The Tree of Water by Elizabeth Haydon Tour

It's unusual that I'm in touch with two different people in regards to the same book, but it makes me think I'm definitely in for a treat.  Below you'll find a question/answer session with author Elizabeth Haydon.  Tomorrow, I'll be posting my own personal review of the book.  Continue reading to find out more about this book and stay tuned to find out how good it is!  

Make sure you find all the stops on the tour and enter the multiple giveaways to win a copy!  

Interview with Elizabeth Haydon, 

documentarian, archanologist and translator of Ven’s 

journals, including The Tree of Water

Little is known for sure about reclusive documentarian and archanologist Elizabeth 

Haydon. She is an expert in dead languages and holds advanced degrees in Nain Studies from 

Arcana College and Lirin History from the University of Rigamarole. Her fluency in those 

languages [Nain and Lirin] has led some to speculate that she may be descended of one 

of those races herself. It should be noted that no one knows this for sure. 

Being an archanologist, she is also an expert in ancient magic because, well, that’s what 

an archanologist is.

Being a documentarian means she works with old maps, books and manuscripts, and so it is believed that her house is very dusty and smells like ink, but there is no actual proof 

of this suspicion. On the rare occasions of sightings of Ms. Haydon, it has been reported 

that she herself has smelled like lemonade, soap, vinegar, freshly-washed babies and 

pine cones.

She is currently translating and compiling the fifth of the recently-discovered Lost 

Journals when she is not napping, or attempting to break the world’s record for the 

longest braid of dental floss.

We had the chance to ask her some questions about the latest of Ven’s journals, The 

Tree of Water. Here is what she shared.

1. Dr. Haydon, can you give us a brief summary of The Tree of Water? 

Certainly. Ven Polypheme, who wrote the, er, Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme, 

lived long ago in the Second Age of history, when magic was much more alive 

and visible in the world than it is now. His journals are very important finds, 

because they tell the story of ancient magic and where it still may be found in the 

world today.

In the first three journals we saw how Ven came to the mystical island of 

Serendair and was given the job of Royal Reporter by the king of the island, a 

young man named Vandemere. The Royal Reporter was supposed to find magic 

that was hiding in plain sight in the world and report back about it to the king. As 

you can imagine, this could be a fun but dangerous job, and at the beginning of The Tree of Water, we see that Ven and his friends are hiding from the evil Thief 

Queen, who is looking to find and kill him. 

Amariel, a merrow [humans call these ‘mermaids,’ but we know that’s the wrong 

word] who saved Ven when the first ship he sailed on sank, has been asking Ven 

to come and explore the wonders of the Deep, her world in the sea. Deciding that 

this could be a great way to find hidden magic as well as hide from the evil Thief 

Queen, Ven and his best friend, Char, follow her into the Deep. The sea, as you 

know, is one of the most magical places in the world—but sometimes that magic, 

and that place, can be deadly. 

The book tells of mysterious places, and interesting creatures, and wondrous 

things that have never been seen in the dry world, and tales from the very bottom 

of the sea. 

2. The main character in The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme series is 

Charles Magnus "Ven" Polypheme. Tell us about him. 

Ven was an interesting person, but he really didn’t think so. He and his family 

were of a different race than the humans who made up most of the population 

where he lived, the race of the Nain. Nain are an old race, a little shorter and 

stockier than most humans, with a tendency to be on the grumpy side. They live 

about four times as long as humans, are very proud of their beards, which they 

believe tell their life stories, don’t like to swim or travel, and prefer to live deep in 

the mountains.

Ven was nothing like the majority of Nain. He was very curious, loved to travel, 

could swim, and longed to see the world. He was actually a pretty nice kid most 

of the time. He had the equivalent of a baby face because only three whiskers of 

his beard had grown in by the time The Tree of Water took place, when he was 

fifty years old [around twelve in Nain years]. He had a great group of friends, 

including the merrow and Char, who were mentioned earlier. It is believed that 

his journals were the original research documents for two of the most important 

books of all time, The Book of All Human Knowledge and All the World’s Magic.

The only copies of these two volumes were lost at sea centuries ago, so finding 

the Lost Journals is the only way to recover this important information. 

3. What kind of research do you do for the series? 

I go to places where Ven went and try to find relics he left behind. Usually this is 

with an expedition of archaeologists and historians. I am an expert in ancient 

magic [an archanologist] so I don’t usually lead the expeditions, I’m just a 

consultant. It gives me the chance to learn a lot about magic and lets me work on 

my suntan at the same time, so it’s good.

