Alex C. Vick's Blog, page 597

The Legacy of Androva M to Z

Today's post is the second half of my A to Z, with more pictures and info about my characters and the worlds they inhabit.

M is for Manipulation
The fourth of the six disciplines taught at the Seminary. If a spell is used to create something, or to change it, or even to destroy it, then it belongs in Manipulation. Portals, and the spellstations used to generate them, are also included here. The picture shows what Fire and Ice Spells look like.

N is for NightAll magic-taking is supposed to happen at night (are you listening, Jax?). Although, now that I think about it, there is a scene when Jax goes magic-taking at night, but not until Seeking Magic, and his situation at that moment is not a happy one.
O is for OptaThe Opta are in charge on the world of Imbera. They all look a bit like ghosts, because their hair, eyes and skin are a combination of white and silver, with an occasional hint of purple. They're most definitely the bad guys, and the history of how they became so is told in the fifth book, Breaking Magic.
  P is for PennyShannon's best friend, and Darius's girlfriend, Penny is a Terran who doesn't become a magician until later in the series. She is initially overawed when meeting Jax and Darius, but learns to hold her own later on (and then some!). She loves experimenting with make-up, (or "that Terran face paint" as Jax's father calls it), and has blue eyes and curly brown hair. She is nearly fourteen at the start of the series.
P is also for PhysicalThe fifth of the six disciplines at the Seminary, and a means of strengthening magical ability and reflexes. The basic Solo Transference spell involves projecting the force field to the very edges of the body, and then using that magical energy to defy gravity. Lessons involve anything from diving off the top of the Seminary building, to complicated obstacle courses.
Q is for QuotaAt the start of the Legacy of Androva series, the Harvest Quota is all Androva cares about. Everyone of age knows that if magic-takers do not harvest sufficient quantities of living magic from Terra, the consequences for both worlds could be severe.
R is for RemediesThe last of the six disciplines taught at the Seminary. Remedies administer spells in a way that is both standardised and convenient. They tend to be different colours according to the type of spell used. Portal Remedies are slightly blue, for example.
  S is for ShannonThe first Terran magician for nearly two thousand years, Shannon teams up with Jax for more than one life-threatening adventure. Her force field is incredibly powerful, and she also forces Jax to re-evaluate all of his preconceived ideas about the inferiority of Terra! Almost fourteen at the start of the series, she has brown hair and brown eyes.
S is also for SygnusSee my separate post from October 2016 for more information.  T is for Treaty (and Terra, of course!)The treaty between Androva and Terra was agreed in order to contain an unspeakably evil magician. Unfortunately, the terms of the treaty were permanently shattered when Jax made a trip to Terra in daylight and allowed Shannon to see him. It's not revealed until Seeking Magic, but there is a particular reason why Jax's rule breaking was so damaging.
U is for UniversalEvery underage magician is expected to learn the designated Universal Spells in each discipline, no matter how little or how great their ability might be. Individual Advanced Spells are then assigned by the professors on a case by case basis, to ensure everyone reaches their full potential.
  V is for Valentina
Introduced in Controlling Magic, Valentina is seventeen, the same age as Penny's brother Andy. She's from Androva, and helps Penny to pass her year two assessment in Remedies. It's meeting Valentina that gets Andy really interested in Androva and magic, and once he's part of the story, his role becomes vital to Jax and Shannon's survival. Valentina has blue eyes and dark red hair.
W is for WoodlandThere is a lot of this on Terra, but hardly any on Androva. It's the source of all the living magic upon which the terms of the treaty are built.
X is for ExtaOn the world of Imbera, the Exta serve the Opta. In all ways, until death. When Jax and Shannon are facing the Breaker, the most evil Opta of them all, an Exta named Callax tries to help them, eventually putting his own life at risk to do so. Cal's story is told in Breaking Magic.
Y is for Years of AgeWhen it comes to Androva's rules of magic, age is pretty important, starting with the activation of the force field (or not, see previous A to Z). Underage magicians attend the Seminary of Magic for five years of training, until they come of age at eighteen.
At the coming of age ceremony, the Finality Spell is applied without exception, fixing the underage magician's ability forever. The Council also allocates a profession and endorses a match with another underage magician, both of which are intended to be for life. Shannon discovers this in Seeking Magic, and she doesn't like it!
Z is for ZeroThe number of magicians on Terra at the start of the series, and also the number of scientists on Androva. My characters are gradually starting to change this, but it's going to take a while!
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this week's post!

