The door to 2021 is finally ajar, beckoning us toward a New Year and new opportunities. It’s difficult to look back on 2020 without comparing it to the year we were expecting (and most definitely did not get), and some things remain impossible to plan while there is so much uncertainty.
However, the good news is
that reading and writing are two activities mostly unaffected by social
distancing measures, so it seems like a good time to set myself some goals and
look back on my favourite fictional journeys from this year. Today’s blog post
will focus on books past, present, and future 📚.
“This was in the white of
the year,
That was in the green,
Drifts were as difficult
then to think
As daisies now to be
seen.
Looking back is best that
is left,
Or if it be before,
Retrospection is
prospect's half,
Sometimes almost more.”
— Emily
Dickinson
I have to hold my hands up and admit I spent a lot less time reading and writing this year. Not by choice, I hasten to add! There were just too many other challenges. But I have some very happy memories of taking my Kindle into the garden and reading next to the purple roses while my cat made the most of the summer sunshine. I discovered Temeraire the dragon and the Lunar Chronicles this year—I am quite a late reader for both series, but I really enjoyed them. And of course, Engraved in Magic was released at the end of July, continuing the Beyond Androva series from Art’s point of view.
“If you always try your
best
Then you’ll never have to
wonder
About what you could have
done
If you’d summoned all
your thunder.
And if your best
Was not as good
As you hoped it would be,
You still could say,
‘I gave today
All that I had in me.’”
— Barbara
Vance
Today, I’m working on Lost in Magic, the next Beyond Androva story. Kellan, the narrator, has just had a fight with Galen, and I’m wondering how I can resolve it in such a way that they don’t become enemies. As you can see from the photo, my cat has settled on the sofa next to me so she can put a helpful paw on my keyboard when I’m supposed to make her dinner 😄. Later this evening, I’ll continue reading The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, my most recent book purchase.
“Try, as best you can,
not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your
feet
Again on fresh pastures
of promise,
Where the air will be
kind
And blushed with beginning.”
— John
O'Donoghue
If things go according to plan (and I hope they do!), Lost in Magic will be released in the first half of 2021, leaving me free to choose my next story. I don’t know yet if Beyond Androva will be a trilogy or a longer series because it depends how Kellan’s story ends. I want to make sure all is well on Xytovia before I move on to one of the other worlds. In terms of reading, one of my first pre-orders for 2021 is A Vow So Bold and Deadly (The Cursebreaker Series #3), by Brigid Kemmerer—released in the UK on January 26th. I discovered the first book when I wrote an earlier blog post on fairy tale retellings: here
The holiday season is
fast approaching, and it’s going to be quite different from previous years
(much like the rest of 2020). However, I usually get the chance to spend more
time reading and writing during the holidays, and I’m looking forward to it
this year more than ever. With that in mind, I’ve been searching for some YA books
with a Christmas or winter theme to add to my TBR list, and today’s blog post
describes my three choices. They’re a mix of fantasy and contemporary, fairy
tales, snow and ice, parallel lives, and romance. I can’t wait to start reading!
Thank you very much for
visiting my blog today, and I wish you happy holidays and especially happy
reading!
(Writing update: I’m currently working on Lost in Magic,
the third book in the Beyond Androva series. I don’t have a publication date
yet, but Kellan’s story is going well.)
Tagline: Only one can
be queen.
Description: Sixteen-year-old
Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has
never beat with love for anyone. In fact, it has never beat at all, for her
father cut it out and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to
Whitespring Castle, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty,
become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to
become a stepmother.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet
looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician
created her out of snow in the dead queen's image. Lynet would rather be like
her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina, but when her father makes her queen of
the southern territories, Mina starts to look at Lynet with something like
hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—in order to win back the
only mother she's ever known… or else defeat her once and for all.
Tagline: A retelling
of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper.
Description: Clara
Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann
Kahler, and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes when Clara receives a
mysterious and magical nutcracker.
Whisked away to his world—an
enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a
prince—Clara must face a magician who uses music as magic… and the future she
thought she wanted.
Tagline: Sliding Doors
meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about
a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.
Description: The average
person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many
for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice… That's
why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas
vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend
(and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should
she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life
dreaming about?
Just when it seems like
Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in—in the form of a
slippery grocery store floor—and Paige's life splits into two very different
parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city… and
the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where
Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz… until her anxiety threatens to
ruin everything. However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny,
she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety—and learn that
you don't have to be perfect to deserve true love.
I have always loved stories that contain magic, and it was probably inevitable that fantasy would be my genre of choice as a writer. It’s been a while since I did an A to Z, so today’s post is a lighthearted list inspired by magic in fiction. I’ve tried to include a variety of sources—books (of course!), film, television, and even some folklore. Is there anything on the list that you hadn’t heard of? Would your choices be the same as mine? I hope you enjoy it, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today 💕.
