Find out all about unicorns with Suzanne de Montigny

Today I am venturing into the world of children literature, and in particular the wonderful 'The Shadow of the Unicorn', a fantasy by Suzanne de Montigny which is aimed at children between the ages of nine and twelve years old.

So let's find out a little about her book, and about unicorns of course...

 

Hello Suzanne and thank you for coming on the blog today. What attracted you to unicorns and what can tell us about them?

Ah yes, unicorns. One of my most favourite topics of conversation. They’re beautiful creatures: pure white except for their hooves, and with a spiral horn that crowns their head. They’re smaller than horses and even have different hoof prints. They neigh, whinny, bray, and hee-haw. Plus they sing on beautiful nights. But it’s not regular singing like we human folk do. They create a cacophony of noises in rhythm. They whinny, sneeze, rumble and neigh. Even the other animals join in from afar. And did I mention they have healing powers in their horns? That’s why they were considered very valuable by the tyrant, Ishmael, many thousands of year ago when dinosaurs, mammals, and humans, dwelt the earth together.

They have healing powers in their horns?

Yes, one touch of the horn can cure bubonic plague, but their healing powers aren’t meant for constant use. They need time to recuperate, so when Ishmael captures one of the herds and exploits it, he becomes the town hero but at the expense of the lives of nine unicorns.

Nine unicorns? How terrible.

Yes, but he doesn’t want to stop there. He wants to harvest their horns to sell as a healing powder.

It almost sounds like what happens today in Africa where hunters poach elephants and rhinos for the ivory in their horns.

Exactly my point. You’ve got it! That’s the underlying message behind my story. Here, kids get to experience what elephants and rhinos live through from the point of view of magical creatures.

So is there hope for the unicorns?

Yes. Darius-the-seer, the last surviving dinosaur, teaches Azaria some tricks to outsmart Ishmael, but I won’t tell you what. You have to read the book.

I understand you give half of all your profits to the Third World Eye Care Society. How did this come to be?

I’m a great believer that everything happens for a reason. Last summer, I developed a frightening vision problem. For some reason, I had a wash-out spot in the middle of my right eye. It kept getting worse and worse and soon, I couldn’t read the newspaper without a magnifying glass. I was very quickly ushered into the office of one of B.C.’s top ophthalmologists who not only ran numerous tests on me, but also sent me to see several other specialists – all for free. And I got to thinking that in third world countries, many people can’t afford eye care at all. Many children go without the glasses they need to read. And so I became involved with TWECS.

 It sounds like a really worthwhile charity. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on two novels right now – the second of The Shadow of the Unicorn series, and another very creepy middle grade/YA novel entitled: A Town Bewitched. It’s a story about a child prodigy in classical violin growing up in a small town. Her best friend is a girl adopted into a white family from China. As you can imagine, they have trouble fitting in and to make matters worse, Kira’s dad passed away from cancer. A strange guest attends his funeral – a red-headed fiddler with strange blue eyes, who takes over the whole town by bewitching them with her Celtic music.  When someone vandalises the town, leaving dead and gutted birds as a calling card, only Kira knows who the real perpetrator is. But will anyone believe her?

Well Suzanne, I wish you good luck with your two projects. Thank you very much for coming on the blog today. Where can we find your novel?

You can buy it at the following links:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Shadow-Unicorn-Legacy-ebook/dp/B00AIVD5EE

http://www.amazon.com/The-Shadow-Unicorn-Legacy-ebook/dp/B00AIVD5EE

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=466&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=230&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1
http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=the+shadow+of+the+unicorn%3A+the+legacy

Here the trailer for 'Shadow of the Unicorn'
http://youtu.be/St9OsyK974o