I would like to welcome Astrid Yrigollen to The Avid Reader today. Thanks for stopping by Astrid. Please be sure and check out Astrid's novel His Black Wings. Check out my review of His Black Wings. Astrid is going to be talking with us today on the topic: How Do You Keep Your Writing Different.
Book Title: His Black Wings
Author: Astrid Yrigollen
Date Published: 10/5/2012
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His Black Wings
SYNOPSIS
His Black Wings
Claren Maidstone has been forced to flee her childhood home after the death of her parents and a vicious assault from a sadistic young man who intends to marry her. Claren changes her identity and finds employment as an assistant to the handsome Fredrick Lowood, a generous yet mysterious benefactor. However, she soon finds out his generosity comes at a price. Fredrick wishes for Claren to befriend his disfigured son who resides in seclusion at their estate, Westwind.
Fredrick Lowood knows what the history books do not teach, that the Grand Council built this new world of peace and beauty on hidden blood and greed. He has plotted for years to bring down the family that enslaved his own people. Suddenly, he has the last living heir in his grasp.
Etrigan Lowood rejects the world that forces him to hide. He is powerful, plagued with a terrible dark beauty: WINGS. It is these wings that carry him out only at night to watch the unwanted intruder in his home. A creature of refined instinct yet little social grace, he is strangely captivated by Claren but knows nothing of how her family's dark past is intertwined with his own. Through their blossoming friendship, Etrigan realizes he still retains his human heart and yearns for Claren's love.
Kurten Wandsworth is the only son of the Mayor of St.Marhen. Kurten lives his life fueled by cruelty and lust. Whatever he wants he takes and he wants Claren to be his wife even it if kills her. Scarred by Claren he hunts her down mercilessly until he can set a trap which she will never be able to escape from.
EXCERPT
His Black Wings
Fredrick's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing sound as he saw the double doors to his library burst open with tremendous force. They slammed against the inside walls to his library and bounced back.
"Etrigan. How good to see you so soon after my arrival." Fredrick said to his son, genuinely pleased.
Perhaps this would work after all. Especially now that I have put my original design on hiatus.
A tall form clad in black strode into the room sending books and paper flying everywhere. Etrigan was a younger version of his handsome father. Jet black hair that desperately needed a haircut, it curled around the nape of his neck and ears. While his eyes were blue, they were the darkest blue, darker than his father's. Eyes that displayed anger and inner torment one moment, and great passion the next. His strong Greek nose fit perfectly with the rest of his features, not underwhelming and not overpowering. Lips red and pouty were always set in either a frown or a scowl but never in a smile. When he stood without slouching he was taller than most men at six foot five. His form was muscular, yet lithe, graceful, and strong. In a word, Etrigan was beautiful in a masculine way. He would have been the envy of every man in the outside world and the desire of every woman who set eyes upon him, save for one thing.
His black wings.
They were massive, soft, and leather like, similar to the patagium of a bat, but thicker. They started off narrow, then projected outwards from between his shoulder blades. He had slim bones that ran through them in true bat like fashion. At each wing tip he had a menacing glossy black spike. A natural bone that was part of his wingtips, he could use these tips to rip flesh or gently move things in his way, so great was his control. At their full expansion his wing span was easily twelve feet.
Fredrick looked up at his son who now stood menacingly over him and recalled when he was a small child, he had broken one of the bones in his wings. It took him a month to heal. He had been trying to carry off a boar that was larger than himself. Always the little savage, he insisted on eating the boar before his wing was set with a splint.
Now his son's wings were being held in but wanting to span out in anger.
"Why have you brought her here!?" He demanded harshly of his father. Fredrick sighed.
GUEST POST
How Do You Keep Your Writing Different
We have all heard the phrase" Write what you know" and "Write what you like to read". I find these two phrases when coupled, can give birth to some very interesting stories. One of the things I find disappointing when reading new fiction is to be half way through a story and think to myself, "This is a lot like ...."Then upon finishing the story, I find that it was so similar to another well known book, I am surprised there was not a plagiarism lawsuit filed.
There is nothing wrong with borrowing a classic idea and putting your own spin on it. In fact those are some of my favorite types of stories to read. However a person wants to make sure that they are not writing a cookie cutter version of a story that has already been written. People are smart and when they read your book they will be able to tell.
