Today it is my pleasure to welcome author L.T. Getty and her Sword and Sorcery fantasy, Witchslayer’s Scion.

Author’s description

Koth’s life was decided for him since before he was born, for his ability to heal wounds by touch is rare even among his people. When an attempted kidnapping turns to sacrificial murder, he embraces vengeance and the sword. As he journeys far from his small isolated village in the north, he learns the truth as to why his bloodline is targeted by strange magic, in a world still rebuilding from a time when dark sorcerers didn’t bother with secrecy.

Koth thinks his quest is straightforward enough–find the men responsible, and kill them–and any who aid them. He will soon learn that those who have both privilege and power, there are few things they lack–and in the pursuit of godhood, their allies can prove even more sinister as mere mortals seek to advent empires and dynasties.

About L.T. Getty

L.T. Getty is a rural paramedic from Manitoba. She enjoys writing science fiction and fantasy and generally being creative.

Find L.T. Getty on her blog at: https://ltgetty.ca/

Buy Witchslayer’s Scion

Amazon (American): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096LXWJM6/
Amazon (Canadian): https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B096LXWJM6/
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/witchslayer-s-scion
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58269585-witchslayer-s-scion
Champagne Books: https://champagnebooks.com/store/fantasy/843-witchslayer-s-scion-9781771552707.html
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witchslayers-scion-l-t-getty/1139633382?ean=2940165401237

Yes, there is a giveaway

L.T. Getty will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter here to win.

This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish.

Thoughts on Secondary Characters

In my books I usually have a minor character who insists on playing a larger role in the story. So I asked L. T. Getty if there was such a character in her novel? Here is her answer.

In Witchslayer’s Scion, it was the character of Nisiris. I think the reason as to Why was because he and and the main character Koth initially had very similar motivations, but whereas Koth eventually put aside his revenge for doing what was right, Nisiris kept going down a dark path.

Nisiris is a young fisherman living under colonial rule on his island of Tredonia. He’s all but actively rebelling at this point, feeling generally resentful towards mainlanders on his island. He and several others chance across a badly damaged imperial warship, and find that the crew was trying to limp to safety after a battle, with most of the crew sick or dying as their ship had been dead in the water several days, but finds a noble-born he thinks he can ransom back. He and his friend arrive back on deck to see that the Imperial ship also spotted the damaged ship, and his fisher boat crew has abandoned them. He strikes a deal with the prince, only for the prince to turn on him, demanding a blood duel between the friends with the winner to be sold as a pit fighter (gladiator) back in in the Imperium, with them both to be sold into hard slavery if they refuse to fight. Nisiris curses the prince and swears revenge, but waits until the bad weather starts to jump ship, and is washed out to sea. He washes up on the small island called Mazala and takes up service with the Lady of the Island Elza, eventually becoming her lover and beginning the journey of becoming a mage.

This first part of the novel takes place about twenty years prior was written at the very end of my draft. I started out with Koth and came back to the beginning at the very end because I felt it felt too long to take us to the Tenageen plot. When I got feedback from a blue pencil session, I was told that my choice could be confusing for some readers. I still preferred starting with Nisiris, as it set up this giant backdrop and gave the idea about the bigger picture of the world before we got to it, as opposed to this creep towards this rising empire in the south. It set up the theme that things were going on before the main character was around, and how the past shapes the world we’re in now, even when the people responsible for the state of the world are often long gone.

I wasn’t expecting Nisiris to have a breakout role of villain. I thought it was going to be Elza or Lamont, but they were cunning and calculated, so it took a lot for them to deviate from the plan, and really out of the two of them only Lamont did at the very end.  Nisiris on the other hand wasn’t a centuries old being who learned patience and was acting more like a regular human being as opposed to the others, so he was relatable  to the audience. Nisiris also fit the definition of what I call a Battle Mage.

I never really think about the trope of Squishy Wizards but t find that a lot of my mage characters lean this way because as they become more powerful in magic they don’t have to rely on their physical prowess. Mages aren’t all one in the same, as they have different natural abilities with powers, as well as roles in their covens, but one relatively low-level mage can cause massive damage to a group of regular people. They also typically have people with weapons to guard their backs, so assuming that you are the rare person able to ward off a spell, you now have to get through their body guard. And because it takes a very long time to get that real power, mages tend not to focus on the physical other than the aesthetic – and I’ve often implied that they use their magic to make themselves more attractive or fierce.

A Battle Mage is someone who can use a weapon or fight physically as well as with magic. The main reason I have for this not being so common is that the majority of apprentices are selected from a young age and discouraged from using weapons. They do the cloak and dagger thing, but if you’re a high wizard on the cusp of ultimate power, you’re at a disadvantage if your apprentice decides to start taking down your allies physically with an axe and you’re grasping at the Ultimate McGuffin. But if you’re an Archmage and you picked someone knowing they won’t get very far in with magic, they can be useful to have around. It’s just usually not a bad idea to keep a bodyguard kicking around in case anyone gets any clever ideas.

As for making characters behave well – I say let your characters act up, but in a way that’s entertaining to the reader. Give them a satisfactory story arc and really delve into their mindset. I don’t want to manipulate puppets, I want to be surprised and tell a better story when I’m done then when I sat down with my original ideas.

Thank you!

L.T. Getty — we appreciate your sharing your book Witchslayer’s Scion with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.