Promotion starts today!

All books in the Legacy of Androva series will be at a special price for the next five days, up to and including Sunday April 30th! Stealing Magic, the first book in the series, will be free, and Breaking Magic is now up for pre-order ☺

Cover Reveal for Book Five!

Today I'm excited to be able to share the cover for the fifth book in the Legacy of Androva series! Scroll down past the book's description for a look at the prologue and first chapter. Breaking Magic will be released on May 1st, with a special launch price of $0.99.

Callax is fifteen, and he already knows he will never grow old. Twelve years after leaving the childstation he will be summoned to the Gathering, where life essences are taken by a deadly, irresistible spell. On his world, this is one of the many ways in which the Exta serve the Opta. His best hope is to avoid an early binding by staying out of trouble.

But in protecting his younger brother Benedar, he was noticed by the Breaker, the evil magician in charge of the Gathering. The closer Callax gets to the ruling house and the girl who lives there, the more he learns, and the greater the danger. A danger he might not understand until it is too late. Callax thinks the Breaker’s defeat will save him, but he is wrong. Additional information:Breaking Magic’s story can be read independently of the other books, although it is part of the Legacy of Androva universe. However, if you have read Controlling Magic and want to know more about Imbera, Breaking Magic is Cal’s story. The book retells part of Controlling Magic from Cal’s point of view.

