Dragon Ships!
(working title)by Heidi Skarie
Summary:
In 794 England was raided by Norsemen who were thought to have come from Hordaland Fjord in Norway. It was considered an unsuccessful raid because the war leader was killed and two of the five ships were smashed against the rocks in a storm. The survivors were killed by the villagers when they swam to shore. The book is based on Heidi's own past life as an English woman who was captured by those Vikings, taken from her home in Northumbria in England, and brought to what is now Norway. This upcoming Norwegian Viking historical novel is for both teens and adults.
Read the First Chapter Online
The Idea:In the middle of May in 2000, Heidi flew into Oslo, Norway and later over to Stavanger to research this past life for the novel. In her words, she "looked at a map of Norway and pointed to a place on the Hardanger Fjord (which used to be called the Hordaland Fjord) and told my husband that's where we had to go. He asked how I could know that's where I lived and I replied that I just did."
So they rented a car and headed north. Traveling through the fjords on the west coast of Norway was a challenge. The farmstead Heidi lived on has been built into a town called Rosendal, and is nestled in a beautiful mountain valley. The town was named after Baron Rosendal. Although the physical structures were all completely different, the place was just as she remembered it.
The ocean, rocky shoreline, mountains, and forest had not changed, though much more of the land had been cleared for farmland and houses over the years. Across from Rosendal there was even the island she remembered where the neighbors, who came to help with planting and harvest, had lived. That life was a hard one, but also one in which Heidi found love and happiness.
Star Rider:
on the Razor's Edge
(working title)
by Heidi Skarie
(Book 1 of the series)
Summary:
This story takes place on a technologically advanced world during a time when Imperial Highness Condor is waging war to control the galaxy through power and sorcery. Toemeka Ganti is a spirited coalition agent who finds herself caught up in events that will affect the future of an entire galaxy. The saga is of her personal and spiritual growth against the backdrop of a world at war.
Read the First Chapter Online
The Idea:It is based on an experience that first awakened Heidi's interest in writing. One night she had an incredible dream that was like watching an action, adventure movie. The dream took place in another world with space ships and non-earthly creatures.
It was a world in which psychic abilities and sorcery were common, and when she woke up she wrote down the story. On the next night, the story continued right where it had left off the night before! The same thing happened (with a break in the middle) for a week. At the end, Heidi had a ninety page dream journal. She thought it was such a great story that she began to teach herself how to write, so she could share it with others.