Gail Z. Martin's Blog: Disquieting Visions, page 25

The Day After the End of the World

by Gail Z. Martin

What happens on the day after the world ends?

As in most apocalyptic scenarios, the “end of the world” doesn’t necessarily mean the planet has been blown into smithereens.  More likely, something has radically altered the climate, destroyed the power and communication grids, and sent governments careening into anarchy.  Whatever the cataclysm, it’s likely that large numbers of people are dead, medicine and medical facilities are scarce or non-existent, and social roles have completely broken down.  Transportation is dangerous or not possible.  Survivors are on their own to figure out how to get by.

In my new novel, Ice Forged, my characters face a post-apocalyptic medieval world where war has not only devastated the physical landscape and destroyed the social structure, it has made magic unusable.  That’s bad news for a culture that depended on magic in much the same way our culture relies on technology.

I’m fascinated by the people left alive to clean up the mess.  How do they pick up the pieces and go on? What decisions do they make regarding how to protect themselves, how to find food and shelter, and how to band together for support?  What elements of the culture do they try to preserve, and which do they allow to die?  What becomes of a culture’s art, religion and collected knowledge?

As I’ve worked through these questions in Ice Forged (and the manuscript for its sequel), it’s been an interesting journey to strip civilization down to its most basic essentials and then put myself in the boots of the survivors to determine what gets rebuilt—and what is allowed to remain rubbish.

When you’re free to re-make yourself once the strictures of class, family history and social convention are removed, who would you choose to be?  And if the only thing that matters if your ability to survive and protect your friends, would your past mistakes (or criminal record) still haunt you?

These questions are especially significant for my Ice Forged main characters, who have been exiled to a prison colony in the far north.  When Blaine McFadden, exiled for murder, comes to realize that he might be the only one who can put magic right again, he faces a series of decisions that go to the core of his being.  I’ve enjoyed putting him to that test, and finding out what drives my characters, what matters to them when they’ve lost everything, what keeps them moving forward.

You learn a lot about someone when you go through the apocalypse together.  And you learn even more when you have to decide what kind of civilization you’ll rebuild.  I hope you’ll join me for the adventure!

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

Women and the Apocalypse

by Gail Z. Martin

In my new novel Ice Forged, a medieval post-apocalyptic story, I find that women of every circumstance play a very important role in what happens after the world “ends.”

Blaine McFadden, my main character, sacrifices his title, lands and fortune to protect his sister and aunt from Blaine’s abusive father.  He’s sent to a prison colony in the arctic, There, he meets women from every class and circumstance whose ill fortune caused them to be exiled.  One of those fellow prisoners, Kestel Falke, is a courtesan, spy and assassin who becomes part of Blaine’s inner circle.  Among the prisoners who have survived long enough to become colonists, the women are shopkeepers and merchants, trades people and seers, farmers and trollops.  They play an important role in the economy of the self-sufficient colony, and emerge among the leaders when a devastating war cuts the colony off from the supplies and oversight provided by the kingdom.

Regardless of their previous social class or the circumstances that caused their imprisonment, the older women colonists emerge as the “wise women”, an important force in the social cohesion of the colony.  Far from the land of their birth, torn from their families and loved ones, these “wise women” preside over the births, marriages and deaths, and keep the customs and culture of their homeland alive through the celebration of religious and seasonal holidays.  The magics of vision, foresight and prophecy seem to fall more often on women than men, giving women with these gifts status and standing among their fellow colonists.

When war destroys the kingdom that exiled Blaine and his fellow colonists, the after-effects of war fall especially heavy on the women who survive the devastation.  With a generation of men lost to the battlefront, and many of the surviving men either too old, too young or too injured from the war, it falls to the women to piece together a subsistence living from the wreckage, harvest and plant the crops, gather the scattered livestock, and patch up their damaged dwellings.  Since the Cataclysm also destroyed the kingdoms’ trading partners, the survivors are on their own for the necessities of life.  And since magic was one of the casualties of war, those who survived the conflict must shoulder the burden of rebuilding without magical help.