Prologue
  “What happened to you? You look terrible. It’s not the sickness, is it?” Varun shook his head. He was deathly pale. In the low light of the underground workshop, even his hair looked white. I glanced at Garrett, who frowned. “You should have told us you were testing again,” Garrett said. “We could have helped.” Garrett was exhausted. We all were. The sickness had killed so many of us. There were almost no elders left. Our parents were long gone. The three of us had been the best magicians at the Academy. Friends and rivals. As close as brothers. We’d been searching for a cure ever since it started. But all we’d managed to do so far was slow it down. “I didn’t need your help. I figured it out on my own.” “You figured out what?” His eyes gleamed. “I can stop it. I can stop the sickness.” “What?” said Garrett incredulously. “But… how?” I added. “I thought we didn’t have enough magic left. All the spells we’ve tried lately haven’t worked.” “I found a new energy source.” “Where? When?” “How does it work? Show us!” Garrett and I were speaking over each other in our excitement. The first hope I’d felt in months was sharp and almost painful. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll show you. We have plenty of time. We’re going to live forever.” Silence. I thought I’d misheard, but his expression was ominously serious. The back of my neck prickled with a sense of foreboding. “What did you say?” asked Garrett slowly. “You heard me.” “But… that’s more than a cure,” I said. “We can’t change the balance between life and death. I don’t want to live forever.” “Don’t you? Pity. I could have guessed you’d say that. Cal the do-gooder. Always on the side of what’s right.” I stepped backwards. This was getting very weird, very fast. “Look, Varun—” Garrett said, but he was interrupted. “No. You do what I say now. Now and forever. Both of you. All of you!”
Chapter One - My First Gathering
The beginning of it all was completely unremarkable. My life-giver was an ordinary Breeder. I don’t remember her, obviously. She was long gone before I was old enough for the first memory to stick in my head.I’ll go forward six years. I knew my place by then. The rules of Imberan society were brutal, but we could depend on them. Opta rule, Exta serve. Until our skills reached their permitted level: developed enough to be worth donating, but not powerful enough to be a threat.Nice word that, isn’t it, donating? Makes it sound like we offered our skills to a worthy cause. They were stolen, along with everything else keeping us alive.When I was old enough, I was assigned to a unit. The Opta sorted us according to personality and skills so that each unit had a balance of each. They admire uniformity.I suppose that’s why they all look the same. White-haired, white-skinned ghosts. Not that I’ve ever seen a ghost. But I imagine they’d be like faded copies of real people. My unit looked after the city’s buildings. We were the lowest of the low. Repairing and cleaning. No job too degrading. And I was a Worker, not a Thinker. Which put me right at the bottom of the pile.Before I was old enough to wonder why we allowed the Opta to treat us that way, I knew the answer. We outnumbered them ten to one, and yet they had all the power.A word, that’s all it took to activate the process. The Initiation Word. We didn’t know what it was, and we all lived in fear of hearing it. Workers couldn’t read, and we couldn’t write, but we could still be afraid of that word.It was worse for Thinkers. Reading and writing was their thing. Stumbling across the Initiation Word by accident was something that showed up in Thinker nightmares regularly.There was a timetable according to age. We were supposed to be safe until our names appeared on the list.But sometimes the Opta said that word as a punishment. It didn’t take much to annoy them. It never made sense to me when I was younger. They were our masters, with the best of everything Imbera had to offer, and yet they were so discontented.I didn’t get it then, but I do now. They weren’t discontented. They just wanted us to be afraid of their anger. It amused them to invent reasons to punish us.There I was, six years old and joining my unit. I remember being excited at leaving the childstation. I was so trusting back then. So stupid. I actually believed that things might not be as bad as they seemed. That I had plenty of time to change the world before anything happened to me.My “brother” was called Garrett. He was twelve. He’d be my brother for the next six years, until he was eighteen. Then I’d be twelve, and I’d get my own brother to look after.“I’ll call you Cal for now,” he told me. “You’ll have to grow into that name of yours.”He was so angry at first. His grey eyes were like storm clouds. I didn’t realise he’d just lost his older brother to the Gathering. I thought it was my fault. Those first few days I carried rocks until my hands were bleeding, I was so desperate to win his approval.“Cal,” he told me, sighing with frustration. “You have to pace yourself. There’s not going to be any less work tomorrow if you do more today.”He wrapped my hands in faded strips of blue cloth torn from an old shirt. He tied the knots very tight, and I remember trying not to flinch. I didn’t know it, but he’d intended to hate me. And he wanted me to hate him too.But I followed him around like a miniature shadow. No matter how much he scowled at me, I was determined to be friends with him. I guess I wore him down.The brother/sister pairing system in the units wasn’t just for teaching and learning. It made us care about each other. Caring made us vulnerable, and the Opta knew that. Garrett was trying to defy the system when he pushed me away. Our unit, being buildings maintenance, was nearly all Workers. But we had an allocation of two Thinkers to help us plan our tasks more efficiently.Life settled into a pattern of work and sleep. There were never quite enough Exta to go around, so the workload was heavy. It was deliberate. The breeding programme produced no more than the city’s resources could sustain, which also happened to be slightly less than the workload required.The sky was dark for three days out of every four. On the fourth, the red sun rose slowly in the sky, and the Opta stayed inside. We were allowed to work a shorter day.In those precious hours, we could talk to each other without being overheard, and the future seemed less bleak. When we were feeling brave, we met up with other units and talked about what we might do if we were ever free.“I would eat all day long and sleep in a proper bed!” I said. My young age kept my dreams simple.“I would speak to who I want,” said one of the older boys, throwing a stone away from him forcefully. Dervan had just been assigned to road repairing. Permanently. This was his punishment for striking up a forbidden conversation with a girl from another unit while they were both on cleaning duty.I didn’t get what was so great about girls then. I thought Dervan was mad. But some of the other boys nodded in understanding.“I’d build a boat and try to find out if that shape in the water is another city,” offered Talik, the oldest member of our unit. “Maybe the Opta don’t live there.” He was counting down the days until his eighteenth birthday, and his eyes flashed with a mixture of suppressed rage and sharp fear.