Barbara V Evers

I'm running a CONTEST  to celebrate  the release of The Watchers at War in March! Click on the link below to enter for a chance to win a(n): Autographed copy of The Watchers of Moniah Autographed copy of The Watchers in Exile Cute giraffe-themed box AND 2 (yes, two) surprises NOTE : If you already subscribe to my newsletter, you can still get 5 entries for signing up! Here's the SECRET :  Type "Duplicate" in the box that asks where you found us and I'll make sure you only receive one newsletter. Contest ends March 1 , so DON'T get caught with your eyes closed. Enter now! a Rafflecopter giveaway

During my recent virtual author events, one question has come up regularly: Where do I do my research?  Don't scoff at the idea that a fantasy author needs to do research. Readers are savvy. You should never underestimate them. Even though a large part of a fantasy world comes from the author's imagination, much of it must be grounded in some form of reality. So here are some of my research sources: Giraffes I've read about giraffes for years--not that there's a lot to find on the subject until recently--and I've connected with people who study and/or work with them. Some of my sources include: Giraffe Conservation Foundation : They have tons of information and recently released more Vicki N., who works with San Diego Safari Park Other zoo specialist and sites The Giraffe: It's Biology, Behavior, and Ecology   by Anne Innis Dagg & J. Bristol Foster Tall Blondes by Lynn Sherr War and Fighting The Art of War by Sun Tzu Medieval Combat by Hans Tolhoffer Faith...

This is a quick post to update everyone on when and where I'll be talking about The Watchers of Moniah, writing, or both. AND to share the cover for the third book in this series, The Watchers at War. TONIGHT, Feb. 9, 2021 at 6 pm, via a wonderful indie bookstore, Hub City , I will be talking with author, Barbara Claypole-White about character development in our books.  It's going to be a lot of fun! You can still register  here . Also, I will be appearing in the following events: March 2, South Carolina Writers' Association, virtual, 12 pm, The Perfect Pitch . March 24, Bookmarks 4 on 4th Author Event, virtual, Save your spot! May 7-9, Atomacon in N. Charleston, SC, Find out more! Oh, and here's the cover for book 3, The Watchers at War! It's amazing!

Where does your story start? Before I started writing THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH, I spent a great deal of time thinking about the story's beginning. I wanted to get those first pages just right, so I focused on words that fit what I saw in my mind. It took me forever to write that scene, but once I did, the flood gates opened to the rest of the story. About a year later, I enrolled in a writing workshop at a local college, and I learned a LOT from the students in that class. The one thing they requested over and over was to provide a better understanding of the Watchers and the kingdom of Moniah. My carefully constructed first pages dropped the reader smack in the middle of Adana preparing to leave Elwar and return home to Moniah. If you've read the book, the scene where she's in the rowboat aware of her father's eminent arrival was that first scene. It now appears on page 233! (Yes, you read that right.) What made me change it? People wanted to know more about the Watchers...