Blaine’s Aunt Judith, his sister Mari and his former fiancé, Carensa, each find a different path to survive in the harsh new reality.  Without the strictures and conventions of class and in the midst of a society torn asunder, they have the opportunity to make decisions for themselves and step into leadership roles in ways that would not have been possible under old norms.

I found it very interesting to think about the tension that the power vacuum creates after the apocalypse. Some of the women survivors will seize the moment to assume roles for which they are qualified but which social pressures would have denied them before the breakdown of society.  Others will attempt to regain a sense of control and normalcy by attempting to replace familiar cultural, social and family roles and take consolation in the familiar.

I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know the women of the apocalypse in Ice Forged and as I work on the sequel.  And I’m looking forward to seeing more of them as future stories come together.  I hope you’ll join me for the adventure.

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

 

Fantasy Faction interview – questions for Gail Z. Martin

by Gail Z. Martin

Many people will know you as the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (beginning with THE SUMMONER) or the more recent Fallen Kings Cycle set in the same world. The new Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, beginning with ICE FORGED, is set in a wholly new world. What lies in store for readers?

ICE FORGED’s world is very different from the world of the Winter Kingdoms from my previous books.  Magic works differently, there’s a completely different set of gods and goddesses, and the culture of the kingdom is very different.  I’ve had some fun turning a few things upside-down from how they worked in my other books.  In my previous books, they kept magic from failing.  In ICE FORGED, magic does fail—and the results are catastrophic. My main character in the other series has a very powerful magical ability.  Blaine McFadden has almost none.  In my Chronicles series, my main character was an untested young man.  In ICE FORGED, Blaine has seen the rough side of life before the story begins.  All those changes were a lot of fun for me—and I hope they present a very different adventure for readers.

ICE FORGED interestingly seems to revolve around the concept of an apocalypse in a medieval-like setting. What was it that appealed to you about this idea?

I’m not really very interested in modern-day apocalyptic stories, but I liked the idea of having the world fall apart in a medieval setting—perhaps because in real life, things like the Black Plague really would have seemed like the end of the world for the people who survived.  When the magic fails, their society is so dependent on it that it’s like us losing the power grid across an entire continent. I’m having a lot of fun wrecking havoc!

The main character in ICE FORGED Blaine McFadden is a rather troubled and complex character – a man condemned for murder, exiled to a penal colony, yet still a heroic figure of firm morals and principles. Did you find writing him a challenge?

Blaine kills the man who raped his sister—who happens to be their father.  He expects to be executed for his crime, but the king (who was aware that Blaine’s father was a rat bastard, but a loyal rat bastard) exiles Blaine as an act of mercy.  Blaine endures tremendous hardship in the prison colony and finally earns his Ticket of Leave which means he is a colonist (though without the ability to leave the colony) and builds a life for himself with close friends.  He’s made his peace with being in exile, until war destroys the kingdom and the magic, and Blaine might be the only one who can put things right.  I have really enjoyed writing Blaine because he’s a survivor.  He accepts what comes his way without ducking, and he takes care of his own.  He loses everything he has, and still emerges to make a life for himself.  Although he’s got scars, he’s not bitter, but he is wary and so he’s got people who watch his back.  He’s actually been a lot of fun to get to know!

ICE FORGED has a very gritty edge to it, and the concept of survival – of endurance in the face of adversity – seems to be a key theme. Do you feel that it’s important to give a message of hope in dark times?

I have very little patience with fiction, movies or people who wallow in despair.  I like the proverb about “fall down seven times, get up eight.”  In my own life, the people who inspire me are the ones who find a way to create something positive about even the most awful circumstances and who emerge as a beacon for others.  I’m a fan of Churchill—“Never, never, never give up.”  So for me, watching Blaine and his friends go through all that they’ve endured and come out with their sense of self intact, their ability to form bonds with others intact, and their ability to see a bigger picture beyond their own misfortune is very encouraging.

