R.M. Archer's Blog, page 37

Cover Reveal: Healer’s Bane by Hope Ann

Hope Ann is preparing for another release, and I get to help show off the gorgeous cover for it!

First off, have a blurb:

Kynet hadn’t planned to be in the forefront of the rebellion. That was her brother’s hobby—rallying the people. Plotting against the leaders. Running into dangers she’d have to negotiate him out of.

That was before the Poisoner tried to kill her with many profuse apologies.

That was before she survived, her hands glowing with a strange power she didn’t understand.

With her new ability to heal, Kynet is convinced the rebellion will only doom them all. Taking the people’s pain on herself is a better and all-around safer way. After all, what is the comfort of one worth, compared to the others who can be saved?

Or will it matter at all as her brother lays plans to end the decades of fighting once and for all?

I’m already super excited to read about Kynet! And if the sibling dynamics are as good as they were in Shadowkeeper… I’m definitely sold on this one.

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Healer’s Bane releases March 25th, so add it to your Goodreads TBR to join the other fabulous 2019 releases you’ve been waiting for.

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Just a little farther…

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I LOVE the style of this cover. Are your eyes turning into hearts, too? Guess what? You don’t have to wait until the 25th to order Healer’s Bane! You can pre-order it right now and get it as soon as it comes out!

About Hope Ann

Hope Ann likes to think herself a dragon-riding, griffin-taming founder of worlds and explorer of legends. Using chocolate, she bribes a wide ring of spies, from the realm leapers of Aslaria to the double agents of Elkbend, for their stories. She thrives on frost, steel, and the tears of her readers which she secretly mixes into iced coffee. Deep in her hobbit hole, her actual life involves staying up too late writing, reading, researching stab wounds, and struggling to remember the difference between ‘effect’ and ‘affect’. Based in Indiana, she is the self-published author of the Legends of Light series. Hope Ann helps other writers as a personal writing coach and is the Communications Coordinator at Story Embers. You can find out more about her at authorhopeann.com or claim a free copy of her first novelette here.

Character Interview: Nissa Quail & Detren Everlind

Since it’s February and the month of loooooove and all that, I figured it would be fun to do some character couple interviews. I’ve really been enjoying the joint interviews I’ve done of late (and I hope you have too. You can let me know if you hate them and I’ll stop. XD), and I figured it would be fun to revisit some previously-interviewed characters and see how they react when put with their romantic counterpart.

Nissa and Detren’s relationship is pretty rocky, and I wouldn’t say Nissa actually loves Detren in the true sense of the word, but he definitely loves her and she can’t deny her attraction to him no matter how hard she tries. Let’s get into the interview.

Nissa: *looks like she doesn’t want to be here as she takes her seat*

Detren: *looks semi-worried as he takes his*

Interviewer: Hello. *smiles* How are you?

Nissa: Fine.

Detren: All right.

Interviewer: Are you ready to get started?

Nissa: Sure.

Detren: *nods*

Interviewer: What are your names?

Nissa: Nissa Quail.

Detren: Detren Everlind.

Interviewer: How long have you two known each other?

Nissa: *glances at Detren* A month and a half, maybe?

Detren: *nods* That sounds about right.

Interviewer: Are you officially a couple already?

Nissa: *laughs hysterically and then abruptly stops and puts a dead expression on her face* No.

Detren: *chuckles* I’m not even sure that’s a good idea at this point…

Nissa: *nods* Exactly.

Interviewer: How did you meet?

Detren: *opens his mouth to answer*

Nissa: I stole his crown, and then I went back to steal something else and he caught me. It was rather unfortunate.

Detren: I wouldn’t say unfortunate… It definitely wasn’t the worst night of my life.

Nissa: *almost softly* No, I’d imagine not.

Detren: *winces*

Interviewer: Did you like each other when you first met?

Nissa: *shrugs* He was clever. He wasn’t what I’d imagined a prince to be.

Detren: *smiles a bit* I liked her just fine. She’s quick-witted and fun, even if she did steal my crown. *glances sideways at her, still smiling*

Nissa: *rolls her eyes*

Interviewer: What is your favorite thing about each other?

Detren: She’s passionate about things.

Nissa: *mutters* I choose not to answer this question.

Interviewer: What is your favorite thing to do together?

Nissa: Argue.

Detren: *laughs* It certainly seems that way. I’d say play chess? Or just… spend time together and talk.

Nissa: *snorts* Speak for yourself.

Interviewer: How would each of you describe your relationship?

