Tricia Mingerink

Today I welcome Jaye L. Knight as part of her blog tour for The King’s Scrolls, book two in the Ilyon Chronicles. Ever since I read Resistance, Jaye has become one of my favorite Christian Fantasy writers. Today is the last day of the blog tour, but you can find the rest of the posts on the tour here.

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is a homeschool graduated indie author with a passion for writing Christian fantasy and clean new adult fiction. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Etsy.

Hi, Jaye! Welcome to The Pen of a Ready Writer. Let’s get things started with a fun question: Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings?

I’m a Lord of the Rings girl, most definitely. I adore the trilogy and The Hobbit (books and movies). I probably wouldn’t be writing fantasy if I had not gotten into LOTR. I’ve read a couple of the Narnia books, but I just never really got into them. *hides from Narnia fans* I do like the movies though . . .

*Gasp* The Narnian in me is heading off to cry in a corner…

Lord of the Rings girl. The Ilyon Chronicles is a huge series. Six epic fantasy novels! What gave you the idea for such an ambitious project?

Well, it sort of forced itself on me and demanded to be written. It started out as only three novels, but quickly outgrew them. The initial idea came while I was reading DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul. I had just read a scene where you discover one of the main characters is a half-blood. This wasn’t a new topic for me since I’d written about half-elves before, but they were always accepted by society. DragonQuest got me thinking, what if I wrote about a half-blood who wasn’t accepted by society? And taking that a step further, what if one half of his blood was a race everyone considered monsters and soulless? Talk about conflict. That’s how my character Jace came to be. The rest of the series grew around him. I have to give all the credit to God for that. I really have no idea how it morphed from one character into such an involved series of books.

I absolutely adore Jace! I wanted to give him a hug so badly in Resistance.

You dealt with a lot of weighty themes in Resistance: treatment of those who are different, persecution, forgiveness. Does The King’s Scrolls continue those themes or develop a few of its own?

I’d say those themes continue, though some aren’t as much a focus as they were in Resistance. Persecution is definitely still a major theme, though. Trust is a big part of The King’s Scrolls, specifically trusting God even when things don’t make sense and it seems like everything is going wrong. I’d say that is the central theme of this book—learning to trust that He has a plan even when it is impossible to understand.

I love how the theme plays out in the book!

One thing that really impressed me about Resistance and The King’s Scrolls is the quality of the writing, editing, and formatting. It is even more impressive because you’re an indie author who did all of that yourself! What made you decide to pursue indie publishing?

Well . . . impatience? *sheepish look* I was young and impatient to have my book in my hands when I first decided to self-publish. Plus, I had absolutely no idea how I’d get published otherwise, and wasn’t anywhere near ready for such a thing. But now, with the way indie publishing has exploded since then, I’ve come to love it. There are so many more resources available now than there were when 18-year-old me decided to first pursue it. I would have a hard time being convinced to try traditional publishing now.

Sounds like something a lot of us young writers can relate to! What is the hardest part of indie publishing?

Having to do absolutely everything. It’s a TON of work. Many times, I don’t even have enough time to write. It’s kind of hard to be an author if you’re not actually writing. 😛 It would be nice to have others doing certain work like formatting. Now, I could hire someone to do that, but I prefer to save the money and do it myself. The sheer amount of work can be overwhelming sometimes, but, in the end, it’s worth it.

Well, you’ve done a great job of it, and I can’t wait to read your next book! (Hint, hint! Please hurry!)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

About the Book

Following the harrowing events that brought them to Landale Forest, Jace and Kyrin have settled comfortably into their new lives and the mission of protecting those under the emperor’s persecution. The fast approach of winter brings with it the anticipation of a quiet few months ahead. That is until the arrival of four mysterious, dragon-riding cretes who seek aid in a mission of great importance—not only to their own people, but to all followers of Elôm.

Hidden in the vast mining valley north of Valcré, a faithful crete has spent years sharing his knowledge with the destitute miners and their families and is known to possess what may be Arcacia’s last surviving copies of the King’s Scrolls—the Word of Elôm. Joining the cretes, those in Landale must find the crete teacher and bring him to safety, but it is a race against time. Should Daican’s men find him first, execution and the destruction of the Scrolls is certain.

When disaster strikes, all seems lost. Could Elôm have a plan even in the enemy’s triumph?

Available on Amazon!

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My Recommendation

READ THIS BOOK! Seriously! Read it!

The King’s Scrolls pick up where Resistance left off, but it also introduces several new characters. I adored Timothy and the other crete characters. The Altair family dynamics play a much bigger role in this book, and we finally get to meet all of Kyrin and Kaden’s brothers. Liam is so sweet and Marcus…well, there’s nothing like the conflict of duty and family to tear a person apart. All the characters are well-crafted, which makes the events in the book more poignant.

I’ll admit it. I cried. There is one part of the book…but I can’t give that away. My advice is keep a box of Kleenex handy.

New characters, new tests, new adventures, and dragons! A book doesn’t get better than this!

To top off all the excitement, Jaye is giving away this awesome prize!

Prize pack includes an autographed copy of The King’s Scrolls, a CD by Future World Music (some of Jaye’s favorite writing music), a dragon bookmark, a stone hawk pendant (much like the ones mentioned in the book), and a few packages of Twining’s Winter Spice tea to sip while you read! (Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)

This is your last day to enter!
Click here to enter!