Magic seems to play a more important role in ICE FORGED than it does in your previous series, but interestingly, it seems to be treated as a kind of natural resource for the characters that’s taken for granted. Could you tell us a bit more about your inspiration for this?

In my last series, the plot focused on characters with powerful magic.  With the exception of the magic strike (something of a doomsday weapon) that makes the magic fail, the real devastation happens with the small magics no longer work.  These small magics helped people with their everyday lives and function much as our science, medicine and technology do.  I liked the idea of doing the opposite of what I had done before, so I was looking for a different way to approach magic. I liked toying with the idea that magic is something that is constantly present but only a percentage of people have the ability to learn to use it.  It’s not about studying spells, it’s about an inborn ability that you either have or you don’t.  That becomes very important as the story goes on, because people who have magic have learned to rely on shortcuts.  People without magic have to do things the hard way.  When the magic fails, guess who is better positioned to survive?

We all think ICE FORGED would make a great movie. So the big question – if it gets made, who would you like it to star?

I think Richard Armitage, the guy who played Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, could do a great job as Blaine!  I picture Piran Rowse as a young Bruce Willis.  Beyond that, I’ll leave it up to the casting agents.

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

5 Rules for Surviving the End of the World

by Gail Z. Martin

My newest novel, Ice Forged, takes place in a post-apocalyptic medieval world.  As the book cover proclaims, “Their world is ending: the adventure is just beginning.”  With the Mayan Apocalypse so recently in memory as one of those “fake” end of the world scenarios, what does it take to survive when the world devolves into chaos?

Rule #1: It helps to be far away when the doomsday strike hits.  My characters begin the book in exile in an arctic prison colony.  Their colony is affected by the catastrophic loss of magic, but because of the colony’s primitive conditions, the effect of the catastrophe  is lessened.  In their case, exile to the end of the world ended up being “lucky”.

Rule #2: Make sure you know how to do important things without magic.  In Ice Forged, people have gotten dependent on using small magic as a short cut for everything from healing sickness to making sure crops weren’t eaten by pests to holding stone fences together.  When the magic fails, everything it was holding together fails, too.  People who only know how to do things with the help of magic are stuck.  Their “power grid” has gone down, and they don’t have back-up.

Rule #3: Have people who will watch your back.  Our myth of the totally independent person is only possible because of the largely invisible, massive infrastructure that enables us to pretend we’re doing everything ourselves.  When that infrastructure fails, you find out very quickly that the people who survive do so as a team.  Cut-throat individualism only works on reality TV—had “Survivor” been real, the ones who made it would have been the ones who banded together. In Ice Forged, friendships and alliances make a life-or-death difference.

Rule #4: Challenge the defeatists.  Just because civilization as you know it has been shattered doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.  It might be possible to reverse or at least limit the damage, unless you sink into depression and drink all the remaining brandy.  Even a slim chance can give survivors the will to transcend the devastation.  In Ice Forged, the idea that it might be possible to restore the magic takes my characters from their icy (but relatively safe) prison home back to a kingdom that exiled them, against all odds.

Rule #5: Accept that the end of the world changes people.  Some lie down and die.  Some go mad. Others find a new purpose for life, and courage they never knew they had.  In Ice Forged, the exiles find out what they’re made of—and what they’ll risk—to start over.

There you have it: my rules for surviving the end of the world.  Feel free to print out this list and tape it to the inside of your pantry door, so that you have it handy for the next doomsday prediction.  Then gather your friends in a remote location, and get ready to hit the restart button.

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

 

Three All-New Short Stories Now on Kindle (And coming soon to Nook, Kobo and iBooks)

by Gail Z. Martin

Now that Ice Forged is in bookstores everyone (and topping the Amazon charts on both sides of the Atlantic—thank you readers!), and the sequel is already in the hands of my editor, it’s time to unveil new short stories coming each month to ebook!

