The Trellence by A.T. Nartey / Buy on Amazon UK / Buy on Amazon US

The Trellence Synopsis

It is generally known amongst the Trellencers that girls are not admitted into warrior school. Their roles are relegated to house duties and nurturing. Only one girl, Ula Delmor, has quite literally fought her way in. To be a Quillin is all the girls her age want, but Ula is sure no eligible bachelor in her village will pick her.

But when she falls from the top of the mutant trees to Crawlers level, one of the most dangerous places on earth, a countdown begins to save her people from an ambush of fearsome Quarden warriors. To survive she joins forces with a sworn enemy. In a race against time, they must face slavers, zombies, faeries, and vicious mermaids on their journey up the five perilous levels.
On this dangerous adventure unfamiliar feelings emerge but can she tame her heart, defy the odds, and free her people?

The Trellence will please fans of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

In such a fast-moving society, creativity and writing discipline isn’t as appreciated as it once was. But I’m always fascinated by how authors come up with the concepts behind their works. That’s why I had to ask author, A.T. Nartey about how she came up with such a layered story concept. Here is her response.

I don’t remember how the idea of The Trellence occurred to me. I just remember reading the second Harry Potter book in my late teens and suddenly I had the idea of mutant trees.

Ula, the protagonist occurred to me fully formed. All I knew was that it would be a fantasy romance, even though I didn’t know about genres and reader expectations. 

I started writing it immediately. I had no idea what I was doing. I’m revealing my age now, but at that time the only way to back up your work was with a floppy disc. I distinctly remember it: a red floppy disc with silver hardware. Well, long story short, I was dedicated and wrote half the book but one day I went to use the floppy disc – it was corrupted, and I lost everything.

In hindsight, I’m happy that happened. My writing has improved tenfold since then and I finally know how to piece together a story. At the time, however, I was heartbroken and abandoned writing it.

It wasn’t until fifteen years later after that first draft did I have the confidence to go back and attempt the book once more. The story flowed out of me. I wrote it in six months and overcame the sticky middle which always trips me up. Thankfully, my efforts led to this moment. I’m just so happy to have the book coming out soon. I hope readers love it as much as I do.

I share in the joy of A.T. Nartey finally getting her story out to the world. It’s such a liberating feeling when a story you’ve carried at the back of your mind for so many years, finally makes its way out into the wilds.

The Trellence is out now. You can order both the ebook and print versions from Amazon.

The Trellence by A.T. Nartey / Buy on Amazon UK / Buy on Amazon US

The official website of A.T. Nartey.