Tag: fantasy

How Generic Outlaw #4 became Ludo

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Join me today in distracting author Bjørn Larssen as he awaits a verdict from Lynn’s Books + The Critiquing Chemist on his #SPFBO7 novel Children.

When I asked Bjorn Larssen to do this guest post, his first question (actually his only question) was whether his character Ludo could say what he says at the end of this post.

Well,  there was only one reasonable answer to give him, so that is what I did.

Bjorn says … When I started working on Children, I just wanted to write a re-telling of selected Norse myths. One of the things that interested me were the parts between the stories – when King Thrymr acquired Thor’s hammer, how exactly did he get it? When Loki went to search all the Nine Worlds for the hammer, how did he know to go straight to an unimportant jötunn king? What happens before the myth in which Thor dons a wedding dress – and afterwards?

I already knew that the mythology was incoherent and sometimes self-contradictory, but I was surprised at how much time I spent writing those…connecting tissues, compared to actual myth re-tellings. One of the parts I had written was what I called “the outlaw section” and it wasn’t working. My character gets outlawed for questionable reasons, meets a bunch of outlaws, things happen for a while, then he is rescued and goes to meet the Gods and re-enact The Fortification of Ásgard. Excellent. I just needed to expand the section beyond “things happen for a while.”

I had The Evil One, The Strong One, The One With The Heart Of Gold, and then I had a Stick Figure Outlaw, because I needed them to vote whether to keep my character alive or kill him, and the result needed to be 2:2. So, I added a Generic Voting Outlaw and proceeded to outlining the things that were going to start happening. But the GVO kept disappearing, because I kept forgetting he existed – after all, he has fulfilled his task within the first five pages of this section. And then I saw this photo of Joel Kinnaman… 

…and Ludo was born. Born? He was alive, I could smell him (not recommended), tell you how he moved, how he spoke, how he laughed, where he came from, why he became an outlaw, but most of all he wanted to tell me that he was a fucking delight that came to rescue my book.

And he did. Speedy, wiry, his movements swift, voice high-pitched, words clipped. Quick to fight and quicker to laugh (his sense of humour may make Loki’s look reasonable, but still). Impressed by strength and courage, but not by unnecessary sadism. And – sad, so quietly that while everyone knows about it, everyone forgets – which is a mistake. 

“People shouldn’t own things when I’m around, it unsettles me,” Ludo says, when explaining “I got me outlawed for fun. I’m not good with laws and rules and property.” But there’s a broken note, as not all of that fun was equally funny… and all this came from one glance at the photo. Ludo kicked the door in rather than appeared, a complete, headache-inducing person, making my other characters seem flat. (Later I checked out the TV series the image comes from, The Killing, and I was surprised to discover no trace of Ludo in Kinnaman’s character. But once Children gets picked up by Netflix, I have words to say about the casting.)

I’ve been saying since then “…and the rest of the section wrote itself,” but I just began to suspect Ludo wrote it, just so that he could introduce himself: “I’m a fucking delight. The nicest man you’ll ever meet. Not an evil bone in my body.” And… you know what? It’s not really untrue.

Thanks so much for having me! – Bjørn (writer, blacksmith, spiritual Icelander who can be found these places: Blog – Facebook – Twitter)
Aye, what he said – Ludo
The question: Can Ludo say “I’m a fucking delight?”
The answer: Fuck, yes.

A Handwritten Note, A Lavender Rose, and Shattered Memories

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Please check out this new release by science fiction writer, SFWA friend and all around good guy J. Scott Coatsworth. His September release is a brand-new MM sci-fantasy novelette with a distinct dystopian / urban fantasy vibe.

A handwritten note.
A lavender rose.
And memories cracked like shattered glass.

Kerry has had a bad day, and he’s sick of his life in Arco Four. Nothing ever changes, even for a firedrake. Days and nights pass with a quiet air of desperation, as everyone tries to convince themselves their lives in the superscraper have meaning.

A strange scribbled note offers him a distraction—and maybe a chance to finally unlock his broken memories.

But to find out, he’ll to go Outside. No one ever goes Outside. Still, what does he have to lose?

Check out all the places where you can buy this.

