by Barbara McLaughlin | Dec 11, 2022 | Books and Trailers
Innocents and Curiosities, Book 2 of the Heaven’s Wait! Tales from Vowella light fantasy series, begins in today’s Vowella. Though time has passed and a new generation of Vowellans has emerged, the townsfolk are still as innocent and curious as they have always been. Thanks to their mentor, Mr. RJ PLOM and his access to Heaven’s Wait’s capital, New Life City, the Vowellans’ lives are now full of many modern-day advantages. Despite that reality, a bright Vowellan teen by the name of Mok Fog Bob senses that something is missing from their lives. He decides to study the Vowellans’ behavior in hopes of helping RJ understand what is keeping the community from answering the question that has nagged at them for generations. What is the Vowellans’ purpose in Heaven’s Wait?
Moving the focus of the tales to the modern-day, new-generation Vowella gave me an opportunity to expand the depth of the everyday lives of the various clans of Vowella. There are the jolly Ham Bats, the quiet Fig Wigs, the intellectual Fog Bobs, the greedy Net Kens, and the bullying Rug Bums. Each clan has its own strengths, quirks, and troubles, as does any family.
Once the initial clan traits were established in RJ and the Vowellans, it was easy to build on those traits. The clans and the individuals within them began to write their own stories. Just as other writers do, I found myself modeling some of the fantasy characters after people I knew or had observed, but in exaggerated fashion. I built other characters by simply letting my imagination run wild. That was the fun part. Giving them credible stories to tell was much more of a challenge.
Innocents and Curiosities gives you an inside look at everyday life in Vowella. It also touches on the importance of being aware of what that life looks like. Please enjoy the book trailer below for Innocents and Curiosities. Barbara
To read more about Innocents and Curiosities, Heaven’s Wait! Tales from Vowella Book 2 and listen to its music, visit the Tales from Vowella Book Page. To receive alerts about new HW posts like this, make sure to subscribe to our email list by completing the email form in the footer of this page.
by Barbara McLaughlin | Dec 11, 2022 | Books and Trailers
RJ and the Vowellans, Tales from Vowella Book 1 is the story of a man who, through no wish of his own, left our mortal world for Heaven. Along the way, he happened upon a brilliant, unknown world called Heaven’s Wait. There, he found a most unusual community of quirky beings known as the Vowellans. This is the story of RJ’s discovery of Heaven’s Wait and his inevitable relationship with the Vowellans.
RJ and the Vowellans is the first book of the new Heaven’s Wait! Tales from Vowella Book Series. It is a story that was originally the prologue for the initial, massive manuscript for Tales from Vowella. The manuscript was so huge and poorly written that my story consultant, Brad Schreiber, suggested that I divide it into a trilogy and work separately on the smaller pieces. I took his advice, divided the manuscript, and started revising. Before long, I realized that the prologue didn’t reveal enough information about RJ and his journey to Heaven’s Wait. It also failed to reveal the history of the Vowellans before he got there, and how his relationship with the Vowellans evolved once he was present in their world. So, I removed the prologue from the main manuscript and let my imagination take over.
The original prologue had been called RJ’s Story, so RJ’s Story became the title of the first book in the evolving series. I published the original RJ’s Story book in 2015. Now, many years later, the entire series is finished, and this 2nd edition book has a beautiful new cover and title, RJ and the Vowellans, in keeping with the new images and feel of the complete series. The story is the same. Everything surrounding it is new. Please enjoy the following book trailer for RJ and the Vowellans. Barbara
To read more about RJ and the Vowellans, Heaven’s Wait! Tales from Vowella Book 1 and listen to its music, visit the Tales from Vowella Book Page. To receive alerts about new HW posts like this, make sure to subscribe to our email list by completing the email form in the footer of this page.
by Barbara McLaughlin | Dec 9, 2022 | From Barbara M
Allow me to give you a little introduction. I never intended to be a writer. Once my sons went off to college, I thought it might be fun to write some little life lesson stories to eventually leave for them as remembrances. I had no idea that those little stories and their characters would take on lives of their own and morph into a massive manuscript that would then become the four books of the Tales from Vowella series.
This series has been many years in the making. Thanks to the help and guidance of so many, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about myself, others, and the world of writing. I’ve been able to stretch my potential in ways I never imagined. The opportunity has kept my brain sharp, has fed my soul, and has given my creativity free rein, for which I am very grateful. Years of thought and ideas and hard work went into creating my light fantasy world. A multitude of inspirations from everyday life presented themselves along the way. I grabbed those inspirations whenever they arose and found ways to weave them into the work. They certainly influenced the offerings you see today.
Please join me on my personal journey in creating and living the world of Heaven’s Wait. Follow my blog to learn about the evolution and progress of the World of Heaven’s Wait, its stories, music, and extras as time goes on.
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All the best,
Barbara McLaughlin
