Guest Post/Giveaway: Amy Joy Lutchen - Renhala

Amy Joy Lutchen - Renhala

• Pub Date: September 26, 2012
• Publisher: Amy Joy Lutchen
• Format: Paperback/Ebook, 406 pages
• Age Range: Adult

Kailey Rooke, timid accountant, dedicated to philanthropic work, finds herself spiraling into a deep depression after she suffers a horrifyingly odd and humiliating assault, to only discover more of these freakish assaults occurring across the globe.

A chance discovery leads Kailey to a meeting with elderly Gunthreon, actual master of persuasion. Gunthreon, who seems to know too much of Kailey's history for her liking, opens Kailey's eyes to a coexisting realm she never knew existed: Renhala, while entrusting her with the knowledge of her newfound power as karmelean, serving as a beacon to the Higher Ones. Kailey slowly starts revealing new talents, and Gunthreon is fascinated with what she starts achieving.

She soon discovers that Renhala is in danger, and this danger has been leaking into her own realm. As she uncovers secrets within herself, and attempts to toughen up, she fuses with an unlikely band of fellow travelers (including a dragon, woodsprite, six-hundred-pound greble, her faithful female canine companion, and a "giver"), falls into an unexpected love triangle, deals with her sexy and flirtatious best friend’s “issues,” and finds the courage to master a new deadly weapon.

On her mission to save Renhala, Kailey will find herself running from life-threatening disasters, such as greble Tartarin, who likes to remind Kailey that when he catches her, he plans on eating her brains with ice cream; she'll run from the deadly meeples: small cute bunnies with talons and an undeniable thirst for imposing self-destruction on others. Kailey will also run into the possibility that a centuries-old Renhalan rumor is true, that advanced technology existing in Kailey's realm shortens all life spans.

As blood is shed and puzzles near completion, Kailey pulls from deep within herself, conjuring up mystical qualities that enable her to astonish as once predicted at her birth, but despite the newfound strength, Kailey will discover that monsters not only come in ugly packages, but can be easily disguised as those she has come to love and trust.

Guest Post

by Amy Joy Lutchen

When I was invited to participate in this guest post, all sorts of fun things ran through my mind and I honestly could not focus on just one thing to do. “Do I do these ten fun things, or do I mention those top ten moments, or those other top ten stupid things I did . . . ” But then, as I started calming down and sat on my butt and sipped a cup of nice hot tea, I started thinking of what it actually means to be an author, to be the parent of a block of written words.

I can tell you what it means for me: control. You see, my story, Renhala, started as a single piece of paper littered with a hodgepodge of written fears and tragic events from my life, with one very tragic event taking me the longest to write down, the very one I wrote the smallest: the assault. These very small words, which I thought had the biggest impact on who I was at that time, were sitting there on the page, laughing at me, despite their puny size. I stared, and stared at those words, often fighting with myself to roll the paper up and toss it away, but I knew it really wouldn’t be gone. Those words were going to haunt me forever, as well as the humiliation associated with them—the humiliation inflicted by the hands of a total stranger.

But one day, out of the blue, in a moment of surprising triumph, I gathered my strength and flipped that stupid piece of paper over and began writing more words, different words. These words began as a small story about a young woman who was assaulted who loses her mother—her only support— to disease, which then morphed into another story of a young woman who suffered the same fate, but befriended some new, supportive friends. As the magic began flowing freely from my fingertips, this same young woman then mastered a new weapon and her destiny was changed forever. I finally felt better about myself—felt better about life—for I was shaping future events. I wrangled those ugly words and fought them down hard, wrestling and dodging blows, until I took CONTROL. I took control, and took those words and kneaded them, molding them into exactly what what I needed, into something inspiring and uplifting: the mystical land known as Renhala.

*********

I know, that no matter who you are and where you’ve come from, you’ve had some kind of tragic event, or maybe multiple moments of tragedy, muddy your life. Perhaps it was the death of a loved one, or sickness, or bullying, or an assault. Whatever it was, or even is, just know that you can gain the advantage. You can wash yourself of the bad. Write the words down. Write those words down as a poem, short story, epic novel, whatever, but just write them down. This is how you’ll take the first step in control. This is how you’ll change the future.

Change your life by changing the words…

Was born in Chicago and slept in a dresser drawer for the first few weeks of my life, marking me as a future claustrophobe.

I studied at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (man I grew up quick), where I became a number, but decided it was a good number.

I love dabbling in metalsmithing and lampworking.


I now write in my spare time as I eat snacks, making sure they are not in multiples of three. That number makes me nervous.

Find Amy:

facebook | goodreads | website

Giveaway Alert!!

Amy is graciously giving away an ebook copy of her novel, Renhala, as well as a really gorgeous necklace! Check out a picture of the jewelry below. The ebook is an international giveaway, and the necklace is US only. Use the Rafflecopter forms below to enter. Both giveaways end 11/19/12. Thanks and good luck!!

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