A Little Teaser…

Patrick stared through the tree branches at the sky where the stars shimmered brightly, eyes wide as moons. “Ever wonder what’s out there?”
Kerry shook his head, scratching the back of his neck absently. “Sometimes.” He liked that his cousin talked to him like an adult and not a ten-year-old. Patrick was a few months older, starting to look more man than boy.
Patrick nodded. “Mom says there are whole planets out there.”
He looked up again. Each of the stars was a pinprick of perfect light in the blackness of the country night. “Where?”
He pointed to the brightest star in the sky. “Right there…”
Kerry’s world exploded with light, and he screamed.
Cracks shattered Kerry’s memory like glass, and it fell away in shards, leaving him staring at the blank gray walls of the booth.
“Fifteen credits. Thank you.”
He flipped off the flash image that floated in the air above him and pulled the plug on the me jack, slapping it back into its holder. After a rough day with the Guard, he’d come for a little escape—a childhood memory of rain, or the beach, or… something comforting from before the Change.
Why did it have to be that one?
Snarling, he slipped out of the booth onto the club floor. Dancers jostled him on all sides, the smell of sweat heavy in the air, and the throb of heavy funk blared from a dozen speakers. He pushed past the tangle of arm and legs on the Shack floor.
Kerry growled. He needed quiet. Time to think. He’d skipped his last dose, and he could feel the fire building inside—he didn’t want to hurt anyone. Sooner or later, someone would come looking for him to make him take another pill, but right now he felt awake, and alive.
Those who weren’t too stoned to notice scrambled out of his way when they saw the firedrake tattoo across his face. Te streak of red in his hair and his father’s angular features, set him apart from the many others crowded into Arco Four. Those, and the finely laid tracing of dragon’s wings that graced his cheeks and the bridge of his nose like spider silk.

 

A thousand and one voices inside your head

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy

Join me today in distracting author  C.E. Page (Cassandra Page). Her #SPFBO7 novel Deathborn has not only survived a review on Lynn’s Book Blog, the reviewer says she “had a good time with Deathborn.” Now Cassandra awaits a more specific verdict.

When asked if secondary or minor characters clamored for more of a role in Deathborn, the author provided me an answer I will always appreciate. I, too, create my stories as I go, and I, too, don’t like the name “pantser.” Page has found a far more descriptive way to explain this process.

Are you a “discovery writer” too? Read on and find out!

Sometimes it seems that writers are people living with a thousand and one voices inside their heads. If you wander through the halls of the various writing groups you will often hear authors complaining about characters who refuse to behave as they were meant to. Characters who insist on stealing the limelight from others or whose voices are just so intriguing they deserve more page time. The advice to counteract this problem often goes along the lines of: “you’re the author you tell the characters what to do not the other way around.” But it is not that simple.

Or it might be for those authors who are meticulous plotters. Who know every in and out their story needs to take to get from point A to point B. But the creative process is unique to each person. I am a character focused author; my stories always start with a single character and their place in their specific world. Deathborn started as Nea’s story. The first scene I ever wrote was a version of what is now the start of chapter five. A woman investigating the body of a man in a ditch who had died under suspicious circumstances. I knew nothing else about any of the other characters or the story. People would call me pantser but I dislike that word and much prefer discovery writer. I discover the story as I go. This also means I discover the characters as I go and sometimes they really surprise me.

The first draft of Deathborn was told solely from Nea’s point of view. Garret was never meant to be a point of view character. In fact, I seriously thought that he wasn’t going to survive the events of the book. But as I got further into the draft I felt he had a bigger role to play in the overall series. Then we have characters like Harvey who kept edging his way into scenes. He was always lurking there on the sidelines waiting to jump in when I least expected him to. I knew he also had a bigger part in this story but I wouldn’t know just how he fit in until I started drafting Brightling.

I guess it isn’t that my characters insist on having bigger roles but rather that as I go through the process of discovering my story I uncover more about them and how they fit into their world. But why Harvey and Garret and not Emil or Jasper or Molly? I wish I had a definitive answer because I am sure that would save me a lot of hair pulling and thumping my head against the desk during drafting. The writing process for me as I mentioned is about discovering my story. It is intuitive and somewhat messy, but I trust my gut when it comes to my characters. And yes, some are louder than others; some insist on more page time and the rest step back to let them have it. But for me it’s not really the characters themselves being pushy but rather my understanding of the world of the story evolving. Of the path through the mire being illuminated. And that’s why it’s so hard for some authors to accept the: “you’re the author, you’re in charge of this story” line. Sometimes we really aren’t in charge. Sometimes the story is a magical beast charging at breakneck speeds towards a loch in which it intends to drown us.

When you’re surprised by your own writing …

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Join me today in distracting author Tim Hardie as he awaits a verdict on his debut novel Hall of Bones from the Lynn’s Books + The Critiquing Chemist.  Tim is a fellow contestant in #SPFBO7.

Tim has managed to capture my favorite thing about writing — that moment when …

Wait, I’ll let him describe it in his own words.