“What would you do?” I asked Garrett. “Discover. Learn. Negotiate. Rebuild this world into something decent.” Rude laughter and shouted insults greeted this. Garrett ignored them.He became my best friend. I hero-worshipped him. I grew taller than the other boys my age, and stronger, but he never called me Callax. As long as I was Cal, we could pretend that we weren’t both getting older. In time, the boys in the unit looked up to him too. He was a natural leader. Smart enough to be a Thinker and a Worker, but that was against the rules. It was not permitted to have too many skills in one Exta. He was just a Worker, quietly doing what he could to protect the weaker boys in our unit.We lived in the caves, when we weren’t working. It was miserable. Those hours in the sunlight prevented us from being as pale as our Opta rulers, but it was never quite enough.I always felt like chasing the sun to the distant horizon when it disappeared from the sky, hoping that it might come back if I wished hard enough. Did I mention how stupid I was back then?The city was built on a rocky island in the middle of a giant ocean. The buildings were piled into the available space, like stone boxes. The ocean kept us trapped as much as the Opta did. Talik never got to build his boat, of course.The years passed, and boys came and went. As long as Garrett was there, I felt like I could handle anything. Then I turned ten years old, which meant that I was required to attend the Gatherings. Two or three times a week, for the rest of my life. The reality of being an Exta hit me like a rock to the chest.We lined up in rows in the central square, outside the ruling house. It was taller and grander than the others, extending five stories high. And that’s not counting the statue.All of the other buildings looked the same from the outside. It made our jobs a tiny bit easier. Every piece was the same size, and in the same place.Not this one though. Rows of curling symbols surrounded the enormous doorway. What was the point of that? Decorating it didn’t change what happened there.I was scared to look at the symbols for too long in case the Initiation Word was hidden in the pattern. The statue of the great Flyer rose up from the roof, a menacing reminder of Opta authority.It was all wings, talons, scales, and feathers, with a long spiked tail thrown in for good measure.Every Exta was plagued with visions of these fire-breathing Flyers whenever we worked outside. They swooped across the ocean towards our island one after the other, disappearing when they reached the centre. Purple and silver, gleaming even on the dark days.It was an unnecessary reminder that we served the Opta. If we could see the Flyers, we could not escape the process. We were told that it was a sign of our stupidity, because our weak minds were so easily led. Garrett stood next to me, with his hand on my shoulder as a warning not to run. We were quite far back, but I could still see the victims when they crawled into the square.I panicked at first, and Garrett’s fingers dug into my shoulder. I’d known that Dervan would be there, and I’d also known that no one came back from the Gathering. But I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw.He’d left us three days earlier, summoned to be bound by the Initiation Word on his eighteenth birthday. We’d sent him off with the usual bravado.“Some people will do anything to get out of a day’s work, won’t they?” “Give the Opta one of these for me!”This was accompanied by a jab to the stomach. “Enjoy sleeping above ground for once! Think of us in our cave while you enjoy your comforts…”Garrett had clasped Dervan on his upper arm. They didn’t speak, but Dervan seemed to appreciate the silent support.Years of repairing the roads, week in week out, had made him physically strong. These days he kept his brown hair very short, and it made his eyebrows look quite fierce.Like most of us, he had easier days and bad days, but little remained of the boy who had exchanged a few hopeful words with that girl three years before.His expression in recent weeks had acquired a terrible patience. That was the choice he’d made. It was the only choice left to us. How to face it. We either accepted it, like Dervan, or we raged about it. But there was no point in resisting it.The Opta would not hesitate to seek out the entire unit and bind them too. Not even the brashest rebel, or the most desperate coward, could allow themselves to be responsible for that.The Dervan I saw that day in the square was barely a person. His physical body, on its hands and knees, was familiar, with the same dimensions and the same hair colour. There were no visible injuries.But the face that lifted towards the two Opta leaders was a hideous parody of the boy he had been. In his eyes was the glint of insanity, the broken pieces of a mind that had been smashed.“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please…”He repeated the same words over and over, until I thought I would go mad as well. He was reaching for something from her, the Binder, and she appeared poised to grant it, one arm extended. She was waiting for her brother. He was the Breaker. He was in no hurry, walking in a circle around Dervan on light feet, his expression fascinated.“I do love my work,” he breathed, the cold, quiet hiss of his voice reaching his silent audience easily. While some of us were disgusted or angry, most were afraid. There was worse to come. Dervan’s younger brother, Alken, would be made to finally condemn him.Alken had to be dragged forward. This babbling replica of the mentor who had looked after him for so long was the stuff of nightmares.He told me later that he was too afraid to look Dervan in the eye. The guilt writhed in his stomach like a trapped Flyer for weeks afterwards.“Your words, Exta,” said the Breaker to Alken. His pale eyes glowed brighter as Alken’s face twisted with revulsion. “Say them, and I will put him out of his misery.”Garrett’s hand got even tighter on my shoulder, but I welcomed it. The pain was evidence that we were still connected, still normal.“I… I can’t…” Alken’s expression was terrified. He suddenly looked much younger than his twelve years. He rubbed at his hair, creating brown spikes that looked as if they were standing up in fright as well.“Come now,” the Breaker mocked. “You know how this goes. Four words. Speak.”There was a pause, and the senseless pleading coming from Dervan escalated. Alken whispered something. He was made to repeat it, louder and louder, until he was screaming the words, before the Breaker was satisfied.“Please kill my brother!”It happened quickly after that. The Binder traced a pattern on her arm, and Dervan collapsed. Her brother lifted Dervan’s life essence out of his body like a multi coloured ribbon of light.I was torn between fascination and disgust. In the end, disgust won, and I had to swallow hard to keep from throwing up my breakfast.The symbols on the ruling house drew the light towards them like a sinister magnet. In seconds, Dervan’s life essence had disappeared. There were seven more Exta sacrificed at the Gathering that day. It lasted not quite one hour, but it was the longest hour of my life. I had seen my future. Garrett’s future. And there wasn’t a single thing I could do to change it.

