skepticism?
Have we stepped outside our comfort zone or withdrawn into ourselves?
Have we become more grateful or more greedy?
These questions are definitely harder to answer than the ones about tangible goals. It’s harder to assess your character than your bankbook. It’s harder to assess your heart than the number on the scale. But one of these can be taken from you, while the other cannot. One of these will pervade the entirety of your life, while the other is confined to one aspect of your life.
So by all means, let’s set goals and try to accomplish them. Let’s celebrate the achievement of a resolution! But more importantly, let’s celebrate the ways in which our integrity, compassion, and discernment have grown—whether as a result of or in spite of our New Year’s resolutions.
Humility: Sharing the Stage of Life
Humility is not in vogue.
It’s not chic. It’s not on fleak. Everyone wants to talk about pride, but no one wants to talk about humility. This is nothing new.
I think part of this is because many have a flawed definition of humility. So let’s start there first.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
C.S. Lewis
This definition is absolutely brilliant, because it gets to the heart of the problem that plagues every one of us in one way or another—the problem of pride.
Yes, I called pride a problem.
Now to be clear, pride in your work is not the problem. We should work hard and be pleased when our diligence pays off. Nor is pride in another person the problem. We should delight in those we love and celebrate their success and growth.
Pride is a problem when our view of self eclipses our view of others or of our Maker.
This is what Lewis was getting at.
It is not self-confidence that leads us to forget our place in the world, but self-obsession. This obsession is nothing short of toxic. (Now there’s a vogue word!) It is toxic because it leads to a number of failures that we can all identify in our lives in one way or another.
We fail to meet needs around us. We fail to build meaningful relationships. We fail to share our resources. We fail to build any kind of legacy that transcends our own name. We fail to point people upward.
In short, we fail to invest in anything that doesn’t directly revolve around us.
“Well,” you say, “isn’t this a literary blog?”
“What does humility have to do with writing?”
I’m glad you asked.
Every story has characters. And every character has objectives. Every character has desires. And every character has needs. Sometimes the desires and needs of different characters come into conflict. Some characters have noble desires, some have selfish desires. And some have both.
We are all this last type of character.
The beauty of a story, though, never comes from just one character. Rather, it arises from the harmony, and often disharmony, of many characters alternately persisting, resisting, submitting, and committing to their own interests or the interests of one another. Whether they like it or not, they do not operate in a vacuum. One character may take center stage more often than the others, but there would be no meaningful story if he or she never acknowledged the presence of his counterparts.
We miss out when we are too preoccupied with ourselves to see the grandeur of the bigger picture.
I am prone to think of my life as a narrative in which I am the main character. Now that is pride, isn’t it? Sure, we can all feel like protagonists at times, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that—unless we interpret the rest of reality in terms of ourselves. We assess people’s worth by what they can give us, as “the protagonist.” We view others as minor characters in the backdrop of our all-important lives, and so we construct a universe in which everything and everyone is eternally orbiting around us… except it’s not eternal, because each of us will one day die. We tend to think of our death as “the end of the story.”
If the last several years have taught me nothing else, it is that life is not about me. It is not about any one person on this earth. And our desperate attempts to build a world that revolves around us are sad signs of misunderstood purpose. There is One around Whom everything does, in fact, revolve—but none of us are Him. So rather than trying to steal the show and play the lead role, we would do well to remember that we are all part of a much bigger narrative that has been unfolding long before we came on the scene, and will continue unfolding after we exit the stage.
We would do well to share the stage of life.
Sometimes that means spending time helping another person become their best, instead of always trying to look your best. Sometimes that means giving up an opportunity for self-advancement in order to serve someone else. Sometimes that means giving credit to someone else, rather than basking in the affirmation.
What does practical humility look like for you?
WWII and Humanity at its Worst
It seems every filmmaker wants a crack at WWII.
Considering its historical significance and high moral stakes, it makes sense that people still have a taste for dramas centered on its events. The challenge for writers is to find a fresh angle on such an already well-covered topic.
I used to think the topic of WWII had been exhausted, that nothing new could come from a story set during this timeframe. But every now and then, I find a book or film that contributes to the canon of WWII stories—instead of simply repeating it.
My latest such discovery was the British series “Island at War,” released in 2004.
What immediately sets “Island at War” apart from other WWII films is its unfamiliar territory, in the most literal sense.