If you like pirates, magic, vampires, and cursed objects, try my new Deadly Curiosities Adventures.  The first two stories, Vanities and Steer a Pale Course, are now on ebook—with more all-new, never-before-published stories to come.

If you liked my Chronicles of the Necromancer and Fallen Kings Cycle series and want more Jonmarc Vahanian excitement, I’ve got new stories just for you, starting with Raider’s Curse!

Ever wonder how Jonmarc Vahanian became the most dangerous warrior of his generation? How he earned the bounties on his head? What really happened in Nargi?  And where he got that scar? My new Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures take you back to the beginning, and I’m planning to tell his story all the way up to where he meets up with four young men running for their lives who need to hire a guide.

And if you haven’t grabbed Ice Forged, what are you waiting for?  It’s in trade paperback wherever books are sold, and also on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iBooks.

Here’s more about those new short stories….

The Deadly Curiosities Adventures

This series of adventures spans over 500 years, from the 1500s to modern day as a small cabal of vampires and their human helpers battle supernatural enemies to find and destroy dangerous magical items and keep the world safe from dark forces.

Vanities—Jewel thief and newly-turned vampire Sorren sets out to steal a priceless brooch possessed by an ancient evil before it sets the Black Dragon loose in medieval Antwerp.

Steer a Pale Course—Two young fishermen in post-Revolutionary America are forced to retrieve a deadly object from an ancient burial mound or face the vengeance of raiders who have taken their village hostage.

The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures

Soldier. Fight slave. Smuggler. Warrior. Brigand lord.  If you’ve met Jonmarc Vahanian in the Chronicles of the Necromancer and Fallen Kings Cycle books, you don’t really know him until you take his journey.

Raiders’ Curse—The legend begins.  When sea raiders threaten the villages along the Margolan coast, young Jonmarc Vahanian risks everything to save his family.

“Like” my Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms page to get all the news first when new short stories are ready to post plus con photos and other news—or just hang out and chat!

Are you on Twitter?  Follow me @GailZMartin for updates on signings, funny stuff and sort-of witty conversation.

Join me on Goodreads for a new writing-related group every month—we talk about favorite books, how to get published, and other stuff you won’t want to miss.  Friend me at http://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin

Come hang out with me at a con!

I’m everywhere from New York to Arizona in the coming months—and I do it to talk with readers!  So come by and see me!

Feb. 15 I’ll be signing Ice Forged at the Books a Million at Cotswold from 1-3
Feb. 16 I’ll be signing Ice Forged at the Barnes & Noble in Pineville, NC from 2-4
I’ll be back in Roanoke for Mysticon Feb. 22 – 24—Ice Forged Launch Party is Saturday night!
I’ll be at Lunacon March 15 – 17 in Rye Brook, NY
Look for me at the Arizona Renaissance Festival (near Phoenix) signing books March 23-24
I’ll be at Ravencon in Richmond, VA April 5 – 7.
Going to Balticon in Hunt Valley MC May 24-27
Come see me at ConCarolina in Charlotte, NC May 31 – June 2
I’ll be at Dragon*Con Labor Day weekend!

That’s all for now—but watch for new short stories, updates on upcoming new books and new signings and events on Twitter and Facebook.  And whether you stop by at an event or catch me online—let’s connect!

May I ask a small favor?  If you enjoy the books and short stories, please tell your friends, share a link on Twitter or Facebook or put a review on Amazon.  I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you for reading—because readers like you give me a reason to keep on writing.

Creature Creation

by Anne E. Johnson

One of joys of reading science fiction and fantasy is its challenge to our imagination. We are offered new worlds and beings and expected to accept them as real.

But before a reader gets a chance to wrap her mind around fantastical inventions, a writer must invent them. That can be harder than it sounds. The trick is not the inventiveness; most authors who choose to write speculative fiction have imagination in spades. The trick is viability and consistency.