Djuri’s Story

Djuri started life as a severed head in a sack.  Not a promising start, even for a minor character.  There was something, even then, nagging at the back of my mind.  Djuri – that’s too good a name to waste on a severed head.

At the same time, I had another character whose name didn’t fit because he’d gone from being a minor background figure (i.e. having a name, which as fantasy authors all know is a small yet significant step up from being ‘the warrior’) into something more.  He kept tugging at my shirtsleeve, saying things like “My story’s interesting, write more about me.”

Stories often focus on the hero’s victories and accomplishments, whereas Djuri’s tale is one of defeat and how people deal with the consequences.  It’s so hard to explain this process to a non-writer but as soon as I brought Djuri’s name together with that character he came alive for me, in a way he hadn’t before.  Djuri’s story was hard choices and a life full of regret.  I found myself pulling for him, even though he was fighting on the wrong side.

The severed head guy got Djuri’s old name (sorry Igull) and Djuri walked onto the pages clearly for the first time.  He was a character who never featured in my original plotline for Hall of Bones.  However, I can’t now imagine The Brotherhood of the Eagle series without Djuri.  His character provided a vantage point for the story that I didn’t even know it needed.  When I began writing it was an “Oh, this is interesting moment.”  They’re the best kind.

When you’re surprised by your own writing and the story takes you off in a different direction, that’s a real payback moment for an author.  Djuri provided that moment for me in Hall of Bones, and I’ll be forever grateful.

 

Then give me a better part

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Join me today in distracting author Anat Eliraz as she awaits a verdict on Jewels of Smoky Quartz from the blog The Fantasy Inn.  Eliraz is a fellow contestant in #SPFBO7.

When I asked her about secondary characters who tried to have more of a role her novel, she provided me with this creative response.

“I could tell her…”
“Don’t dare!” I glared at his face as a mischievous smile spread across it.
“Then give me a better part” he leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg lazily over the other.
“But you were supposed to be just a minor character!” I said between gritted teeth.
“Too bad… It’s your call.” His blue eyes following my every move.
“Okay!” I raised my hands in surrender.
“I knew I could talk sense into you!”  He smiled. He was handsome when he smiled, but not quite my type.
Without another word, he rose and moved to the door. Letting himself out, he closed the pages of ‘Jewels of Smoky Quartz’ behind him.
I let out a long sigh. Once the pages settled down, a giggle escaped me. It quickly turned into a hearty laughter.
“Two can play this game!” I said, mostly to myself, as I sat in front of the computer and started typing.

Lord Kiran was supposed to be just a side character. Someone the two main characters meet on their way. He was supposed to help them out a bit, give them a clue- but that was all.
As a panster, I don’t write the story from start to finish. I write scenes. The more I wrote, the more Lord Kiran demanded a larger part in the plot. He can be very persuasive at times…
I was reluctant at first, but once I decided to stop fighting him (Aikido training, after all!), I suddenly understood he could be more useful than I first anticipated.
Not only did he earn a larger part in the story- both in helping the plot progress and raising the tension in personal relationships, but he will further develop in the next book!
Sometimes characters have a mind of their own. From my experience- you should listen to them!

Minor characters with major ambitions

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Join me in sharing consolation and appreciation with author A.R. Henle (Alea Henle.) Her novel The Museum of All Things Lost & Forgotten just became one of the 290 books that won’t make SPFBO7’s final 10, although Fantasy Faction did call her work “fascinating and unique.”

Today she tells us how she had a plan for each of her three main characters, and then two of them began negotiating for different roles.

Many minor characters have major ambitions.

In the case of The Museum of All Things Lost & Forgotten, I started with three character who share certain core commonalities: they’re among the youngest of the Forgotten (quasi-immortals who exist only in the museum) and they host the spirit of Memory who powers the museum.

One character would be little more than a walk-on. A second would play a vital role but they would not be “on stage” most of the time. The third gets the biggest role and wound up kicking down a door while wearing Crocs.

The walk-on character accepted his fate (although he’s currently negotiating for a bigger role if/when/when I write another book set in the museum).

I planned for Rumaisa to take the second role and Jay Doe the third.

Note the word planned.

Rumaisa turned out to be a lot more proactive than I expected (she’s the one who insisted she could kick down the door despite wearing Crocs). Jay Doe, on the other hand, proved a lot more tentative. This worked out when I switched her to the second role, where she was younger (chronologically as well as physically, something one has to keep in mind when dealing with quasi-immortals) and arguably still in shock from having shifted from being a human on the margins in the world at large to one of the Forgotten. I suspect Rumaisa had her eyes on the third role from the start (she, too, is negotiating for a sizable role in another book.)

