The Elf King by Lorraine Hellier ** Blog Tour Author Post**

I am so happy to be welcoming Lorraine Hellier to Cat and Mouse Reading today to talk about her new children's book, The Elf King. It is aimed at 7-9 year olds who enjoy fantasy. Lorraine is going to talk to us about how her travels have influenced her writing. First though, here's more about the book.
 

Bay Leaf is the new Elf King and must take his Oath of Allegiance. His sister, Sweet Pea, demonstrates her love and support on a perilous journey to the Mountain Shrine. 

    

An enchanted book offers advice and guidance from their ancestors and warns Sweet Pea to take care of her brother. Will her interference resolve Bay Leaf’s heartache?

Welcome to Cat and Mouse Reading... Lorraine. Now it's over to you!

Lorraine:  

 

Thank you for welcoming me to your blog. 

In 2015 I had the opportunity to visit New Zealand. Having just commenced writing “The Elf King,” I continued the first draft of the story as I travelled enjoying the spectacular scenery. 

The openness of the land and lack of population from lakes to mountains inspired a journey for the elf characters I had created. In my novel the elves live in our world but hidden from humans, New Zealand gave me the environment I sought in my imagination.

There are a few specific places I actually used as images in the book: 

I visited a Lord of Rings film location and crossed the bridge which features in chapter 8 of “The Elf King.”  

  

           

In Christchurch there are some lovely gardens where a wooden door became the entrance to the Mountain Shrine. 

 

The waterfalls gave me the idea for the elves to climb a frozen waterfall.

 

 

The shores of the lake became the home for the Moon Lake Elves.

 

The barren mountains, fast flowing rivers and woodlands gave me settings suitable for scenes. As you can imagine it was an inspirational country to visit. Highly recommended!

 Thanks for bringing some of those places alive for us today, Lorraine and good luck with the rest of the blog tour!

About the Author

Lorraine writes from her canal-side home near the cathedral city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. She visits local schools offering Author Visits and Creative Writing Workshops.  She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators supporting and encouraging other members. 

Lorraine loves to travel, a visit to New Zealand inspired this novel.

The sequel “The Elf Quest” will be published April 2018. 

You can follow Lorraine here: Website | Facebook 

Book links: Amazon UK 

 

Thanks to Lorraine and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a place on the tour and this amazing guest post.

Cat and Mouse say... Check out the rest of the tour!