Nissa and Detren: *in sync* Complicated.

Interviewer: What book would you end up with two copies of if you got married?

Nissa: I don’t read, and Detren has plenty of books on his own.

Detren: What she said.

Interviewer: What are your love languages, and how do you show affection to each other?

Nissa: I don’t have a love language.

Detren: Mine is quality time. I try to show affection to Nissa by being there for her and letting her talk.

Nissa: I don’t like to talk. At least not about feelings like you’re talking about.

Detren: *to the interviewer* Apparently I need to work on finding her love language.

Interviewer: *nods slightly* What’s your favorite memory together?

Nissa: *doesn’t answer, but you can tell from her eyes that she’s remembering it, and her expression softens just a little*

Detren: *murmurs* That night on the roof. *glances over at her*

Nissa: *refuses to meet his eyes*

Interviewer: *is just quiet for a minute, letting them have a moment, before moving on* What’s the most embarrassing story you have together?

Nissa: Oh Detren’s embarrassed himself lots of times trying to ‘help’ me. *her hard expression is back as she looks at Detren*

Detren: *shrugs* I don’t mind. *to the interviewer* I can’t think of a mutual embarrassment.

Interviewer: If you could do one thing for your partner, what would it be?

Nissa: I’d knock some of the compassion out of him. He’s far too soft for his own good.

Detren: *frowns at her* And I’d show you that being ‘soft’ is not a bad thing.

Nissa: *glares at him* Tell that to the sixteen-year-old girl who got kicked out of her home because she started to have feelings for a dumb prince and stopped doing her job properly!

Detren: *looks shocked* *quietly* I’m the reason you got kicked out?

Nissa: No, I am. For being stupid and soft enough to start caring about you. *turns away from him and crosses her arms, tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes*

Interviewer: *coughs, trying to ease the awkward* Um… what are some of your shared hobbies?

Nissa: *still silent, crossing her arms, avoiding eye contact*

Detren: *absently, still looking at Nissa* Chess.

Interviewer: Um… maybe we ought to cut this one short… Have a good day, both of you. *leaves*

Discovering Your World: Map-Making

Some of you may remember the “Deep Worldbuild Project” that I did in January and February 2017, a blog post series which continues to consistently get traffic to this day. I thought it was time to revisit that series and update it with some of what I’ve learned in the past two years. I’m going to cover most of the same things I covered in the original series (map-making, how landscape affects culture, wildlife, technology and magic, religion, and history) but with some new additions. Instead of seven installments, the new series is going to have nine, including a guest post near the end by Kate Flournoy.

Also, I feel obliged to mention that I’ll almost certainly be referencing World Anvil a lot in this series. No, I was not paid to promote the tool, I just really appreciate it and think it’s super helpful and recommend that y’all try it out for yourselves as well. (Also, there’s a free version that includes the core features and then some, so you can learn how it works, experience it in almost its full functionality, and fall in love with it before committing to pay for extra features.)

However, I may include Amazon affiliate links to books or other tools. These will always be marked with an asterisk, and a little note at the beginning or end of the post will give a brief explanation of affiliate links.

With all the technicalities and explanations out of the way, let’s get into the good stuff!

I usually like to start with a map, or at least the beginnings of a map, because it helps me develop the culture around the landscape. If you’d rather develop the culture and then build a map around it, that works too. I’ve done both, and I think there are definitely pros and cons to both. When I start with a map I generally have trouble figuring out where to place various features and how to fill up all the space, and then I’m constricted to what’s on the map with my more internal worldbuilding, but it does help me to have a visual representation of the country. When I start without a map, it can be difficult for me to get a clear idea of the country’s values (don’t ask why the landscape makes that clearer in my head; I really don’t know), but I have more freedom in what sorts of cultures inhabit the space.

There are a handful of ways you can get a map for your world, and which is best for you will largely depend on your priorities and resources.

Hand-draw your map

Obviously this is the most work, and probably the one people are going to most shy away from because they “Don’t have artistic talent.” First of all, you probably have more than you think. Second of all, a map doesn’t really require artistic talent. Sure, it’s nice if your map looks nice, but really your map just has to give a fairly decent representation of your continent/world/city’s shape and where things are within it. If that means your continent has too-smooth edges and is in gaudy colors, so be it.

I do, however, have a tip or two to help you make your map more visually appealing than my bright yellow map of Baarmegan from five years ago.

First of all, a great way to make your coastlines look naturally jagged is to trace around rice.

