Whispers of an ancient magic draw them together...
In the medievaal land of Hafne, a curse has swept through the land leaving it barren and without hope. As one of the chosen, Vala watches for signs of the prophecy and with it, the owner of a ring who is destined to fight by her side and drive away the darkness. The newly arrived Norman enemy is an unnecessary complication in beautiful Vala's heart.
Giles arrives with his Norman men in time to rescue a mysterious woman from a watery death. Holding Vala in his arms, the stirrings of destiny and desire begin, binding him to a prophecy of which he surely wants no part - binding him to a search for his true origins and a fight to save his soul and hers.
In my travels there's been many unexpected and amazing things and the memories of those are only the beginning of the fictional adventure. From earthquakes in Hawaii to being chased by enraged water carriers in Morocco to a deep-sea fishing trip gone slightly askew in Venezuela, it all happened. While most of my trips haven't been earth shaking adventures they are still incredible vignettes into another world.
The scenes of foreign lands play vividly through my mind long after I return home. And it is these scenes where my hapless characters land but soon it is not them but me who is hapless as they lead me through adventure after adventure. From another country to another era – the world is full of the unique and the unusual and it is a joy to find it, live it and write about it.
Want more? It's not just a love story and I'll prove it at: www.ryshiakennie.com
Also by Ryshia Kennie:
From the Dust, 2007
An Interview with Ryshia Kennie
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Ryshia, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your featured book, Ring of Desire.
RK:Ring of Desire is a historical fantasy set in 1072 England in a place called Hafne. It is a land that is dark and barren but it echos with the sighs of all things magical. Long ago a Norman's hand destroyed Hafne's peace and laid the way for the Ancients' curse that has destroyed the land and taken the gift of immortality.
Now the Normans have returned. Vala is drawn to the Norman leader and torn between two worlds human and Ancient. With one chance to break the curse and immortality hanging in the balance, Vala fights against mortal love even as his ring identifies him as one of the chosen.
Land and a keep of his own are all Giles ever wanted. Instead he finds himself bound to a destiny of which he wants no part and thrown into a battle like none he has ever seen. As he falls in love with Vala he must wage a battle to save both her and a land whose people he has grown to love.
HH: Your heroine is a woman of destiny and your hero is tied to her fate. Where did you get the idea for their beautiful story?
RK:Ring of Desire began as an adult fairy tale. The first two pages were written in that "once upon a time" style telling the story of the Ancients' curse on the land and how they transferred destiny to the women of Hafne. But it was a fairy tale that never made it to the pages of the book. Instead the Ancients' story floats beneath the surface of the story, twining with a page here and there until it all comes together at the end.
The idea of a hero tied to the fate of a heroine came first from the idea that this village belonged to the women. Once that was decided, there was no choice; it had to be Vala's destiny. And really, what better way to prod a proud knight but to tie him to the fate of the same woman he's supposed to save?
HH: What do you like best about Vala and how do you identify with her?
RK: I love that Vala is loyal and willing to fight for those she loves. I suppose everyone in a way can identify with that. It's a basic human instinct. But what I like most about Vala is that she is strong and determined and willing stand up against what society is dictating and what she believes to be wrong. In this case the Normans who have invaded her land. I identify with that as history shows us over and over that conforming to the majority without thought can be a dangerous thing.
HH: What do you like best about Giles and why might he be perfect for her?
RK: Giles is as strong as Vala but it is his gentle side that I love. He has intelligence and confidence that eventually enables him to look at his own beliefs in a different way. For Vala he is perfect, he has the self-confidence to eventually recognize her strengths and cooperate with her to save them both.
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers?
RK: I have a number of contemporary suspense that are mostly set in Asia. One of my favorites is my entomologist with attitude who gets herself lost in the Borneo jungle and caught in the midst of what looks like a murder to boot.
HH: You're well traveled. Has this been an advantage in your writing career?
RK: Traveling has broadened my views, yanked me out of my comfort zone in a fun kind of way. As the foreigner, you meet people without even trying. I've had so many people reach out to help when we've traveled, from translating menus to getting us to ferries with seconds to spare, to just wanting to talk. And when you talk to the locals you learn that borders aside, we all struggle with issues that may be written in unfamiliar letters or wrapped in different cloth or colours but are still very much the same. I think that reflects in my writing and allows my characters to cross physical and cultural borders, challenging their beliefs and motivations, and giving them an added complexity.
HH: How have you grown as a writer since you started out?
RK: I used to write instinctively whenever the muse it me. I'd begin a chapter without even knowing where that chapter was going and only a vague idea of how it fit into the whole picture. I've become much more focused. Now I am more likely to be thinking of character motivation, plot, sentence structure and flow instead of wondering when the muse might strike. I still couldn't give you a chapter-by-chapter outline but I research, rough outline and then draft a synopsis before I start. Writing is no longer something I do when I feel like it. It's something I do every day with a time line for completion. And I still love it – time frame and all.
HH: What's a typical day like for you?
RK: On the weekdays writing is confined to the evenings, usually about two hours a day, three if I'm lucky. On the weekends I write from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m. or noon then I break to walk the dog and then do another hour or two of any writing related business; blog posts, e-mails, etc. After that, unless I'm on deadline, I break for the day.
HH: What do you enjoy reading personally?
RK: I really enjoy a good woman's story a journey from rags to riches (not necessarily monetarily). A classic for me was "Woman of Substance". I just downloaded Stephen King's "Under the Dome" and I'm really looking forward to getting into that. I'm a rather eclectic reader. I've been revisiting my keeper shelf lately and have both "Roots" and "Gone with the Wind" in the must be read again lineup. I just love books. And, of course, I love a good romance.
HH: What would you like to accomplish this year?
RK: I want to publish some of my romance suspense books - I suppose that's a goal not completely in my control. So a goal I have some control over – I'd like to complete two books in 2010. One I have just begun is set in Northern Thailand and follows the journey of a free spirit filmmaker who finds herself in the path of a stockbroker implicated in an embezzlement scheme. And my second book I plan to research on my next trip, wherever in the world that might be...