Consider a fantasy creature we’re all familiar with: a dragon. As the author describes this dragon, there are a lot of factors to consider: What color is it? Is it the same color all over? Does its color change as it moves? What texture is its skin (scaly? spiky in some parts?)? How large is it, compared to other characters or objects around it? Is it a young, spritely dragon, or an old, lumbering one? How wide must its wingspan be for it to reasonably be expected to fly?

And then there is its effects on its surroundings: What happens to the ground when it lands or takes off? How do the trees move when it flies through or over them? What gets scorched when it breathes fire? If someone rides on its back (as seems to happen with remarkable frequency), how does that person hang on? How does the dragon react to having a rider?

Such issues become magnified when an author has invented a completely new and unfamiliar creature. My favorite example is the trinity Odeen, Dua, and Tritt in Isaac Asimov’s The Gods Themselves. Asimov seemed determined to make beings that were as far from human experience as he could imagine, so their very physical presence is foreign and is intermixed with unique psychological features. These creatures are rather ghostlike, feed on moonlight, and to show emotion and experience they alter their width and density. And, rather than two sexes in this species, there are three sets of emotional function. It’s complicated and fascinating, and completely believable.

No surprise that the great and powerful Asimov set himself such a hurdle. For most of us ordinary mortal writers, however, it’s the physical nature of invented creatures that’s the primary challenge. For example, one of my main characters in The Webrid Chronicles is named Zatell. Her body is a single round section surrounded by about thirty small limbs that serve as both hands and feet. When she “walks” (and I try not to use that word too much with her), she’s really rolling or cartwheeling.

Every time Zatell performs any physical act, I have to think very hard how she could actually accomplish it. Getting up onto a chair is different for her than it is for a biped species. On the other hand, she can do many things that others can’t, like hold several things at once while also eating and writing! The biggest issue in such cases is consistency. Notes like “Can she actually do that?” from sharp beta readers and editors are invaluable and always make me slap my forehead.

It can be slow, detailed work to rein in the imagination to make it viable to a reader. But the chance to captivate the reader is what a writer lives for, so it’s absolutely worth the effort.

*   *   *

Green Light Delivery, Book 1 of The Webrid Chronicles, is a humorous, noir-inspired science fiction adventure. Read the first 24 pages of for free here.

Book 2, Blue Diamond Delivery, is scheduled for release by Candlemark & Gleam in June of 2013.

Purchase Green Light Delivery from the publisher, on Amazon, on BN.com, and elsewhere.

You can learn more about Anne E. Johnson at her website.

For updates on Anne’s publications and appearances, like her Facebook author page.

Follow her on Twitter @AnneEJohnson

So You Want to be a Hero?

By M.A. Donovan

Heroes aren’t born, they are made. Society, relationships, and the way we live dictate whether or not we can become a hero to someone. In ancient times, you didn’t have to be completely honorable, loyal, or an upright citizen to become legendary. You just had to do something remarkable that people would talk about (and maybe write an epic) for years to come. For instance, Achilles, the Greeks’ greatest hero, tried to get out of fighting for his country and when that didn’t work, he sulked in his tent while his comrades were killed. But yet to die old and unsung would never do, so he stepped up and was remembered.

Today, heroes are defined by their values. Just doing something heroic isn’t enough; one must also live honorably, be healthy and strong within, learn humility, and have some redeeming qualities that someone will look up to.

Heroes can be almost anything – the shy kid living next door, the 89-year-old veteran in a wheelchair, or your accountant. Animals have been known to carry out great feats in stories as well as real life news events. When writing a hero into a tale, they can wear many hats and have varying dispositions, but they all have one thing in common: the need to aid someone who is in trouble. They needn’t be superheroes with special powers or physically strong; anyone can be a hero and sometimes, you’ll find them hiding in the last place you would look.  Do you have it in you to be a hero to someone?

In The Golden Horn, my wayward hero, Galen, is a combination of the ancient legends and the modern day hero. He is humble and refuses to title himself, but yet, his heart breaks at the thought of all the struggles the common villager has to suffer. Galen is no stranger to pain, coming from a broken home filled with evil, but he finds a way to survive and decides to do something important with his life. With his sword and companion mage, Olstek, they travel the land, doing good whenever possible. He becomes the Hero of Shandor, even though he feels he’s not worthy to be called that.

