Authors Unleashed Interviews Donna Sundblad

Donna Sundblad, author of the young adult fantasies Beyond the Fifth Gate and Windwalker
stopped by Authors Unleashed for an interview. Check it out to learn about the inspiration behind these fantasies, along with plenty of fun facts.

Here's a taste of that interview:

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I can't say I have a favorite. It's more like I enjoy cartoon characters with relationships. Even if they are love/hate relationships. That's what makes them interesting I grew up watching the Flintstones and Jetsons, and today enjoy The Simpsons. The shenanigans of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are fun, too. Those writers have had to come up with new ways to blow Wile E. Coyote up, throw him off a cliff, and have something land on him, while keeping it fresh and even making us laugh.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I guess out of the characters I listed above, I'd say I'm most like Marge Simpson. She's a caring mom, loving wife, and an independent woman.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?


You can find the answer to this and more at Author's Unleashed.

Five Star Windwalker Review

Windwalker, February 18, 2009

By	Loreena L. Russomanno

Windwalker
Author Donna Sundblad
Publisher: epress-online Inc.
ISBN: 0977222489

"Donna Sundblad's, Windwalker, is a journey abundant with fantasy, compassion, promise, romance, and fright.

Windwalker is set along volatile seashores, under the dreamy skis of the mystical world of Ranaan. A world engaged by intense protagonists who struggle against despair with courage, while others swell with hatred and intolerance.

Unerringly, as ancient prophecies warned, a fair-skinned native tribe, the Jonnick, arrive on the shores of Ranaan, plagued by sickness, beset with a curse, seeking refuge.

The righteous Stygian welcome the tribe, unaware that the foreseen disease that the foreigners bring is the least of their worries.

Five hundred years later, the births of the Arich born on a moonless night and the Augar born with a bumble foot, mark the onset of prophecy fulfilment, and the time of joining.

A few years later, with their world on the verge of destruction, the most improbable couple, a crippled Jonnick girl with a hidden Stygian bloodline (Jalil), and a lonely Stygian boy, raised as a Jonnick, (Manelin) unite, and find themselves thrust into challenges beyond their wildest fears, as they set out on a quest to unravel the true meaning of the prophecies, while a wicked queen does everything in her power to thwart the fulfillment.

Author Donna Sundblad, does an amazing job of pulling you into her fantasy world. She awakens the senses and stimulates curiosity. You feel, the cool mist spray your skin, as you see and hear the waves crash at the mountain base, the breeze through your hair. Salt from the sea tantalises your taste buds and fear rips at your intellect.

Donna convinces the readers of many convoluted effects, one being the ability of Windwalker characters to transform and travel with the wind from the past, present and into the future.

The Stygian prophecies may or may not be fulfilled, but there is promise that the reader will be. This is a journey you don't want to miss. It will leave you yearning for the sequel and fantasizing about walking on the wind.

Loreena Russomanno

Windwalker by Donna Sundblad

Windwalker

Young Adult Fantasy by Donna Sundblad

HHundreds of years ago, the Stygian race welcomed disease-riddled Jonnick to their shores despite prophetic warnings. Concealed powers of darkness disembark with the refugees.

Subsequent generations of conflict draw lines of division between the two cultures unaware that the spirit of the Mage lives within the queen. Paranoia and fear prompt the issuance of royal decrees designed to thwart the coming of the Stygian savior--the Arich.

Midwives ordered to report the birth of any child born on a moonless night know it means death to the child. Effects of the law trickle to the present where Manelin, a social outcast, and Jalil, a lame Jonnick girl find themselves thrust into the midst of unfolding ancient prophecies and a world on the verge of annihilation.

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Mail from a Windwalker Reader:

I finished Windwalker. What a great story […] exciting all the way through. I was so impressed with how the [character] transformations took place with such ease. (Ojal - Queen Riona- Jalil ) It all felt perfectly natural and was easy to follow [as the story] flipped from the past , present and into the future, back to the past, and present...Wow!

Now that I am finished - I miss the characters. I had a connection with each one of them. I usually connect with a couple of people in a story, but seldom the whole works like I did in this story. You just clearly did a great job of creating each and every character. Thank you for writing it.

Loreena

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• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: epress-online (September 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977222489
• ISBN-13: 978-0977222483
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches