Maegan M. Simpson's Blog, page 8

Little Magpie

Hello hello my friends!

Can you taste Fall in the air? At this point I can’t tell if it’s actually feeling like Fall or if it’s just my wishful thinking, but I am ready. Ready for frosted mornings melting into warm afternoons, ready for that fresh sent of drying leaves and brown grass on the breeze, ready for sweaters and pumpkins and the glorious colors that feed my soul…

They say there are faeries in the forest…

Well, enough with that… onto the real subject of this post! Another faery story! Yes, I finally have my act together enough to release another one! (In my defense, this is by far the longest of these little stories…the fact that I had it written months ago means nothing. Ahem.) Anyway, part of this story takes place in glorious Autumn, so it’s an appropriate story for my current mood.

Writing What I Know…

By all means,
write what you know. Look at the world around you: take off the blinders, step
out of your own mind, catch glimpses of lives as utterly unique and unknowable
as the mysteries of the ages. Never stop learning, never stop growing, and
never stop using every lesson in your writing. Take this vibrant life given to
you and use it; soak it in and pour it out with every ounce of talent
God has given you, and then hone your skill to do it even better. This is
vital. There is nothing new under the sun, and no story worth telling doesn’t
have aspects of truth and reality. But don’t let that chain you to this broken
ground.

Someone asked me a while ago why I’m drawn to fantasy, why I write about dragons and faeries instead of what’s right in front of me. Why don’t I write what I know best? And I answered in my usual stumbling way, unsure how to explain. How can I let someone into my mind in that way, to be inspired as I am and to see the stories I find? How can I explain that what I know best isn’t this earth? It’s not New Mexico, the wild southwest. Yes, I know that. Yes, it obviously influences me. But I also know that the world Agon has three major continents, that there are people there gifted by the Creator in marvelous ways. I know the faces of dozens of citizens. I know their hopes, their heartaches, their fears. I know that they face a battle not unlike one we face every day. I know that there is more to this world than what we see, and who’s to say what it is? I know that in the beauty of God’s creation could be hidden the legends and creatures we learn as children, alive and real. I know that sometimes life’s hardest lessons and greatest joys are best communicated within a world unfamiliar, by a character who is a stranger and yet more a part of you than you can even explain. I know that sometimes it takes a tale too fantastic for our reality to touch a heart hardened by the stories of our everyday. I know that sometimes it takes what most see as an unknown to reveal the most known and often denied. And if God has given me these worlds, these people, these stories to know, who’s to say that I’m not writing from experience?

Because writing fiction and fantasy isn’t ignoring truth. It’s using possibility itself to reveal truth. It’s looking at the creation around us and seeing what could be, what these thousands of stories and lives might look like in another world. That is the heart and purpose of what I do. The truth is, God has implanted a wonder and passion for unknown possibility so deeply within me that I can’t imagine not writing fantasy. Dragons, faeries, wielders, hearts of stone…and truth. Always truth.

Back to School

Hello hello!

Welp. I’m back in Denver, and less than a week away from another bundle of classes (I’m kind of tipping back and forth between excited and terrified because all the shiny new knowledge! But also so many assignments…). Hopefully once I get into the rhythm I can attack the rest of Henry’s story with a vengeance (an appropriate term to use for his story, but more on that later…

Character Spotlight: Aderyn

Time for that Midnight’s Wings post I’ve been promising for *ahem* a while. Sorry for the delay, guys…this summer got away from me. I mean, in a couple weeks I’ll be back in classes! (Que terrified screaming) But enough with that. We’re here to talk about Aderyn!

Today I want to focus on two of Aderyn’s defining characteristics: her “soul searching,” her ability to see through a person’s eyes into their emotions and intentions, and her belief that using her soul searching will turn her into a monster. As I mention in the books, Aderyn’s soul searching is a rare and powerful gift, and one that’s been abused in the past. Several times Aderyn mentions Fargeden, a half-faerie half-elven king who’s tyranny caused the faerie creatures to rise up in revolution and institute the Fae council. He’s kind of a Hitler/Stalin figure in their society’s history, a figure who used his immense power to destroy thousands of lives. So in a way, Aderyn’s fear is justified. If she let the power go to her head, if she became less concerned with doing good than with getting her own way, if she decided that she might as well act the monster that she’s feared to be, then she could’ve very well been on the opposite side of this battle. That potential is what caused her uncle, Falk, to train her to fear using her abilities. That potential is what causes Aderyn so much turmoil when she’s forced into using her gifts to help train the Wrydian and to search the Fae. In a way she believes her power is corrupt in and of itself, and she has to learn throughout the book that it’s how she uses her gift that determines it to be good or evil.