Amulets are typically small objects worn or carried for protection, and their long and varied history dates back to prehistoric times. The “magic” in the amulet comes from what it’s made of, or its shape, or what’s written on it, or the particular way it was constructed. A couple of great fictional examples include the glass snowdrop in Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and the Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.
The picture shows a Wedjat Eye from Ancient Egypt, a symbol associated with both Horus the sky god and Ra the sun god. Amulets with the eye—in this case a sandal buckle—were believed to bring protection, healing, and regeneration. (Horus lost his eye in a fight with his uncle, but it was magically restored.)
The Bifrost is from Norse mythology. It’s a rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the world of the gods, with Midgard, the world of humanity. Heimdall guards the bridge and controls who enters and leaves Asgard. The Bifrost also appears as a visually spectacular special effect in the Marvel films, functioning as an obstacle and an enabler for various characters.
Healing crystals and stones have been around for thousands of years. The Ancient Sumerians (4,000 years BC) used crystals in their magic formulas, and “crystal” comes from Ancient Greece and the word for ice. Clear quartz crystal was thought to be water that had frozen so completely it would never thaw.
The picture is lapis lazuli, a crystal prized by the Sumerians for its ability to heal a wide variety of ailments. In terms of crystals in fiction, some of my favourite examples include the Elfstone created by J. R. R. Tolkien (it became Arwen’s Evenstar necklace in the Lord of the Rings films), lightsabers in the Star Wars universe, Marvel’s infinity stones, and the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix.
“If I own that dagger, I control the Dark One. If I kill the Dark One with the dagger, I take his powers.”
—Rumplestiltskin to his son, Baelfire
Appearing in the television
series Once Upon A Time, the dagger contains a curse that grants immense
magical knowledge and power. The name of the Dark One is inscribed on the blade.
Anyone in possession of the dagger has the ability to control the Dark One, and
if the Dark One is killed with the dagger, the curse passes to the murderer, and
the name on the blade changes. It makes for an interesting plot device that the
dagger is the source of the Dark One’s strength but also makes them vulnerable.
King Arthur, a legendary English
monarch from the late fifth century, has been linked to two swords. The first
was a sword embedded in stone that could only be drawn by the rightful king
(Arthur). The second was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake after the
first sword was broken. Both swords have been linked to the name Excalibur in
subsequent stories, and the sword is usually considered to be of magical origin
and/or to possess magical powers. (The Dark One Dagger was found to be part of
Excalibur’s blade in a later series of Once Upon A Time.)
Myths about sentient
weapons may have started because the process of sword making seemed magical to ancient
civilisations. A lump of earth being transformed into a shiny but deadly object
like a sword would have seemed a lot like magic!
The feather of Ma’at (an
Egyptian goddess who personified truth and justice) was used to judge the dead.
Hearts were weighed against a single ostrich feather in the Hall of Two Truths.
If the heart was lighter that the feather, the deceased was granted eternal
life in the realm of the dead. If the heart was heavier, the outcome was rather
less positive. The feather was the reason hearts were left in Egyptian mummies
while the other organs were removed. Before being judged, the dead had to make
their “negative confessions” and list all the bad deeds they didn’t commit.
I guess the more you had to confess, the better your chances…
Greek Fire is an
incendiary weapon that water can’t extinguish. I’ve included it as a magical
item (in spite of the fact that it did once exist) because of its fictional use
in ghost fighting in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. Also,
the formula for creating Greek Fire as used by the Byzantine Empire in the
seventh century has been lost to time, and no one today has been able to
successfully recreate it.
Specifically, Rapunzel's
magic hair from the 2010 Disney film. Taking its power from the golden flower
that healed Rapunzel’s mother, the queen, it’s very long, super strong, and has
the ability to heal anything and everything. Including old age, if old age can
be seen as something that needs healing! (Mother Gothel certainly thinks so…)
Harry Potter’s Invisibility
Cloak is an incredibly useful magical object that plays a role throughout the whole
series. It enables Harry (and therefore the reader) to discover important plot
points that other characters would never reveal in front of him. It’s not
infallible either, as we see when Draco Malfoy realises Harry is spying on him
beneath the cloak. And in the final book, the cloak is revealed to be one of
the Deathly Hallows. The special effects in the films make the cloak appear very
convincing!
I thought Tom Riddle’s
Diary was the most interesting out of the seven horcruxes (Harry excepted!) not
just because it was the first that Voldemort created, but also because it
allowed the reader to “meet” Voldemort while he was still Tom Riddle. When I first
read the book, and the letters in Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranged
themselves to spell I am Lord Voldemort, I was on the edge of my seat!
