Heather L.L. FitzGerald is our guest today.

She wrote a book called The Tethered World, and she’s here to share the story behind her story.

“Normal” means different things to different people. For sixteen-year-old Sadie Larcen, family dynamics look a little different than most. Parents with oddball occupations? Normal. Five homeschooled siblings—one with autism? Normal.

Police knocking on the door and parents gone missing? Definitely not normal!

When Sadie uncovers the reasons behind her parents’ disappearance and the truth about her heritage, she despairs of ever feeling normal again. Especially when she learns that her mother’s interest in Bigfoot, Dwarves, and other lore extends beyond her popular blog. Sadie’s family has been entrusted with keeping the secrets of the Tethered World—home to creatures that once roamed the Garden of Eden.

Sadie and her siblings must venture into this land to rescue their parents. Stepping out of reality and into a world she never knew existed is a journey Sadie fears and resents. But she chooses to risk all to save her family.

She’s just not sure she will survive in the process.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

What inspired you to write this book?

From dragons to dwarves, gnomes to trolls, Nephilim to leprechauns, and homeschooling to autism . . . my fantasy trilogy includes a lot of unusual things. No doubt you can guess which ones actually constitute the story behind my Tethered World Chronicles.

No, I don’t have any garden gnomes taking care of my drought-prone landscape here in Texas (although I wish I did!). And I don’t know any sword-wielding Nephilim, though that would be cool. What I do have is four children which I homeschooled, one of whom is autistic.

When they were young, I loved to read stories to them, especially the Chronicles of Narnia. That series spurred my own imagination to write adventures with a similar feel of wonder and purpose. Since our version of ‘normal’ meant homeschooling and working around my son’s unique autistic issues, I wanted to share those things as part of the fabric of the family in my book.

With no agenda in mind as far as converting readers to our way of doing school or rallying them behind our son’s disability—my goal was to portray these unique aspects as a backdrop to the characters, in a matter-of-fact way, so that anyone could relate. Each of us have circumstances that are different from others in one way or the other. But there is common ground to be found even in our differences.

With my autistic character, Brock, I enjoyed showing his strengths and revealing that even the difficult parts of his behavior still served God’s purposes. Brock was destined to rule part of the Tethered World not in spite of his autism, but because of it. His autism made him uniquely suited for his job in the land of Vituvia, home of the gnomes.

It wasn’t until after I’d written the first book of the trilogy, The Tethered World, that I realized something I had unconsciously done for my son. I’d written a happy ending to the disability that hasn’t always been a source of joy for him or for us. This story is a gift of my dreams for his potential to be realized one day—if not here, then in eternity.

Your book sounds magical! Thanks for sharing the story behind your story.

Award-winning author Heather L.L. FitzGerald writes from her home in Texas while dreaming of being back in the Pacific Northwest, where she grew up. She is drawn to stories that become good friends—friends you want to revisit—the kind you wish to keep close. Those are the type of stories Heather aspires to write, ones worthy of delicious coffee and a lingering relationship. 

The Tethered World was a finalist and The Flaming Sword won the 2017 OCW Cascade Award for Speculative Fiction. So far in 2018, The Genesis Tree has become a finalist for a Realm Award, Selah Award, and an OCW Cascade Award.

Heather’s a member of ACFW, Realm Makers, Oregon Christian Writers, and her local writer’s group Manent Writers. You can connect with Heather on her website/blog,  Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Heather is giving away a copy of The Tethered World. Follow the directions below to enter.

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