RonVitale

What's Dorothea's Song about?

“Dorothea’s Song” tells the story of an ordinary boy named Peter who dreams up an extraordinary fantasy realm to flee the hardships of his own life. Inspired by classic high-fantasy themes, his tale has all the makings of a great adventure—a brave elvish warrior named Dorothea, a ruthless coven of witches, a renegade elf lord and a kingdom on the verge of collapse. But as the chaos intensifies in both worlds, instead of retreating from it, Peter is forced to take a daring stand in each.

Why Doesn't Dorothea Sing?

So you're wondering, "Why doesn't Dorothea sing in the book 'Dorothea's Song'?" Good question. Maybe you thought that I made a mistake and just didn't think about it? Nah, it's not like that at all. In an early version of the novel, there was a scene in which Eilinel and Gloom rest at a waterfall and they sing for the group. Eilinel uses her harp and Gloom the dragon sings with such beauty that Mohan and the rest of the group are in awe. I decided to cut the scene out as it didn't flow well with the rest of the novel.

Dorothea didn't sing in any of the earlier drafts of the novel, but I did want to stay true to the roots of the inspiration to the novel. Many, many years ago I read "La Chanson de Roland" in my French class and learned that the English translation was loosely "Roland's Song." The poem told the story of the French knight Roland and how he served King Charlemagne in his fight against the Saracens in Spain.

The poem is one of the oldest French documents. It is eastimated that it was written around 1140. I remember being impressed with the poem as it told an amazing story of knights, battles and Roland's courage as he blew his horn loud enough to burst his temples (ouch). The story filled me with this sense of inspiration that the fantastic deeds in the poem had survived in written form for over 800 years. And with that, I decided that I would call my book "La Chanson de Dorothea" or "Dorothea's Song." The book isn't so much about Dorothea singing but the book itself is a "song" that will be passed on through the generations. The elven people of the Bois d'or (the magical elven forest in my book) will sing the song for hundreds of years to come.

Free Audio Book: Dorothea's Song

Today's the day. My fantasy novel "Dorothea's Song" is being released as a 15 part audio book on Podiobooks.com. I began work on putting the audio book together back in June and the project is finally finished. Interested in fantasy? Well, be sure to check it out. The best thing of all: It's free! Over the next fifteen weeks, the episodes will be released on Podiobooks.com.

But you ask: What's it about? Here's a short synopsis: "Peter is your typical high school student, but when his mother’s failing marriage to his stepfather begins to split his family apart he copes by dreaming up the story of Dorothea, an elf who lives in the magical Bois d’or forest. Seizing the opportunity to release his frustrations in his French teacher’s nightly writing assignment, Peter shares Dorothea’s story with his teacher, imagining a world in which a coven of witches, a renegade elf lord and the humans have joined forces to conquer the elvish forest.

With the Bois d’or on the verge of being invaded, Dorothea and her friends embark on a quest to find the wizard Mohan who will help them save their homeland. But the witches have other plans. They have set the three ancient evils of Anger, Fear and Lust against Dorothea. Can Dorothea survive the three curses and find Mohan in time to save her homeland? Dorothea’s fate is in Peter’s hands, but as his mother’s marriage deteriorates and his infatuation with his French teacher increases, he must find a way to rise above the insanity and save not only Dorothea’s home but also his own."

A print version will be available for sale soon and the free PDF download of the entire novel will also be coming. You'll also be able to find out more information about the characters (like if you want to learn where I came up with the main character Dorothea and what she looks like), the world and the background to writing of the book at my website Losoil.com. So if you enjoy fantasy, check out my new book!

Dorothea's Song: Who Is Dorothea?

I'm working on the print version of the novel. I'm hoping that it'll be available for sale on Lulu in the next few weeks. I've to finish working on the cover, the formatting of the pages and then I need to finish the rest of the details to make it ready for release.

I'm also working on the marketing materials for the book. The audiobook, which will be released on Podiobooks.com, will be available on Monday, October 6th. The first episode will be released and then for the next fourteen weeks an episode will be released one per week. The audiobook episodes will be available free on Podiobooks.com. And the PDF will also be available free (soon!). Well, as soon as I can finish putting the document together.

I was thinking of the characters in the book and I wanted to talk a bit about Dorothea. I created her over twenty-two years ago. Twenty-two years! I still can't believe how much time has gone by. But who is Dorothea? A long time ago (late 1985 or 1986) I came across a commercial on TV for National Geographic. During the commercial the cover of the June 1985 issue popped up and I was glued to the TV. A young woman with powerful, piercing eyes stared back at me. She had a cloak on, looked dirty and a bit frightened and had a powerful presence. Instantly, I knew. She was Dorothea. In my mind, I took the image of the young Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic into my head and she became what Dorothea looked like. For many long years, I couldn't find the image again as my family didn't subscribe to National Geographic. As a teenager, I didn't have access to the magazine so I forgot about it until I was in my early '20s. I came across an old book store in Philadelphia and saw that they had old copies of National Geographic. I searched through all the back issues until I found the one that had the Afghan girl on the cover and then I purchased it. Remember, this was before the time of the internet. If you wanted to find something, you needed to go to a library or go searching through old magazines on a shelf. There was no Google.

Then back around 2001, I stumbled upon a notice that Steve McCurry, the photographer who had taken the picture of the Afghan girl, would be talking in Philadelphia. I went by myself to his talk and listened as he explained how the picture came about. He mentioned that he had seen the young girl (who he thought was around 13 years of age) in a tent (which was a makeshift school) and he just snapped a few quick pictures of her. One picture is of her smiling and you can see her fingers. What I didn't know was that the Afghan girl was only 13 years of age when the picture who been taken. Being able to see her smile and how young her hands look surprised me as I had thought she was older. It's funny to think back to see how your mind puts in details that you don't know just to shore up the back story to a picture.

After McCurry's talk, I purchased a poster-sized image of the picture and had it professionally framed. It's been up in my office for six or seven years now. Over the years as I had worked on my novel, I either had the issue of National Geographic on my shelf or the large poster in my office. I had always wondered who the young girl was and if she were still alive as she had been an Afghan refugee during the war in the '80s. But, to me, she was always Dorothea. I always thought of her that way as that was the closest association in my mind. The journey that Dorothea embarks on and her struggles are tied into my psyche.

Yet all of that changed in 2002. A major revelation occurred: Steve McCurry and a team from National Geographic found the Afghan Girl in the spring of 2002. Her name is Sharbat Gula and she was now married and had children. A TV special aired, explaining the technology behind proving that the young girl in the famous picture was actually Sharbat Gula. An analysis of her eyes was performed to prove that she was the young girl. Watching the special "A Life Revealed" on TV was just amazing as I learned that seventeen years had passed but she still lived, having survived the war there. The images that Steve McCurry took were breathtaking as you could see how time had affected her. Living in harsh conditions, her face no longer held its youth but had been damaged by the elements.

What I learned about Sharbat Gula and her struggles touched me. Now when I look at the poster I have, I see the woman rather than the imagined character I had made up for my novel. If you're so inclined, please make a donation to the Afghan Girls Fund run by National Geographic to help the children there have good schools and a safe place to live.