Then there’s Tiy. The assistant director of the museum rather than the director only because, as one of the Forgotten, she can’t physically leave the museum (the director has to be a regular human). Many Forgotten cling to the places and things they knew in their “before lives” and resist change. Not Tiy. She enjoys being on the cutting edge and exploring ways to adapt modern technology to support the museum’s core mission: remembering that which was lost or forgotten. The reason she agreed to join the Forgotten in the first place was to learn to read, and she’s never let go of learning.

The Museum of All Things Lost & Forgotten is told from the point-of-view of a sorcerer from the “real world” (who happens to be the younger sister of the heroines of other books in the standalone Ordinary Sorcery series).

Tiy has made it very clear that she expects me to write more works set in the museum—and intends to be the pov character. She’s willing to wait until I’ve finished a few projects already in-process, but no longer.

She may not be quite so happy when I finally start her book, however, as it will likely require she go somewhere she’s avoided for a very long time: the drought-stricken place she once called home.

How a young messenger steals hearts in D.L. Gardner’s novel

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews1 Comment

Join me today in distracting author D.L. Gardner (Dianne Gardner) as she awaits a verdict on Rise of the Tobian Princess from the blog BOOKNEST. Gardner is a fellow contestant in #SPFBO7.

When I asked her about secondary characters who tried to have more of a role her novel, she told me of a young boy, Cephas. He not only plays a bigger part than she intended in her SPFBO novel , but, well, I’ll let her explain in her own words…

Little Cephas isn’t much older than ten going on twenty, he lives on the streets begging and sometimes stealing but he mostly steals everyone’s heart. He was meant only as a messenger for princess Erika when news of an invasion is brought to the castle and Erika pays him and his friend to bring a note to the high commander. But Cephas worms his way into the halls of the rich as well as the poor and pops in again in book two, lies his way into life on board a ship and in book 3 pretty much saves a day.

Gardner also sent this excerpt, so we could all see Cephas in action. Enjoy!

Three days after they had rescued Prince Barin, Cephas came to Erika’s door.
“You have a note for me?” she asked the lad. With Barin’s condition, a cloud of depression hung over the castle as if Skotádi had cursed the entire kingdom. Good news would be a healthy reprieve.
“No note. Just words,” the boy replied. His eyes were open wide, as if what he had to say would terrify her.
“And those words are?” she asked.
“There’s a rumor the sailors wanted you to know.”
“A rumor? Why do you worry me with rumors?” she asked.
“They told me you would want to know. Two anglers who were fishing near the island heard a great noise and threw down their nets. One of them hurried along the beach to see who had called out for help. He said he saw a man up on a hill wielding a great sword about as big as this room fighting those winged beasts. The flock became a black cloud and came at him like a twister swallows a farmhouse. The man didn’t win. The anglers saw him fall.”
She stared at the boy, not sure if the reason he came to her was because the rumor was about Arell. Her skin grew cold as her heart slowed. This is only a rumor, she told herself. It couldn’t be Arell. Odd how he was the first person who came to mind, as if the man were continually in her thoughts. She caught herself from falling by leaning against the door frame.
“Are you all right?” Cephas asked. She nodded.
“After the man fell, chanting began, and the skura were taken up into the sky. The men saw natives put the man on a horse and rode off. The fishers thought you and the king should know.”
Erika reached in the purse strapped around her waist and pulled out a few coins.
“Is that all?” she said, breathless, afraid she would faint in front of the lad if he didn’t leave soon.
“That’s all. Just that the anglers were sure this man was important. Maybe a king or someone. Just bringing the message. That’s what they told me to say. Only they didn’t say the sword was as big as this room, I said that because it had to be if he were fighting those monsters three at a time like they said he was.”
Erika listened intently, her heart sinking.
“Thank you, Cephas,” she said as she dropped the silver pieces in his hand.
“Much obliged!” He grinned just before a blood-curdling scream came from Barin’s room. Cephas jumped and looked down the hall. Feeding time.
“Go now,” she told him. He mustn’t know the condition of the prince. No one in Prasa Potama should know. After Cephas raced away down the corridor, Erika felt her head for fever, collected her balance, and left for her father’s chambers.

The Hotel (Series)

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews4 Comments

Today it is my pleasure to welcome author Michael James and his urban fantasy series, The Hotel.

Author’s description

The Series

No one has ever escaped from the Hotel at the End of Time. Until now.

Vain only wants to be left alone, but the Hotel has other plans. Forces will align against her: a group of multi-dimensional felons collectively named The Wyatts; and their leader, Trick, a mild-to-medium psychopath with a fondness for impractical jokes.

The only way forward is to go back. Back to the one place in the world she swore she’d never return.

