It’s launch week for my story, For Such a Time as This! My Snow White retelling is part of a larger group of authors who are launching their own retellings in succession. I’m so thankful to be a part of this talented pool of writers.
Today I would like to introduce you to Kathryn McConaughy, author of Overpowered. This young woman is a fabulous writer and, I learned, a detailed and professional editor. She literally saved my retelling from disgrace–not even kidding! Fact: I am the world’s worst with homophones (like, I often don’t stop to think about the fact that I’m using one or which one is correct…even though I am well aware of their/there/they’re differences. Shameful.) :-/
First, let’s gaze on this gorgeous cover and then learn a little about Kathryn’s brilliant story, Overpowered.
After a blood crime sends Taliyah bat Shammai running from her home, she flees into the hill country. Yet the hills are no place for a woman traveling alone. Strange dreams of talking jackals and mysterious mists are the least of her worries—for she knows that the Avenger of Blood will be following close behind her.
Barred from the Refuge by the circumstances of her crime, Taliyah thinks that her best chance of survival may lie with Cypress and his band of mercenaries: giant Cedar, hardened Thorn, boasting Vine and tidy Fig. Unsure whether to stay or go, Taliyah is reassured by the arrival of a young man with a mysterious past and cardamom-colored eyes. Something tells her that he is a man she can trust. Yet when a new king rises at the city of the Dawn, Taliyah and the seven criminals are called to fight a battle they cannot win. Will the outlaws stand fast in the face of certain death? Can Taliyah ever find safety again? Even escaping the battle may not save her… for the Avenger is still coming.
And now, Kathryn would like to introduce us to one of the story’s characters named Fig. (Love that name!).
Favorite proverb: Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
Backstory: Born to a Gibe’anit mother, part of a bloodline assigned to the Yeshurnim as perpetual servants, he spent the early part of his life carrying water and doing other menial tasks for a highly unpleasant master. At the age of fifteen he killed his master and fled. (As for the reason why… you’ll have to read the story and see!) After a brief period of roaming, he joined Cypress’ outlaw band, which is where we find him at the beginning of Overpowered.
Appearance: Short and of average build, with dark brown hair and eyes set a bit too close together. He tends not to grow facial hair and trims off any ambitious wisps with ruthless tidiness. Wears plain, clean clothing which he keeps neatly mended. He is 19 years old. He moves efficiently, keeping his arms close to his body, always acutely aware of his personal space. He is alert, wary, and highly observant.
His Role in the Mercenary Band: Fig is the band’s quartermaster, in charge of scrounging for food and caching it for future use. He knows every abandoned house, vineyard, plot of grain, date palm, and cistern in the Yeshurni hills. He also trades furs and other hinterland products with the villagers, sometimes selling his own carvings of local animals. In battle he is not terribly aggressive, acting as Commander Cypress’ spear-carrier and defending him during fights. Although he isn’t in charge of gathering information for the band, he sometimes learns important things–from sources he does not name.
Author’s Notes: I first created Fig purely because I wanted the mercenary band to end up with seven members. I already had interesting character points in mind for the others, but not for him. He was just “the seventh guy, yes, the guy over there doing the cooking.” He ended up really growing on me. As I wrote Overpowered, I realized that I needed to give Snow an ally in the band, someone she wouldn’t be afraid of. Then I had to give him a backstory that explained why a relatively peaceful young man would commit murder and become a mercenary. The upshot of it all is that I grew so fond of him that I picked him to be the hero of Overpowered’s sort-of sequel, Revealer of Hidden Things (currently in the works).
The story will be available an an ebook on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble’s NOOK, Apple, KOBO, and all the other online retailers supplied by Smashwords. The paperback will only be available on Amazon.
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/892374
Kathryn McConaughy is a Christian fantasy author. She studied at Geneva College (as well as at sundry other institutions of higher education), where she pursued the goal of learning as many ancient languages as possible. She is the author of “Guardian of Our Beauty,” an ancient Near Eastern Sleeping Beauty tale from the anthology Five Magic Spindles. Kathryn lives in an apartment in Maryland and will probably remain there until the building collapses under the weight of her dissertation materials.
Connect with Kathryn on her blog, and Goodreads.