Category: A Gathering of Eagles

Teetering on the Edge of Reality

On By Betty OwensIn A Gathering of Eagles, Bermuda Triangle, fantasy, Juliet, Lady Guinevere, Maid Marion, Sierra1 Comment

I grew up thinking Science Fiction was about spaceships and aliens. Fantasy was dragons, elves and Prince Charming riding a white horse. How do you define fantasy?

In literary circles Fantasy is often paired with Sci-Fi, though it may seem quite different. Fantasy could actually happen. Dragons did exist at one time (dinosaurs?) and I live in the home of the Derby, so I see elves all the time. Okay, they’re jockeys, but they look like elves to someone as tall as me. Princes exist, of course and they do sometimes ride white horses, and fly helicopters, apparently.

If you have studied history, you’re aware that some pretty fantastic things happened from time to time. Things that were outside of normal day-to-day existence. Wars were won that should not have been won and ordinary men like Alvin York, accomplished seemingly impossible feats.

Much of what was Science Fiction when I was a child, has now become reality. Men have walked on the moon. We have sent probes to Mars. The space shuttle makes regular trips to a space station. And I am typing this post on a computer no bigger than a book that sits on my lap.

 As a child, I lived in a fantasy-filled world. We moved often and I was shy. Many times I was my only BFF. I roamed the countryside in an idyllic time when that was a safe thing to do and I dreamed of days gone by. I was an Indian princess, I was Juliet, I was Maid Marion or Lady Guinevere. Characters met in the pages of books.

The Lady of the Haven is Fantasy, but could almost be historical romance. It is teetering on the edge of reality. The Haven’s anomalies could be explained scientifically, like the Bermuda Triangle (there is also a sort of “triangle” in the Sierra Mountains). In A Gathering of Eagles Jael, though no longer in the Haven, discovers some of the same phenomena have followed her.

The appeal of fantasy is undeniable. We can live out our dreams and desires through the pages of a book or the scenes of a finely crafted movie. Sometimes we find that our dreams and desires are achievable and then the fantasy becomes reality.

My desire is that my readers will come to this realization. Sometimes the only limits are the ones we place on ourselves. Release the limits and give yourself up to your dreams. And while you’re at it, if you’re going to dream, dream big!

Tele-Portation

On By Betty OwensIn A Gathering of Eagles, The Lady of the Haven1 Comment

I’ve been working on the second book in The Lady of the Haven series (again) and I began to wonder what it would be like to disappear in one place and suddenly appear in another. Sort of like what happened to Philip in Acts 8. You remember the story, after he had followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit to go into the desert, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, preached to him and baptized him.

Then Philip disappeared. He was found at Azotus, which was a good ways off. He must have hit the ground running! He began immediately to preach and teach in his new location.

What does this have to do with my second book? The same thing happens to my main character in A Gathering of Eagles, the second book in The Lady of the Haven series. Jael leaves one place and ends up in another.

So I was wondering how it would feel and what kind of circumstance would cause such an event?

First, how would it feel? Disorienting? Would you freak out?

Then, what kind of circumstance would cause such an event? Deep need? This would seem the most logical. Philip was badly needed elsewhere.

If you have other ideas and/or answers regarding these two questions, please feel free to leave me a comment.