It’s been two years since my novella, The Lerewood, has been published with Kellan Publishing. To be quite honest, my focus has been more on writing my second book than marketing and promoting The Lerewood. I’ve set goals for myself in the recent past to work towards making more successful sales for The Lerewood, but I’ve been spending most of my time just either writing my second book or working one of my two jobs. I think what I need to do is create a habit, write my daily goal in my planner, and stick to it. I’d like to mainly get more reviews for The Lerewood on Goodreads and Amazon, and possibly do more giveaways and maybe even try to organize a book signing or other event, as well as work on my social media presence to gain followers.
Since most of those goals for The Lerewood are still being worked on, I’ll tell you a little bit about my next book.
I’m only on chapter three since I’ve started writing the book chronologically, but I have hundreds of pages in scenes and in notes. The way I write is a bit strange—if any writers write the same way, let me know in the comment section! What I do is, I’ll write a whole bunch of different scenes, and then I’ll organize them as separate word documents in different folders (in this case I’m starting a series, so I have a folder for each book, and then I put the different scenes, as word documents, into each folder. So if I want a certain scene in the first book and another scene in the third book, I’ll place them in the correct folder). Then once I have hundreds of pages of writing material, I organize them chronologically or piece them together like a puzzle, and I fill in any missing pieces. I actually like to think of it as the alphabet. Let me explain:
Let’s say my random scenes represent a handful of letters in the alphabet—D, F, H, I, L, O, Q, R, T, X, Y. Then, once I have these ‘letters’, I start the book from the very beginning. I write ‘A’, then ‘B’, then, ‘C’…and then I already have D, so I just copy and paste that material in my book. It’s a little strange and hard to describe when someone asks me “How far along are you in your second book?”. I’m far along…but then again I’m not. So I may only be on chapter three, but I have future chapters already written.
As for the plot, it’s about a Scottish criminal, Mr. Killian, who’s looking to hire a nanny for his daughter, Elspeth. He interviews a woman, Abigail, for the position, but she isn’t who she says she is. Killian suspects she is a spy, but that’s far from the truth.
The series, an expected trilogy, will follow Abigail’s secret, her relationship with Killian, Elspeth, and Killian’s friends, girlfriends, and enemies. It’s predominantly a romance, and I wanted to create a romance that felt real. I typically don’t read romance novels because I feel like the characters fall in love too quickly, or the relationship otherwise feels forced or fake. Real love forms with time, and through hardships, in my opinion and experience, and that’s what the Killian series will be all about.
Follow me on social media (links below) for updates on the writing progress and with progress on marketing The Lerewood as well. I post giveaways, and sometimes I have interactive posts in which I ask my readers a question!
Check out my previous blog here, in which I discuss writing dialogue.
~ Andrea Churchill
 
Get your copy of The Lerewood
Follow me on my Kellan Publishing author page, my website at andreachurchillbooks.com, Facebook , Instagram or Twitter!
 

​Of all the literary devices used in my book, The Lerewood, I believe I use personification the most, as it plays an important role in the story. I describe the Lerewood forest as if it were alive, because in a way, it is.
 
The wood was pitch-black. Lingering in one spot did him no good and fear came quite easily, so Uallas found it best to walk again. He couldn't see a thing except the foliage, which seemed to cast an eerie glow. Even in the darkness, the trees acted as lamps, giving off the tiniest hint of green light. The light was so faint, it barely provided Uallas with guidance to see ahead. He could see only the trees that stood closest to him. He felt like the trees had the power to direct him to safety, but they wanted to torture him. They took away his senses and only granted him the vision they wanted him to have, and it was just enough to see the trees that stood like creatures with souls, creatures that watched him with rugged eyes deep inside their trunks. They wanted to scare and threaten him. The man could swear the trees were glowing, and only the trees that led to Ilere would glow, leading him right along that path without his knowledge. Somewhere, there could be a pathway coated in darkness, but it would be the pathway to safety and freedom. Uallas did not trust the trees. He did not like them staring at him.
~Excerpt from Chapter 4
 
When someone dies inside the Lerewood forest, the trees absorb the soul. As the townspeople of Lerewood are a natural evil, the trees—rotted and decayed from harboring such evil—serve as a protection against the evil spreading and infecting the rest of the world, sort of like a strainer. They only allow the good and the innocent souls to pass through…although there is only one. The Lerewood forest is vast, stretching for miles all around the small town of Lerewood, and its vastness also serves as protection, for it is harder to escape a forest so large compared to one so small you could walk through it within an hour or two.
 
But the trees don’t just harbor evil souls, like jail cells. They are also alive, and will attack the townspeople if Ilere orders it, or if their dark queen is threatened.  
 
Ilere defended herself with the forest. The trees swung their branches and swatted men and women. The children were too small for the branches to reach them. They crouched down and took cover while their mothers and fathers were whipped. Vines lifted from trees and grabbed arms and legs. The fury of Ilere emanated off the vines like violent puppets; they tore limbs, and within seconds, a good portion of the army was already dead.
~Excerpt from Chapter 10
 
The message I wanted to give by personifying the forest in The Lerewood is one quite literal—nature is alive. Not quite as alive as the Lerewood forest, but it deserves more love and respect than humanity treats it.
 
It was a war between humanity and nature—we kill nature; it has no powers to get revenge. We take for granted what gives us oxygen and shelter, food and lumber. We don't give back, and the Lerewood forest fights for all the forests of the world.
~Excerpt from Chapter 10
 
I hope that by reading The Lerewood, my readers will think more about forest conservation and humanity’s destructive impact on nature. To read more about the ghostly Lerewood forest, you can get my novella at Kellan Publishing here.
 
Check out my previous blog here in which I discuss dialogue in The Lerewood.
 
~ Andrea Churchill
 
Get your copy of The Lerewood
Follow me on my Kellan Publishing author page, my website at andreachurchillbooks.com, Facebook , Instagram or Twitter!