Back to the Hotel.

 The Hotel at the End of Time

Vain is the only person to ever escape from the Hotel at the end of time. On her way out, she took their prized possession: A Padlock that grants immortality.

They will do anything to get it back.

The forces of the Hotel are aligned against her: mundane items turned into weapons; a group of multi-dimensional felons collectively named The Wyatts; and their leader, Trick, a mild-to-medium psychopath with a fondness for impractical jokes.

Everything changes when Vain meets Emma, a timid grad student with impossible and terrifying powers. Together, they are propelled into an adventure that will see them battle the Wyatts, blow up several objects of significant value, and quite by accident, discover a way to stop the Hotel.

Even with Emma, Vain has a lot of problems to deal with.

She’s exhausted from being hunted.

Stopping the Hotel might kill them.

She has a hangnail.

But Vain is resourceful. Vain is clever.

And she always has a plan.

The Well at the Bottom of Everything

Vain thought destroying the Portal to the Hotel at the End of Time would mean freedom for her and Roman, but her happy ever after is coming to an end.

A horrible mistake and a stray bullet force her to infiltrate the Hotel and contend with a new and terrible power: The Well at the Bottom of Everything.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken.

The Hotel will have its revenge.

The Funniest Answer Award Goes to …

In my books I’ve always have one minor character who insists on playing a larger role in the story. So when authors visit this blog,  I love to ask them if there was such a character in their novel.

Well, sooner or later I was going to ask that question to someone like Michael James. I suspect he frustrated many a teacher during his childhood by refusing to take their very serious questions seriously.

Please enjoy his hilarious response. (I did!)

Speaking of secondary characters, this is probably a spoiler, but the ghost of John Milton lives in my books and I cannot shut him up. I don’t mean this in a literary sense; John Milton is not a character in the novel. I mean that reading the story literally summons the ghost of John Milton who will come live in your home.

On the surface, I’ve written a simple story about a girl with no memory who escapes a Hotel at the End of Time that uses humans as batteries to power itself. It’s a simple tale, almost a trope for how often this story shows up in popular literature. I’d like to think I put a unique spin on the genre. But where was I? Oh yes. John Milton.

How was I supposed to know that writing this book would represent the exact perfect sequence of words required to summon John Milton to your home? I honestly had no idea.

Things you can expect from the ghost of John Milton:

1. Tons of talk about Paradise Lost. We get it dude, you wrote a classic. Move on.

2. Cheats for Skyrim. Dude is a huge Skyrim fan. Apparently they have Skyrim in Hell. Oh, PS, John Milton is in Hell.

3. Really terrible dating advice. Wear hats? What does that even mean John Milton?

Anyway, so yeah. He really ended up taking over. But to be clear – John Milton is not in my book. Just he shows up when you read it. What is in my book is laugh-out-loud humor, non-stop action, memorable characters and just about the best possible time imaginable.

 The Author’s Story

Michael James spent his formative years writing, and when he wasn’t writing, he was writing. A mistaken belief that a “real” job would be more satisfying led him down a dark path that did not involve writing but did involve meetings. Fortunately, he has since course-corrected and is back on the right (write? Ha!) path. The Hotel at the End of Time is not his first book, but it is the one with the most Hotels in it.

He lives in Canada with his family. When he’s not writing, he does Canadian things – saying sorry a lot, being polite, talking about the weather, you know how it goes.

Find the Author

Website: https://www.michaeljamesauthor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeJamesAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMichaelJames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikejamesauthor/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-James/e/B07P8GJS8K

Buy the Book

The Hotel at the End of Time: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QG59SXL
The Well at the Bottom of Everything: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095CL2T6H

Yes, there is a giveaway

The author will be awarding a $50 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. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.

My Favorite Excerpt

From The Well at the Bottom of Everything

“Can you unlock the phone?”

“I think so.” She pecked at the phone with her nose.

“Why don’t you have face recognition turned on?”

“I don’t like my phone judging me. I need to put on lipstick before I text? Come on.”

“That’s not how… it doesn’t matter. Is your code one, one, one, one? You need to change that.”

“This is the exact correct time to have that conversation,” she hissed. Her screen flashed with a green text bubble.

“It’s Roman,” she said. “He’s asking where I am.”

“Tell him to bring Emma and come save us. Actually, I don’t care if he comes. We need Emma.”

“Hey, Siri,” Vain whispered at the phone. “Call Roman.”

“Calling: Rome.” Siri’s robotic voice blared from the phone and Vain cringed. She stopped moving and waited for the Wyatts to come beat the crap out of them. Thankfully, they were still arguing and didn’t hear.