The Legacy of Androva A to L

Today's post is the first half of an A to Z, with some pictures. I haven't written one of these before, and it seemed a good idea to start with the Legacy of Androva series before I attempt anything more ambitious! I'll complete the second half next week.

A is for Androva
Because the world of Androva exists only in my imagination, it took me a while before I found a real life place to illustrate what it's supposed to look like. This photo of Kirkjufell in Iceland comes pretty close! It could almost be Mount Sandro, where the finale of Stealing Magic takes place. The water on the other side is like Lake Semper, where my characters invent a spectacular new Entertainment Spell in Controlling Magic.
B is for BrothersFamily loyalty and support is a recurring theme. Actual siblings, or friendships so close that there's no difference, are my characters' greatest strengths. Even the most evil magicians in the series so far were just someone's brother once, and this is important for both of their stories.
C is for CombatThe first out of the six disciplines taught at the Seminary of Magic. There are three core spells used to disable an opponent's force field: Containment Spell (most common), Scattering Spell (least effective), and Immobility Spell (most difficult, and Shannon's speciality).
D is for DariusJax's best friend, an underage Androvan magician who is loyal to a fault, and turns out to be stronger than he realises when his nerve is put to the test in later books. He also prefers to think before he acts. Darius has blond hair and dark blue eyes, and is fourteen when the series begins.
E is for Entertainment SpellThese spells work exactly as the name suggests - to entertain. Androva celebrates the changing of each season with a festival, and Entertainment Spells are a big part of that.
Underage magicians at the Seminary of Magic compete for the chance to show off their skill and imagination. There are very few limits to what magic can create, and even though it's only an illusion, it's still pretty amazing to watch.
The picture is from the Controlling Magic story.






F is for Force FieldThe source of power inside every magician. Androvans are born with a certain amount of magical energy, which increases as they grow up. In between their twelfth and thirteenth year of life, there is finally enough to ignite a spark of magic deep inside their mind. This spark is what sustains and controls the force field, allowing it to grow, and to be filled with an endless variety of spells.
Contact with another magician's force field is necessary to trigger the spark, and it has to happen before the age of eighteen or it never will. The connection created at that moment lasts forever. Pure magical energy is silver in colour. The force field is usually visible in a magician's eyes when he or she is actively using it.
G is for GalenGalen is the magician who opened the first portal to Terra, nearly two thousand years ago. The present day Androvan Council refer to him as the Missing Magician, because he disappeared a few months later when he was still only seventeen years old.
H is for HistoryThe second of the six disciplines taught at the Seminary. Not the most fun to learn, given the high ratio of reading books to actually projecting spells. Lessons are more interesting after Stealing Magic, when a significant event from Androva and Terra's history is no longer hidden from underage magicians. The whole "reading books" thing becomes a lot more dangerous after the discovery of the Terran Signature Symbol in Seeking Magic.

