The Ankulen Cover Reveal And Interview

 My dear friend Kendra is anticipating the release of a new book! And to celebrate the grand event, she's asked for a few of us to participate in a special cover reveal! Well, here it is, folks! The Ankulen!

About The Ankulen: Fifteen-year-old Jen can't remember her imagination. She knows she had one once, though, and honestly, she'd like it back. It's been eight years. One day she finds a young boy who claims to be one of her imaginary friends and that her imaginary world is being eaten by a hydra-like monster called the Polystoikhedron. He helps her find the Ankulen, a special bracelet that had given the ability to bring her imagination to life and together they embark on a quest to find friendship, healing, and perhaps even some family.

1. What gave you the idea to write this story in the first place?

The book began as a play that my younger cousin and I were trying to put together for us to perform back when we were fifteen and eight. I was to be Jen and he was Chris. Later, my sister asked to join in and we made her Tisha. Unfortunately, we could never come up with an ending that would work with our extremely limited supply of special effects, so we eventually gave it up.

However, the idea wouldn't go away, and as I typed away on the Bookania Quests, and my other stories, it stayed back there in the corner of my brain, changing and growing, until about a year and a half ago when I finally pulled up a blank document, started typing, and never looked back.

2. Who is your favorite minor character, and why (just because everyone asks for a main character)?

Minor character? By that I will assume that you mean my favorite one of Jen's imaginary friends who isn't Chris or Tisha.

I shall go with the Wood Children. They're actually a group of characters, but I lump 'em all together. They're a bit like dryads, only they're all kids, between the ages of five and eight. Their job is to take care of trees, and they are so sweet, especially Walnut, the little boy who we meet first.

3. I know many times, most of my stories run away with me, and end up being totally different than what I had originally planned. Is the current ending of The Ankulen exactly as you imagined it would be when you first began writing the story?

Well, since the initial play had no ending, I'll say that it's changed a lot. However, when I sat down to write what became draft one, I did have a pretty good idea for how I wanted it to end. Had it been up to Jen, I probably would have had that ending, too, but there were a few other characters who had minds of their own, and changed it slightly. For the better, I do believe, since it saved one of those characters from having his memory wiped at the end. (The guy was starting to get on my nerves. Jen's too, much as we loved him.)

Don't forget to visit Kendra's blog for more excitement and fun! The Ankulen is also on Goodreads, so stop by and add it to your online bookshelf! I know it's on mine!

Kendra E. Ardnek  is the eldest daughter in a homeschooling family of four. She has been making up stories since an early age and published her first book, Sew, It's a Quest, when she was sixteen. When she isn't writing, she's usually knitting, crocheting,  making swords out of paint-stir sticks, or looking up random facts. You can follow her writing adventures on her blog, Knitted by God's Plan.