The Golden Horn is available at amazon.com or createspace.com. Want to win a free signed copy along with a special gift from me? Enter my “Letter to a Hero” contest. Simply craft a genius letter to your special hero (can be a fictional character or a real person) and send to me at kariah@donovanfantasyauthor.com with “Letter to a Hero” in the subject. I’ll select a winner at the end of my virtual book tour, on or around March 1, 2013. Please make sure to include your name, mailing address, and email in your letter.

Visit M.A. Donovan online at http://www.donovanfantasyauthor.com or check out her blog at http://www.freethewriterinside.com.

Read an excerpt at http://getshorturl.com/17  .

Fantasy Worldbuilding 101, Or How To Make Your Setting More Like Middle Earth, And Less Like A Ren Faire

by Jennifer Allis Provost

The term worldbuilding gets used with some frequency when discussing fantasy, and, to be fair, if your worldbuilding isn’t up to par, your story will fall flat. What’s the point of investing all those long hours at the keyboard, crafting finely nuanced plots and flawed yet lovable characters, if the place they live in – whether it’s a castle, wattle and daub cottage, or even an igloo – rings about as true as the set from a high school production of Camelot?

Before you send that manuscript off into the abyss of querydom, compare your world against the following checklist. While adhering to these points won’t ensure that your setting is perfect, they will go a long way toward keeping your world consistent.

Food: What do your characters eat? If the story takes place in a medieval setting, I would expect to see more joints of meat and loaves of dark bread than chicken nuggets and side salads. Also, how is the food served? On metal platters, in wooden bowls, or on trenchers of bread? Are the bones thrown to the dogs, or saved by a thrifty kitchen maid for tomorrow’s stew?

Clothing: Pre-industrial societies tended toward two broad categories of clothing: spare and utilitarian for the working class, ornate and cumbersome for the nobility. Also, due to the labor involved with spinning and weaving, only the very wealthy owned several sets of clothing. If your peasant keeps showing up in pristinely clean shirts without any mention of Ye Olde Laundress, your readers will smell something fishy.

Even if your fantasy has a modern setting, you should still consider clothing carefully. If the character’s on the run, they’re going to get dirty. Also, what are they wearing while avoiding the Feds/evil vampires/rabid bunnies? Good clothes for going on the lam: jeans, t-shirts, flat soled boots or sneakers. Not so practical choices include flimsy dresses or blouses, spiked heels, and lacy lingerie.

Locomotion: How are your characters getting around? In a modern setting this isn’t as much of an issue, since we have all the requisite planes, trains, and automobiles. But, in those pesky pre-industrial societies, your characters are pretty much limited to animal-based transportation (horses, elephants, camels), boats, or some sort of magical device, such as a portal. Boats are, well, boats. If your characters have access to portals or time dust or whatever, please make it a grounded, working magic system.

If your characters rely on the animal-based transportation, please keep one thing in mind: remember to feed the animal! A quick Google search can give you valuable information about how much a horse needs to eat, how often it needs to rest, etc. While this might not be such a big deal for one or two characters on a short jaunt about the countryside, traveling for a significant distance requires either packing feed, or stopping at a stable for the night.

How do you worldbuild? What do you consider to be the vital details?

 

Bio:

Jennifer Allis Provost is the author of the fantasy series Chronicles of Parthalan, available now, and an urban fantasy series, Copper Legacy. The first installment, Copper Girl, will be released June 2013 by Spence City.

http://jenniferallisprovost.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/copperraven

http://twitter.com/#!/parthalans/view/19702

http://spencecity.com/

http://www.cafepress.com/Parthalan

Jennifer Allis Provost is a native New Englander who lives in a sprawling colonial along with her beautiful and precocious twins, a dog, two birds, three cats, and a wonderful husband who never forgets to buy ice cream. As a child, she read anything and everything she could get her hands on, including a set of encyclopedias, but fantasy was always her favorite. She spends her days drinking vast amounts of coffee, arguing with her computer, and avoiding any and all domestic behavior.