I is for ImberaThe first world discovered by Androva, and to say that it's hostile is a bit of an understatement. The portals to Imbera were closed a very long time ago, but unfortunately they don't remain that way. Imbera is controlled by the Breaker. Together with his sister, the Binder, he wields a deadly spell so irresistible that no one has ever escaped it.
J is for JaxThe one who causes all the trouble in the first place! An underage Androvan magician, whose unshakeable self-confidence and curiosity about Terra (and Shannon) is second only to his magical ability. His father Revus is on the Androvan Council. Jax has black hair and green eyes (see picture above), and, like Darius, is fourteen when the series begins.
K is for KidnappingIn Capturing Magic, the first Terran to learn that magic is real, (after Shannon), decides they will stop at nothing to get some of it for themselves.
L is for Living MagicThe third of the six disciplines taught at the Seminary. Until the events of Stealing Magic, lessons concentrated almost exclusively on the art of magic-taking. I've always used a picture of a tree before, as that's where the most magic can be harvested from, but I thought this time I'd show even tiny flowers have their own supply of living magic.
That's the end of the first half of my A to Z, I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for reading!

Interview with Shannon and Penny

This interview is set after Controlling Magic, when all four underage magicians are fifteen years old.
Me : I only want to interview Shannon and Penny today, guys… Jax : (innocently) And? I promise to be quiet.
Shannon : (rolls eyes) Duh, she’s the author. She knows you.
Darius : Come on Jax, let’s go.
Jax : But I want to listen. I’ve changed a lot since I was last interviewed, and I need to make sure I’m not being misrepresented.
Penny : (even more innocently) Don’t you trust us, Jax? I’m quite hurt. After all I’ve done for you.
Darius : (grins) Don’t start, you two. Jax, you owe me some combat training anyway.
Jax : (sighs disappointedly) I like being interviewed, though. And I want to know what’s going to happen in the next book.
Me : Yes, but if you start asking me questions, it’s not really a character interview, is it? It’s an author interview.
Shannon : What is going to happen in the next book?
Jax : See? I’m not the only one who’s curious.
Darius : I don’t want to know.
Jax : Understandable. (grins) After all, you activated the Breaker’s spell in the last book, and caused all of our problems. Who knows what you’ll do next?
(Penny opens her mouth to defend Darius, but he doesn’t need her help)
Darius : First, it was an accident. I didn’t do it on purpose. It’s not like I said “Let’s open a portal to Terra in daylight, nothing bad will happen, I promise…” (Shannon and Penny start giggling at this very accurate impersonation of Jax) And second, you are so the opposite of quiet right now. I’m amazed our storyteller is still typing.
Jax : OK, I’m sorry. But you can’t blame me. It was nice not being the idiot who causes all the problems in the story for once.
Shannon : No, I don’t think you can take credit for every book. Let’s not forget the lovely Hesta. And I’m pretty sure the whole time travel thing was my idea.
Jax : Hmmm. You know what this means, then. It’s Penny’s turn.
(They all turn to face Penny)
Me : Excuse me. I do have some questions for Shannon and Penny, and I intend to ask them. Jax and Darius, I will allow you to stay, on the condition that you don’t say another word.
(Jax nods. Then his green eyes start glinting silver, and he gives a mischievous grin)
Me : (hastily) Or project a spell. Of any kind.
Jax : (mutters) Spoilsport.
Darius : (grins) What was that you were just saying about how much you’ve changed since the first interview?
Me : (laughs)
Shannon : Come on, guys. Don’t make us use magic to shut you up.
Jax : You could kiss me. That would shut me up.
Me : (takes a deep breath) The next book isn’t going to be about you.
(Shocked silence)
Me : If I’d known that would stop you talking, I’d have said it at the start.
Shannon : You’re being serious?
Me : Yes, mostly. You will be in it, but it’s going to be a bit different to the other books. Callax is the narrator. It’s his life, up to when he met you and for a few weeks afterwards.
Shannon : (smiles) Cal? He’s going to tell his story? That’s awesome! Can I read it?
Penny : Can I read it too? I’ve been dying to know what happened on Imbera since we left. I really want to see him again. And Benedar.
Me : I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but what you saw is less than half of it. A lot happened before that, and a lot has happened since.
Jax : What do you mean? Is he OK?
Me : I can’t answer that. It’s not fair on the readers. But I can promise you that you will find out. Soon.
Shannon : I’m really worried now. I hope nothing’s happened to him.
(Jax frowns)
Me : (pointedly) Cal does have a girlfriend, Jax.
(Shannon rolls her eyes, and Jax looks slightly sheepish)
Penny : What questions did you have for us then?
Me : I wanted to know how you feel about being a magician now you’ve had a chance to get used to it.
Penny : (grins) How long have you got? It’s like an amazing dream I never have to wake up from. There is magic inside me. It belongs to me. Sometimes it feels like electricity. Other times it feels like the sun turned silver. I can make spells out of it. I can open portals. I can do the impossible. Oh, and having a magician for a boyfriend is pretty cool.
(Darius blushes)
Me : (to Shannon) And what’s your favourite thing about being a magician?
Shannon : Apart from everything that Penny said, it’s the Comm… (she trails off, looking at Penny and Darius)
Me : It’s OK, I know the spell you mean. So will the readers, if they’ve got as far as the third book.
Darius : What spell? What is she talking about?
Me : Sorry. I can’t tell you.
(he turns to Jax)
Jax : Sorry, I can’t tell you either.
Penny : (to me) I’ll let you off if you give me and Darius a spell of our own in a future book.
Me : OK. I can probably do that. I have one more question for you though. You didn’t become a magician until later in the series. Is there anything you’re sorry to have missed?
Shannon and Penny together : Galen
Me : Galen?
Penny : Yes! I really, really wish I could have met him.
Darius : So do I.
Me : Hmmm. You’re not the first person to say they’d like to see more of Galen. But you do realise he’s two thousand years in the past, don’t you?
Jax : Even if they can’t actually meet him, you could still let him tell his story. Like Cal is doing. I mean, I like Cal and everything, but Galen’s story… I’d loveto read that.
Me : I don’t know… Maybe… I’ll think about it. I interviewed Galen a while ago, and he did say something kind of shocking about his future.
Shannon : You interviewed him? When? What did he say?
Me : Sorry, we’re completely out of time. I’ll try to do another character interview again soon. Thanks everyone for reading!