The entire story takes place on the fictitious Island of St Gregory in the English Channel during the German onslaught against Great Britain. This arrested my attention instantly. Think about it: we’ve seen and read countless stories about WWII from the perspective of mainland Europe, of Great Britain, of Germany, of the Jews, and of America—but seldom do we hear about anyone who fell inbetween. “Island at War” gives us a believable glimpse of what German occupation meant for the thousands of real-life islanders who found themselves somewhere “inbetween.”
Anyone who has seen the classic WWII films probably thinks every German invasion happened with guns blazing. That’s what I incorrectly expected to witness at the beginning of this series, especially after the initial air raid. But after the harbor bombing scene, in which we see the effects on three islander families, things go eerily civil. Yes, the Germans land and begin repurposing buildings and homes, but with none of the violence that defines our historical recollection of Hitler’s Germans. Along with the English protagonists, we experience a strange blend of indignance and relief: indignance at the presumption of the invaders in confiscating houses and shops, and yet relief that things are not worse.
This conflict of emotions set the stage for an incredibly human portrayal of the people on both sides of the war.
The dynamic between one German officer, Lieutenant Walker, and a German Jew, Zelda, fascinated me the most. We have seen similar relationships depicted in films like Schindler’s List. Think of the power Amon Goeth, a German officer, holds over his Jewish house servant. While his fascination with Helen is not necessarily romantic, Goeth finds her interesting enough to keep alive—despite knowing she is a Jew. He even debates with himself the possibility of her human dignity, in one of the most brilliant monologues I have ever seen. And yet he persuades himself that her status as a Jew justifies his routine cruelty towards her, making his interest in her more pathological than genuine.
What’s different about the German soldiers in Island at War is the range of human emotions they display. Fear. Pride. Lust. Compassion. Courage. Grief. Uncertainty. Guilt. While not equally expressed by all characters, these feelings and drives show up in unexpected ways that make even the bad guys seem human. Take Lieutenant Walker for example: he proudly touts his abhorrence for Jews, having bought into the racist propaganda of the Nazi Party. And yet he becomes enamored with an islander girl named Zelda, who has managed to conceal her Jewish identity. As Zelda rebuffs his constant romantic overtures, Lieutenant Walker becomes increasingly determined to win her over (although it is clear that he ultimately wants to get her in bed, as he does with most other women). Without even trying, Zelda gains power over him. He even appears to respect her for it, conceding that he will be content to simply “get to know her better.” For a moment, we see a flicker of nobility in him.
But when he discovers her Jewish heritage, he races to reveal his knowledge to her—all the while assuring her that her secret is safe with him. I confess I did not expect this reaction. I fully expected him to fly into Amon Goeth mode, beating her and dragging her off to the authorities. Instead, though, he compels her to sleep with him—promising that he will not reveal her secret, but that he needs something in return.
This makes him even more despicable, of course, but in a surprisingly human way.
Even when he realizes this beautiful woman is a Jew, the Nazi propaganda cannot make her less attractive. He cannot, like Goeth, throw aside his interest (albeit a base interest) and consider her unworthy of his advances. Neither does he turn violent. Instead, he very gently (albeit insidiously) manipulates Zelda into compliance. Although his actions are still abusive, they testify to his human passions and desires—and his inability to deny Zelda’s humanity.
There are other Germans in the series that model more noble human emotions and behavior. What is unique about Lieutenant Walker’s character is it shows that to “be human” is not always a good thing. We sometimes speak of an enemy “being human” as if that inherently makes them better. Well, in some ways, it can. But in other cases, it is those human drives that lead people in power to exploit one another. To trample on those more helpless than themselves, while rationalizing it. Perhaps these are the real psychopaths.
Parents aren’t that Stupid
As someone whose parents usually knew best, I have to wonder why cinema often depicts parents as stupid.
In fact, this bothered my parents quite a bit. I remember many a movie that my dad paused in order to explain to six-year-old Shiloh and her brother that we should never do what the youngsters in the film were doing—namely, disobeying them. It didn’t matter that we were unlikely to ever run away from home or light the toilet paper on fire. The point of these mid-movie pontifications was to remind us that disobedience in any form was not a good idea.
What’s shocking, though, is that the movies consistently make disobedience look like the best—in fact, the only—solution. How many movies have you seen where the parents explicitly forbid the children from doing something, and that something winds up being the only action that can save the world. Wow, what are the odds?!