How does a witch or
wizard get around if they don’t want to apparate or use the Floo Network? They hail
the Knight Bus, as Harry did in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The bus was apparently
commissioned in 1865, taking inspiration from the Muggle bus service of the
time. It’s invisible to Muggles, and it causes other objects to dodge out of
its way. That’s a trick that would make the traffic on my journey to work a lot
easier to navigate…
Aladdin’s story is
closely associated with the Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights) even
though it wasn’t actually part of the original Arabic text. It was added later
in an eighteenth-century French translation. In most film adaptations, the genie
of the lamp is a much bigger star of the story than the lamp itself. Have you
ever wondered what you’d wish for if the lamp (hypothetically) came into your
possession? Would you use one of your wishes to grant the genie their freedom?
Mirrors are the perfect
example of an everyday item that can become a credible magical object. They can
be windows. They can reveal or hide. They can be used to communicate. Some of
my favourite fictional examples include the mirror used by Snow White’s
stepmother (who’s the fairest of them all?), the mirror in Dracula by Bram Stoker
(“this time there could be no error, for the man was close to me… But there was
no reflection of him in the mirror!”), and the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter
(haven’t we all wondered what we’d see if we looked into it?).
The necklace I’ve chosen is
from Arthurian legend, and it was given to Sir Pelleas by the Lady of the Lake.
Sir Pelleas was a Knight of the Round Table said to have been rescued from an unrequited
love by Nimue (the Lady of the Lake in many versions of the legend). She came
across Sir Pelleas after his heart had been broken. Using magic, Nimue made the
other lady love Sir Pelleas while he would be cured, feeling only hate for her
in return. Sir Pelleas later fell in love with Nimue, and they married. The necklace
contained an enchantment to make its wearer “unfathomably loved.”
I had to include this
one! Arguably the most powerful artefact in Tolkien’s fictional realm of Middle-earth,
it was infused with Sauron’s evil intentions and almost impossible to destroy.
You only have to look at how Déagol became Gollum to understand the ring’s
ability to distort and corrupt its bearer.
Given the role of portals
in my own books, there was only one possible choice for this letter 🙂. Portals, or
magical doorways, are exciting and unpredictable. Anything and anyone could be
on the other side. As a reader, the first portals I discovered were in the Chronicles
of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe is probably the most famous one, but the characters were able to
go to Narnia through other doorways too. I think the wardrobe is the most
memorable because when I was eight years old, it seemed almost possible it
could happen to me.
I don’t know why, but magic
and quills seem to be a frequent combination in storytelling. Perhaps it’s
because the traditional image of a magician in a fantasy setting might seem a
bit strange if there were a plastic biro on the table (you know, next to the
parchment 😉).
There are two
particularly memorable quills in the Harry Potter books. The Blood Quill is
used by Professor Umbridge to deliver a nasty form of detention. Painful
magical cuts appear on the back of the user’s hand to mirror the lines they are
writing. “I must not tell lies” in Harry’s case. The Quick Quotes Quill is used
by journalist Rita Skeeter to take notes during her interviews, sensationalising
the words of her interviewees to the point that they bear little resemblance to
the truth. “My eyes aren’t ‘glistening with the ghosts of my past!’”
Riptide is another
magical sword, this time belonging to Percy Jackson in the world created by
Rick Riordan. The sword is made from Celestial Bronze, a material that is only
deadly to gods and demigods (and a few other non-human characters). If you’re
an ordinary mortal, Riptide will pass straight through you as if the sword were
an illusion. Percy is able to keep it in his pocket as a pen, turning it back into a
sword by taking off the cap.
Steles are tools used by
Shadowhunters in the books by Cassandra Clare. Made from the heavenly metal
adamas, a stele looks a bit like a kind of wand, and it glows when being used
to draw runes onto the skin. These runes grant the supernatural abilities that Shadowhunters
depend on in their fight against demons.
I guess this one is more of
a story enabler than a magical item (unless you include the Time Turner used by
Hermione Granger). As a reader, I’m a big fan of time travel, though I do prefer
it when the characters go back instead of forward. I love the chance to learn
about the past through the eyes of a modern-day character. My favourites as a
child were Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce and Can I Get
There by Candlelight? by Jean Doty. More recently, I’ve really enjoyed the Outlander
books by Diana Gabaldon.
This one comes from
Scottish folklore and refers to a special kind of water that has magical healing
properties. The water itself is not magical, but the method used to collect it makes
it so. It must be taken “from under a bridge, over which the living pass and
the dead are carried, brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick
person, without the bearer’s speaking, either in going or returning.”
