In Dora's Words: The Story Behind The Stonewiser Series

Yep, it's true, I met my first stonewiser in a dream. Okay, I know it sounds cliché, but what can I do? Writers have vivid dreams, you know, and this one was life-changing vivid.

Sariah sat cross-legged on the ground of a cavernous cellar, holding a stone in each hand. Her body's high-strung intensity told me she was caught in a dangerous struggle. The stones she clutched with such passion revealed her extraordinary nature. She was a stonewiser, able to retrieve the knowledge preserved in the stones, the only remaining way to uphold the truth and ensure justice in a world devastated by the rot's destruction.

The shock in her wide eyes revealed she had just found lies in the very stones she was pledged to serve. I realized she faced a terrible choice: Continue to live her life as the slave of a false truth, or make an unholy alliance with a mysterious rebel—her bitterest enemy—to discover the truth she craved.

I knew I had to write the story.

So the next question I asked myself was: What the heck is a Stonewiser?

Imagine a world devastated by the rot's destruction, where libraries have been destroyed and people can no longer hunker down to get at their own truths. There are no books, newspapers, magazines, computers, internet. The only way to preserve a record of the past is to store it in the sturdiest available material—stone.

To retrieve these vital tales, you need a stonewiser, born and trained to see the tales preserved in the stones. Only stonewisers can uphold truth, ensure justice, link the past to the present and preserve order. But what happens when a rebellious stonewiser discovers that lies have tainted the all-powerful stones?

My dream became the premise of the award winning Stonewiser series, a smart fantasy adventure with a heart, packed with intriguing action, unforeseen twists and unforgettable characters. The series is composed of three books, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone and Stonewiser: The Lament of the Stone. The series is a complex, intricate story that delves into issues of prejudice, poverty, slavery, cruelty, abuse power, greed and war.

I'm proud of all of the awards and accolades that the series has garnered over the years, but—nice as they are—I don't write for the sake of winning awards. I write to connect with dreamers, thinkers, adventurers and readers who, like me, thrive in the power of the story. So I'm proudest to have shared the story with so many people all over the world who had been generous with their time and praise, and who have shared this fantastic adventure with me. Above all, the Stonewiser series is a fun, entertaining, engaging escape that I hope will inspire your heart and encourage all of us to dream about a better world.