#Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

[erawls-themaskedstoryteller]

Steal the Morrow by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt!

#StealTheMorrow an #OliverTwist retelling by #JenelleSchmidt full of heart and adventure! #fantasybooks #cleanreads #cleanbooks #indiebooks #indiereads #steampunkbooks #retellings

Yes, there’s another book release from Jenelle! Can you believe how much she’s published this year? See my post about her other series The Turrim Archive earlier this year! But today is about Steal the Morrow, which is a fantastical Oliver Twist retelling and part of the A Classic Retold multi-author series. NOW AVAILABLE Universal Buy Link: mybook.to/stealthemorrow Universal Series Page Link:…

[taleweaver-ramblings]

5, 11, 14, and 18 for the end of year asks!

5. TV show of the year?

Leverage, both because it's the show I watched the most and because I got to introduce my sister to it!

11. Something you want to do again next year?

I'm hoping to go to the Realm Makers writing conference again! (I've actually already started making plans, even though the conference dates have yet to be announced.)

14. Favorite book you read this year?

I read too many good books this year to pick just one favorite. But one I really loved was The Orb and the Airship by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt, a gaslamp fantasy adventure featuring a mysterious old man, a pair of country boys journeying to a prestigious military school, and, best of all, airship pirates!

18. A memorable meal this year?

I made spaghetti pie for the first time this year and almost left out the sour cream layer. I ended up having to remove the meat-and-sauce layer so I could add the sour cream where it was supposed to go. It tasted good in the end, though!

I'm doing End-of-Year asks for the first week of January!

[aconitecafe]

Dive Into 2020 CFA Finalist Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Dive Into 2020 CFA Finalist Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Vote Now for An Echo of the Fae as the 2020 Indie Fantasy Book of the Year! Behind the Writing of An Echo of the Fae Continue reading

[jamesquinlanmeservy-author]

Cover Reveal For An Echo of the Fae by Janelle Leanne Schmidt

    (The cover art/design was done by the amazing Savannah Jezowski with Dragonpen Designs.)

  Book Blurb:

  Echo enjoys the peace and solitude of the Faeorn forest, regardless of how strange spending time in the “haunted” wood seems to others.

  But on the cusp of her thirteenth birthday, the discovery of a family secret reveals why Echo has never been drawn to the sea like her mother. This discovery shakes the foundations of her world and sends Echo on a quest, not merely into the forest, but into the heart of the fae-lands themselves, to rescue the sister she didn’t know existed.

  Elves, dragons, and fairy courts will put Echo’s wit and resolve to the test. But with time running out for her sister, will Echo even be able to save herself?

  A fairytale adventure perfect for fans of The Secret of Roan Innish and The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

    Endorsements:

“Enthralled by the terror, charm, riddles, and beauty of a richly depicted fae world, I devoured this marvelous book in two sittings! Readers of all ages will love Echo, a heroine strong in her weakness, clever and resolute amid her doubt and fear. An Echo of the Fae is sure to satisfy lovers of adventure and faery!” — J.M. Stengl, author of The Faraway Castle Series

    Author Bio:

  Jenelle first fell in love with stories through her father’s voice reading books aloud each night. A relentless opener-of-doors in hopes of someday finding a passage to Narnia, it was only natural that she soon began making up fantastical realms of her own. Jenelle currently resides in the wintry tundra of Wisconsin—which she maintains is almost as good as Narnia—with her knight-in-shining armor and their four adorable hobbits. When she is not writing, she homeschools said hobbits and helps them along on their daily adventures… which she says makes her a wizard.

Follow Jenelle around the interwebs to get news about latest releases and her writing adventures:

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

GOODREADS

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL

    Excerpts (if you choose to share an excerpt, please choose just one to share, thank you!):

  My earliest memory returns often in my dreams. My mother’s soft smile caresses me as she bends down to kiss my forehead, my own tiny hand reaching up and trying to capture a lock of her long red-gold hair between clumsy fingers that refuse to obey my wish. A soft, sweet humming fills the memory, a tune that is both dear and yet unfamiliar. Eyes filled with love gaze down at me, and a gentle laugh, a man’s laugh, fills the room. Strong arms encircle us both, my mother and me, and I know I am perfectly safe. Perfectly loved.

