Loved ones must be rescued.

His brothers depend on him for survival.

The trail behind him is already stained with pain and loss.

Allen is only seventeen, but tragedy and a strong sense of duty already weigh on his shoulders. As the French and Indians wage brutal warfare on the English settlers, Allen embarks on a treacherous journey to free his captive sister and her friend.

With little hope of survival and even less for success, Allen knows he needs God to do the impossible. But if God is able to do all things, why does everything seem to be going wrong?

Hello and welcome to “Through All Things” book tour!  I am privileged to be one of the very last stops on this wonderful tour.  Anyway, I would like to announce the author before I interview him.  Please help me welcome…

Malachi Cyr!

Malachi is a Christian, homeschooled teenager who highly enjoys putting the stories from his imagination down on paper.
He enjoys reading, writing, airsofting, sword fighting, frizbee, woodworking, Bible studies, working with his Dad, hiking, camping, generally doing stuff with his friends, and too many other things to count.

He writes to
1. Glorify and honor God in his stories.
2. Make the stories that he’s played up in his head come to life.
3. Have fun.

 

(you don’t have to include all that if you include it at all)

Don’t worry, Malachi.  I wanted to include it.  😁

Anyway, on to the interview with Malachi.  Oh, wait.  I forgot to include his links or whatever you call these.

Blog: Brainstorms with Rain

Goodreads: Malachi Cyr

Generation Rising: Malachi Cyr

There!  Now you can go stalk Malachi.  Haha, no, not really.  Anyway, on to the interview.

When did you first decide you could write?

When I joined Noble Novels. I had written some before, but that is when I realized I could really write stuff for other people to read. I highly recommend it for aspiring writers.

How would you respond to someone who said, “I can’t finish a whole book.  Help!”

Do NaNoWriMo. But don’t just do it, do it to completion. Take no excuses, make time to write, and get writing buddies or even just friends to force you to crawl all 100 yards when you felt like you were done after ten. It’s great especially if you’re competitive like me. Camp Nano is also a great option, but I don’t like it as much as the one in November, but that’s just me.

What is your favorite thing about your book?  (This can be a spoiler)

Oooh. That’s hard. I think one of my favorites would be when the boys take refuge in the cabin, and for the first time Allen realizes that he actually loves his little brother who he’s harbored bitterness against for years (he blamed him for the death of his mom.) I also really liked one part when Allen jumps out of the tree on–actually, that would be too much of a spoiler. Sorry 😀

When do you usually write? (Late at night, early in the morning, whenever you have a spare moment…) Why do you choose that time?

During Nano, I try to set aside as much of the day as I can, but that’s changing more and more as I get more busy. So basically whenever I get a spare chunk of time, because that’s when I’m available 😀

Do you have a favorite character your book?  If so, who is it?

That’s difficult to answer, since I like them all in different ways. I identify with Allen most. I like Betty and Jess a lot (even though I’m not an expert at writing girl characters by any stretch of the imagination.) Charlie and Ben are special in their own ways. Jason and the unnamed man at Cedarville are two of my lesser characters that I liked a lot. Then there’s Pa, and Colonel Williams, and Jenkins, all of whom I liked. So to skip out I’ll stick with my official answer of liking the awesome, big, faithful, calm, lovable, Newfoundland dog Behr the best.

Is writing the only art form you enjoy?

Is sword-fighting, airsofting, or frizbee an art? 😀 I actually do dabble in making stuff with wood (extremely basic, but I guess it counts,) and poetry by writing silly songs (Usually to the tune of Goober Peas or a Les Misérables song).

Do you have any kind of food or drink that sparks the brain storms?

Every NaNoWriMo, I buy a 4.5 pound bag of chocolate chips. Some I melt down and put into candy molds. Some I give to the bakers at my house to make me “Nano Fuel” cookies. Most I leave to be eaten as they are. No matter what I do to them, the are always gone by the end of the month. My sister also does homemade Kombucha, which are also an official “Nano Fuel.” When I can get it, a can of sardines is added to the fuel list as well. Yes, that is an odd assortment, but don’t worry, I eat them at different times from each other.

What is the most discouraging part about writing?

Editing. It’s inevitable, if you’re going to publish, and I often find myself wondering through the long, drawn-out process if the story is any good, or even worth it. But there’s lots of fun parts to editing too; rediscovering a scene I liked, seeing what parts my beta readers enjoyed, and the excitement of being close to being done. Okay, take that back. The most discouraging part of writing is writer’s block/editor’s block.

How do/did you pick your character’s names?

Randomly. If something sounds good, I use it. I’ll get inspiration from people I know, characters from other books, the author name on the nearest book (as long as it doesn’t happen to be Malachi Cyr), and from street signs. Occasionally I’ll look up a time period appropriate list of names, and look up the meanings.

What is an interesting fact about the writing process of the book that isn’t well known?

When I tackled this project during NaNoWriMo, I managed to reach my 50,000 word goal in 10 days (50,159 to be exact). In another 18 days I had finished the first draft (that was another 10k words, or to be exact a total of 60,018). The final work came out to 75,701.

Does real outside weather effect the storms that happen in your brain?

