Interview with Stefan by Donnie Light

The Three Feathers – eBook76 Featured Book

I recently had the opportunity to work on a new first novel, “The Three Feathers” by Stefan Bolz. As I gathered the information for the eBook and Print book projects, I became interested in the book and wanted to know more about it. Stefan has graciously accepted an invitation to be interviewed about his novel, and have it be featured on the eBook76.com website.

 Donnie: As I was formatting this book for eBook and Print versions, I read bits and pieces of the story as I was working on it. The story seems very intriguing in concept, so I want to know more! First off, I see that the main character, Joshua Aylong, is a… Rooster. Can you give me the scoop on how this character – and his name came to be?

Please continue reading at Donnie's blog at http://ebook76.com/?p=476

The Labyrinth Of Mirrors

This is a small excerpt from the labyrinth of mirrors, Joshua and Grey's ordeal.

He wandered the endless labyrinth for close to a day. Once in a while he heard the distant howling of the wolf. His heart broke for him and he let out his own rooster crows that echoed eerily through the dark corridors. If they ever reached the wolf he did not know it. In the end he just sank to the ground, exhausted and overwhelmed by the hopelessnes

s of it all. He looked at himself in the mirror, looked at his face, his eyes, his beak. He saw the colors of his tail feathers and the red coloring of his back and wings. He just sat there staring at himself in the mirror for a long time.
The thought came slowly as if approaching from deep inside. It was quiet at first and small. But it gained momentum and at one point Joshua became aware of it.
“There must be a way out.”
Faint still but persistent, the thought grew in strength, and as it grew in strength it grew in hope as well. And suddenly a second thought joined the first.
“We can’t die in here.”
And when this one began to reach his awareness he knew he had to find it in himself to get up.
“Get up.” He thought to himself.
“Get up!” He thought to his mirror image.
“Get UP!”
And then he could no longer dismiss it. He had but one choice—to follow it.
He stood up, let the wave of dizziness wash over him; let the fear and hopelessness take him and pass through him. And then he knew it. There was just no way he would let his friend die. He had to find a way out.

Almost done (by Stefan)

There is a tiny bit of tweaking left on the cover of "The Three Feathers" before the book goes into print. Thank you all so much for your support, your likes, and your encouraging comments. This has been a daunting task. Not so much the actual process of publishing but exposing the world to a part of myself to that extent and the little voice inside my head whispering, "Who do you think you are? You can't write. You can't publish a book. Come on!!" 

I have been thinking about a one-liner that would describe The Three Feathers and what it's about, in a sentence. I found it in Kimberly Llewellyn's review: "...where friendship and love can overcome the most devastating of enemies — doubt in yourself." I think that's it. It's that doubt. Almost never fully conscious and mostly hidden yet always present in one way or another. Are we worthy enough to reach for the stars? Are we good enough, strong enough, brave enough, to go beyond our little self and

 search for something more than what is in front of us each day and every day after this day?

Joshua's search for the three feathers is the search of each of us for this hidden potential that we can sense in ourselves but never really pursue. We get an inclination here and there that there must be more to us. For us. Not crumbs but the whole banquet. And not so much materially but spiritually. Joshua sees, in a dream, what he could be, and from that moment on he cannot but search for it. His is a race against time for he has to find it before the dream fades back into nothingness. But he has limitations. He's not a mighty warrior or an athlete or a rocket scientist. He can't really fly. He can't do anything yet. All he can do is jump out of his pen (barely) and begin the journey, trusting that whatever it is he needs to know will be given him on his quest. Once he leaves though, he can't go back. He has to go through with it, however hard it is.

There are a lot of times throughout the journey when Joshua and his friends are faced with two choices: push through or die. The often perilous quest moves them toward its inevitable destination where each of them has a chance to find what they were looking for. But they can only make it together. They have to hold each other's hopes and keep them safe, otherwise the journey itself, the environment they are in, will just break them down one by one and obliterate them completely. The opposing forces are the guardians of sleep, trying to stop us from awakening to our true potential. Hollow's Gate, the land Joshua and his friends must travel through, is in and of itself an opposing force, trying to stop them from ever reaching their goal. Such is life, be that a rooster's or a human's.


This should have been just a small update and here we are going deep into the story (of life).

Back to "reality" ;-),

Stefan

A small scene about Krieg's experience in the war

“What is your name?” Joshua asked after a moment.

“Krieg,” the war horse answered.

“What does it mean, Krieg?”

“It means ‘war’. Just ‘war’. I was bred for the war, born during the war and trained for battle.

“Is that where all your scars come from?” Joshua asked.

The horse looked toward the dark horizon, lost in his thoughts.