“Don’t call Rome. Turn your volume down.”

“Turning down volume,” whispered Siri. Better. Stupid phone robot.

“Call. Roman.” She spoke slowly, so stupid Siri would do better.

“Calling. Row Man’s boating supplies.” Vain hissed at Siri to hang up.

“Text him back,” Mark said, sounding frustrated.

“Siri. Respond to Roman. Wyatts. Come rescue.”

“Texting. Roman. Whites come stew.”

“We’re going to fucking die,” Vain said.

Thank you!

Michael James — we appreciate your sharing your series, The Hotel, with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.
And thanks for the excerpt and the guest post. They both made me laugh so loud my husband came out to the porch to make sure I was okay. (He doesn’t think I am and now he blames you. )

How the Doomsayer Prince took over Rune S. Nielsen’s debut novel

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews

Please join me in distracting author Rune S. Nielsen as he awaits a verdict on Doomsayer Prince from the blog Fantasy Faction.  Rune is a fellow contestant in #SPFBO7 and when I asked Rune if any secondary character tried to have a bigger role his novel, I got this vehement answer!

Imagine my surprise

To my utter astonishment, one of my minor characters completely took over my debut novel. Phytiax just exploded onto the pages and extended my writing phase by months.

Because of Phytiax, my debut novel now begins in another part of the world than I first intended, and he completely took over the first many chapters of the novel. Mage Prince Phytiax even “stole” the title, as he is the Doomsayer Prince that my novel in SPFBO#7 is named for.

Mage Prince Phytiax was initially supposed to be this foreign hero. A legendary kick-ass, action-man, swordfighter, that just dropped in to save the day when the actual main characters needed someone like him the most. I thought up this scene in a castle where the reader suddenly finds her/himself reading about this uncannily tough swordfighter, chopping his way through the opposition, guard by guard.

Leading up to that would be a terrible situation like “Oh no, we are getting tortured! There’s no way out! We don’t deserve this. Why is it happening to us? We are just these simple and nice people.” Then more torture and “Nobody’s coming for us. Cry!!”

Then BAM! In jumps the hero. Kills the bad guys, rescues our main characters to their surprise, and completely saves the day.

At first, this was a sort of simple plot device (perhaps dumb, perhaps clever, I don’t know) to get them out of a bad spot unexpectedly.

For a while, it became a way to show just how not-very-hero-like the actual main characters were at that point in time, and it ended up being a story of a 3-dimensional really cool character you could relate to. With issues and troubles of his own, and the glue that sticks the plot together. Not to mention many of the reader’s absolute favorite.

How did that happen?

I fell completely in love with this character and his backstory. I dreamed about it, woke up many days (very early,) and was quite full of ideas.

First off, I decided it would be silly for Mage Prince Phytiax to show up out of the blue, and so at first, I wrote a prologue featuring him. The idea being the reader’s joy/surprise when he later showed up: “who is that dude? Oh, it’s that guy again!” However, I needed the prologue to be really good, since it’s the first thing you read, and to capture the reader’s attention, I needed a character with nuance and depth. Not just some guy with big biceps. I went back and forth, giving him strengths, and weaknesses, goals in life, a family, a country, even creating a wholly unique style of magic, which became his ‘thing.’

As a result, the prologue got longer. And longer!

Finally, it got to a point when it was impossible to call it a prologue any longer, and it became like the first five chapters or so. It was one of the main reasons that my planned 90K words standard-sort-of-sized fantasy novel exploded into a 300K work of epic and unintended proportions. It was so much fun!

Phytiax ended up being HUGE, and not only a part of the prologue and the beginning of the novel but the entire journey. From the reader’s perspective (in the finished novel) the whole backdrop to the plot comes from his story. His view of things. The book literally became about his quest to find the others and convince them to help him save everything they hold dear. Not about them doing their thing, and him giving a helping hand and a nudge in the right direction.

Thanks for sharing this story with us, Rune! Best of luck in SPFBO7, with the sales of Doomsayer, and with your next novel!

Note: Rune’s story is the first in a series of guest posts by SPFBO7 authors answering the question “did you have a minor character in your SPFBO7 novel who insisted on playing a larger role in the story?”  The question was prompted by my fascination with the creative process and how the story one finishes writing isn’t ever quite the story one started with!

A Link Between Two Worlds

On By Sherrie CroninIn fantasy, features and reviews3 Comments

Today it is my pleasure to welcome author Gabriella Kikwaki and her bilingual middle grade fantasy series,  A Link Between Two Worlds.