It can, but usually only when it’s exceptional weather outside and I’m on a brainstorming walk. You see, I live in Phoenix, and if I only had a brainstorm when there’s a real storm, I wouldn’t have brainstormed almost at all for the past two years (we’re in a really dry stretch, and our house hasn’t had a good storm since 2016.)

What are some of your favorite writing quotes?

Well, I have a few, and they’re a little bit general, and could apply to a lot of things.

“Charge!!!”

~unknown

“Words have power. Use them wisely.”

~unknown

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

~Paul the Apostle

“Death to all Penguins!”*

~Liberty Hoodenpyle

*This quote makes no sense to anyone so don’t try to understand it. It’s just a heap of fun to yell out at the top of your lungs.

Do you have anything you would recommend for beginning writers?

Start small. Don’t try to kill a novel before you’ve ever tackled a short story or two or ten. And then after you’re written the story, take the next step and share it with others. Sharing the story could be letting friends read it (immediate family doesn’t count, since it’s usually not very hard to let your mom read your story). It could be publishing it on a blog. I personally recommend Noble Novels as an essential tool to taking your writing to the next level by getting it out there.

And lastly, is there anything you would like to say?

For all the aspiring authors out there, keep writing. Someone somewhere wants to read your stories. Perseverance is what separates failure from success.

Y’all should congratulate me.  I refrained from adding any witty comments throughout the whole interview.  Do I get any pats on the back?  No.  Oh, anyway…Thanks, Malachi, for doing this!  It was a pleasure to help get the word about your book out there.

BUT!  I’m not done yet.  First, y’all all need to sign up for this awesome giveaway.  (I WANT THE HAT!  Haha…And y’all, look at the thingy.  Oh, my brother is going to be upset at me.  I can’t remember the thingy’s name.  😔 EDIT: I remembered the name of the thingy!  Look at the powder horn!  Isn’t it epic?  [And yes, I know I’m a girl and I shouldn’t like these things but I grew up with an older brother.])  It’s only for us Americans.  Sorry.  No, actually, if you’re from somewhere else in this world, you’ll get an Amazon egift card for $20 and a kindle copy of “Through All Things”! (And that might almost be as good as the prize for us Americans.)

And, I’m not done yet either.  Allen, the main character, has come out of the eighteenth century, and has agreed to come to my blog!  Please welcome Allen!

How old are you presently?

Seventeen*

*Note: Questions are being answered based on Allen’s age and experiences during the main portion of Through All Things.

What do you fear the most?

Failure. Dangers and hardships can be coped with. Even the Indians don’t scare me as much as the consequences of failing in my mission to rescue the girls.

What is your favorite animal?

My brother Charlie’s great big black Newfoundland dog. His name is Behr, and he is indispensable to us.

Do you have something that annoys you?

My little brother Ben often wants to follow me around when I just want to be alone. Charlie and I also have trouble getting along at times, since the way he thinks and acts can seem so senseless to me. It sometimes feels like he purposely does things the least logical way. As we’ve shared dangers and hardships together, though, we seem to understand each other better.

What is your favorite kind of music?

There isn’t a lot of different music out on the frontier, but one of my best memories is of my Ma singing to us children before we went to sleep. Of course I’ve heard the militia band play, and Mr. Clemont is really a wonder on his fiddle, but nothing comes close to the memory of Ma’s singing. It’s one of the things I’ve missed most about her.

Would you rather write a letter or talk to someone face to face?

I never was one for letter writing. There’s no questions to answer or comments to make like in a conversation. It’s all very factual, not like talking to a real person. Besides, postage out here is so expensive, so unsure, and takes so long that no one ‘round here writes letters, unless it’s Colonel Williams writing the Governor or something.

Do you have trouble expressing your emotions?

Sometimes. Often worry can come out as anger, which is never good.

What is your opinion of the word bumfuzzle?

Never heard tell of it. Seems to be a rather confusing word.

What is your favorite food?

Jess’s homemade biscuits with gravy. She only makes them on occasion, though, since the take more work than cornbread or porridge.

What is your shoe size?  (If you live in the age of shoe sizes…)

Buying shoes is a luxury that we seldom get to indulge in. I had a pair of boots that Pa had bought for me, but I lost them when the house burned down. I generally go around barefoot or in homemade moccasins.

Do you enjoy sword fighting?

I used to when Pa and I would cut ourselves sticks and use them in a play sword fight, but now I’ve seen enough of real fighting to make me wish to never see another fight again.

What about horse racing?

That I do enjoy. Sometimes Pa would let Jess and I ride our two horses, while Betty’s Pa let her ride his, and we’d have races through the woods bareback. It was a lot of fun…until you fell off and got a mouthful of dirt.

What do you think of this blog tour so far?

*Switches to Mission HQ Allen* I dunno what to think yet. Commander seems to have high hopes for it, but I don’t quite see the use.

Thanks for joining us on Crazy A, Allen!

Was my pleasure, thanks for having me!

You are very welcome, Allen.

AWE!  There is a Newfie in this book!  No way!  Okay, now I want to buy it more than anything.  Ahem, back to professional mode.

That is all for today, Ladies and Gents.  Go buy Malachi’s book, and give him ratings on Amazon (preferably good ratings) and review his book on Goodreads!

~~Amie~~

P.S. Here’s a song I’ve really been enjoying.  Please remember that the people you know aren’t just people.  They’re souls going somewhere.