“I have seen death and too much of it. On the battlefields of Toloose where men fought men for land that belonged to neither. For riches that held no value other than a handful of sand that amounted to nothing. I saw blood there that ran like crimson rivers across the charred soil. It spilled from brothers and fathers and sons, from big hearts and small ones and the blood of each flowed into the others’ and in death they became one once again and they forgot why it was they had fought.”

He turned toward Joshua and the Wolf. “I just want peace. I do not wish to fight for my life anymore. I’m too old. Too tired. Soon. Soon, I will follow my fathers’ path into the great vast grasslands where the sun never sets and the water is plenty, and where there is peace for all living things. Until then, I am in your debt, Joshua. In both of yours."

Perfection is not necessary

“Joshua,” Wind’s thoughts came to him like a warm ray of sun on a cold and dreary day. “Perfection was never necessary. Willingness was. And of that you have plenty. Your heart is open and that is all. Mistakes cannot stop you from finding your destiny. And in searching for your own you are finding it for others. You began this journey for yourself. But you will end it for everyone.”

Joshua was stunned. He never thought this, never held such lofty ideas about himself. And even though Wind’s thoughts were like balm on his soul, he could only accept them partially, and with many reservations. He could not believe they would ever become his only truth. There was just no way. He was who he was and accepting himself as more than that was something he could only see in others and not himself. He could see greatness in Krieg. He could see greatness in Grey and certainly in Wind. But whatever it was that grew within himself, it was safer not to go anywhere near it.

"The Three Feathers" review - By Kimberly Llewellyn

I've made it an unofficial policy of mine to simply not review indie books that I do not like. Grandma's old adage, "If you can't say something nice. . . ." sorta stuck with me, she'd be happy to hear. "I'm glad something stuck in that girl's thick head," she'd say. However, when an author actually submits a novel for review, I feel an obligation to give it my best shot to let the author know where I feel the story and/or writing could improve and the reader know they might want to skip it. I got that tight, nervous, "oh, no, oh, no, no, no" feeling between the shoulder blades when I started The Three Feathers. Yep. I started to tense up right on the first page, already dreading writing this review. Someone poured their heart and soul into this book, took a leap of faith sending it to me for review, and here I sit judging it from the first page. I imagine Mr. Bolz is feeling that hard, cold knot in his stomach right about now reading this, so I've got to let him off the hook. Not even realizing it, I looked up a few pages later and noticed that nervous feeling I had, the dread, had melted away. I had become thoroughly immersed, enthralled, in fact, by the magical world of Joshua the rooster and hadn't even realized it. Yes, rooster. Give it a chance, people. ;)

Stefan Bolz's The Three Feathers is a delightful story about stepping out of the box, following your dreams (literally and figuratively, in Joshua's case) and finding your place, your mission. It is about the bonds of friendship and love, and making differences a strength. It reminds me on many levels of an old Chinese proverb; the language, the Zen-like lessons, the writing itself. The best I could describe it would be an ancient Chinese fable intertwined with a Grimm's fairy tale, a parable, and an epic fantasy.

The Three Feathers follows Joshua the rooster as he escapes his mindless but easy life in the coop. He has had a dream, and unlike many of us Joshua is brave enough to follow it even though it means leaving the comfort of everything he knows, there is danger at every turn, and he doesn't know what it really means. He just knows that he must. As his journey begins he meets his companions, Grey and Krieg, a brave wolf and a mighty war horse. Together, they help Joshua follow his dream, while each of them separately fights to overcome their own personal demons. Friendships are forged and obstacles are overcome, fantastical creatures are discovered and evil souls unearthed.

Joshua steps out of his comfort zone and opens his heart to magical possibilities -- I am asking you to do the same when you read The Three Feathers. The writing style and dialogue is a bit different -- formal yet simple. That's part of what put me off for the first few pages, I think, but now I realize it is part of the charm and I couldn't imagine it any other way. The punctuation could have used a little help, but given my background I think I notice punctuation errors more than the average reader.

Mr. Bolz has woven a hypnotic tale where friendship and love can overcome the most devastating of enemies -- doubt in yourself. This is a book for all ages. There is danger, yes, and doubt and sadness and loss. But lessons cannot be learned without them, am I right? This book is marvelously innocent and thought-provoking all at the same time. Tired of the jaded and worn out modern fantasy tale? I enthusiastically encourage you to pick up this enchanting fable and rediscover the innocent joy of childhood and the magical wonder of life in this simple yet wonderfully complex story. Joshua and his friends will make you a believer, I promise.

Kimberly Llewellyn - The Indie Book Review
www.TheIndieBookReview.Wordpress.com