Author’s description

A three book bilingual series

Book 1:
Two worlds, one goal. The story will all be revealed. Hey, my name’s Alaura. In this story, I found out that there’s a parallel universe to Earth’s called Aliese. I also have a long-lost relative, my sister Alia. But not everything is as great as it seems; there’re evil forces called the Gaulris out to destroy the worlds with their leader, Lord Zefron. My friends, my sister, and I must find a way to stop this force before they reunite the two parallel universes, which will be total destruction.

Deux mondes, un objectif, l’histoire va être révélée. Bonjour, mon nom c’est Alaura. Dans cette histoire, je découvre qu’il y a un univers parallèle à la planète Terre qui s’appelle Aliese. J’apprends aussi que j’ai une soeur, nommée Alia, perdue depuis longtemps. Mais tout n’est pas aussi beau qu’il n’y paraît, il y a également les forces du mal : les Gaulris et leur roi Zefron. C’est pourquoi mes amis, ma soeur et moi devons arrêter le roi Zefron avant qu’il ne réunisse les deux univers parallèles, ce qui serait une destruction totale.

Book 2:
The future is never a straight path.

Hey, my name is Alia. In this story my friends, my sister and I find out that we cannot destroy Lord Zefron because of his mechanism. We also find out the exact date that the parallel universe will merge. We later make it to Bartha’s place. She has a solution to how we can stop the universes from reuniting. But with every good thing comes a price to pay. We collect a load of items to prepare ourselves for this mission. So, we need once again to find a way to save the galaxy before the total destruction caused by the parallel universes.

Le future n’est jamais un chemin droit.

Hey mon nom est Alia. Dans cette histoire mes amies, ma soeur et moi ont découvert que nous ne pouvons pas détruire Le roi Zefron à cause de son mécanisme.

On a aussi découvert la date exacte à laquelle les deux univers parallèles vont se réunir. Quand nous sommes arrivés au château de Bartha, Bartha avait une solution comment empêcher les deux univers parallèles de se réunir. Mais pour toute bonne chose il ya un prix à payer. Nous avons donc collectionné beaucoup d’objects pour préparer à cette mission. Une fois de plus mes amies, ma soeur et moi doivent trouver un moyen de sauver la galaxie avant que les univers parallèles causent une destruction totale.

Book 3:
A light in the darkness . . .

Hey, my name is Lily and in this volume the nightmare truly begins. So, I, Alia Reven, and the rest of the group finally prepare a plan to stop the two worlds from merging. We had everything planned out, or so we thought . . . When The Telepathies sisters did the spell of Senyria, they awakened a hidden dark force that is out to destroy the world, which goes by the name of the black mist, or Devoile. Friends get possessed, new worlds are unlocked, hidden mysteries are discovered, and, worst of all, our friends, the world and realms are all in danger, ’cause in this volume the nightmare begins!

Une lumière dans le noire . . .
Bonjour mon c’est Lily et dans cette tome le cauchemar a commencé. Alors moi, Alia, Reven et tout le rest du groupe ont finalement trouvé un plan pour arrêter les deux mondes de se reunir. Nous avons prevu chaque etape ou on pensait avoir . . . Quand les soeurs Telepathie ont fait le sortilège de Senyria, elles ont révélé une nouvelle force du mal qui s’appelle la brume noir ou Devoile. Nos amis deviennent possedés, deux nouveaux mondes se montrent, des secrets inconnu sont révélé mais la plus mauvaise. Nos amis, l’univers et tout le monde sont en danger car dans cette tome le cauchemar a . . . vraiment commencer!

Guest Post

When I asked author Gabriella Kikwaki to tell us how much vocabulary she had created for her fantasy world, and what she used to guide the creation of her words, I didn’t know she was a middle grade student writing for other middle graders. Given how new she is to the field of writing, her answer is particularly impressive. And I think she does a great job of describing how we all create words.

The followings are most of the magical words I created:

  1. Syneria or Senyria: an ancient spell that can break the fabric of space but the price to pay would be to lose your life (from volume 3 and 4 of the ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes’’ bilingual series )
  2. The amulet of Elesca : an amulet that wields the power of time (from volume 4 of the ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes’’ bilingual series)
  3. The amulet of truth: an amulet with the power to deflect what has already happened (from the upcoming book ‘’A twisted destiny’’ go to my author website to find out more about this book)
  4. The forest of Everbloom: an enchanted forest on the planet Aliese, where many exotic and mystical plants bloom (from volume 1&2 of the bilingual book series ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes’’ )
  5. Devoile : a character made of black mist or rather is the black mist, with a dreaded evil that spreads within. (from volume of the ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes’’ bilingual series.)
  6. The kingdom of Aliese : a mystical planet that somehow seems caught in between the 21st century and medieval times. It is also a planet where many magical creatures live. Finally, it is one of the parallel universes of the story ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes ’’.
  7. The planet Moria: the magical planet that was divided into two worlds, has existed for millions upon, billions of years. This planet appears to never lose energy as if it was made to last forever. Finally, this planet was home to the strongest of magical species in the worlds (From the ‘’A link between two worlds / Un lien entre deux mondes’’ bilingual series).

