What is Ronlyn Domingue reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Ronlyn Domingue, author of The Mapmaker's War.

Her entry begins:

The Book of Books: 500 Years of Graphic Innovation edited by Mathieu Lommen—The Muses were involved when I found this book at my public library. The giant tome covers font, printing, illustration, and binding developments from the late 1400s to present day. I can’t wait to steal away for a few hours to study it for fun, but there’s also research involved. My third novel, which is a sequel to The Mapmaker’s War, has a character who owns a spectacular library. I’ve spent some time among special collections—vellum, laid paper, wax seals!—but there’s much left to learn about old and rare books so that I can describe the character’s treasures with confident specificity. No doubt this book will...[read on]

About The Mapmaker’s War, from the publisher:

This will be the map of your heart, old woman. In an ancient time, in a faraway land, a young woman named Aoife is allowed a rare apprenticeship to become her kingdom’s mapmaker, tasked with charting the entire domain. Traveling beyond its borders, she finds a secretive people who live in peace, among great wealth. They claim to protect a mythic treasure, one connected to the creation of the world. When Aoife reports their existence to her kingdom, the community is targeted as a threat. Attempting to warn them of imminent danger, Aoife is exiled for treason and finds refuge among the very people who had been declared her enemy. With them, she begins a new life surrounded by kindness, equality, and cooperation. But within herself, Aoife has no peace. She cannot share the grief she feels for the home and children she left behind. She cannot bear the warrior scars of the man she comes to love. And when she gives birth to their gifted daughter, Aoife cannot avoid what the child forces her to confront about her past and its truth. On this most important of journeys, there is no map to guide her. In this tale—her autobiography— Aoife reveals her pain and joy, and ultimately her transformation.

The Mapmaker’s War is a mesmerizing, utterly original adventure about love and loss and the redemptive power of the human spirit. Watch for its epic sequel, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, in 2014.

Learn more about the book and author at Ronlyn Domingue's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Mapmaker's War.

Writers Read: Ronlyn Domingue.

--Marshal Zeringue