Tour Week Twelve (Final Week)!

[image error] Welcome to the final week of my blog tour! You can find all of the stops here: Stealing Magic Tour

Today, Monday 3rd April, I have been given the chance to write a guest post for Long and Short Reviews, on the topic of where ideas come from. I jumped at the chance to write about this, even though I definitely do not have a definitive answer to the question!

Stealing Magic is also being featured on Welcome to My World of Dreams.

The giveaway closes today, but if you miss it you can still follow the links below and see what interesting books my hosts this week can introduce you to!

Long and Short Reviews - Guest Post

Welcome to My World of Dreams

Finally, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has so generously featured Stealing Magic on their website during the tour!

Location, Location, Location

Today's post is about magical places, starting with one from the Legacy of Androva series, and moving onto three of my favourites created by other authors.

Mabre House, Androva
The first picture shows how I imagine Mabre House to look, where Jax lives with his father Revus. This is where Shannon first sets foot on Androva. The friendliest rooms in the house belong to Jax, and his mother Arianna, although hers is not revealed until the third book. On the far left is the training room, stretching the height of the house. The interior is covered with a blue Protection Spell. It ensures that the magicians inside remain unharmed, no matter what dangerous spell they might be experimenting with. The Protection Spell glows brighter if it's being used. When it's visible from the outside like this, there are probably Combat Spells, or Paradox Spells, or a game of Time Trial happening inside!

[image error] Cair Paravel, Narnia
Almost the best thing about this castle is that C.S. Lewis does not give away too much in the way of description, leaving the reader to fill in the details. But it's by the sea, with a great hall, and thrones, and peacock feathers on one wall, and open doors to the horizon on the other...  It certainly caught my imagination when I first read it! I also think the makers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe did a pretty amazing job creating the castle for the 2005 film.

The Faraway Tree
I've never forgotten Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree books, even though I discovered them back when I was only seven years old. The idea of a tree inhabited by quirky creatures and talking animals was intriguing enough, but there was also a different magical land at the top every day. My favourites included the Land of Take-What-You-Want and the Land of Birthdays. There was even a spiralling slide in the middle of the tree to save you from having to climb back down it!




