An Echo of the Fae: Themes and a Sequel Sneak Peek

When writing a book, knowing what themes you want to explore is generally a good idea.

But I almost never start with that. My writing is driven by a weird mixture of world-building, character, and plot. Plot usually comes last. The world and the characters come first… and which one comes first varies from story to story.

An Echo of the Fae was no exception to the rule. As I explained earlier this week, a lot of the story came together after I had figured out who the players were and what the world looked like.

For me, the themes usually stand out to me more after the story is written, and one of my jobs is to pull those themes out and polish them off in the editing stages.

Some of the themes in this story surprised me, but I am quite pleased with how they wove themselves through the plot.

Family

My family members are my favorite people.

Fantasy is my favorite genre.

Over the years I have noticed that the fantasy genre is riddled with orphans, angsty teens, and dysfunctional families (I blame the Brothers Grimm for starting this trend).

There are a few fantasy books/series out there that have good, strong family units. The Wingfeather Saga, for example.

But there really aren’t enough of them.

And so, when I began writing this story, I really wanted to focus on a good, solid family dynamic. Echo has two loving parents. She is a good kid. She has all the awkward, unsure of herself, timidness that is characteristic of most 12-14 year olds, but her solid rock is her family and their love for each other.

This theme definitely gave me some headaches as I tried to figure out how to send Echo off into the fae-lands by herself without her being angsty or running away or making it seem like her parents didn’t care about her… but in the end it was worth it.

Adoption

This is a theme that has impacted my life, personally.

I have an aunt and an uncle who were adopted. I feel like I kind of always knew this, but it never really meant anything to me as a kid. They are my aunt and uncle. They are part of the family and no different than any of my other aunts and uncles (I have 8 sets of aunts and uncles and over 30 cousins).

As I got older, I really appreciated how they never seemed to question their inclusion in the family. They were adopted in an era of “sealed” adoptions, but more than once I heard people talk about how my Uncle Rob in particular never had any interest in seeking out his biological parents. I called him up last year and asked if he would share his story with me and if I could share it with you, and he said, “Sure.”

To begin with, my grandpa’s name was Charles.

That will be important later.

Rob was adopted as a newborn, but he had to spend a year in the hospital before they could bring him home. He didn’t find out he was adopted until he was 9 or 10 years old. My grandparents had left him and his older sister at home so they could go out somewhere, and had told them both to do the dishes. While they were gone, his sister told him he had to do the dishes all by himself. When he argued and said they were both supposed to do the chore, she told him she was older than him and “besides, you were adopted.” (Side note, this is the same aunt who was also adopted, so that’s kind of hilarious).

Anyway, when their parents came home, Rob asked them why his sister had said that, and they sat down and told him that it was true.

But he never had any interest in finding out about his biological parents. When I asked him why, he said, “I had seen movies. It always turns into a mess.”

A few years ago, another aunt was digging through things she had from their parents and found Rob’s adoption papers. She gave them to him, and he opened them.

The name his birth parents had given him?

Charles.

Throughout my life, in addition to my aunt and uncle, I’ve had several friends who were adopted. Some of them were so close with their adoptive families that I didn’t even know they were adopted until they told me.

They, like my family members, fully embraced their adoptive parents and families wholeheartedly.

I know that not all adoption stories turn out like that. Adoption can also be messy and painful. I’ve seen that side of it, too, and I have no desire to diminish those struggles.

But, as my uncle pointed out, there are plenty of movies and books that reflect the difficulties of adoption.

And so, I wanted in many ways to write An Echo of the Fae for them—the adoption stories I’ve admired my entire life, the ones that inspire me, the ones that don’t usually make it into the fantasy genre. I wanted to reflect their story.

It startled her at first, to find that she thought of Jana as “sister,” but in the next breath she realized that it also felt natural, something akin to comforting. Her own parentage was in no doubt. She may not have been born to the family she had, but she wished for no other. In spite of her initial hurt and confusion of the night before, in spite of the secrets they had kept concealed, her security in her parents’ love for her was complete. The evidence of its existence, of its truth, was woven into the very fabric of her being. The revelation of Jana’s existence could not threaten that love, only add to it.

~An Echo of the Fae

Forgiveness

This is a theme that tends to run through many of my stories. It’s kind of a trademark, at this point. It’s a huge theme in my Minstrel’s Song series, and it’s the whole point of Stone Curse.

So it should be no surprise that it makes an appearance here, as well.

Echo kind of has a tendency to hold grudges.

But throughout the story, she learns to take a good, long, hard look at herself and she begins to take to heart the lessons she has learned from her parents.

“Dadai says we should treat everyone with kindness, no matter what they deserve. He says it is”—her lips quirked a little at the thought of how he had adopted the phrase she had used as a child—“‘vicious disgrateful’ to be any less merciful to anyone than the Creator has been to us.”

~An Echo of the Fae

Coming of Age / Growing Up

This is another theme I tend to play with a lot. I love quests in general, and I love it when we get to see characters grow up throughout the story. That doesn’t mean they change completely, though.

Echo begins the story very uncomfortable with her place in the world. She’s holding a grudge against someone who used to be a friend. She feels guilty for not fitting in or liking all the same things as everyone else. She’s an introvert who struggles to know what to say or how to interact with people, though she is very comfortable with animals.

Echo may learn to forgive and she may feel more comfortable in her own skin and she may have found her place in the world… but at the end of the story, she’s still an introvert.

She’s still going to mess up her words at times.

She’s still going to find it difficult to engage in “small talk.”

She’s still going to shout at herself inside her own head that it’s her turn to talk and she should say something!

Faith

This is kind of linked to the previous theme of coming-of-age. Because this is not just a story about growing up, but also one of deepening faith, of searching one’s heart and finding out whether or not those things one has been taught actually mean something.

Echo’s parents know the Creator. They read their Bible. They have told Echo Bible stories since she was small.

But through her ordeal in the fae-lands and her quest to save her “sister,” Echo will learn whether or not her faith is truly her own. She will find out whether or not she can stand on her own, or if she will reach out to the Creator and ask for His help and strength to sustain her.

Sequel Sneak Peek!

I have not, as yet, written any part of the sequel. It is still in the outlining stages, so I don’t have any snippets to share with you.

My apologies.

But I feel that enough of the outline has come together that I can tell you a few hints about what it will hold.

We will actually get to meet Titania and Oberon in this story.

The fairy tale inspiration for this story (SUPER LOOSE INSPIRATION, just like in the previous book) is Snow White.

(Which surprised me greatly, as I don’t even really like the story of Snow White… but hey, looooooooose inspiration here)

It will involve the Wild Hunt.

And we may get to journey to the Realm of the Sea Fae.

Also, Ritioghra.

And that’s all I’ve got for today! I hope you enjoyed it!

If you’ve read An Echo of the Fae, did any of these themes stand out to you?

Were there other themes you noticed that I didn’t talk about here?

What do you think of the sneak peek at book 2?

I’d love to hear from you, dear Reader!