4. What is/are the most difficult part or parts of writing/restoring the Lost 

Journals? 

Here’s the list, mostly from the archaeological digs where the journals have been 

found:

1] Cannibals

2] Crocodiles

3] Sunburn

4] Sand flies

5] Dry, easily cracking parchment pages

6] The horrible smell of long-dead seaweed

7] Grumpy members of the archaeological expedition [I could name names, but I 

won’t]

8] Expedition food [when finding and retrieving the journal for The Tree of Water,

we ate nothing but peanut butter and raisin sandwiches, olives and yellow tea for 

six months straight]

9] When salt water gets into your favorite fountain pen and clogs it up. This is 

very sad.

10] Unintentionally misspelling a word in the Nain language that turns out to be 

embarrassing [the word for “jelly” is one letter different from the word for 

“diarrhea,” which caused a number of my Nain friends to ask me what on earth I 

thought Ven was spreading on his toast.]

5. What do you enjoy about this series that cannot be found in any of your 

other books? 

Getting to write about a lot of cool magic stuff that used to exist in our world, but 

doesn’t anymore. And getting to travel to interesting places in the world to see if 

maybe some of it still does exist. Also getting to show the difference between 

merrows, which are real, interesting creatures, and mermaids, which are just 

silly.

6. What do you hope readers take away from this book? 

I hope, in general, that it will open their eyes to the wonder of the sea, which 

takes up the majority of our planet, but we really don’t know that much about it 

down deep. There is a great deal of magic in the sea, and I hope that if and when 

people become aware of it, they will help take care of it and not throw garbage 

and other bad stuff into it. I have a serious dislike for garbage-throwing.

Probably the most useful secret I learned that I hope will be of use to readers is 

about thrum. Thrum is the way the creatures and plants that live in the ocean 

communicate with each other through vibration and thought. As Ven and his 

friends learn, this can be a problem if you think about something you don’t want 

anyone to know about when you are standing in a sunshadow, because 

everyone gets to see a picture of what’s on your mind. Imagine how 

embarrassing that could be. 

7. Are there more books coming in this series? 

Well, at least one. In the archaeological dig site where The Tree of Water was 

found was another journal, a notebook that Ven called The Star of the Sea. We 

are still working on restoring it, but it looks like there are many new adventures 

and different kinds of magic in it. The problem is that it might have been buried in 

the sand with an ancient bottle of magical sun tan lotion, which seems to have 

leaked onto some of the journal’s pages. This is a very sad event in archaeology, 

but we are working hard to restore it. 

As for other books, it’s not like we just write them out of nowhere. If we haven’t 

found one of Ven’s journals, there can’t be another book, now, can there? We 

are always looking, however. We’ve learned so much about ancient magic from 

the journals we have found so far.

8. You are a best-selling author with other books and series for adults. What 

made you want to write books for young readers? 

I like young readers better than adults. Everyone who is reading a book like mine 

has at one time or another been a young reader, but not everyone has been an 

adult yet. Young readers have more imagination and their brains are more 

flexible—they can understand magical concepts a lot better than a lot of adults, 

who have to deal with car payments and work and budget balancing and all sorts 

of non-magical things in the course of their days. 

Besides, many adults scare me. But that’s not their fault. I’m just weird like that.

I think if more adults read like young readers, the world would be a happier place. 

9. Tell us where we can find your book and more information about where you 

are these days. 

You can find The Tree of Water anywhere books are sold, online and in 

bookstores. There are several copies in my steamer trunk and I believe the 

palace in Serendair also has one. I also sent one to Bruno Mars because I like 

his name.

At the moment, I am on the beautiful island of J’ha-ha, searching for a very 

unique and magical flower. Thank you for asking these interview questions—it 

has improved my mood, since I have only found weeds so far today. I am hoping 

for better luck after lunch, which, sadly, is peanut butter and raisin sandwiches, 

olives, and yellow tea again.

All the best,

Dr. Elizabeth Haydon, PhD, D’Arc

Stephen K. and Steve K. Should Unite

So, I've read everything Stephen Kozeniewski has written that I've been able to get my hands on.  I'm still waiting on the new anthology but I have faith it'll be in my hands soon.  Everything that I've read, well I've absolutely adored it.  He has a fresh perspective to his writing style and a way of taking plot to a different place than it's previously been.  In short, I love his stuff.

