Guest Post – How Naondel Was Born by Maria Turtschaninoff

I am super excited to have the wonderful Maria Turtschaninoff on Tales!

Maria is the author of last years phenomenal Maresi and her upcoming release Naondel which are part of the Red Abbey Chronicles and have received lots of praise!

‘An unforgettable feminist epic, shot through with hypnotic dark charm’ The Bookseller

‘Walks the knife edge so thrillingly I read it in one sitting. Embed with myth, wonder, and told with a dazzling, compelling ferocity’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars

‘Incredible… if you like Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours, you’ll love this’ Amber Kirk-Ford, The Mile Long Bookshelf

‘A tale of sisterhood, survival and fighting against the odds that will capture the hearts of both teen and adult feminists alike’ Lucy Powrie, Queen of Contemporary

Today Maria is telling us all about how Naondel came to be in this fab guest post…..

In the opulent palace of Ohaddin, women have one purpose – to obey.

Some were brought here as girls, captured and enslaved; some as servant; some as wives. All of them must do what the Master tells them, for he wields a deadly and secret power.

But the women have powers too. One is a healer. One can control dreams. One is a warrior. One can see everything that is coming.

In their golden prison, the women wait. They plan. They write down their stories. They dream of a refuge, a safe place where girls can be free.

And, finally, when the moon glows red, they will have their revenge.

How Naondel Was Born

Naondel is the book I wasn’t going to write.

After Maresi I had plans on writing a gaslight fantasy, set in 19th century alternative history Finland. I even pitched the idea to one of my publishers and got a great response. I started collecting a research library and read up on the time period. But the story itself refused to take flight.

Instead two short mentions of the First Sisters in Maresi kept pulling at me. Who were these seven women who came to Menos in the distant past and made a new life on the island? Where were they from? Why were they together? And what made them flee their old life and everything they knew and loved, never to return?

I started cheating on the gaslight fantasy with the First Sisters, and after a few weeks I had to admit to myself that this was now the story I was writing. I ended up working on Naondel longer than on any other novel, two and a half years. It is my sixth novel and it was published nine years after my debut. It’s my darkest novel to date, and my most grown-up (I myself would no longer call this YA). It spans something like 40 years, has seven or eight first-person narrators and is in every way my most ambitious work. It was probably the hardest to edit, too, and I cursed my stupid ambition many times during the editing process. Seven first person narrators, what sane writer does this to herself?!

That gaslight fantasy is still waiting to be written. Because after Naondel, Maresi once more demanded that I listen to the next story she had to tell: The story of what happens to her after the novel Maresi ends.

You can buy a copy of Maresi or Naondel here or from your local bookshop!

About Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is a Swedish-speaking Finn who has been writing fairy tales from the age of five. However, there was often a twist: the poor farmer boy and the princess he had just saved from the evil witch did not end up marrying, because they “didn’t feel like it”. Her biggest grief as a child was that no wardrobe led to Narnia.

 After a detour as a journalist for a few years Turtschaninoff debuted in 2007 with a middle-grade portal fantasy and has since published four more novels, all YA fantasy. Pushkin Press has acquired world English rights to Maresi and the subsequent two novels in the Red Abbey Chronicles.

You can find out more about Maria on her website – www.mariaturtschaninoff.com

Or why not follow Maria on twitter – @turtschaninoff

Blog Tour

Catch up or follow the rest of this fab blog tour at the following stops!

A huge thank you to Maria for such a fab post!  And to Vicki for organising and asking me to be part of the blog tour!

Have you read any of the any of the Red Abbey Chronicles?  What did you think?  Are you intrigued to go and grab copies?   I would love to hear from you!  Why not leave a comment using the reply button above or tweet my on twitter using @chelleytoy!

Happy Reading!