The Trees of Toch Island

Trees play a big role in my Toch Island Chronicles books. In Finding Angel, Angel's friend and rescuer, Gregor, has the ability to make gateways using trees, magically connecting two different places and allowing him to travel great distances in seconds. I can't say for sure where the idea for that came from. I'm thinking that on some subconscious level it comes from my childhood.

When I was a kid, I lived out in the country. My yard had a lot of trees (great for pretending you're exploring an enchanted forest), and one in particular was my favorite. It slanted at about a 30-40 degree angle from the ground. I have no idea how it got that way--it looked as if it were partially knocked over and somehow re-rooted. The top of the tree had been cut off, and there was only a single large branch growing from its trunk, which because of the trunk angle grew straight up. (If you've read Finding Angel, you'll recognize that tree from Angel's back yard.)

That tree was where I spent many hours of my childhood. I loved walking up the trunk, turning around, and leaning against the upright branch. I listened to music like that, or read books, or simply sat and daydreamed. In a way, that tree transported me to other worlds, just as Gregor's Talent could transport him.

But it's not just Gregor's magic that makes the trees in Toch Island special. Many of the trees have magic of their own, and that magic comes from metal veining that runs through their wood. Why metal? That answer I don't have to speculate about. I made them that way intentionally. There is a very powerful tree on Toch Island called a platinum oak. Obviously, its veining is platinum. And its magic property is that of healing nearly any physical ailment. I created the platinum oak in my story world to represent the platinum-based chemotherapy that played a huge role in my conquering cancer. (That chemo is called cisplatin, and it's nasty stuff. But I'm here, and cancer-free for 13 years!) I gave other trees different magical properties, many of them related to the metals running through them.

Another special role trees play on Toch Island is that of marking the graves, and the lives, of the Elven once they have passed away. I can't really give details about this without spoilers, but suffice it to say they represent life after death. The tree chosen for each grave is representative of the person buried there as well. Trees are quite special to the Elven, as is everything in nature, and the forest of Toch Island is full of ancient ones--you never know which grew there on their own, and which mark the graves of Elven ancestors.

Ultimately, though, trees are simply what make up forests, and forests have an energy, a feeling that is like no other for me. There is just something about being among all the trees, sheltered by the canopy, knowing life is all around you, hidden, sometimes unheard in the dense silence. Being in the forest calms me and reminds me what our world is supposed to be. Also, I always have the sensation that fairies really do make their homes there...

Images like those I've posted here make me want to wander off into the forest for an adventure. To see more like them, visit my Pinterest board "Follow Me Into the Forest."

Kalek's Song

My promise to myself before Irma hit was that I would focus more on blogging and writing and art, and less on following social media and stressing over book sales numbers. Of course, during Irma, all I did was stress over Irma and follow the news. It has made recalibrating a bit difficult. 

A bit how I imagine Kalek.
Kalek's hair is much curlier, though. 

So, today, I'll use a post I made on Facebook as a springboard. While waiting out Irma, a certain song played over and over in my mind. It's the same song I imagine Kalek, my Elven rocker from Toch Island Chronicles, playing in Finding Angel. There is a scene where Angel meets him for the first time, and she experiences his magic Talent, which is to play the songs of the stars.

Kalek's Talent was inspired by Psalm 19: 1-4, which says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world." (NIV)

In Finding Angel, Gregor takes Angel to a clearing in the forest, in the center of which stands the ruins of an enormous temple. Kalek and his band are setting up on the giant portico. Gregor asks Kalek if they can watch the band practice.

Here is a snippet:

One of the Elves appeared from behind a column and leaned his shoulder against it, ankles crossed, peering out through the mass of stringy curls that hung down either side of his long face. His lean arms threaded through studded armbands and ended with long graceful hands. Musician’s hands.  

Like the others, he wore an oversized tunic, belted at the waist, and suede boots. A dagger was tucked in a sheath strapped around the leather pants that stretched over his thigh. It wasn’t until he turned his head that Angel noticed the point of an ear poking out of his tangled curls. She bit her lip, heart skipping. Elves—really! 

“Sure, why not?” he said coolly. “Maybe we’ll autograph a picture for you when we’re done.”  

The other Elves laughed, and then three of them scrambled to take their places with Kalek on the platform at the top of the stairs.  

Angel hadn’t seen any of them carrying anything when they climbed onstage, but in the blink of an eye, they each were in place with a different instrument. One Elven guy stood behind a tall, narrow harp, another held some sort of large flute, and the third sat astride a stool behind what Angel assumed was a percussion set. The drums were all the same height, but of varying widths and looked like solid posts of polished wood with silver grain. Kalek held what appeared to be an ordinary electric guitar. He positioned his hand in front of the strings and spoke. 

“One, two, three…”  

The music took Angel’s breath away. It didn’t come directly from the instruments, and there were no microphones or speakers to direct it elsewhere. It emanated from the surrounding forest, the very trees themselves, and drifted down from the sky. Angel could feel vibration in her feet—it even rang from the grass and rocks on which she stood.  

