Late last year, as I started to write the last book in the Ravenwood Trilogy, I wanted to refresh my memory of how Lizzie’s journey began; to get a better picture of her character arc and where it needed to end up. 

Being a curiologist meant just re-reading book one wouldn’t do. I had to come up with a creative and challenging way to review the storyline of The Enchanted One. Thus, The Unbound Book Project was born.

My challenge was to create a mood board for each chapter encompassing not just the mood but a key phrase or pivotal moment in Lizzie’s journey. I also set parameters on the props I could use: they had to come from what I already had in the house or out in the garden. I had a great deal of fun with this project and it was fascinating to see a definite colour scheme emerge and how it shifted slightly as the mood of the book did.

Although it ended up being a great deal more work than I anticipated, I also had a great deal more fun in the process. And I have to admit I felt a little sad when I uploaded the last image a few weeks ago. So, to all of you that followed my posts for this project, I thank you and I hope you enjoyed the rather odd way I see the world and how my writing process very often involves other forms of art when I work on a book.

“The stone house was deserted and by the looks of things, it had remained so for a very long time. A thick carpet from seasons of leaf and pine debris littered the porch. The windows were obscured by grime and one of the shutters hung drunkenly from a single remaining hinge. The bright blue door of her dreams had faded to a pale grey.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.292

Background Images from The Dark Forest Lunar Calendar 2023

“The pulsing crimson orb exploded, throwing out energy shrapnel that sparked and flared like fireworks, each bright point fizzling out to nothingness.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.275

“Taking her place again at the alter, she raised her face to the night sky and drank in the sight of a thousand stars strewn across the black endless void. Holding a fluorite wand in each hand, she lifted her arms in supplication and called out into the night.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.271

“A meadowlark trilled its flutelike song from somewhere in the distance as she picked her way cautiously across the springy, moss-covered ground and around fallen tree branches while trying to avoid stepping on pinecones the size of small pineapples.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.255

“She rubbed her fingertips against her lips to erase the tingling sensation. She wished she could rub away the memory of the look on his face when he pulled away from her. She wanted to erase the words he’d said.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.249

“These gifts would leave her with just one of the blood-red stones that had been her safety net and, in some ways, her albatross. One ruby was more than enough to cover her needs for the foreseeable future.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.246

“She’d always been on the outside of ordinary life, and the one she’d so carefully constructed with her shop had been an illusion too. She’d been marked by birth by her strangeness and her abilities. If the Dark Presence wanted her, perhaps it was because they share something in common–a malevolence cut from the same flawed cloth.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.243

“. . . she tried to clear her thoughts and figure out what she could do to fix what she’d broken, but nothing came to her. Her sorrow was sharp and brittle like ground glass underneath her skin. There was nothing she could do to change anything.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.238

“She couldn’t go back to that place in her life, not after what she’d done. The one thing she’d cared about only a few short days ago seemed frivolous and shallow. As she crammed her freezing hands in the pockets of her cardigan to warm them, her fingertips touched something glossy in one of the pockets. Bewildered, she pulled out the brochures she’d pocketed earlier in the day. The one she’d found stuffed between the pages of a paperback.”

The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.236