When I get an idea for story I will go over it and even do research to see if there are similar story lines....and sometimes I won't. Like the honey badger, I just won't care. Since writing is a creative outlet, you have to write stories that make you happy. If you want to make money though, you may want to approach it from an entirely different angle. Hopefully a profitable and marketable one. Insert tongue in cheek here.
MY REVIEW
His black wings
The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a free copy of His black wings from the author for an honest review.
Claren Maidstone lost both of her parents on the same day at the same time in an accident. After the funeral a man Kurten Wandsworth who has been coming to her home every Sunday for months shows up at her home. Kurten wants Claren as his wife but Claren wants no part of him. She thinks that with her parents no longer around she won't have to put up with Kurten.
On the day that she buries her parents and he shows up at her house wanting to comfort her he attacks Claren and she fights back. She injures him severely she knows that when the police find out what she has done they will lock her up or so she believes. Claren leaves her only home and assumes a new identity. With her new identity she finds employment with Ferdrick Lowood as his assistant. Fredrick takes her to his home, Westwind. He ask her to befriend his deformed son Etrigan.
Etrigan hides from the world and only goes out at night when everyone is a sleep and can not see him. At first Etrigan does not like the fact that his father has brought this woman to live in their home. He tries to make Claren's life at Westwind so miserable that she will leave. But after finding out that she has just lost both of her parents and is hurting like he is his feelings for her change. He becomes a sweet and gentle person and wants only to protect and keep her safe.
Claren meets two guys Dekker and Hector who are best friends and compete against each other to see who will win claren's heart. Claren is such a nice person that she doesn't allow them to compete against one another only I'm not sure that they knew exactly what she was doing. I thought that when Dekker and Hector found out about Etrigan that they would go and tell everyone about him. But they could see right from the beginning that Claren and Etrigan had feelings for one another and never caused any trouble. Dekker and Hector became Etrigan's friend as well as Claren's. The only friends that Etrigan had ever had.
Claren thinks she has left her old life behind with all the old ghost haunting her but she finds out that she is wrong when she runs into Kurten in town. She never thought that he would find her. Kurten has not changed at all he is just as mean as he ever was. Now he is like if he can't have Claren then no one else will either.
It took me a while to read His Black Wings not because I didn't like the book but because I was sick and didn't feel like sitting up or doing anything. I liked how Fredrick came to realize that Claren was not responsible for what her grandfather did to his family. He got to know Claren and knew that she was not the same kind of person that he was. You never knew what kind of mood Fredrick was going to be in. Claren didn't know from one minute to the next if he was going be very rude to her or not. There were times when I didn't know which one Claren loved or was going to be with Fredrick or Etrigan.
If you like books with a lot of mystery and romance then you will love His Black Wings. His Black Wings kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going on to the point where I couldn't put it down at times and when I felt like sitting up that is. What do you think about four guys instead of three? What I am trying to say is that at times Fredrick acted as if he was jealous of Claren. The way he would get all mad and storm out of the room leaving Dekker and Hector alone with Claren.
- About the Author
Astrid Yrigollen is a native of the Bay area of California and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Astrid started writing stories for her friends in sixth grade. After working part time at a funeral home during high school, she channeled her love of story writing in to creating video games for PC's which were featured in Shareware magazines.
In the early 1990's she secured a position with International Video game giant, Sega of America but never lost her love for writing in traditional format. After leaving the video game industry, she worked briefly as a vet assistant, aiding in surgery until she found out she passes out at the site of blood! Maintaining a great love of animals, but preferring work where there was no blood involved, Astrid became a boutique fashion designer for people 'who like to dress like their dolls', successfully placing her designs in boutiques in Europe, the U.S, and Australia.
She founded and now co-chairs with her husband for the California Coast Ball Jointed Doll Convention, an annual event for Japanese Super Dollfie Collectors. Astrid enjoys collecting dolls, Anime, video games, baking and sewing and is currently studying college level Japanese, her third language.
- WORKS
She now enjoys writing Young Adult and Children's books and has succeeded in putting out The Doughnut Tree, The Zombie Playground, A creature compilation , and The Mosswoods to name a few.
- ONLINE LINKS
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