This bothered me, too, as a kid. From experience, I knew that things did not generally turn out well when I went behind my parents’ back or defied them openly. So it made very little sense to me that the kids in movies always got away with backtalk and rebellion—and were in fact praised for it in the end!
In reality, most normal kids I knew would have gotten into huge trouble, or would have wreaked disaster on themselves by disobeying. But the kids in movies always got off the hook and even received apologies from their parents for trying to tell them what to do.
Why?
Because in the movies, parents have the most to learn.
It is Mom and Dad who, after their child has prevented some catastrophe, admit to their child that they were wrong for establishing rules. For enforcing those rules. For disciplining their children for breaking those rules. For, you know, parenting.
If kids in real life were half as smart as the kids in those movies, then some of those rules might not be necessary. But the fact is, your average preteen is not *in fact* a literal rocket scientist. Chances are your seventeen-year-old son’s driving skills are not better than yours. And most adults would have a better shot at diffusing a bomb than an eleven-year-old. But it’s the movies! Adults can’t possibly know more than their offspring!
It’s almost a wonder these fictitious parents even survived long enough to reproduce. Anyone that oblivious would have been eliminated from the gene pool! There are too many examples to go into detail, but if you’ve seen classics like Back to the Future, E.T., and even Shiloh—or any number of popular films featuring adolescents, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If the corresponding intelligence levels of adults and children in movies represented reality, the human race would have died off long ago.
Instead, we have a collection of entertaining films that teach kids never to listen to their parents. I find this rather unfortunate. Yes, parenting is a learning process. Yes, no adult has all the answers. But let us remember that young people are already prone to thinking they know everything—so why reinforce that belief in movies?
There is a difference between inspiring young and inflating young people.
An inspiring story will empower them to solve problems by learning. An inflating story will tell them they don’t need to learn anything because they know better than everyone else.
One of these stories will lead to growth. The other will not.
We trumpet the value the of teachability and lifelong learning—and with good reason. We will never become our best if we cannot admit our worst. Kids need to understand this early on. So while parents should not stifle their children’s creativity, they must help them understand that adult authority exists for a reason, and that most movies don’t tell the real story.
Did you ever notice this trend in movies you watched growing up? Did it bother you?
Why do you think it is so popular to undermine parental authority and wisdom?
Before you go, I have two simple requests:
- If you plan to come back, help me get to know you by completing this short survey!
- If you are looking for a unique way to pay it forward this Christmas, help me spread joy to underprivileged kids!
The Rodeo I Won
Good thing this rodeo was for writers and not for cowboys, because I would have died!
Several weeks ago, I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, The Daily Flabbergast, and happened upon an announcement for a “flash-fiction” rodeo contest. So, naturally, at 11:30 pm on a Tuesday night, I decided to saddle up!
The challenge, sponsored by The Carrot Ranch, was to write a story in exactly 99 words, based off the following verbal and visual prompt:
“Reach for it!”
Within the next 45 minutes, I had written a story. It won. Yay!
While the extremely precise word limit seemed at first like a daunting obstacle, a few years of scriptwriting helped redefine my idea of storytelling.
If you’ve ever read a play, you will notice that there is minimal narration in the script (with the exception of occasionally exciting stage directions). In a play, the dialogue is enough to tell a story. So that’s what gave wings (or spurs, rather) to my late night inspiration…
“Reach for the sky!”
“Teacher says the sky is the limit.”
“Shuttup. Gimme your paper.”
“But I drew this!”
“Gimme it. It’s better than mine.”
“But it looks like me, not you.”
“Here, you take mine. Trade pictures with me or I’ll shoot!”
“No!”
*SNAP*
…
“What happened to your eye, son?”
“A bully shot me with a rubber band, sir.”
“Why?”
“He wanted my homework. It was a self-portrait.”
“That’s awful mean. Did you tell your teacher?”
“Yes, Sheriff Brown, but I want him arrested.”
“Arrested? How do I know what he looks like?”
“He looks like this.”
Thank you for reading!
Before you go, I have two simple requests:
- If you plan to come back, help me get to know you by completing this short survey!
- If you are looking for a unique way to pay it forward this Christmas, help me spread joy to underprivileged kids!
Readers: it’s your turn!
Readers are everything.