Hogwarts
No list of magical places would be complete without including a creation of J.K. Rowling's. Her world building is absolutely incredible. The only difficulty is choosing just one! Diagon Alley, The Ministry of Magic, The Burrow, Hogsmeade... At one point when I was writing this post, I even considered Newt Scamander's suitcase ☺
But in the end, I had to settle on Hogwarts. Although the prospect of going back to school would normally give me nightmares, I would definitely make an exception for Hogwarts!

Do you have a favourite magical place? Is it one you've come across recently, or one from a book you discovered when you were younger? Thank you for reading!

Tour Week Eleven!

[image error] Welcome to the penultimate week of my blog tour! You can find all of the stops here: Stealing Magic Tour

Today, Monday 27th March, Edgar's Books is featuring my book and an author interview.

There were some great questions, including what kind of music I like, and what I think makes a good story!

Follow the link below to enter the giveaway and have a look round the website at the other books!

Edgar's Books - Author Interview

Portal Rooms

Today's post is about portal rooms. They are built deep underground, to ensure that the magicians using them are as protected as possible. There was a particular incident in Androva's history, as explained in the first book, which brought home the realisation that portals can be incredibly dangerous if not carefully managed.

Androva did go slightly overboard with rules and regulations in the time since then, and my protagonists are still doing their best to force the Androvan Council to move with the times!

I've included two excerpts, which show how much things have changed in the series. The first excerpt is from the first book, when Shannon steps into Androva straight from her garden, having just met Jax properly. The second excerpt is from the fourth book. Andy, the brother of Shannon's friend Penny, is taken down the stairs to a Terran portal room by Penny and Jax's friend Darius.

Excerpt One

Shannon blinked. She had grabbed Jax’s hand a split second before, taken three steps forward, and the world had changed. Quite literally, as it would turn out. They were now in a small, dark room, with lots of symbols painted in various colours on the walls, floor and ceiling.
She looked down, and realised she was standing on some kind of circular mat that glittered and felt slightly rough under her feet. The air around them was shimmering gently, and as she watched, the shimmer retreated downwards, leaving the air clear. The mat no longer glittered, and was now a plain dark green colour.
“This,” said Jax, gesturing downwards, “is my spellstation.”He sounded very proud of something that, to Shannon, seemed rather ordinary.“Green is the most powerful colour,” Jax continued. “And it’s big enough to transport two magicians who are of age. No other magician as young as me has managed such a feat before.”
Shannon tried to look impressed. Jax sighed.“I suppose you don’t know anything about it,” he said disappointedly. “You’ll have to take my word for it then,” he concluded, with a hint of his former smile. “You will have to trust me on matters Androvan, and I will have to trust you on matters Terran.”
Excerpt Two

She took Andy’s hand and started pulling him back the way they had come. Soon enough they had arrived at the portal room stairs. Half way down the stone steps, spiralling down and down, with only faded Illumination Spells to light the way, Andy started to resist.
“Where exactly are you taking me?” he asked. “All that… back there. It was kind of weird, kind of cool, but definitely… not from around here.” He looked at Darius. “How do I know this isn’t a kidnapping and you’ve got my sister under some kind of spell to follow your orders?”
Darius laughed before he could stop himself. “Believe me, there is no spell on Androva that could get Penny to follow anybody’s orders.”
Andy narrowed his eyes for a second and then nodded slowly. There was the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Fair point. I believe you.” Penny, behind him, gave his leg a kick in protest. “Is that where we’re going then? Androva?”
Darius nodded, and Andy started moving again. Quickly and efficiently, Darius opened the portal, his Sygnus starting to spin as he entered the co-ordinates. He held out his hand, and Andy looked at it suspiciously.
“Dude, I am not holding your hand,” he said. Penny suppressed a snort of laughter at the look on her brother’s face.
“No,” said Darius patiently, “I need your phone. It will stop working if I don’t protect it first.”
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the excerpts!

Tour Week Ten!

[image error] Welcome to the tenth week of my blog tour! You can find all of the stops here: Stealing Magic Tour

Today, Monday 20th March, Books Chatter is featuring my book and an author interview.

This particular interview was a lot of fun to complete. Not only did I get to imagine who could bring Stealing Magic to life on the big screen, but my hosts have also put the book's playlist together! My cat even makes a brief appearance at the end of the interview ☺

Follow the link below to enter the giveaway and visit the amazing Books Chatter website!

Books Chatter - Author Interview