This is how I got the shape for Kaloris, and it worked really well. Pour rice onto your paper, manipulate it as desired, and then trace around it with a loose hand. You’ll end up with shorelines that look like this:

(The inner line is what I got from the rice. I then went around it with similar strokes to make it look like there was a rocky shoreline that rose up from the water.)

Also, maybe this is just me, but maps are generally more visually appealing if they have pretty, flowing rivers. If you want some advice on where to place your rivers and how to make them work, you can scroll down to point 4 of this post by Jonathan Roberts. (The whole post is good, so I recommend reading the whole thing for advice on drawing your own map.)

Though hand-drawing a map is the most tedious and difficult of the options on this list, it’s my personal preference and I like the freedom it affords. Another perk to hand-drawing a map is that even if your artistry isn’t great, it’s going to be in your own style, which isn’t the case with these next two options.

Inkarnate

Inkarnate is an online map-making platform, and if you’re hesitant to draw your own map because you feel like you don’t have the talent, this might be worth checking out. There is a free version (don’t be misled by the fact that their whole front page is an ad for the paid version), and though it doesn’t have as many features, it’s still helpful for small-scale maps.

Even though the artwork is gorgeous, I personally prefer drawing my maps by hand because it has more flexibility and it’s actually easier to make your shorelines look natural by hand than in Inkarnate. The brush options for terrain are circular, square, or hexagonal, all of which are difficult to make natural-looking shorelines with. You can see in my Kersir map below that the shoreline is very smooth.

It’s also possible that I just haven’t fully mastered the tools. If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, definitely do so and see how it works for you.

Buy a custom map

If you’re really invested in having a custom, hand-drawn map but don’t want to do think you can do it yourself, this is an option. Etsy has several sellers who offer beautiful custom fantasy maps, but a professional fantasy map is obviously not cheap, so I’d recommend this as an option for later on down the road when you want to get a map to print in your published book or something like that and just use a passable free map up until that point.

I did look up custom fantasy map vendors on Etsy, and here are the three cheapest I found (after a semi-brief hunt):

FantasyMakersCrafts (this vendor uses Inkarnate Pro, I believe)

HannahNRichter (digital copy only)

BuschArt (these are hand-drawn)

You can also find artists on DeviantArt who do map commissions.

Use Photoshop

Okay, so I actually don’t know exactly how one draws a map in Photoshop, I just know it can be done. You can install terrain brushes and city stamps or something like that and use them to draw a map. You can find someone who actually knows what they’re talking about here and figure out how that actually works, lol.

Here are some more resources on map-making:

World Building Tips: Map Making from Write For the King

Practical Steps to a Rewarding Fantasy Map from Clearwater Press

Creating a Map for a New Storyworld from Go Teen Writers

Map-Making 201: Naming Things from Go Teen Writers

How to Design a Town from Fantastic Maps

Drawing Realistic Coastlines from Fantastic Maps

Worldbuilding Considerations: Maps from The Writing Cafe on Tumblr (Tumblr doesn’t load on my computer, so I haven’t actually read this, but hopefully it’s good.)

How to Create a World: Part 1: The Map from Ink Blots and Coffee Stains

World Anvil’s map features

If you upload your map to World Anvil, there are some awesome things you can do with it. First, you can easily add markers with notes that can be viewed by simply scrolling over the marker on the map. You can find an example with my Kersir map here. It makes it super easy to keep track of what cities are what, what you named that one oasis, etc.

You can also nest maps with markers. I haven’t done this yet because I don’t have any small-scale or global-scale maps just yet, they’re all continent/country-sized, but it’s a super awesome idea and I’d love to use it at some point when I actually get around to drawing larger or smaller maps. But another map is not the only thing you can link to from a marker. No. You can also link to a related article (the description article for the town you’ve marked, a historical event that took place there, an organization that’s important to the place, etc.) and when someone clicks on that marker it’ll take them to the target article.

Where in the worldbuilding process do you usually draw a map? What method do you use? What is your favorite fantasy map? I’d love to chat with you in the comments. :)

Farewell to January – 2019

The first month of the year is already gone. Am I the only one who felt like that just flew by?

January’s Writing

I did almost no drafting last month. I did go over chapter 1 of Slander & Steel, armed with critique from one of the Story Embers people, but I haven’t even finished that yet, and I still have eight chapters to go at the end of the book, so… I really need to buckle down on that in February, or decide to step away. The main problem with this draft is that I’ve read it all so many times I can’t identify what the problems are anymore, I just know there are problems, so it might be time to step back until I can pass it off to someone else for critique.

