'Shiela, you're not writing for any one particular audience ...'

Those are the words of a discerning friend. 

I've been fretting a little about how to deal with the darkness of the times of the books of SONG, whether to try to leave it out of the Youngling books, whether to try to explain it, justify its inclusion ... 

I think he was telling me to just let it ride.

Chances are that if something shows up it's there for a reason and should stay in. The darkness as well as the fun parts.

Essentially, the Character Mamm sends the same message, in one of those parts that I was thinking I should maybe have left out.

'To deny that is to deny a part of the balance of our lives,' she says.

And a bit later, 'That's because I know you're smart enough to figure the rest out on your own.' That was when I was griping because she starts to give some good guidelines or advice, and then stops before she tells us the Secrets of the Universe.

My discerning friend continued, in all seriousness, 'Just write what the Characters tell you.'

And so ... I go back into the book where I had written a spiel about this that and the other thing ... explanations, clarifications, definitions ... and I take it out.

Those are mine own words. They too have their place, but that place is not where I had put them.

And so ... in the four Kin Cousin books, it is Mamm who has the final word, not me.

Just the way it's supposed to be.

Pretty Darned EXCITED

The Younglings of Dunnottar have been busy busy busy!

They'll soon have their first four books out and are pushing hard to get to 'the fun stuff'!!

These needed to come first because, you see, they tell how the Younglings all came to be together on Dunnottar.

Brann alone was born there; then Diann came to stay; then Corrbed about a year later; then Rua right after Corrbed; then Merri and Dothann about a year after that.

So they've, most of them, had time to get to know one another and have already been having adventures!

Now that the 'hard part' is done (mostly) the really fun adventures can begin.

In the next few posts of this blog you will get very brief introductions to the Younglings of Dunnottar ... and the exciting part is that you'll get to see the 'rough drafts' of their Character Portraits, the pictures that will be on the covers of the books and inside of them in different places as we go along!

Frankly, these younglings have enchanted me - and I love it!

Pop on down through the posts. You'll see what I mean.

And ... welcome to our journey! Feel free to join us on our adventures!

Merri of Dunnottar

Merri has been traveling for all of her life - but now she has come home to Dunnottar, where she can climb into the trees of the Grove and just relax ... if she can find the time!

Diann of Dunnottar

Dedicated to learning the Healing arts, Diann's compassion and common sense make for just the combination she needs!

Corrbed of Dunnottar

Corrbed knows what needs doing and has what it takes to get the doing done. He takes his physical strength for granted and hones his intellect. That's Corrbed!

Dothann of Dunnottar

Dothann's exuberant high spirits only partially mask the very smart and very caring soul of this youngling.

Brann of Dunnottar

As Kin Cousins come to Dunnottar, Brann goes from being an 'only lonely' to being a proud member of the Younglings of Dunnottar!