The Chronicles Of Pale Book 3 Guest Post

The Chronicles Of Pale 3

The Ruined Land

by Clare Rhoden

Guest Post

Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog! I’m so excited about the release of the third book in my dystopian sci-fi series The Chronicles of the Pale.

[What are you talking about today?]

My name is Clare Rhoden and I live in Melbourne Australia with my devoted (and beloved) husband and my super-smart, too-cute poodle cross Aeryn Spoodle. She is seven years old. I am just a smidge older than that.

I would love to tell you a bit about The Ruined Land (Chronicles of the Pale 3), which has been a few years in the making. No spoilers of course! In this final book, all the characters complete some sort of a journey, though not everyone survives. (Did I just say that? Ooops.)

We find out what happens to the wonderful canini – the intelligent, mindspeaking wolf-dogs who rescued the human twins in Book 2 (Broad Plain Darkening).

And what about the tribesfolk, who aim to live lightly on the damaged land, and the settlers who created a rustic community? Yes, we find out what happens to them too.

The equii are the horse-like creatures who still mourn for their losses during the Great Cataclysm. In Book 2 they made a run from the Settlement. In The Ruined Land we discover how they get on in the Outside.

And last but definitely not least there are the mighty humachines of the Pale, the bionically augmented descendants of the civilization which destroyed itself in a massive war two centuries earlier. Does their might and power keep them safe when the world begins to collapse? The Ruined Land will tell you!

Oh, and did I mention the ferals? Half-machine, half-live creations designed specifically to kill. They’re left over from the war and they prowl the Outside. Be careful!

[What does your ideal writing space look like?]

My ideal place for writing is a comfortable spot on the verandah – not too hot, not too cold, maybe sitting in the shade on a warm day. Aeryn Spoodle will be on her mat beside me, and every now and then she’ll patrol the boundary or go and greet a passing neighbour. It’s much easier to write outside than to try locking myself in the office. I mean, have you heard the pathetic noises a spoodle makes when she wants to be outside. Plus she’s just too good at clambering onto the desk and stepping on the keyboard. The verandah every time!

[Do you have a theme for your book covers? Who designs them?]

Covers are so important, because they set the tone for the reader’s expectations. My publisher, Michelle Lovi from Odyssey Books, works absolute magic with book covers, IMHO. She is a genius at matching texts with suitable cover artists. I write across genres, and I am as completely thrilled with my Chronicles of the Pale covers by the talented Elijah Toten as I am with the beautiful cover created by Simon Critchell for The Stars in the Night.

[Do you miss your childhood? What did you do as a child?]

As a child I was a great reader, taught early by my mum and with three older sisters who all loved books. That said, I had the quintessential Australian childhood with so many adventures outdoors. We had a huge old weatherboard house which had once been the farmhouse for the district, but was now just a rambling old place on an enormous block of land. Blackberry hedges, fruit trees, tiger lilies, potato patch, cubby house, chook pen, room to ride bikes and kick the footy. Everything. Of course, it was ALWAYS summer in my childhood. That’s what I miss!

[What started you writing?]

I think I’ve always had an active imagination. As well as my three older sisters, I have three younger brothers and the youngest ones especially liked bedtime stories, or stories that you make up while walking to school – you know, what might happen if you step on a crack in the pavement, or where that ant might be going, or why that kid is crying … I think I’ve never lost the ‘what if?’ wondering and that keeps me writing. For example, what if typing on a keyboard provided energy for the dust bunnies under the desk? Might they gather together in a big ball and bite my ankle? The more I type, the more dust bunnies, the more danger … You see what I mean!

Thank you for hosting me today and I hope you enjoy the Chronicles of the Pale.

Clare’s bio:

Clare Rhoden completed her PhD in Australian WWI literature at the University of Melbourne in 2011, and a Masters of Creative Writing in 2008, in which she investigated the history of her grandparents who emigrated from Europe to Port Adelaide in January 1914. The Stars in the Night is the result of her research.

Clare also writes sci-fi and fantasy (check her titles at Odyssey Books ​http://odysseybooks.com.au/​).

Clare lives in Melbourne Australia with her husband Bill, their super-intelligent poodle-cross Aeryn, a huge and charming parliament of visiting magpies, and a very demanding/addictive garden space.

Clare’s Links:

Website: www.clarerhoden.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clareelizabethrhoden/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClareER

Instagram: @clarerhodenauthor

Blurb for Clare’s latest book, The Ruined Land (Chronicles of the Pale #3):

Where do you run when your world collapses?

Exiled from the Pale, humachine Hector has found a home with the tribes Outside.

Or has he?

While the canini struggle to care for the human twins, Feather travels Broad Plain to reunite them with their father. But his own family is scattered as the Pale sends out its terrifying army and the land itself buckles beneath them.

Can anyone survive the ruination of the land?

In this gripping conclusion to the Chronicles of the Pale, the citizens of the mighty Pale have as much to lose as the communities of the Outside.