 

Blurb for Copper Girl:

 

Sara had always been careful.

She never spoke of magic, never associated with those suspected of handling magic, never thought of magic, and never, ever, let anyone see her mark.  After all, the last thing she wanted was to end up missing, like her father and brother.

Then, a silver elf pushed his way into Sara’s dream, and her life became anything but ordinary.

Available in print and e-book June 25, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-939392-02-2

What’s in a World?

by Gail Z. Martin

World building is arguably the most fun—and most difficult—part of writing.  Get it right, and your world becomes as memorable as your stories and characters, a place that lives on in the imagination of your readers, as tangible as somewhere they grew up or went on vacation.  Get it wrong, and you’re no more memorable than a truck stop on the highway—or worse, you’re memorable for all the wrong reasons.

I’m guessing there are as many ways to world-build as there are authors, and no single right way as long as readers like the outcome.  So I’ll just share how I do it, and let you take it from there.

For me, world building, plot and character are all inextricably linked.  I may begin with an idea about a plotline, or have a clear “vision” for a character whose story I’d like to tell, or a place that would be a great setting for an adventure.  Whichever one I start with, I need to find the right two components to go with it so that it all goes together seamlessly.

If I start with a character, then I have to ask myself, “What society and landscape shaped this character?”  We’re all influenced by the place in which we grow up, or make our home.  What influences would have produced a person with my character’s values, interests, world view, prejudices, belief systems, abilities, fears, likes and dislikes?  That’s going to go a long way toward helping me create the right kind of environment for the story, and it’s going to shape the story itself, because certain types of stories are more plausible in some situations than in others.

If the original inspiration comes from the plot, then I have to figure out what type of setting/environment will make the plot situation likely—even possible.  I have to think about how my choices of setting could enhance—or dampen—the plot and whether I can envision those settings in a way that make them different from places that readers have been before.  (The truck stop analogy again—we’ve all been to at least one, and they all look alike.  Nice if you want consistently clean restrooms, but zilch for ambiance.)

And if the setting is what I begin with, then it’s going to be unusual, and there’s something about it that draws me.  Certain types of stories are more likely in specific types of places—crowded cities full of transients and intrigue, for example, versus a rural setting where no one leaves home and strangers are automatically suspicious.   In this case, there’s something about the setting that will inevitably suggest the plot and sketch out the characters.

The fourth component is time/technology.  London in 2150 is very different from London in 1250.  This will determine everything from types of communication, speed of travel, methods of warfare, and other crucial details.  Will your characters be spending gold coins or swiping a debit card?  Is information known instantaneously around the world, or at the speed of sailing vessel (or horse)?

For me, the best kind of research mixes both books and experience.  I’m a museum junkie, and I have been going to living history sites since I was a kid, so I’ve grown up with the sound and smell of a blacksmith’s shop, rudimentary knowledge of cooking on an open hearth, horse-drawn conveyances, and everything from period clothing to old-fashioned medicines, entertainment and art.  If I can’t go a museum, there’s always the History Channel, or the Travel Channel, web sites, travel guide books, and even old-fashioned travelogues given at your local AAA, library or community center.  It’s amazing how the smallest details that seem insignificant can end up adding to the texture of your next book.

It also helps to be a “critical” consumer.  When you watch a movie or TV show/series or read a book, pull back enough to think about whether or not the world building is working for you.  Does it immerse you in the story, or jar you out of it?  Is it a distraction, or so integral the story wouldn’t be the same without it.  What is memorable?  What is clichéd? Could the characters be anywhere, or are they so much a product of time and place that they could be nowhere (and no-when) else?  Plots can be recycled (think about Hamlet done in Shakespeare’s time and re-done into modern adaptations), but each time, the time/place alters the story—if it doesn’t, something’s missing.

