The Stelladaur Series
The Portal
Imagine. Believe. Discover.

September 2020 Edition

Welcome

Whether you are new to The Portal or have traveled with me before on this journey to Imagine, Believe, and Discover, I sincerely welcome you to the adventure. When we look further than the eye can see, it’s as if we step through a portal into other dimensions—to magical places that can give us entirely different perspectives and allow us to explore endless possibilities.

In this edition

• Author Updates
• The Stelladaur Academy: TIMELY ENRICHMENT
  
• Step Into The Portal
• Beyond The Portal

I recently received a critic’s review for Fraction in Time from Book Life Prize (published by Publisher’s Weekly). Here’s a snippet of the review:

“The pacing in Whyte's ambitious time travel novel—book 3 in The Stelladaur series—offers a lively … brisk, well-written portal story. Atmospherically spectacular and evocative, Whyte's writing soars above and lifts up a premise that … offers some novel elements. Effective worldbuilding and rich detail allows the novel to stand apart.”

Read more about the series at Stelladaur.com.

Available in paperback and eBook at this BUY NOW link.

The Academy motto: “To facilitate the discovery of individual potential, and the development of confident, creative and compassionate youth.”

With schools now in session in one format or another, my heart goes out to each child, student, parent and teacher facing unprecedented fears and scenarios across a very wide continuum. The ability to navigate these changes successfully depends on many diverse and complex factors.

However, amidst universal uncertainty related to the pandemic, there are basic and common goals that permeate the hearts of most educators, parents, grandparents, and children alike. In addition to the obvious hope for safety and health for our families, we also want our children to feel confident, develop life skills, and enjoy a sense of well being, as they encounter ongoing, real life challenges.

An article in Medical News Today, written by Maria Cohut, PhD, states: “New research assessing brain scans shows that our imagination can also help us get rid of our anxieties and fears.” This fascinating research explains several benefits of using imagination as a positive coping mechanism. Read the full article here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323975

The Stelladaur Academy provides timely educational enrichment options that can help students utilize their imagination in productive ways. Discover imagination at the Stelladaur Academy TODAY!

If you are a parent, grandparent, teacher or friend of a youth age 9-17, NOW is the time to introduce them to the Stelladaur Academy! The FREE Discovery Guide and exciting Super Hero Activity Guide will help kids explore a world where fantasy, imagination, and reality unite—and give them hope for their future!

Find out more here.

This month’s Stelladaur quote is from Finding Tir Na Nog (Book 1).

In the story, we meet Fiala, a mystical creature that welcomes Reilly on the other side of the first portal he enters. He lands in a mysterious place called Jolka, where Fiala guides him to discover secrets about imagination and its relationship to fear.

“Fear has a purpose if one’s own fear brings one to the opposite of such. Otherwise, fear empowers disbelief and consumes imagination, without which, no desire can be granted.” -Fiala

As a fiction writer, one of my greatest responsibilities is to listen to my characters so well that it’s as if their words come from a real person. I know I’ve done this successfully when I read a quote from the story and ask myself, “What is this character saying?” or “Who wrote this anyway?” In the case above, Fiala offers insights on connections between fear and imagination. Even now, I need to read the quote several times for the depth of it’s meaning to really sink in.

Our seventh grandchild arrived two weeks ago, so “Papa” and “Mima” have been on duty since then, helping with his very active two-year old sister and four-year old brother. Playing nonstop with the kiddos reminds me how important it is to let go of unnecessary peripheral distractions, and to be fully present in the now. Children do this innately, largely because they are constantly engaged in imaginative play. They go through portals of their imagination, as a productive way to create and experience their world the way they want it to be.

Valentine Davies expressed it well in Miracle on 34^th Street: “To me the imagination is a place all by itself. A very wonderful country. You’ve heard of the British Nation and the French Nation? Well, this is the Imagination. And once you get there you can do almost anything you want.”

In what ways do you use your imagination to face anxiety or fear, or to see a different perspective about something? Share your responses at fiction@slwhyte.com. I personally reply to every email.

Thank you for connecting with me through The Portal. 

I hope you always Imagine, Believe, and Discover.