The
Vengeful Goddess
Demands
Her Tithe
When a stowaway is discovered aboard the merchant ship Kulap Kanya, Munny, a cabin boy on his first voyage, knows what must be done. All stowaways are sacrificed to Risafeth, the evil goddess of the sea. Such is her right, and the Kulap Kanya's only hope to return safely home.
Yet, to the horror of his
crew, Captain Sunan vows to protect the stowaway, a foreigner in
clown's garb. A curse falls upon the ship and all who sail with her,
for Risafeth will stop at nothing to claim her tithe.
Will Munny find the
courage to trust his captain and to protect the strange clown who has
become his friend?
Cover Design Intro:
I
had the fun of designing this cover—finding reference photos,
inventing the composition, applying the text, etc.—but the actual
artistic work was done by talented cover artist Phatpuppy
(www.phatpuppyart.com), whose work I have admired for many years. It
was such a thrill for me to contact and commission this artist to
create a look for Goddess Tithe that is reminiscent of the
original novels but has a style and drama all its own.
The
boy on the front was quite a find. I hunted high and low for an image
of a boy the right age, the right look, with the right expression on
his face. Phatpuppy and I worked with a different model through most
of the cover development stage. But then I happened upon this image,
and both she and I were delighted with his blend of youth,
stubbornness, and strength of character! It wasn’t difficult to
switch the original boy for this young man. He simply is
Munny, and this cover is a perfect window into the world of my story.
You
can’t see it here, but the wrap-around back cover for the print
copy contains some of the prettiest work . . . including quite a
scary sea monster! Possibly my favorite detail is the inclusion of
the ghostly white flowers framing the outer edge. These are an
important symbol in the story itself, and when Phatpuppy sent me the
first mock-up cover with these included, I nearly jumped out of my
skin with excitement!
Intro
to Illustration:
There
are eight full-page illustrations in Goddess Tithe featuring
various characters and events from the story. This is the first one
in the book. I decided to share it with all of you since it depicts
my young hero, Munny the cabin boy, under the watchful eye of his
mentor, the old sailor Tu Pich. Munny is on his first voyage, and he
is determined to learn all there is to know about a life at sea as
quickly as possible. Thus we see him utterly intent upon the knot he
is learning to tie. Tu Pich is old enough to know that no sailor will
ever learn all there is to know about the sea. Thus he looks
on, grave, caring, and perhaps a little sad. He might be looking upon
his own younger self of many years ago, fumbling through the hundreds
of difficult knots his fingers must learn to tie with unconscious
ease.
I
enjoyed creating all the illustrations for Goddess Tithe, but
this one was my favorite. I love the contrasts of light and dark, the
contrasts of young and old . . . youthful intensity versus the
perspective of age.
Excerpt
from the Story:
Here
is an excerpt from the middle of the story. In this scene, Munny has
been ordered to Captain Sunan’s cabin to clear away his breakfast .
. . an unexpected task, for a lowly cabin boy would not ordinarily
dare enter his captain’s private quarters! Munny hopes to slip in
and out quietly without attracting the captain’s notice. But his
hopes are dashed when Sunan addresses him, asking how their strange,
foreign stowaway is faring:
__________
“And what do you make of him
yourself?”
Munny dared glance his captain’s
way and was relieved when his eyes met only a stern and rigid back.
“I’m not sure, Captain,” he said. “I think he’s afraid. But
not of . . .”
“Not of the goddess?” the
Captain finished for him. And with these words he turned upon Munny,
his eyes so full of secrets it was nearly overwhelming. Munny froze,
his fingers just touching but not daring to take up a small teapot of
fragile work.
The Captain looked at him,
studying his small frame up and down. “No,” he said, “I believe
you are right. Leonard the Clown does not fear Risafeth. I believe he
is unaware of his near peril at her will, suffering as he does under
a peril nearer still.”
Munny made neither answer nor
any move.
“We will bring him safely to
Lunthea Maly, won’t we, Munny?” the Captain said. But he did not
speak as though he expected an answer, so again Munny offered none.
“We will bring him safely to Lunthea Maly and there let him choose
his own dark future.”
“I hope—” Munny began.
But he was interrupted by a
sudden commotion on deck. First a rising murmur of voices, then many
shouts, inarticulate in cacophony. But a pounding at the cabin door
accompanied Sur Agung’s voice bellowing, “Captain, you’d best
come see this!”
The Captain’s eyes widened a
moment and still did not break gaze with Munny’s. “We’ll keep
him safe,” he repeated. Then he turned and was gone, leaving the
door open.
Munny put down the pot he held
and scurried after. The deck was alive with hands, even those who
were off watch, crawling up from the hatches and crowding the rails
on the port side. They parted way for the Captain to pass through,
but when Munny tried to follow, they closed in again, blocking him as
solidly as a brick wall.
“Look! Look!” Munny heard
voices crying.
“It’s a sign!”
“She’s warning us!”
“It’s a sign, I tell you!”
Fearing he knew not what, Munny
ran for the center mast and climbed partway up, using the handholds
and footholds with unconscious confidence. Soon he was high enough to
see over the heads of the gathered crew, out into the blue waters of
the ocean. And he saw them.
They were water birds. Big white
albatrosses, smaller seagulls, heavy cormorants, even deep-throated
pelicans and sleek, black-faced terns. These and many more, hundreds
of them, none of which should be seen this far out to sea.
They were all dead. Floating in a
great mass.
Munny clung to the mast, pressing
his cheek against its wood. The shouts of the frightened sailors
below faded away, drowned out by the desolation of that sight. Death,
reeking death, a sad flotilla upon the waves.
“I’ve never seen anything
like that.”
Munny looked down to where
Leonard clung to the mast just beneath him, staring wide-eyed out at
the waves. “How could this have happened? Were they sick? Caught in
a sudden gale? Are they tangled in fishing nets?”
There was no fear in his voice.
Not like in the voices of the sailors. He did not understand. He did
not realize. It wasn’t his fault, Munny told himself.
But it was.
____________
Author
Bio:
Anne
Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she
lives with her husband, Rohan, a kindle of kitties, and one
long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare,
opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She
studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at
Campbell University. She is the author of the Tales of Goldstone
Wood, including Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower,
and Dragonwitch. Heartless and Veiled Rose have each
been honored with a Christy Award, and Starflower was voted
winner of the 2013 Clive Staples Award.
Giveaway:
I
am offering two proof copies of Goddess Tithe as prizes! U.S.
and Canada only, please.
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