{Guest Post} Eileen Cruz Coleman [RUMPEL] on The Niapsons

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Eileen Cruz Coleman is the author of RUMPEL, book one of the Cursed Tales series.  She's stopped by Fairy Tale Fortnight to share a little bit about the Kingdom of Niaps, which will be featured heavily when book two releases.

Eileen is also the author of TAKER OF LIGHT, which she calls "a post-apocalyptic speculative fiction story inspired by the Brothers Grimm's lesser-known fairytale, Godfather Death, in which Death raises a child who then betrays him."

While I haven't read TAKER OF LIGHT yet, it sounds intriguing.  Sign me up for that one!  I did read and review RUMPEL, however, so check it out. :)

And now, Eileen Cruz Coleman!

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Eileen Cruz Coleman:
The Niapsons

Bonnie, thank you for having me on your blog today so I may share a little about my novel  RUMPEL, book one of the Cursed Tales series.


In writing  RUMPEL, I wanted to create boundless worlds, each with their own history, culture, challenges and purpose but I also wanted them to be connected, to share common threads. I believe that no matter how far removed we may be from each other in terms of geography or ideology, we are all still connected—what affects one may affect all and so we must be very aware of each choice we make.


RUMPEL is a somewhat strange (I can admit it!) and complicated (definitely full of twists and turns!) novel in which each character’s actions affect another character with or without that character knowing it.


The novel goes back and forth both in time and locations. But at the center of it all are common threads and themes, the two most notable ones are the spinning wheel, of course, and the utter and desperate quest for forgiveness and redemption.

I think the most unique and sorrowful world that exists in  RUMPEL is the Kingdom of Niaps. My heart truly goes out to them. The Niapsons are dying, on the brink of extinction. And the only thing that can save them is gold. They need to ingest gold. Without it, they grow weak and eventually die. And what’s worse is that the only thing that can produce gold is a spinning wheel which they no longer have.


The gold-spinning wheel rightfully belongs to them and so their motivation, their reason for traveling the world in search of the lost spinning wheel and possibly going to battle with another kingdom, is based on survival, pure and simple.


The Niapsons are not evil but they will not hesitate to kill others if it means saving their own. They are loyal and determined people. Their king, Juan Maria, is young but kind. He loves his people and is desperate to save them from extinction. In Niaps, only a king can spin straw into gold. The burden is on him. And so he sends Boris, a trustworthy and tenacious friend, to go and find the wheel.


In the opening chapters of  RUMPEL, Boris and his men arrive at the Kingdom of Rodalvas, the place at which a troll’s spirit told them the wheel was located.


What the poor Niapsons do not realize is that the people of Rodavlas are undergoing darkness and sorrow of their own and so they are not concerned with another kingdom’s survival. What they also do not realize is that while the spinning wheel is indeed in Rodavlas, a troll named Rumpel has it and he’s not going to simply hand it over to anyone, let alone foreigners.


Even though the Niapsons traveled far from their home and have endured the loss of many of their kind, their journey is only just beginning and their lives will become more sorrowful before even the slightest glimmer of hope takes shape.


A buried connection planted deeply in their world’s history and that of Rodavlas is what may save them in the end.


The Niapsons fascinate me. Their desire for gold does not stem from a desire of power or greed and yet, they will kill for it. What redeems them, I think, is their loyalty and kindness to each other.


However, such redeeming qualities may be tested if and when the wheel finds its way back home to them. Will they remain civil with each other while waiting for their king to feed them? Or will they turn on each other? And their king, will he have the emotional strength needed to restore his Kingdom?


The Niapsons play an integral part in book two of the Cursed Tales series. And in case some of you haven’t tried spelling Niaps and Rodavlas backwards..., I think you should! Doing so will explain a lot of the inspiration and background for writing  RUMPEL the way I did.