I don’t mean that readers inherently make something good—no, there are plenty of things out there with a much larger audience than they deserve. What I do mean is that readers are the reason for writing. Or at least, they should be.
As such, I want to dedicate an entire post to getting to know my readers better!
It’s okay, I won’t ask anything too personal. I have actually shared very little personal information about myself on this forum, because of how creepy the internet can be. I get it. Which is why this survey is completely anonymous—no name, no email, no phone number, no social security or credit card number required. Just the answers to a handful of questions.
Why?
So I can help provide you, my dear readers, with the type of articles and content you’re most interested in. In short, so The Inquisitive Inkpot can ask and answer questions you’re most curious about.
Ready? Let’s get rolling!
Remember, if you have more detailed feedback or any questions, you can always contact me directly. Just complete the form below and I will get back with you as soon as possible.
Thank you!
Shiloh Carozza
Charity through a Children’s Book
Charity comes in many forms– so here’s what authors can do to give underprivileged kids their best Christmas yet.
Every Christmas, millions of families facing poverty struggle to provide gifts for their children. Millions of children struggle to feel valued and find joy during the holidays. I think it’s easy for those of us who have a roof over our heads to take for granted the physical comfort and safety we experience each day. For us, Christmas and birthday gifts are a “given.” We don’t wonder if we will get them or if we can afford to buy them for someone else!
Sadly, that is not the case for many families.
When I first had the idea to host a charity event, I learned some sobering news.
The CEO of Mel Trotter Ministries ( a West Michigan based charity organization) told me that a significant number of families within a sixty mile radius of my hometown are actually living in the woods right now. Year round. Through the winter. And if you live north of Tennessee, you know how brutal winters up here can be.
Now, those of us with financial means can all do our part to support local charities. But I wanted to do more than that this time. I wanted to bring joy to the families who feel helpless at this time of year. To the parents who feel they have nothing to offer their children while other kids are going for sleigh rides and making Christmas lists and sitting in Santa’s lap. And then I thought of how many little faces I have seen brightened by The Misadventures of Melvin the Missing Sock. The kids in the classes I’ve read to, the photos parents send me of their little ones engrossed in the book… even an email I received from a precocious little girl last week that read:
Dear Shiloh,
My uncle Bob is a friend of yours and he asked you to send me your new book, Melvin the Missing Sock. I just wanted to write to thank you for writing me a note with your signature. It was a really good book and my favorite part was the part where Melvin got turned into a puppet at school This book is my new favorite book! Bye.
Lyla H.
So I knew what I had to do. And what’s more, I invite you to join in.
It breaks my heart to think of all the children who have never received a Christmas present. So let’s put a book in their hands and socks on their feet!
For every $8 donated, a family will receive a Christmas gift of my latest children’s book, The Misadventures of Melvin the Missing Sock, along with accompanying socks to keep them and their kiddos warm. To make this happen, Mel Trotter Ministries has agreed to partner with me in distributing these books and socks in our local community.
To help bring joy to these families and kids, some of whom have never received a Christmas present, I invite you to join me by donating or sharing the fundraiser link with anyone who might want to help.
You can learn more at the GoFundMe page, but I will summarize the main points:
- The goal is $2,000 (that’s 250 families who will get a copy of Melvin!)
- The deadline is Friday, December 18
More importantly, I encourage every author to think about the unique ways they can give back to their community this holiday season.
Not all of us are rolling in dollars– especially those of us who are writers! But you know what? That gives us a reason to get creative about the way we serve others. And getting creative is kind of in our wheelhouse, so let’s make it something special. On top of meeting physical needs, you might be able to light up some little child’s Christmas by giving them an autographed copy of a book just for them.
So let’s get out there and give some kids their best Christmas yet!
What are some ways you can give back to your community this holiday season?
Attractive Actors and Asinine Plots
Actors can get away with a lot in life. Attractive actors can get away with even more.
We’ve all heard of celebrities who get let off the hook for traffic violations and other petty offenses, but they can get away with more than crime if they’re good-looking. How many attractive performers with unremarkable talent have skyrocketed to fame while their less attractive, more talented counterparts lag behind? I won’t name names here, but we all know of someone who fits the bill.
Sales careers, specifically for women, depend highly on a person’s physical attractiveness. Let’s set aside the fact that the definition of “attractive” is highly subjective and fluid—whatever it means to be “attractive” is evidently of vital importance to women seeking careers in sales. Or really, any career where they are performing for a visual audience. Like acting.