Those vocabularies are products of my imagination. They may or may not already exist. The inspiration I got to come up with these words, are the most random things you could ever do……I just started saying mystical names I’ve never heard of before, for example:

  1. Zadrome
  2. Erius
  3. Destir
  4. The planet of Dynamuness

I just created those four words (that don’t exist as far as I know). As you can see, I just randomly think about it and then write it. In conclusion, my inspiration comes from my own mind.

The Author’s Story

I am an eleven-year-old girl from Ontario, Canada. I speak both French and English. At the age of 11 I wrote my first book in a series called A Link Between Two Worlds. I like gymnastics, dancing, singing, swimming and drawing characters. I also love writing fantasy stories. One day I decided to write a story about a magic galaxy, friendship, hope, courage and fantasy.

Je suis une fille de 11 ans. Je viens de l’Ontario, Canada. Je parle le français et l’anglais. À l’âge de 11 ans, j’ai écrit le premier tome de la série Un lien entre deux mondes. J’adore chanter, nager et faire de la gymnastique. J’aime aussi dessiner des personnages et raconter des histoires originales et amusantes. Un jour, j’ai décidé d’écrire une histoire sur une galaxie où se mêlent magie, amitié, courage et de la fantaisie.

Find the Author

WEBSITE: https://authorgabriellakikwaki.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/alinkbetweentwoworlds
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabriellakikwaki/

Buy the Books

Book 1: A Link Between Two Worlds / Un Lien Entre Deux Mondes : Volume 1 & 2
AMAZON.COM
https://amazon.com/dp/0228845793
KINDLE https://amazon.com/dp/B08VFFH61P
BOOKSHOP https://bookshop.org/books/a-link-between-two-worlds-un-lien-entre-deux-mondes-volume-1-2-9780228847410/9780228845799
INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/a-link-between-two-worlds/9780228845805-item.html
BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-link-between-two-worlds-un-lien-entre-deux-mondes-gabriella-kikwaki/1138748934
BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Link-Between-Two-Worlds–Un-Lien-Entre-Deux-Mondes-Gabriella-Kikwaki/9780228845799
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1066776
APPLE BOOKS https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-link-between-two-worlds-un-lien-entre-deux-mondes-volume-1-2/id1551859521

Book 2: A Link Between Two Worlds / Un Lien Entre Deux Mondes : Together Forever / Ensemble Pour Toujours – Volume 3
AMAZON.COM https://amazon.com/dp/0228849241
KINDLE https://amazon.com/dp/B091JGLY7H
INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/a-link-between-two-worlds/9780228849254-item.html
BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-link-between-two-worlds-un-lien-entre-deux-mondes-gabriella-kikwaki/1139273729
BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Link-Between-Two-Worlds–Un-Lien-Entre-Deux-Mondes-Gabriella-Kikwaki/9780228849247
RAKUTEN KOBO  https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/a-link-between-two-worlds-un-lien-entre-deux-mondes-1
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1077525
APPLE BOOKS https://books.apple.com/us/book/link-between-two-worlds-lien-entre-deux-mondes-together/id1561858856

Book 3: Releasing soon – A Link Between Two Worlds / Un Lien Entre Deux Mondes : The Nightmare Begins/ Le Cauchemar Commence

Yes, there is a giveaway

The author will be awarding a $15 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. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.

My Favorite Excerpt

The story of how it all began

Alaura — Wow, where is this place?

Elesore: this is the kingdom of Aliese. Welcome.

Alaura and Reven: Wooooooooooooooooooow! Reven — This is like a dream but real, and wait, how are we still alive? We’re in space with no air! We could die any second.

Elesore — Aliese has its own air source, but only those who receive its magical essence can stay alive.

Alaura — Wait, so we have magical essences?

Elesore: Yes, Alaura. The princess has been waiting and searching for you ever since.

Alaura — What do you mean? I don’t even know her.

Elesore — Are you sure about that?

Reven (whispers) — Hey, Alaura, this is a really big change. An hour ago we were regular high school students, and now we have, umm, made-up magical powers or something.

Thank you!

Gabriella Kikwaki — we appreciate your sharing your series A Link Between Two Worlds with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.