But part of Aderyn struggle is that it isn’t just her own experience that teaches her to fear herself. Falk’s well-intentioned training, influenced by his own experience of a soul searcher’s manipulative abilities, is something Aderyn has to strive against at many points. She wants to accept it as truth, and she has for most of her life. Falk raised her, protected her, died for her…he’s the only family she’s ever known, and she trusted him implicitly. But as she continues through this story, she has to face the fact that her uncle wasn’t perfect. As she fights the enemies attacking the parks, she battles between her loyalty to the faerie who raised her and the lessons she learns about how she should live. Through that turmoil, through the desperation to help that pushes her into using her abilities, God teaches her that using her soul searching for His purpose is what she’s meant to do.

But even when she decides to use her gift for the Creator’s purpose, she’s still not sure how to do it. She finds a certain peace in what Zareth has her doing, searching the Wrydian trainees for signs of treachery, because it’s a rather passive work. She’s invading their privacy, and that makes her uncomfortable, but it’s for Zareth. And it’s to protect against enemies, nothing like Nieran did. But just as she starts feeling comfortable with her place, getting used to standing at Zareth’s side helping behind the scenes, she’s pushed into the very world she’s never wanted to enter. She’s forced to face the fae and play the very game she’s always hoped to avoid, and she’s still not sure where the line is between persuasion and manipulation. And as she faces these beings who are so hardened against her, she believes she only has two options: to be another Nieran or to prove that she’s different and thus sacrifice her voice. She doesn’t want to manipulate, she doesn’t want to play the political game. She listens to Nieran and recognizes that he’s trying to help her, but she’s still hesitant. She’s resigned to being disliked, and ultimately she puts finding the enemy before how the fae see her, but she still hesitates. There’s still a part of her that believes she might as well be silent, that if they won’t listen what’s the point? There’s a part of her that wonders if maybe they’re right to dislike her, to distrust her.

But then in that desperate moment, as Zareth leaves to fight Moira and the entire room is against them, everything clicks. She can’t stay silent, but she doesn’t have to speak as Nieran does, either. In that moment she comes to understand that God has called her to use the voice He gave her: a soft tone speaking truth, undiluted and undefiled. And as she speaks the words God calls her to speak, she’s at peace. It doesn’t matter what they think of her, and whether or not they listen is their own choice. She’s voiced the truth, she’s accomplished her task. And that passion that leads her to speak truth without hesitation, to look them in the eye and reveal their hypocrisy without fury or flowing persuasion, without seeming to care whether they listen or not…that’s what gets them. In that moment they don’t see a soul searcher. They don’t see Nieran or Fargeden or Lilieth, they don’t even see her. They see the truth she speaks, they see their own calloused hearts and swollen pride. And though it doesn’t have it’s full affect in time for them to help in the fight, it changes them. It changes Aderyn.

That scene reveals so much of the growth Aderyn has gone through. She’s not finished yet: she still wishes she could live in the background, she has struggles with who she is and what she’s been taught…but she’s learning. She’s found a family, she’s found mentors, and she’s found her voice. And when God calls her to speak, nothing will silence her.

Long Overdue Post

Well, I’m finally back. I went MIA for a month while I worked at Bible camp, but the time since then was just me struggling to catch up on sleep and get my act back together.

Midnight’s Wings has Launched!

Midnight’s Wings has been launched! (It’s actually been out for about ten days, making this post a bit overdue, but life is never as simple as I plan). Also a note: to anyone who tried to order the paperback in the first few days, I apologize for the trouble…KDP was fighting us over some formatting stuff. But we prevailed in the end, and the paperback is now available! Click HERE to buy Midnight’s Wings on Amazon!