There are many reasons why unexceptional actors might achieve celebrity status.
Money, connections, family, willingness to kiss up to people in power… and oh yeah, the hotness factor. Often the hotness factor and the kiss-up factor go hand-in-hand in very unfortunate ways. But being attractive in Hollywood can buy you more than acting contracts—it can buy you an audience for even the dumbest movies out there!
Again, we encounter obscure territory, since the definition of a “dumb” movie is bound to be quite subjective. For the sake of this discussion, let’s define it as a movie that lacks one or both of the fundamental pillars of storytelling: plot development and character development. A storyline whose exposition, inciting incident, rising action, falling action, and denouement do not fit together will be lacking in the plot category. A story whose characters undergo no challenges, personal dilemmas, conflicts, and who have no clear goal will be lacking in the character category. The worst films are lacking in both.
And yet even the worst films have those faithful audience members who will watch if only to see their Hollywood crush waltzing across the screen. What does this prove?
For some people, a cast of attractive actors may be enough to hold their attention. This does not mean that all these actors bring to the film is a pretty face or nice jawline. No doubt some extremely talented actors end up in sub-par films, and although they play their role fabulously, the script is still insipid. Vapid. Asinine. (Yes, these are all synonyms for “stupid.”) They may know it and the audience may know it, but there will still be those who endure the vacuous plotline simply because they enjoy watching pretty faces and sculpted biceps. To each their own!
And so now, in the spirit of being inquisitive, I would like to know whether you are one such an audience member.
Stepping toward the Sequel
For those of you who have already read The Exile, I have some perhaps long-awaited news: a sequel is underway.
I’ll admit that this decision came with some difficulty, largely because of my own fondness of open endings. The beauty of open endings is that the ambiguity leaves so much more room for the reader’s imagination to interact with the characters beyond the confines of the page. A sequel usually eliminates this ambiguity and sets “the afterword” in stone—satisfying for some, but unstimulating for others.
Set in early-medieval Scandinavia, against the brutal backdrop of clans, kings, and cruelty, The Exile traces the journey of two unlikely companions: a princess and a sex-slave. Did I mention the slave is also a warrior?
When the Scandinavian princess Clare finds herself and her sisters sold into slavery to the ruthless clans inhabiting the unsettled mainland, she meets Delta—a hardened slave girl with a history of her own. Although their morals and perspectives clash initially, each recognizes the other as her chance to escape captivity: for Clare, to rescue her beloved sister; for Delta, to return to her own clan. In their struggle against predators, prejudice, and their own secrets, each woman must question what is worth living for and what, if anything, is worth dying for.
While I won’t give anything away, my readers do a better job of summing up the core of the story:
“This is a story about what it means to survive and how strong of a bond two strangers can have when they have no one else to trust.” – Emily U.
“… [A] rare combination of exciting action, rich character development, and thought-provoking plot. Ms. Carozza’s novel authentically immerses you in the harsh, ancient world of tribal Scandinavia. Yet this immersion will leave you pondering political, social, and ethical questions that are relevant today.” – Samuel S.
“The Exile is a great story about perseverance and sacrifice. If you like tales about women who slay, yet who are very relatable and down to earth, this novel is definitely for you. This is not a women’s empowerment story just for the sake of being a women’s empowerment book.” – Sam Kirk
That being said, however, there was one question that consistently appeared in my readers’ feedback:
“What happened to *****???“
For those who have read the book, you know exactly who ***** is. For those who have no idea, now is your time to find out! 🙂
Admittedly, this was an ambiguity I did not initially intend to resolve. I rather liked the fact that it bothered readers (perhaps because I like books and movies that bother me in the same way). But after hearing the same refrain of genuine curiosity, I realized there really must be more to tell. Thus, the plans for a sequel began.
While the sequel is still in the most nascent stage of development, here is what I will tell you:
This sequel will be less of a linear continuation of the original and more of an exploration of one particular character’s fate.
It will also revisit some events in the original from a different character’s perspective.
So if you are looking for a fresh book to burrow into this autumn, allow me to meet that need. I sincerely hope you will enjoy The Exile and share your thoughts. And if one of your thoughts is “Wait, what happened to *****???!” —rest assured. The answer is underway.
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The Exile$9.99