Thanks to a surprise email earlier today, I've started reading Steve Kuhn's Dext of the Dead series, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed so far.  Starting out, I kept thinking 'OK This has been done...where's the something new?'  Don't worry your pretty little heads...I'll be reviewing each book on here shortly.  But the something new is Kuhn's writing style.  I can't keep from smiling while reading.  Seriously, it's like that snarky best guy friend telling you about stuff that's happened...after he's downed a few shots of vodka.  OK My friends don't usually drink vodka, but you get the point.  It's random and funny as hell so far.

So here's my thinking:  These guys need to get together.  I'm loving them separately, but together they could seriously produce the most amazing masterpiece!  Take one of Stephen's plots, Toss in Steve's input.  Then let the guys each pick one character and tell the story from that point of view.  Every other chapter could be a different perspective written by a different S.K.  I'm so loving this idea!  I'd read it and would heavily promote it.

In short, you guys need to listen to me and hook up and produce something...even if it's just for my entertainment.  Then again, this could end up to be about as good as my idea for fish on a stick, covered in hush puppy batter and deep fried.  We still don't know if it's any good because nobody will try it.

Just sayin'.

The Witch of the Sands by Peter Fugazzotto

By Shawn


There's this great little game in the arcade down town.  It has several plastic alligators and their heads pop out of a cave at you.  Your job is to smack the top of the alligator's head so that he retreats back into his cave.  About halfway through the game, if you've smacked enough heads, a gruff alligator voice calls out to you and says 'Now I'm angry!'  And that, my dear readers, is exactly what came out of my mouth at the end of this novella.

We have this wonderful band of warriors who are graying and tiring.  Many of them still lust for battle, but some are ready to dissect the group and settle down with wives and get fat and happy.  The world has changed and they've become nothing more than thugs for hire.  Each man is dealing with the change in the times as well as his own age in his own way.

The characters are fascinating and multi-faceted, which is surprising considering just how little description and detail Fugazzotto (who in my brain has been renamed Fuzzy), has thrown at us.  He has a natural talent for creating characters and forcing us to see deep inside of them without actually telling us who they are and boring us to tears.  From the very opening scene we have unforgettable people who just are.  They're three dimensional and have real meat to them and I adore every single one of them.

The world that's been created here is the same way.  Fugazzotto (Fuzzy!)  throws us into sand and mud and wind torrents and you can't help but love every second of it.  Instead of taking pages and paragraphs to tell us what everything looks like, he gives us the perfectly descriptive word to let us paint the scenes in our own mind.  Incredibly well done and once again, I blame this on talent rather than years of experience.

We start off with the Hounds after they've just destroyed all of the men in a village during a paid job.  They're weary and disheartened and forcing themselves to go on.  This is where we really get to know them intimately.  From this point on, it's pretty much nonstop action.  These are not the type of men that sit around knitting by the fire discussing who Aunt Fanny is trying to set the up with.  These are men of action...doers.  And we get to be right by their side feeling the same intense brotherhood and honor.

So, why am I so angry?  It just stops!  I'm reading along...avidly devouring every single word and not paying any attention to where I'm at page-wise.  Then, all of a sudden, it stops!  This is one of the best action stories I've read in a long time, and created with surprising natural talent with a fluid ease in reading...and it just stops!

If you're into action, I strongly suggest this book.  However, wait until the next one is out!  For me, this is a Green Mile flashback.  Getting a nice little appetizer and then having to wait for the next course and avidly lapping it up the second it's released on my way to the checkout counter.

Fuzzy:  First, don't be offended.  I only give nicknames as a compliment :)  Second, you better be busy writing right now instead of goofing off and playing Cookie Clicker!!!

Shadows by Don Castle

By Shawn

The Jake Somers series illuminates the world of a private investigator, his associates and his close knit family group.  In this, he third in the series, we find Jake dealing with the murder of a beautiful college coed literally at his back door.  And when multiple murders occur across the city, and under similar circumstances, Jake's crime solving expertise is called upon by the police to help catch a serial killer.

Death on a college campus, illegal synthetic drugs and a maniacal killer are all in a days work for P.I. Jake Somers.  (taken from the back of the book)

This is NOT what I was expecting.

Let's start with the characters.  They're all incredibly likable.  They all have similar personalities, but that's alright.  The bright side of that is that they're personalities that I enjoyed.  It was like having a  book full of polite and bright people. Even the murder was a thoughtful and kind person until bullets had to fly.  I even liked the sweet little drug dealers.  Though there isn't a lot of variance in the characters, they do have different stations which set them apart from each other.  Having different names helped quite a lot too.