Another sound permeates the memory: a rhythmic, rushing, liquid sound I do not recognize, but which fills me with a deep longing that threatens to burst out of my chest and leave me completely hollow. In the dream, it is merely a subtle noise in the background, but when I wake I feel a desperate need to find its source. Sometimes the longing clutches me so tightly that it leaves me gasping, desperately sucking in each breath as if through a narrow reed, my lungs screaming as though they have forgotten how to breathe the very air I need to survive.

It is rare to have a memory from such a tender age, especially one so vivid. And yet, that moment is locked in my thoughts with perfect clarity. During the day it grows distant and faded, but it has haunted my sleep in full, vibrant detail each night for nearly thirteen years.

So why is it that the face in my dreams is wholly unfamiliar to me? Why is the mother from my memory a stranger?

***

Echo sat on a salt-smoothed boulder, her knees pulled up to her chin, watching the other village children playing along the beach. Some of them traversed the shore collecting shells in wicker baskets. The braver ones waded out into the water, splashing and swimming in the gently rolling waves. A shudder coursed through her. Even if it were not early spring and the waters were warmer, nothing would induce her to go any closer to that surging surf and those unfathomable depths. Who knew what untold terrors the placidly sparkling surface concealed?

A cluster of girls stood in the wet sand where the waves lapped about their ankles, baskets swinging from their arms, the foaming water swirling at their feet. She imagined ghostly, watery hands reaching out to capture them, pulling them beneath the surface, deeper and deeper until all memory of light and warmth was long forgotten.

***

    She lay still, listening. All was quiet in the house below. Or was it? A voice filtered through the hammering rain—Dadai’s deep rumble, and then Mamai’s treble answered, though Echo could not make out the words. Another rumble of thunder, and beneath its rolling bass, she could just pick out the higher-pitched creak of the front door opening.

Quietly, so as not to alert her parents, Echo crept out of her bed, dragging her quilt with her, and tiptoed to her window that looked out over the front of the house. Before the open front door, she could make out a faint rectangle of light on the ground below. Gusts of wind buffeted the cozy house, and she squinted into the pelting rain to see who might be going out. Then the hinges creaked again and the light disappeared, plunging the outdoors into darkness once more.

Through the driving rain, a hint of movement drew her attention to a shadowy figure crossing the yard. Echo strained her eyes, but she could not make it out. Then, a flash of lightning, another, and another, lit the sky in quick succession. Echo caught her breath. Walking through the storm, hair long and flowing unbound around her in the tempest, her skirts fluttering in the wind, Mamai walked heedlessly into the rain toward the tip of the peninsula. Echo stared out the window, willing another lightning bolt to scatter the darkness. When it came, she saw her mother descending the rocky stairs that led to the beach. Her head soon disappeared below the cliffside, out of Echo’s view.

Her head spun as she leaned her elbows on the windowsill. Where had Mamai gone? Why could she possibly need to be out in such a storm? No houses lay that way, so it couldn’t be a sick neighbor. The docks were on the other side of the peninsula, and anyway, if there were a problem there, it would have been her father who attended to it. The mystery of it lay heavy on her thoughts as she awaited her mother’s return.

But she did not return.

Echo’s eyelids grew heavy. She struggled to keep them open, propping herself up in an uncomfortable position in an attempt to stay awake, but eventually she succumbed to the insistent embrace of sleep.

***

  Do the fae read books? Echo wondered suddenly, and voiced the question before she had time to consider whether or not it might be rude.

“We don’t read about life; we live,” Malilia replied. “And we learn, not from reading, but from living.”

“That’s beautiful,” Echo said. “And yet… hollow.”

Malilia arched an eyebrow. “Hollow? What is in your books that is so wonderful?”

“Everything!” Echo enthused, warming to the topic. “Why, in books you can be anyone, go anywhere. There’s a freedom to reading unlike anything else. When you read, it makes you think differently about the world and your own life, and sometimes it helps you understand what’s going on around you by showing you a different perspective. And… well… there’s beauty to be discovered in books, more real and more true because it’s only limited by your own imagination. And besides, it’s…. it’s just… fun!”

Malilia grew thoughtful. “This is something you care about.”

“Yes.” Echo felt a little embarrassed. She did not usually speak so forcefully. “I like reading.”

“I can tell.” Malilia’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

***

  “You dare steal from the King of the Winter Court?” The voice reverberated through the air, its sheer, palpable power pushing Echo to her knees. The lantern dropped from her nerveless hand and clattered on the ground.

