Winter of Fire

ELSHA’S FIRE

“I HAVE NOT CHANGED … just because I burned my mining clothes and wear your sacred sign. I am still Elsha. Elsha of the Quelled. How can I ever forget it? It’s branded on me, burned into me, stamped into my flesh. But it doesn’t touch my soul. And my soul is the same, whether I live in a goatskin tent or a grand house, whether I live with a harsha friend, or a Chosen youth, or you. None of you touch me. You don’t make me anything.

I am me. Myself. Elsha. Woman.”

For Jean

who has loved this story from the first elated telling through to this final form, and who, next to Elsha, has been my greatest encouragement

With love

WINTER OF FIRE

Sherryl Jordan

Tribute to Elsha

Winter of Fire is a special book to me. It was written after I had been told that I had RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), and would never write again. It was while I faced that, and fought the greatest battle of my life, that I wrote Elsha’s story.

Her story had been inspired more than a year before, and Elsha herself had lived in my life as a character for all that time. She was inexorable, charismatic, and a warrior at soul. It was because of her that I refused to accept that my writing days were over – because of her that I picked myself up out of despair and grief, and wrote again. We were warriors together in our battles against the impossible; and this book exists only because of her, and the love and inspiration of God.

S.J.

Foreword to 2019 edition

When I wrote Winter of Fire, I had no idea that the story would be so loved, or that it would still be relevant a quarter of a century on. The themes of slavery, oppression, freedom of speech, prejudice, pollution and climate change are still vital issues today. When I wrote the story, the words “climate change” were hardly ever heard; now the effects of climate change are almost daily news. It is part of the great mystery of inspiration that makes a theme timeless, whether it is in art, music, poetry, architecture, or story. I feel very humble and awed that Elsha’s story is enduring.

The book has always been special to me, as Elsha herself is special. I did not invent her or her story; she was given to me in a daydream, as a complete and powerful person, and I saw her story like a movie in my head, over the space of only a few moments. She became a vital force in a difficult time in my life.

I am grateful to my editor, Penny Scown, who has worked long and hard to have this story brought back into print. She edited the book when it was first published, and it is fitting that she plays a part in this new edition. I am also grateful to Scholastic, who still believe in this book.