I liked the opening scenes and thought this story had the potential to be appealingly fairytale-ish -- but I ended up not liking it much.

I was in bed with a bad cold at the time, and I didn’t try to work out whether this was because the story wasn’t to my taste, or if it simply wasn’t very good. (I suspect the latter, but I wasn’t exactly clear-headed at the time so…) ( )

Okay, this one is mine! This is my first published fiction, and my goal was to write something lighthearted and fun and escapist. I love romantic fantasy but wanted some fantasy without the violence, and a heroine who has adventures without too much trauma and angst.

When I started drafting the novel, I thought there'd be a battle scene like in many fantasy romance books; but when it came time to write the scene, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to write about blood and gore, and if I'd tried to write a battle scene, it wouldn't have been very authentic. If you read the book, you'll see how I got out of writing the battle.

Once I'd recognized my goal of avoiding violence in my stories, I felt free to explore writing fantasy romance that's a bit more like women's fiction, where the conflict centers on the heroine's issues and daily life. The second book in the Sylvania series, The Village Maid, follows this route.

There are two things I wish I had done better. (1) My villains are totally one-dimensional. I know some readers hate this! I'm working on writing deeper antagonists. (2) There is a sad aspect of the plot, that's tangential to the central love story, and I don't think I realized how truly sad it is until after the book was published. It's been bothering me, but I'm hoping I can patch things up somewhat in a future book.