What Inspired Me to Write The Orchard of Hope
First of all, a little background may be useful here. The
Orchard of Hope is the second book in The Kingdom Wars series. The first book
was the Orphanage of Miracles, and I am writing the third book now. Any of
these books may be read out of order as each deals with a slightly different
topic and is a story in itself. I’m one of those people who likes to read books
in order to watch the overall story build, but it’s not necessary for these
books. And here’s why: these books are
allegories. Each one is designed to deal with a different struggle in life.
The primary life issue addressed in The Orchard of Hope is what
to do when someone tries to steal our hope. There are a lot of bullies in life,
and many of them don’t understand what they’re doing or how destructive their
behavior is to others. Whether you’re a child or an adult in the workplace,
there are always people who will try to pull you down and make you feel
despair. These situations are like the wolves stealing hope from the kingdom.
We all need hope, but sometimes we act as if there isn’t enough of it to go
around.
One of the other things The Orchard of Hope addresses is that
injuries don’t have to be real in order to damage us. For example, someone doesn’t
need to be malicious in order to actually hurt me. Many of us have been hurt
physically and emotionally through accidental means (the person who inflicted
the injury didn’t intend to harm us), and yet we have to deal with the pain and
struggle through the healing process all the same. The important thing is to
continue to move toward healing and learn forgiveness by not holding onto any
grudges. Everyone has struggles. Life hurts. There’s no way around it. But we
can always choose to be healed and work towards it.
So what inspired me to write this book (and the others in the
series)? Life. It can be very tough, especially for kids. I wanted to help them
see positive and constructive ways to address many of life’s problems.
Short
Bio:
Amy Neftzger published her first fiction book Conversations with the
Moon in 2003. Since then she has published books for both children
and adults, including All that the Dog Ever Wanted, Bedtime Stories
for Dogs, Bedtime Stories for Cats, Leftover shorts, Confessions From
a Moving Van, The Orphanage of Miracles, and The Ferryman. She lives
in Nashville with her family and pet gargoyle Newton.
Long
Bio:Amy
Neftzger (born June 23) is an American researcher and author who has
published fiction books, non-fiction books, business articles, and
peer review research. Her works have reached an international
audience.
Amy
was born in Illinois and graduated from Elk Grove High School in Elk
Grove Village, Illinois. She received her bachelors degree from the
University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida and her Masters
in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from Middle Tennessee State
University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She graduated from both
Universities with honors.
She
has written numerous business and journal articles, but her fiction
works have been the most commercially successful. In 2003 she
published Conversations with the Moon, which was also translated into
Korean and published in South Korea. In 2005 she collaborated with
her husband, guitarist Tyra Neftzger on a children's book called "All
that the Dog Ever Wanted." The book was designed to introduce
children to jazz music at an early age and included a CD sampler of
jazz tunes. In 2007 she worked as an editor on a business fable
called "The Damned Company." She's also written
"Confessions From a Moving Van" and "Leftover Shorts."
In
2013, Amy released her first Young Adult book called "The
Orphanage of Miracles." The sequel to this book, "The
Orchard of Hope" is scheduled for release in June of 2014, and
The Ferryman (adult fiction) is scheduled for release in October,
2014.
Author
Links - The link for any or all of the following...
Buy it Now:
Book
Description:
Book Genre: Middle grade fiction/ fantasy
Publisher: Fields of Gold Publishing, Inc (Imprint Fog Ink)
Release Date: June 23, 2014
“Hope
is never gone, but it can be eaten alive. “
A
quest to save hope.
A
kingdom under a spell.
A
wizard in training.
A
gargoyle with a sweet tooth.
The
sequel to The Orphanage of Miracles is filled
with
engaging characters, magic, adventure, and
unusual
circumstance. It’s a story that will
both
entertain and inspire the reader.
Kelsey,
a strong-willed and high spirited young girl, embarks upon another
adventurous quest - this time to save hope, which is being stolen
from the orchard. While the kingdom is still under the spell of the
evil sorcerer who distorts reality in order to gain control, the king
begins training someone who he believes can ultimately defeat the
sorcerer: a young boy named Nicholas. Revisit some of your favorite
characters or meet them for the first time in this volume.
Excerpt:
Hope
is never gone. But it can be eaten alive, and that’s
exactly what was happening in the orchard. The king had told them
about the problem before, but the problem wasn’t
going away. In fact, the problem was getting bigger and becoming
critical, and the king was certain that Kelsey could help. She was
excited about the trip and looking forward to the journey to the
orchard, wherever that might be and however long it would take.
It
wasn’t as if Kelsey hadn’t enjoyed the past 18 months of training
with the king’s army. The battle conditioning had been a wonderful
experience for her, but now she was ready for action. Too much time
spent in one place had made her restless. When the king first
mentioned the quest, Kelsey had jumped up out of her seat with
excitement.
“How
do we save hope?” Kelsey asked with undisguised eagerness. After an
awkward pause she sat down again and waited for an answer. Her
fingers gripped the top of the thick walnut table where she was
seated in the king’s study. Every wall in this room was covered
with bookshelves from floor to ceiling, except for the places where
there were windows, which also stretched the height of the room.
“That’s
a question to which we do not yet have an answer. It’s a bit of a
tricky situation,” the king said as he smiled. He was a tall figure
with broad shoulders and flowing red hair. Although he ruled this
land and was respected by his opponents in battle, Kelsey often
thought about him as something of a father figure. His stature
conveyed his strength, but his eyes and his smile hinted at the
tenderness that Kelsey always saw in him. Of course, she had known
him under different circumstances before she knew he was the king. In
fact, he had been traveling in disguise and appeared to be a small
mute orphan that Kelsey had attempted to help. Only later did she
learn his true identity.
“Why
don’t you simply fence the orchard?” asked Nicholas, who was a
young boy about the same age as Kelsey. He sat upright in his chair,
as if paying attention to a lesson.
“I
wish the solution were that easy,” the king replied solemnly, “but
we don’t fully understand the extent of the situation. Implanting
obstacles, such as a fence, will solve the problem only if it’s a
simple one. However, this issue is complicated.”
