About the Book & Authors

rowanwood — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:09:48 +0000

THE BOOK

Rowan of the Wood is a dual story of an ancient Celtic romance and a modern coming of age magically merged through time. Rowan and Fiana, a druid priest and priestess, are separated on their wedding day when invaders attack the celebration in sixth century Scotland. Fiana escapes to the otherworld, but the veil between the two worlds closes before Rowan can join her. Trapped on this side of reality, he quickly hides himself inside his own magic wand to evade death, trusting that Fiana will return for him a year from now when the veil reopens. One of the attackers, however, steals the wand as Fiana watches helplessly behind the fading veil. Rowan remains within his own wand for over a thousand years as it travels around the world with various groups, ending up in a redwood forest in Northern California.

Meanwhile, Fiana fruitlessly searches for the wand to free Rowan. She preserves her life and youth through magic, but when even this begins to fail, she turns to blacker arts. She believes he is in an unimaginable hell being confined in a small piece of wood, slowly losing his mind. After two centuries of searching throughout Europe, even dark magic will no longer sustain her. She gives up her soul to become immortal, enabling her to continue her search.

In the 21st century, Cullen, a foster boy who hides within his books from an unkind world, stumbles across the wand. He inadvertently frees Rowan’s spirit from its wooden prison, but it enters into his own body. Cullen learns to communicate with Rowan, but when confronted with overwhelming fear, Rowan takes over and Cullen is transformed into the ancient druid until the danger is gone. Rowan slowly comes to understand he’s now in the 21st century, and the past 1400 years have passed in a few moments for him.

Will the two lovers meet again? Will Fiana still be his loving wife, or has her long life changed her?

You will meet the Sons of Fey, trapped as dogs for ages by a cruel tyrant. Cullen’s favorite teacher, Ms. MacFey, who has only heard the legend discovers Rowan is real… and a honey! April and Maddy, Cullen’s best friends, find powers of their own… and Rex, Cullen’s mean foster brother, finds himself speechless.

It is a dark and tragic tale which simultaneously reveals some of the goodness and purity of the world around us.

www.rowanofthewood.com

THE AUTHORS

Christine Rose

Christine is an entrepreneur at heart. Often described as a “free spirit” she is believed to have gypsy blood running through her veins, which explains why she moves around so much. (Although some claim that she has ants in her pants.)

Christine produced two documentary films and has credits on IMDB.com. The first film enjoyed a theatrical premiere in Paris and a considerable amount of international press. She also planned and executed a 40-US city promotional tour for it. She has had articles appear in several magazines, including MovieMaker Magazine and IndieSlate Magazine discussing her career as an independent filmmaker.

She holds her M.A. in English and wrote her Master’s Thesis on Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur. Her favorite authors include Shakespeare, Swift and Vonnegut, with a more recent adoration of J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman.

Ethan Rose

Although many tragic heroes begin as orphans, Ethan actually was one. He grew up amongst the magical redwoods in Northern California and read anything he could get his hands on…. still does. He has read virtually every fantasy novel ever written. His favorite authors include JRR Tolkien, Terry Pratchett and Ursula LeGuin.He enjoys dragging his wife out on a 10-day pilgrimmage to Black Rock City every August to serve pancakes on the playa.

Christine and Ethan met swing dancing in 1999 and were married a year later. They’ve traveled together extensively across the USA, in the U.K., Canada and France. Christine’s scholarly, goal-oriented background mixed with Ethan’s knowledge of fantasy creates an impenetrable team of writers who look forward to writing more books together and to promoting this book across the country and the world.

This novel is the first in a series. They have already started to adapt it for a Graphic Novel, working with the incredibly talented Ia Layadi of Wink! Design. She designed the book cover and the image of Rowan in the header is her depiction of him for the Graphic Novel.