Author Interview with Jennifer Ivy Walker ~  New Release: The Lady of the Mirrored Lake ~ #WRPbks #Blog

Please help me welcome today’s guest, Jennifer Ivy Walker…

Good morning, Jennifer…Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?

I am originally from New England but now live on the beach in Florida. I have six grown children, a husband, and a very fluffy golden retriever.

Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)?  

I love paranormal fantasy, myths and legends, dark fairy tales,  and medieval romance, so I took a French legend (“Tristan et Yseult”) and adapted it into a blend of all those genres.

Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?

I took actual places in Ireland, England, and France, along with French legends from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, and incorporated real places with French folklore and fictional characters.

What book have you read that you wish you had written?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.  One of my absolute favorite book s ever!

Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?

I am a former high school French teach and current college French professor.  I love teaching the language and culture of France.

What do you dislike that most people wouldn’t understand?

I dislike watching TV.  I prefer to read, write, or walk on the beach.

What’s your favorite book of all time and why?  

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.  When I read it, it was like my childhood growing up on a tidal bay in Maine, blended with my current life on the estuary of the Indian River in Florida. I related so much to the character Kya. It spoke to my heart.

Your most prized material possession? Why?

A Louis XV bombé chest with seagreen marble top. I love it because it is French, antique, with the scrolled shape I love, and my favorite color (like the ocean) for the marble.  It symbolizes two things that are part of my soul—French and the beach.

Have you written any other books that are not published?

Yes—“The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight”, the conclusion of my trilogy, will be published soon by The Wild Rose Press.  And I have just completed “Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle”, which I am submitting with the hopes it will be contracted for publication as well.

If you could spend time with a character from your book, whom would it be? And what would you do during that day? (PG-13 please 🙂

I would walk on the beaches of Avalon with Ronan, the Elven blacksmith.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?

They came from my imagination and my heart.

What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?

Queen Morag, the Black Widow Queen.  She is selfish, evil, conniving, and deadly.

How did you come up with the title?

There is a lake in the French Forest of Brocéliande called “Le Miroir aux Fées” (Mirror of the Fairies). My heroine became a healer on Avalon by learning from the Lady of the Lake, and she is a forest fairy, so I decided to make her The Lady of the Mirrored Lake and incorporate the French legends with the real place.

Mirror, mirror, on the lake.  Reveal the path the queen will take.

Excerpt:

“I love you, Tristan. You are my warrior. My friend. My teacher.  The only one who ever believed in me. Who promised to fight for me. Beside me.”

 Rising onto her knees, she took both of his hands in hers and kissed them. Her eyes glistening, she whispered, “You gave me weapons. Trained me to fight. To defend myself. And that…” she choked, gazing up at him, “is not only the greatest gift I have ever received. Italso saved my life.”

She kissed his hands again. “You are helping me to grow, Tristan. To believe in myself. To face the wicked queen who denies me my birthright. Who killed so many of those I loved.  Whose evil threatens us all.” Lying down at his side, she laid her head over his pounding heart. He softly stroked her long blond hair. “You have made me strong, whole, and complete, Tristan. I am totally, utterly, undeniably yours. “

He held her for a few moments. His wild rose. Then, rising to his feet, Tristan took her hands, and pulled her close. He wrapped his arms around her waist, gazing intently into the deep green eyes of his Muse.

 “Toi et moi. So it shall be.  You and I are entwined. Eternally.”

Buy link(s):

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Mirrored-Lake-Wild-Raven-ebook/dp/B0BKYHZGFJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NGOTDDYB8ZSF&keywords=lady+of+the+mirrored+lake&qid=1668643502&sprefix=%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lady-of-the-mirrored-lake-jennifer-ivy-walker/1142600233?ean=9781509246830

Author Bio for Jennifer Ivy Walker

Enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards and magic, Jennifer Ivy Walker always dreamed of becoming a writer. She fell in love with French in junior high school, continuing her study of the language throughout college, eventually becoming a high school teacher and college professor of French.

As a high school teacher, she took her students every year to the annual French competition, where they performed a play she had written, “Yseult la Belle et Tristan la Bête”–an imaginative blend of the medieval French legend of “Tristan et Yseult” and the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, enhanced with fantasy elements of a Celtic fairy and a wicked witch.

Her debut novel, “The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven”–the first of a trilogy– is a blend of her love for medieval legends, the romantic French language, and paranormal fantasy. It is a retelling of the medieval French romance of “Tristan et Yseult”, interwoven with Arthurian myth, dark fairy tales from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, and otherworldly elements such as Avalonian Elves, Druids, forest fairies and magic.

Explore her realm of Medieval French Fantasy. She hopes her novels will enchant you.

Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22671046.Jennifer_Ivy_Walker

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-wild-rose-and-the-sea-raven-by-jennifer-ivy-walker

Website:  https://jenniferivywalker.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferIvyWalker

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bohemienneivy

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jenniferivywalkerauthor/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPyvcR9RkrMHSMoHsTDVLg