I suppose on reflection,
the Vanishing Cabinet as described in Harry Potter is like a portal, although
it only works if you have two of them. A person who steps into one of the cabinets
will instantly emerge from the other. Draco Malfoy repaired a Vanishing Cabinet
at Hogwarts that was linked with another at Borgin and Burkes, allowing a group
of Death Eaters into the school. The resulting confrontation with Dumbledore
forced Severus Snape to make good on both his promise to Dumbledore and the Unbreakable
Vow he made with Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother.
No magical list would be
complete without a reference to wands! The mention of wands in fiction dates as
far back as the eighth century BC, when Homer described the use of magic “rods”
by Hermes, Athena, and Circe in The Iliad and The Odyssey. There
are so many fictional characters that are associated with wands, heroes and
villains both, from Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother to the White Witch in The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I will hold my hand up and admit that
I do own a Harry Potter wand from when I visited the Studio Tour a couple of
years ago (Severus Snape’s).
In Chinese mythology,
Xirang (Breathing Earth, Living Earth) is a magical substance with the ability
to continuously grow, something that can be extremely helpful in stopping flood
water, for example, or creating land for farming.
Yggdrasil is an enormous ash
tree from Norse mythology that is supposed to connect the Nine Realms. It was pretty
much considered to be the centre of the known universe. The idea of “warden
trees” continued right up to the nineteenth century. They were believed to
bring good luck to the land on which they grew.
The thunderbolt was a
weapon made for Zeus by the Cyclops in the war against the Titans, a dynastic conflict
that ended when Zeus killed his father, the Titan Cronus. Before you feel too
sorry for Cronus, legend has it that Cronus had previously seized control from
his own father and had become so paranoid that his own children would one day
do the same to him that he ate them all! Zeus, the youngest child, was hidden by
his mother until he was old enough to return, rescue his siblings (who were
growing inside Cronus) and wage war. The never-ending bucketful of thunderbolts
proved to be a deciding factor in Zeus’s victory.
Thank you for reading!
“While we read a novel,
we are insane—bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren't there,
we hear their voices...”
― Ursula K. Le Guin
“With reading, we get to live other lives vicariously, and this is doubly so with writing. It is like a lucid dream, where we guide the outcome.”
― Dean F.Wilson
Today’s blog post is a writing update for the Beyond Androva series, and the update comes with a few thoughts on the consequences of creating a strong-willed character. The character I’m talking about is Kellan, a seventeen-year-old magician who escaped from prison just in time to turn the events of Engraved in Magic upside down. He’s graduating from secondary character to protagonist.
As a self-confessed pantser (someone who “writes by the seat of their pants” instead of planning stories in advance) I’m accustomed to letting my characters take the lead. Stories evolve around their choices. I approached the new book in the same way, but I hadn’t written more than a thousand words before I had to confront a couple of Kellan-sized problems.
I might not plan stories in advance, but I always know how they’re going to start.
In Matched in Magic, Serena’s adventure naturally began as she went to Xytovia for the first time and met Art. In Engraved in Magic, Art picked up the story at the exact moment Serena stopped, so I could explore the aftermath from Art’s point of view.
I meant for the third book in the series to follow that pattern. After the prologue, which takes place about a century before the main timeline, Kellan would take over where Art left off, focusing on the search for his grandmother. That’s what I tried to write. Several times, unsuccessfully.
Kellan insisted the story had to begin at the moment he went into the Dimension Cell. This was something I didn’t want because it would require a retelling of Engraved in Magic’s plot. Kellan argued that important things had happened while he was off the page, things that were vital to “his” story. He also said his version of events would be much better than Art’s.
(By the way, I know it’s strange to describe Kellan as if he’s a real person... He’s not real, of course, but in the context of my writing imagination, he exists, and he has very strong views!)
Each Beyond Androva story is told from a different point of view as the series arc evolves and its focal point moves between characters, but the incoming protagonist/narrator isn’t a stranger. They’ve been introduced through the eyes of the outgoing protagonist.
However, despite Kellan’s contribution to Engraved in Magic, I didn’t feel like I knew him at all. His point of view is hard to write! On the face of it, he isn’t a particularly sympathetic/likeable character. His self-confidence borders on arrogance and he has very little accountability. It took me a while to get past his exterior to the person underneath, and the Dimension Cell scene (the scene I hadn’t planned on writing) turned out to be really important.
In conclusion, I’m pleased to say that the third book in the Beyond Androva series is officially underway with a starting point that seems to be working and a (mostly) willing protagonist. I’m not sure how the prologue will link up with Kellan’s story, but I’m looking forward to the journey!
Which fictional characters are your favourites? Would you choose to meet them in real life if you could? Thank you very much for visiting my blog today 💕.