The leaves on the trees and bushes changed color before her eyes, from green to red to gold and back, sparkling in the brilliant sunshine. Butterflies swarmed out from the forest, fluttering in yellow clouds around the flowers in the clearing. The music seeped all the way into Angel’s bones, stirring her soul.  

The Elven band played slow and soulful at first, and Angel involuntarily closed her eyes. The darkness behind her eyelids brightened to a soft glow, which dispersed and swirled, and then coalesced into images of a savannah that was as real to her as the forest in which she stood. 

From here, Angel experiences visions brought on by Kalek's music. Kalek plays different songs that create different visions or experiences for those who listen. In this particular case, the visions are derived directly from a passage in Job (38:39-41:34) detailing many of the creatures God created.

Now, to the song. This is what I imagine Kalek singing during this scene:




"How Great is Our God" is a really special song for me. The first time I heard it, I was pretty blown away because it was an acoustic performance by a teenager at the church I attended at the time (which was over ten years ago, so he's now a grown man, married, with a new baby). And yeah, I admit I took a couple of physical characteristics from that teenager and gave them to Kalek--the tall, thin frame, the long, curly hair. Everything else is all imagination, though. Anyway, the vision Angel experiences shows God's greatness through His creation, thus why I imagine Kalek singing this song.

Anyway, all through Irma, I heard this song in my head. It wasn't Chris Tomlin singing it, however. It was Kalek, and I was standing in that clearing in front of the temple ruins, safe and secure in the knowledge that God was greater than any storm.

An Essay on Kalek from Toch Island Chronicles and Why. He. Rocks.

I've tried to draw Kalek, to no avail.
This is the closest image I've ever found, too.
His hair is really curly, though,
so even this is not right, but gives ya an idea.
(And of course Kalek has pointy ears.)

I've never posted something like this before. When I start ruminating about my characters and where they come from and what drives them, I tend to transform it all into a short story. (Or as is the case for one character in particular, a long story that may actually end up a prequel to Toch Island some day....)

But in this case, I've already written a short story about Kalek, my Elven rocker who first makes his appearance in Finding Angel. If you haven't read the book (or maybe just need a refresher), you can go to Grace Bridges' blog and read the excerpt from the very first scene I wrote about Kalek. Grace basically told me that this scene is what sold her on my manuscript :).

First, let me backtrack and tell you what spawned this post, although it's actually kinda hard to put my finger on something particular. More like little things said here and there, in sermons at church, in an email from an author whose work I judged in a contest last year, arguments online (and closer to home) about what music ministry in church ought to be, and in some other places that I can't fully remember right now but feel like bits of dreams. ...

All of it points toward one question: What is worship?

My novels are not overtly Christian, but Kalek is probably the biggest representation of faith in the series. He's a rocker--long hair and tattoos, rebellious and passionate, the kind of guy who experiences the highest highs and the lowest lows and has to vent all of it through his music. But Kalek's Talent takes that to another level. He's able to tap into nature and do what I call "sing the songs of the stars."

Kalek's Talent was inspired by this Bible verse:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech ;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19: 1-4, NIV)

I'm also gonna come clean about something here that no one--I mean no one--has ever seemed to notice about the passage where Kalek uses his Talent in Finding Angel....I stole it all from the book of Job. Seriously, start at Job 38:39 and just read, you'll see.

The way those things are connected is the heart of my post here. Music is often seen as the definition of worship. We call the music leaders at church "worship leaders" and we call that part of the service the "worship" part and it seems only in private circles do those of us come out and say that they worship in ways other than singing. It is my personal belief that people can worship through any creative outlet--be it writing or drawing or sculpting or landscaping or architecture....anything that allows you to express yourself to God. I also think more ordinary acts can be just as worshipful, such as running or caring for pets, or, again, anything that allows you to express yourself to God.

For me, worship can be writing and drawing, but the truth is, the real connection, the place where I find the most awe for God is science. Looking out into space at the stars, yes, but even more so looking in at the creation here on earth. Animals and their intricate and perfectly balanced biological systems. The way a bird makes its nest, or a spider weaves its web. The incredible variety of beetles in mind-boggling designs and made with metallic exoskeletons. The egg of an insect.

The above photo is of an insect egg from a gallery
produced by National Geographic Magazine
that accompanies an essay written by Rob Dunn,
an assistant professor of biology at NC State.

When I look at things like that in the world, I can't help but find my faith bolstered. I can't help but feel my doubts drop away. I can't help but want to express my love and awe for the One who designed all this.

So, Kalek is my representation of that. I mean, yes, you see it elsewhere in the book of course, with all the science stuff going on. But Kalek is the place where science and passion intersect, the place where it gets expressed as worship.

Maybe that's why he's my favorite character in the whole series.

Free Ebook, Protection's Prison, Companion to Finding Angel

Running another promo on Amazon. 

Protection’s Prison, which I basically think of as Toch Island 1 1/2, is free on Kindle now through September 19th. CLICK HERE to get yours.

If you don’t have a Kindle, the Kindle apps for your computer, tablet or phone are free. And this is a short read (about 20 pages) so no excuses  .

And please remember that honest reviews are much appreciated, as is spreading the word.