Welcome to Author Ronlyn Dominque
Ronlyn Domingue?is the author of?The Mapmaker’s War: A Legend?(Atria Books; March 5, 2013). Its epic sequel is scheduled for 2014. Her critically acclaimed debut novel,?The Mercy of Thin Air, was published in ten languages. Her writing has appeared in?The Beautiful Anthology?(TNB Books),?New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, New Delta Review, The Independent?(UK), and?Shambhala Sun, as well as on?mindful.org?and?The Nervous Breakdown. Born and raised in the Deep South, she lives there still with her partner, Todd Bourque, and their cats.
Interview
Joan of Arc, John Lennon, C.G. Jung, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Toni Morrison.
Peacemaker.
Hashbrowns from Louie’s, a local favorite 24-hour eatery.
Those who don’t use turn signals while driving. People who don’t curb their dogs. Inappropriate apostrophe usage. There are several more, but I’ll restrain myself.
When I was in third grade, I had a wonderful teacher who gave me time away from regular activities to read and do other creative work. Although I’d written little pieces before then, I started to work on my first book in her class. I have a vivid memory of myself at my desk, the huge windows to my left letting the light in, the story in front of me, and knowing I was supposed to be a writer. I don’t think that’s a typical experience for an eight-year-old.
I can name songs within a few notes, sometimes in only one. It’s freakish.
Ultra-Violet Catastrophe! or?The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle?by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Brian Froud.
My dad sometimes calls me Big Bunny. My younger sister is, logically, Little Bunny.
Autumn.
Any VH1 program about greatest hit songs from the 1970s to 1990s.
Sweet olive. The shrub blooms several months out of the year where I live.
A woman’s deep truth.
Beyond war, lies, betrayal,
she finds love and peace.
Print. I write in margins, and I love the feel and aesthetics of a well-made book.
Horror.
Planning ahead. I’m a Virgo.
The Mapmaker’s War
This will be the map of your heart, old woman. In an ancient time, in a faraway land, a young woman named Aoife is allowed a rare apprenticeship to become her kingdom’s mapmaker, tasked with charting the entire domain. Traveling beyond its borders, she finds a secretive people who live in peace, among great wealth. They claim to protect a mythic treasure, one connected to the creation of the world. When Aoife reports their existence to her kingdom, the community is targeted as a threat. Attempting to warn them of imminent danger, Aoife is exiled for treason and finds refuge among the very people who had been declared her enemy. With them, she begins a new life surrounded by kindness, equality, and cooperation. But within herself, Aoife has no peace. She cannot share the grief she feels for the home and children she left behind. She cannot bear the warrior scars of the man she comes to love. And when she gives birth to their gifted daughter, Aoife cannot avoid what the child forces her to confront about her past and its truth. On this most important of journeys, there is no map to guide her. In this tale — her autobiography — Aoife reveals her pain and joy, and ultimately her transformation.
The Mapmaker’s War is a mesmerizing, utterly original adventure about love and loss and the redemptive power of the human spirit. Watch for its epic sequel, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, in 2014.
Giveaway Details
1 copy of The Mapmaker’s War
Open to US only
Ends 4/7/13
