Hello, dear readers! Today I’d like to introduce you to Felicity, Crown Princess of Âlj-irnié, and main character of Lynn O’Connacht’s Among The Glimmering Flowers, which is out today!

Felicity feels stifled by her parents’ protective nature in Among The Glimmering Flowers,. She’s the crown princess, yet she’s not even allowed to care for her own pony. Her life consists of nothing but rules and permissions. All she wants is a little more freedom.

Horse-friend is happy to have a roof over his head, a job that he likes and food in his stomach every day. He never expected to run into the crown princess as she tries to sneak out of the castle. Or to get caught up in her clumsy attempts at having an adventure.

It isn’t long before trouble, rather than adventure, finds both of them, setting them on a course that will change their lives — and the fate of the kingdom — forever.

Among the Glimmering Flowers is the story of how two lovers first became friends and the first book in a series exploring a demisexual/allosexual romantic relationship. Readers looking for a low-conflict, cosy story should enjoy this novel. (via Goodreads)

I’m thoroughly excited to read Among the Glimmering Flowers, and I think it will be a great hit for you readers! If you want to check it out, you can pick it up on Amazon!

 

Hello, Felicity! Welcome to the blog! Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hello. Nice to meet you. I’m so happy you call me Felicity because that’s the name I’m going to adopt when I become queen and this is great practice! I am Crown Princess Felicity of Âlj-irnié and I would trade my gold necklace for a bucket of blackberries.

Did I do that right? I am just starting to learn how to hold speeches and they say it is a good idea to get people’s attention with something humorous at the start. I thought that would be an amusing anecdote to start with. Although I would really trade this necklace for a bucket of blackberries. I love them and I am not allowed to have them often because Father says this – I am babbling, aren’t I? My apologies. Mother is always telling me off for rambling.

Well, then. Hello. My name is Felicity – actually, it’s Chrysanthemum, but please don’t call me that – and I love blackberries and I ramble.

Also I do not think I am good at speeches, but I will learn. This is the first time someone’s interviewed me!

 

If you had a free day with nothing to do, what would you do?

This is assuming Mother and Father would allow me to have a day with nothing to do. There is a lot to learn when you’re crown princess and a lot that you are not allowed to do! What I would do, though, is likely whatever Mother devised as a relaxing way to spend the time. Which is all good and well and enjoyable, but it would not be so different from otherwise. What I would like to do is to be allowed to roam outside the castle walls and explore. Maybe go into town and do some shopping on my own…

Oh! No, I know! Go to a bakery and learn how bread is made! Our cooks make these really lovely breads with fruits and chocolate and spices and cheese and things in them and fresh bread tastes and smells so good. And they make these pastry sculptures that are just absolutely gorgeous and like they should exist only in a fairytale and how do they do that?! I want to learn! Or at least see because the few times I managed to sneak into a kitchen they looked really busy and I doubt I would have time to learn even if Mother would allow it.

But it would be so much fun!

 

If you could spend a day with someone you admire (alive, dead or fictional) who would it be?

Father! Well, there are many people. There’s Queen Justice the Second who, it is said, managed to stop an armada with a single sentence, but so much of the details have been lost, it would be really great to spend a day with her and learn what really happened. Imagine how useful it would be to know how to end a war before it starts with just one sentence!

But if I had to choose just one person, it would be Father. He tries very hard to be a good and just king and I could spend the day at his side just seeing how he resolves disputes and problems. That would be so useful. Theory only teaches you so much, you know, and I do not want to be a queen who has only experienced theoretical rulings when she starts. That would be all sorts of awful. I wouldn’t be able to look after my kingdom properly!

 

What talent would you most like to have?

Oh. Um. I don’t know. I am expected to have many talents, though you shouldn’t put too much stock in that and I’m doing it again, aren’t I? How about “the ability to stay on topic, as determined by the people listening to me, for more than five minutes”? That counts as a talent, does it not? I say it does.

Although I don’t mind that I ramble, so… No. We will go with this.

 

What is your most treasured possession?

Things that people gifted me because they like me and not because I am a princess. I actually like simple things, though no one ever listens to me. It all has to be big and grand and elaborate and – Ugh. No.

When I was a baby – well, not a baby, but younger than I am now – I managed to sneak out of my lessons for the day by convincing Sionen to pretend to be me and I met this other girl who had sneaked away too and we spent the afternoon playing hide-and-seek in the corridors and she gave me this little square of fabric. It was really a grubby and worn old little thing that Mother wouldn’t allow within a mile of the castle if she’d known about it, but it was clearly well-loved and she wanted me to have that.

I think that is my most treasured possession because it was the first time someone gave me something just because they liked me. Does that make sense? That makes sense, right?

 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would like to know more than I do! I know this is cheating on the question, but I do. And I like myself just the way I am. Well. Aside from my name. I hate Chrysanthemum so much. Mother is always trying to get me to use it because her name is Rose and – Sorry.

Anyway. If I could change one thing about myself, I would make myself wiser and more knowledgeable because then I would be more likely to become a good and effective ruler like my father.

 

What would you like to be remembered for after your death?

What a morbid question. I think… I think I would like to be remembered for being a good ruler. Although I suppose in that sense it is as likely that you will be forgotten unless you do something extraordinary. I could… I don’t know! Maybe I could build a lot of roads through the mountains so it is easier and cheaper for merchants and traders to reach the capital?

This is a cruel question to ask a person.

 

What do you always keep on you?

Hairpins. What? They are always in my hair to pin it up into something. I am never without hairpins. They are very useful if you want to discreetly get someone to move. Or stay awake in a boring lecture about something that is hardly relevant to anything you are doing.

 

If you were in need of comforting, what would be the best thing that someone could do for you?

Fix the problem. Sionen hates that, though, so you shouldn’t do it for everyone, but if I am upset then it is helpful if someone fixes the problem for me. It is better if they do it in such a way that I can learn from it because otherwise they will just need to fix the problem again, but I appreciate fixing the problem.

Also listening to me when I say something upsets me. Listening is good and that I do recommend doing for everyone who is upset. Sometimes it is not a problem anyone can fix, but listening to me talk about it and not dismissing my feelings is also really helpful.

 

If you could teach everyone in the world one thing, what would it be?

Be kind to one another. Father tries to be that when he can, though I think ruling makes it hard to be kind because there are so many laws and things to bear in mind, but he tries very hard.

I want to be kind to others too and I want to inspire people to be kind. Oh! Can I change my answer on what I want to be remembered for? I want to be remembered as Felicity the Kind, the queen who solved problems and made the world better for everyone. But I think it is important to be kind and compassionate to others because it isn’t fun when someone hurts or upsets you, so you shouldn’t do that to other people either.

Look, I even managed to be concise. Mother would be so proud. Thank you for having me. This was fun!