Echo bowed her head respectfully, racking her memory for every snatch of folk-tale she had ever heard about the Winter Fae or the Dark Host. “Forgive me, my lord,” she whispered. “I did not intend to steal from you. I merely seek to save the life of my sister.”

She heard soft footfalls approach across the sable ground but she did not dare raise her eyes, not even when she felt the touch of hot breath on the back of her head.

“You smell of truth.” The voice sounded puzzled. “Rise, seeker.”

Echo stood, wincing at the pain in her feet. But that thought fled with the rest as she came face to face with the largest tiger she had ever seen.

Upon reflection, it was the only tiger she had ever seen. But she was reasonably certain that, should she ever see another, it would be quite different from the monstrous beast that confronted her now.

Her eyes were even with his shoulders, and he stared down at her from his impressive height, his long whiskers twitching inches above her face. His fur was utterly black, the color of coal. Instead of stripes, Ritioghra’s—for it could only be Ritioghra—body was covered in swirls and whorls of gleaming blue, the same color as the Everflame. His eyes gleamed like two massive stars of an identical shade, and he gazed down at her with an expression of ferocious curiosity. He was utterly terrifying and utterly beautiful.

Terror coursed through her veins like ice, but the light of intelligence in his eyes gave her courage. “For-forgive me, my lord.” Echo gave a wobbly curtsy.

The tiger stretched with a lazy nonchalance. Every line of his long body rippled with power and strength, like the unstoppable force of a river about to burst its banks.

  Cover Reveal For An Echo of the Fae by Janelle Leanne Schmidt Cover Reveal For An Echo of the Fae by Janelle Leanne Schmidt (The cover art/design was done by the amazing Savannah Jezowski with Dragonpen Designs.)

[booksformks]

Picture Book Review: 'Twas an Evening in Bethlehem

Picture Book Review: ‘Twas an Evening in Bethlehem

‘Twas an Evening in Bethlehem by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt (Author), Sierra Klein  (Illustrator) 4 out of 5 stars on GoodReadsThe child of an innkeeper in Bethlehem shows Mary and Joseph to the stable, bringing them some blankets and cleaning out the animals’ trough to be used as the manger for the baby. In the middle of the night, the child hears a baby crying and sneaks out to the stable to…

[fellowshipoffantasy]

Coming soon in the Fellowship of Fantasy--Mythical Doorways Anthology www.fellowshipoffantasy.com

Dragon Ward Jenelle Leanne Schmidt Gwynna was hunting to bring home food for her family. She never expected to encounter a dragon. She certainly never expected to become the prey...

[readwriteclub-blog]

King's Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

King’s Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

About King’s Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt: King’s Warrior is a story about a princess: a headstrong, adventurous princess, who is sent on a quest to save her kingdom. It is a story about a squire: a boy on the verge of becoming a man, who desperately wishes to prove himself in combat, but instead is given the task of “babysitting” the aforementioned princess on her quest. It is a story about…

[deborahocarroll]

Audiobook Tour: Minstrel's Call Fantasy Series!

Audiobook Tour: Minstrel’s Call Fantasy Series!

(photo by me) 🎧📚 Audiobook Tour! 📚🎧 I posted about this on Instagram as well but wanted to share it here also today! I’m SO excited to be sharing about this amazing fantasy series which I ADORE and is now available in audiobook form! Y’all, I love this epic fantasy series by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt so much! I’ve read the Minstrel’s Song saga twice (well, three of them; need to find time for a…

[erawls-themaskedstoryteller]

Cover Reveal for author Jenelle Leanne Schmidt!

#Coverreveal for author #jenelleschmidt her new #steampunkfantasy book releasing in June! #bookslikeNarnia #adventurebooks #airships #pirates #newfantasybooks #cleanreads

This week is a special one, as it’s the cover reveal for the first book in a series that my dear friend and fellow author has been working on for a lonnng time! In total it will be a 5 book series, and the other books are all close to being ready for publishing! Which means you won’t have to wait too long to find out what happens next in the story–you know, avoiding those dreaded “cliffhanger”…

[reallovelybooks]

FREE: King's Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

FREE: King’s Warrior by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Price: FREE 07/20/2017 – 07/21/2017

Download It Now!