Oh man…guys, I can’t even tell you how glad I am to have this book finished and out for everyone to read! Three years. That’s how much time passed between the release of Dragon’s Flight and Midnight’s Wings. Three years, and two and a half novels (the half novel you haven’t heard of…I ended up spending a few months writing and then decided that the entire book needs to be rewritten. Go figure. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to share it…).

Writing Midnight’s Wings has been a lesson in perseverance for sure (and it’s taught me not to end a book in a cliffhanger unless the sequel’s already written!). It’s also taught me that stories worth telling, even stories I love, aren’t always the easiest to write. But they’re worth it, oh so worth it! And even as I apologize all over myself for the extended delay, I don’t regret the time spent. The time in between resulted in Stone Heart, Frosted Fire, and too much growth as a writer to explain in a single post (though at some point I will probably rant about it in my overly-dramatic way

Pre-order for Midnight’s Wings

Hey everybody!

Exciting news: Midnight’s Wings is now available for pre-order! It’ll be released next Friday, June 7th. We’re so close!

Those of you who prefer the paperback might have to wait until Friday to order it, but for anyone who wants the kindle version, have at it! (This is also the first time I’ve used KDP’s pre-order function, so if you have any issues or questions, shoot me an email!). Here’s the link for pre-order on Amazon: Midnight’s Wings

So what are you waiting for? Go order Midnight’s Wings!

Summer Stuff & Cover Reveal

Hello hello everyone!

My good reason!

Attack Plants…

Hello hello!

So finals are coming up… but I only have two more papers this semester and then no more academic writing for the summer! I’m so excited to be free to write my books, and I can’t wait to see how much progress I make. I’m seriously pumped for summer. And I need it too… boy do I ever need it.

Anyway, I bet you’re wondering about the title of this post. Well, for those of you who’ve read Frosted Fire, you know Henry is a gardener, which means he can control plants. We get a glimpse of what he can do in Frosted Fire, but that’s really just the beginning. Because the book I’m writing is Henry’s story before Frosted Fire, I get to go through how he learns to control plants so well. I also get to explore a bit more of what he’s capable of, which is really fun (cue maniacal laughter echoing in the distance).

Onto the reason for the title… a big part of what makes gardeners able to do stuff that’s actually useful (beyond farming) is knowing what plants to use for what. I mean, I don’t care who you are, daisies are not gonna do you much good in a fight. Blackberry vines on the other hand… See what I mean? This book is really stretching my knowledge of plants, and one of my plans for the summer is to do some research to find more awesome weapons to put at Henry’s disposal. But I was also wondering…what plants do you think Henry could use? In battles, for shelter, to scare people…anything really. If you have an idea, leave it in the comments! I’m interested to see what you guys can come up with. And I can always use more material!

Alright, my history paper calls… This one is on Beowulf, which is so cool! Did you know Beowulf is so strong he breaks swords just by how much power is in his blow? And apparently he can swim for five days, with a naked sword in his hand, defeat nine sea monsters, and still have enough strength to swim like another two days to land. Sheesh, talk about overpowered characters! Okay, okay, I’ll stop fangirling…

Progress

Hello hello!

I hope you all are having a wonderful spring! It snowed again, but rather than make you read another rant against winter, I decided to share a painting I finished a couple weeks ago that pretty much sums up my attitude about the situation (it’s the background of this post image). On the bright side, the flowers are out, the grass is green, and the birds are still singing!

Writing is going well. Since Spring Break I’ve stumbled into a routine that allows me to write more often and still finish my homework (Or maybe my desperation and excitement to write is giving me new fortitude. Either way, I’m writing). Because of that and my awesome editors, Midnight’s Wings is finished with content editing! I’m aiming for a release in mid to late May, and I’ll give you more progress reports between then and now. (The cover is already in the works and it looks amazing!)

I’m also making a lot of progress on Henry’s story, which I’m having a blast writing. Considering the…darker parts of his story, that might be a concerning statement about my imagination. But hey, I’m a writer…strange and slightly disturbing interests (like poisons and medieval weaponry) come with the territory.