Blake Begins Writing Career With 3-Book SeriesOriginally, E.R. Blake wrote one long debut novel, but after some advice from her publisher, she turned it into a three-book series. “The Exile Carpet: Dreamscapes” is the first one to come out, the Warsaw resident said Thursday afternoon. “The second one, hopefully, will be spring and summer, and then the third the following year,” she said. A book signing for “Dreamscapes” will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Café Mod. A limited number of copies of the book will be available for purchase. “The first two were one huge book, and then the publisher decided to split it into two to create the series. The third has outlines for right now and I’ll be starting writing on that one in the summer,” she explained. Blake said she had planned for one big book with the complete story. Her publisher suggested that series books were the “big thing” though, and they weren’t sure someone would read a 700-page debut novel as opposed to a 300-page book. “This book series, the primary message is hope. As humanity has evolved through the ages, we’ve lost our history in a sense. We’re so busy with going forward that we don’t tend to look backward. And so it’s really a reclaiming of the history that we’ve lost or we’ve forgotten, and that no matter what happens in our daily lives or as a whole, there’s always hope, and it’s the most powerful gift we’ve been given — is to never give up, to keep hoping that something better will happen, and it will,” she said. The two main characters are Tamara, a teenage girl, and Dr. Mitchell “Mitch” Brody, her godfather. He becomes like a second father to Tamara as they journey through the story, Blake said. “They’re the main characters, but there’s a whole host of supporting and other characters that come into main focus as well. It’s very character-rich,” she said. While there is a little romance between Brody and a longtime relationship he’s reignited, Blake said it’s not a romance novel. It’s more of a mystery/thriller. “You have to kind of figure out with the characters what’s going on. Tamara is sick, she’s dying. Dr. Brody is the head of his field, so he’s been called in as a family friend to figure out what’s going on,” she said. Brody is sent to Scotland under mysterious circumstances to meet someone who can help him fix what’s going on with Tamara. “So it’s a mystery in the sense you’re trying to figure out what is going on with this girl, why is she dying, why is she having visions of historical events; and also it’s a journey of discovery for Dr. Brody,” Blake said. Brody has lost a sense of himself, despite being the top in his field. In his work to help Tamara, he goes on his own journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. Blake set her book series in Scotland because “Scotland is where my soul lives,” she said. “It’s just free, it sings. I journeyed there with family when I was 7 and spent every summer until the age of 19 or 20 in Scotland.?I have family friends and deep roots there. To me it was always magical, and there wasn’t a book series that was based solely in Scotland. It’s almost a love story from me to the nation of Scotland and its people and its rich history and majesty and tradition. A lot of the locations are my stomping grounds from when I was young.” In writing the book, she did a “tremendous” amount of research, she recalled. In college, Blake had a mentor, Dr. Norma L. Goodrich, who did research projects on academic theories and “actually proved the existence of King Arthur and Merlin and Guinevere,” she said. As Blake’s mentor, Goodrich set her on the path of research of a 5th century Irish saint, and it snowballed from there. They would have collaboration meetings and talk about it. “She said, ‘One day you’ll write a book.’ I never believed her,” Blake said, but she did a lot of research from there. Blake, who moved to Warsaw with her family about 11 years ago, also is an academic in Scotland and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh, Scotland. That allows her to look into databases. “Having that inside helps,” she said. “The Exile Carpet: Dreamscapes” was published in November and is available in hardback, paperback or Kindle form. Online, it can be purchased through Amazoncom, BarnesandNoble.com, GoodRead.com and other book sites. Blake said it’s not at bookstores yet. “It’s surreal to see it all finally in print,” she said. “A whole box of them came today, and it doesn’t get old opening a box and seeing books that you’ve written. It’s still like in a dreamlike state like ‘Did this really happen?’ But it is an awesome responsibility to know that your words can have an impact on somebody.” While the first book ends on a cliffhanger, Blake said she hopes it brings enjoyment to the readers and will make people curious about Scotland and its secrets. “Hopefully, I’ve given people that gift,” she said.