As for the world of the detective, it wasn't what I was expecting.  I'll admit I'm a fan of old gumshoe detective novels and I'm quite the fan of Dan Reno.  I thought this would be more like that, but it really wasn't.  Somers works in collaboration with the police.  This particular story is a crime that the police simply don't have time to investigate so they've asked Somers and his partner to look into it for them.  Basically, they're police officers without the benefits of actually being a police officer.  

Now, here's where the book really threw me off.  This is not a mystery.  By page 22, both myself and Somers had all the information to piece everything together.  I had to wait several chapters for him to catch up.  Eventually he did, however. Admittedly, Somers is dealing with his secretary's wedding plans and his mother fracturing a hip, so maybe that's why it took him so long to put it together.  Instead of being a mystery, it's more a glimpse into Somers' life.  We get to sit back and enjoy the ride as he slowly and deliberately begins to puzzle things together and deal with all of the other distractions he has in his life.

If you're looking for a good old detective novel, this may not be what you're expecting but you might find you enjoy it anyway.  If you go into it looking for just a good story without having to put in any thought, this could be right up your alley.  There are some violent situations, but none of the go into detail enough to cause most readers distress.  Though  there are romantic situations, there's no sex.  This is just a good, clean look into one case of Somers' life while he's solving it.

We Are The Destroyers by D.K. Lindler

By Shawn

Over consumption is destroying his home planet, and synthetic foods are turning his people into degenerated mutants under the control of the Brotherhood of Syn.  As one of the few remaining but persecuted Organs- those who still live the organic lifestyle- Bel'lar and his small crew must escape from their dying world to the semi-mythical blue-white planet.  They are to discover if it is really what the prophecies say it is:  a place for humanity to make a new beginning.

But the visions of his beautiful companion Ry Sing, a mystic and seer, shake Bel'lar.  She tells him that eons ago, Bel'lar was also faced with the burden of saving his people from their own greed.  Only then he was the Great One, the sacred head of their religion.  He had seen no other way to liberate them from their collision course with environmental destruction and spiritual degradation than to purify the planet in a great cataclysm...But could the horrible vision be true?  Could he really have done such a thing?  And what about the scriptures that predict that a man with a mark like his would be fated to purify a corrupted planet once again and free the souls?

As Bel'lar, Ry Sing and the rest of the elite team embark on their mission to save mankind, the truth of the vision begins to reveal itself, and Bel'lar's destiny is set before him.  But will he be able to avoid it this time?  Or is he fated to live the vision once again?  (taken from the back of the book)

Sounds like a great sci-fi story, doesn't it?  I thought so too.  Honestly, I think there is a good little story buried in here, but it's incredibly difficult to get to.

The characters, while all having specifically assigned personalities and story lines, fall flat.  They don't have any life to them...no depth.  It's almost as if we have an outsider's perspective.  'He's afraid. I see.'  We don't feel any real empathy are care towards any of the characters.

The worlds are built nicely enough, but once again, I was left not caring.  It's a planet.  People lived there before.  They left pyramids.  There are spirits left behind.  Got it.  Don't need a whole book for it.

I think, honestly, my problem with this entire story is that it's so bogged down with the unnecessary and uninteresting.  Not only that, but the past is explained so many times and from so many different perspectives.  We got it from the first glimpse.  Show us something new!

Now, I don't mean to sound like the book is all bad, I just had coming up with quite a bit of trouble figuring out what I enjoyed about it.  It's well-fleshed out.  Possibly to the point of being overly rewritten, but all of the holes in the story have been plugged.  I did enjoy the Star Trek'esque theme going on for awhile.  I truly enjoyed several chapters where I decided to read every dialogue portion out loud using William Shatner's voice.

If Sci-Fi is your thing, just be forwarned that this one is slow-moving.  It starts off with a bit of action and then we have lots of description and explanation and by the time it gets back towards the action, you find you've lost a week of nodding off without meaning to.  Keep in mind, this is my opinion and I'm sure several people will disagree with me.

The Vagabond's Son by L.F. Falconer

By Shawn


It is no secret that I'm a huge fan of both Falconer, as well as her work.  But, let's not be personal...let's get straight to business!  She walks a fine line between fantasy and horror.  She has a way of writing that pulls you into this fairy tale world and leaves you shocked and awestruck with every violence.

If you've never read any of Falconer's work, you'll definitely want to start with the Hope series to see what I'm talking about.  If you just went her edgier horror stories, you'll want to go straight for the short stories in Through a Broken Window.

This newest book, the first in hopefully a long series, goes right along with her previous work.  We find ourselves meeting Adalanto, the son of a vagabond.  He's but an infant and already lived more horrors than most of us humans live in a life time.  Born into a life of poverty and violence, Adalanto doesn't have much of a choice in what's to come of him.  As his journey continues, he begins to decide who he doesn't want to be.  These beliefs carry him through the first quarter century of his life.

We all have our hardships in life.  Sometimes it feels as if we have more than our fair share.  Adalanto is just such a person.  We watch him being battered over and over and see the injustice of it.  Then we get to watch as he pulls himself together, dusts himself off, stands back up and faces the world.  I like to think I'm that sort of person, but I fall short where Adalanto does not.  It isn't easy.  We get to share in the pain of it all, but we also get to be there when he rises victorious throughout most triumphs.

One of my biggest complains about fantasy writers is that they take a world that's known to us and then add characters known to us instead of using the creative license they're gifted with.  Falconer does no such thing.  She takes a world that each of us is familiar with and then tweaks it and spins it and leaves us with a feeling of safety and security, yet uncertainty and fear as well.  It's like being in your old childhood room, where you've spent many happy nights, except now you fear there may be a demon in the closet.  She does the same thing with our characters.  We have these bright, bold 'people' of different races and all arranged in different status.  And we feel safe and secure because this is the safety that we know.  We all know about kings and queens and vagabonds and trolls and ogres.  But...do we?  And what do we really know about humans?  Falconer gives us that security of knowing what we already know while adding that same 'but what if there really is a demon in the closet' feeling.

If you're a fan of dark fantasy, definitely check this out.  This is NOT intended for children or young adults!  If you're planning on getting it for a teenager, please take the time to read it before doing so.  Though some teens are more mature and can easily handle the situations and gravity in the book, not all will be able to do so.  Then again, if you you enjoy dark fantasy, I strongly suggest this book anyway.  Come fall in love with Falconer's work, just like I do with every new book she sends me.

The Modern Girls' Guide to the Gridiron by VF Castro

By Shawn


The synopsis here is actually pretty simple.  Most items out there discussing and explaining football are both geared towards and created by men.  Though this book could also be titled 'Football for Dummies' the fact is that most of us women aren't dummies.  We, in general, know little about football because we just don't care.  Football has taken away our spouses, brothers, fathers, uncles and children for far too long!  Why would we care about football when it takes so much attention away from us?  Not to mention the fact that it comes with a language all it's own.  They might as well be ignoring us while speaking a new form of Vulcan.

So here's the deal; you can't just sit back and ignore football if it's a part of your  life.  You can't pretend to slide it under the rug and not care about it if it does indeed affect you.  You don't have to love it.  You don't have to pick a favorite team and cheer for them.  But at least making an attempt to understand it can open up some serious new opportunities in your relationships.  Not only that, but when you hear the men in the next room talking and you begin to understand what they're saying, it can really do wonders for your self esteem.  It's exciting learning something new! (Even if you think you have no interest).  There's also the 'broccoli effect'.  You never know...once you try it, you may like it!

Castro is a sports journalist and has seen the gender gap first hand where football is concerned.  She writes in a humorous and down to earth way.  Each chapter takes you step by step into the world of football, but don't worry.  She holds your hand the entire way.  It's sort of like sitting back with an old friend and sipping wine.  Then you say 'OK So this football thing...what do I need to know so I can impress my husband?'  And then...she proceeds to tell you.  Everything is easily spelled out so that it's difficult not to understand it.

As a read through book, I was actually pretty bored.  DO NOT pick this book up with the belief that you'll just read through it really quickly and become a football expert and impress all your friends and family!  Instead, think of it as a guidebook.  Pick at one section until you understand it.  Better yet, start mentally jotting down the words you don't know and the things you want to understand better and then use the handy spandy guides in the book to get the information you seek.  If your loved ones are yelling at the quarterback...wouldn't it be great to know what a quarterback is?

Now, I don't mean to imply that women have no interest in football or sports at all, nor that they're idiots.  I know that this applies to a lot of women out there, and the above is what this book has to offer you.  It can easily and quickly give you enough knowledge to understand what's going on and bridge that gap.  Now, if you are a sports fan, and more specifically a football fan, this book still has lots to offer you.  There are anecdotes and history sprinkled throughout the book.  There's also a section at the back that I personally enjoyed that lists the different NFL teams and their histories.  There's also a section on Canadian Football League, a glossary, and all sorts of interesting information.  Whether you're just seeking a basic knowledge of the game or interested in adding to your cache of football knowledge, this is a pretty handy book.  Personally, it's going on my keeper shelf just in case I need it.  I sort of consider it my 'Football Cheat Book'.