Most importantly, have fun with it! If you’re not fascinated by your world, your readers won’t be, either.  Enjoy!

Please enjoy this excerpt from my short story, “Among the Shoals Forever”, excerpted from The Mammoth Book of Women’s Ghost Stores: http://www.4shared.com/office/e5deWqV_/An_Excerpt_from_Among_the_Shoa.html

And this scene from “Buttons”, excerpted from Magic: http://www.4shared.com/office/20nwnf1S/Buttons_excerpt_1.html

 

 

Why I Still Write About Heroes

by Gail Z. Martin

We live in a cynical, jaded age.  There aren’t a lot of heroes left unsullied.  Sports icons turn out to be hiding secrets.  Celebrities are mere mortals.  Politicians—well, don’t even get me started on that one.  Historical figures, once the researchers are through with them, turn out to be less than god-like.  And of course, as we all get older, we look back on the people who loomed so large in our lives, parents, grandparents, mentors and teachers, and realize that they were fallible people who sometimes made mistakes or could not transcend the prejudices of their era.

Heroes are an endangered species.

There’s a trend in certain circles to write “realistic” protagonists who may be interesting, memorable and entertaining, but who fall short of being heroic, or even admirable.  I’ve heard people say this is a nod to the way the world really works.

I say, balderdash.

I still believe in heroes—real and fictional.  To me, that’s not naïve or hopelessly idealistic.  But it does require a caveat.  Here it is: no hero will be heroic in everything he/she does.  And the corollary to that caveat: Even heroes make mistakes.

The hero-bashers want perfection.  They’re always going to be disappointed, because no one is perfect.  What that means in real life is that someone who is a fantastic athlete (and a hero to fans) may not be a good husband or father.  A talented celebrity (who is a role-model to aspiring artists) may not be an otherwise nice person.  A soldier or first responder who shows great valor in dangerous situations might not be a great co-worker or next-door neighbor.  These people have all earned the title of “hero” in a specific setting, but they’re not flawless, and I don’t think that to qualify as a hero, perfection is necessary.

 

Heroes are important.  We need people to admire, people who inspire us to do our best, to go beyond what we think is possible.  We need to see examples of the best that the human race can do, because we so often see the worst (and our modern media tends to enjoy serving up heaping helpings of negativity).  And as we give our real-life heroes their due, we also need to keep the adult perspective that reminds us not to expect any human being to be heroic in every aspect of life.  Expect the imperfection, and give real life people the space to be flawed.  That’s not jaded perspective, it’s a mature one that goes beyond child-like faith to admire the admirable and have compassion on the imperfect.

 

That’s why I enjoy writing adventures where it’s still possible to tell the good guys from the bad guys.  None of my characters is perfect, and some of them have done things to survive that will haunt them all the days of their lives.  They’re flawed human beings, people who have survived the fire and have the scars to prove it, and they make mistakes.  Sometimes, they do things that aren’t admirable—or even legal—because it’s the best choice among bad alternatives.  And while they may have the talents or abilities that make them a hero in one setting, they may not seem very heroic to their friends, lovers, neighbors or families.  In other words, they’re the good guys, but they’re not perfect.  And that’s ok.

 

I write about heroes because we need heroes.  We need to be reminded what humans can be like at their very best.  We have the evening news to show us what we are like at our worst.  We need opportunities to cheer for the winning team, because in real life, sometimes clear wins are few and far between.  And we need good guys to nudge us toward the everyday heroics that are within our reach, whether it’s showing kindness to someone who needs a hand or helping a child or telling the truth.  The real truth is that we are all capable of far more greatness than we give ourselves credit for.  Heroes encourage us to live up to that potential.

 

So I’ll go on writing about good guys and heroes, no matter what the cynics say.  I hope you’ll join me.

 

Grab an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://www.4shared.com/office/cmGO132...

 

Ice Forged won’t be in stores until January 8, but you can preorder here: http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Forged-Asce...