[supertester123stuff]

King's Warrior (The Minstrel's Song Book 1) - Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

[nextjen]

Featured Artist Friday

Dive into my latest author interview! #FeaturedArtistFriday #FridayReads

Thank you goes out to Jenelle Leanne Schmidt for featuring myself and Mages of Vane on her blog. I had a fantastic time answering her questions. (more…)

[jamesquinlanmeservy-author]

  When the Story Chooses the Author

by

Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

  Out of all the ideas for all the stories in all the world, I decided to write this one. Why? Well, that’s kind of a funny story. Because the truth of the matter is that I didn’t actually choose to write this story. It chose me.

  That probably sounds ridiculous. But it’s true.

  I had been bouncing ideas around for a Rapunzel retelling for about six months, but hadn’t come up with anything more than a basic premise that involved Rapunzel being a selkie who was kidnapped by the fae when she was very young, with a yearning for something she couldn’t name, because she’d never seen the sea.

  Beyond that, I didn’t have much else in mind for this story, and I had a 5-book fantasy/gaslamp series I was working on called The Turrim Archive, and that took precedence. I had no intention of writing this book anytime soon.

  However, in March of 2019, during which our family was moving and I was purposefully taking a month off from writing so that I could focus on the move, the idea for this story lodged itself in my brain and refused to give me any peace. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I sat down and wrote out a 1400-word outline just to try to get it to leave me alone, but it wouldn’t.

  I wrote the first scene.

  Still no relief.

  March ended, April began, and I went back to writing the final book in my Turrim Archive, but every word was a struggle.

  April ended and May began. Writing the Turrim Archive continued to be a monumental effort. Occasionally, I would pause and write a little bit of Echo’s story, and the words would come pouring out effortlessly.

  One night I dreamed an entire scene of Echo’s story, and when I woke up, it still made sense. That had never happened to me before.

  It was at that moment that I had an epiphany. I was thinking about Samuel from the Bible, and how God audibly spoke to him and called his name 3 times before Eli or Samuel realized that it was God speaking to him. It’s easy to look at the characters in the Bible and think they were super dense not to realize certain things, and it was then that I paused and asked, “Lord, am I the idiot, here?”

  I decided to talk it over with my husband (for surely he would talk me out of this ridiculous notion, nobody on the planet wants me to finish Turrim Archive more than he does!) and he said that maybe I should pause on Turrim Archive and write this new story!

  So I did. And the words continued to flow. I finished the book in less than 2 months, and can honestly say that this story was the easiest one I’ve ever written.

  As for why I chose to write it? I can’t answer that in any sort of satisfactory way other than to say that I didn’t. This time, the story chose me.

    When the Story Chooses the Author by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt When the Story Chooses the Author by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt Out of all the ideas for all the stories in all the world, I decided to write this one.

[deborahocarroll]

An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Schmidt (Blog Tour + Review)

An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Schmidt (Blog Tour + Review)

Hey everyone! I’m thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for this fabulous new novel by one of my favorite authors! Read on for my review!

Title: An Echo of the Fae Author: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

Date read: March 27, 2020

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Age: Anyone / Children’s to YA

Year pub: 2020

Pages: 262

Series: Stands alone

Notes: I was a copyeditor for this, but as an unbiased reader I…

[deborahocarroll]

An Echo of the Fae: Cover Reveal!

An Echo of the Fae: Cover Reveal!

Hello, my fellow page dreamers! I’m back from hiatus — and a lovely hiatus it was — to share the GORGEOUS cover for AN ECHO OF THE FAE by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt, one of my favorite authors!

This is a book I’m very excited indeed to share about (I have, in fact, read it, since I was privileged to copyedit it — and I hope to review it for the blog tour later this month), and the cover is STUNNING!…

[deborahocarroll]

Cover Reveal! Jenelle Schmidt Picture Book: 'Twas an Evening in Bethlehem

Cover Reveal! Jenelle Schmidt Picture Book: ‘Twas an Evening in Bethlehem

I’m so excited to share a cover reveal from one of my favorite authors — a cover for something a bit different: a picture book!

Jenelle Leanne Schmidt normally writes epic fantasy (I adore her books!) but this October she’s trying something new, releasing a precious-looking picture book titled ‘Twas an Evening in Bethlehem — and I’m here to share the cover with you!

But first, here’s all the info…