I did a tiny bit of work on short stories this month, but not nearly the amount I wanted to get done. The aim was to finish four of my short stories, but I mostly just went over what I’d already written and cleaned up some spots.

I did have some fun with Brothers (which I really need to stop having fun with so I can focus on The Shades and the Elect), setting up a story playlist, a Pinterest board, outlining a handful of scenes, writing a scene… But the story still has no good overarching plot, so it’s not anywhere close to being ready to be written yet, lol.

Most of January’s writing has been worldbuilding in World Anvil. I’ve had a lot of fun moving information from my head (and notes) into a more polished format, and it’s birthed a lot of new information that’s going to be a lot of fun to work with when I start writing the stories I’ve set in Aleruus (which is the main world I’ve been working on). Stories like Studded, The Half-Elves, and The Masked Captain. (You can check out my worlds here.)

January’s Reading

Reading has actually gone very well this year. I’ve already finished five books, which I’m super happy about considering how slowly I was reading last year.

The Smart Girl’s Guide to God, Guys, and the Galaxy by Susie Shellenberger and Kristin Weber (To be fair, I skimmed the second half of this. It was clearly targeted at public-schooled girls who are often surrounded by secular pressure, which means I was not the target audience and to me it was more shallow than I needed.)
The Raventree Society: Season One* by J.E. Purrazzi (See my full review here)
Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1 by various authors (I started this one way back in August, but I finally finished it this month. I enjoyed most of the stories.)
Shadowkeeper* by Hope Ann (See my full review here)
Sapphique* by Catherine Fisher (Not a top favorite, but definitely enjoyable and unique)

*This is an affiliate link, which means if you buy through this link I get a percentage of the profit at no extra cost to you
January Life

Last month my dad set up a schedule for my driving practice so I can likely get my license in March (yay!), I finished my last Invisalign tray, and I’m back to helping out with the group project I think I’ve mentioned in the past. (If all goes well, you’ll be hearing more about that project very soon.) Overall, January’s been a pretty good month, aside from the fact that I’m already sick of snow. :)

How was your January? What was your favorite read of the month? Top accomplishment? Let me know in the comments!

Character Interview: Lauren & Emma Avery

Last week I interviewed Nathan and Levi, the main pair of brothers from… Brothers. This week I’m interviewing the female lead, Lauren, and one of her sisters. As with Nathan and Levi, I don’t actually know these characters very well yet, but figuring out characters through their interviews is a lot of fun, so we’re gonna do this anyway. I do know that Lauren is extremely optimistic and hopeful, no matter the circumstances, and her whole family is strongly Christian. Aside from that, we’re gonna find out. :)

Lauren: *comes in and takes a seat, offering a bright smile to the interviewer* Hello.

Interviewer: *returns the smile* Hello.

Emma: *skips in after her sister with a grin and climbs into her seat* Hi!

Interviewer: Hello there! How are you?

Emma: Good!

Interviewer: Are you ladies ready to get started?

Lauren & Emma: *nod*

Interviewer: What are your names?

Lauren: Lauren Marie Avery.

Emma: Emma Nicole Avery. *grins, proud of herself*

Interviewer: How old are you?

Lauren: Sixteen.

Emma: Five. *holds up a hand, fingers spread wide*

Interviewer: Five? You’re practically a grown up!

Emma: *giggles*

Interviewer: Do you two have any other siblings?

Emma: *starts counting on her fingers*

Lauren: *smiles at Emma and lets her finish*

Emma: Four. Grace, Benjamin, Ethan, and Owen.

Interviewer: What order do you go in?

Lauren: Owen’s the oldest, then me, then Ethan, then Benjamin and Grace, then Emma.

Interviewer: *to Emma* Do you like being the youngest?

Emma: *nods* I get lots of cuddles. *grins*

Lauren: *chuckles*

Interviewer: *to Lauren* Do you have a job?

Lauren: Not at the moment. I was a Starbucks barista, but after the bombings we had to leave, so I’m obviously not working there anymore. *chuckles* I loved it, though. I hope that I can find a similar job when we get somewhere safe. *smiles and rubs Emma’s arm reassuringly*

Interviewer: So you and your family are on the move?

Lauren: *nods* Us and three people from the military base by our house.

Interviewer: Is it uncomfortable being stuck in close quarters with strangers?

Lauren: *shrugs* Not especially. They needed our help, and I’m glad we could help them. Nathan and Levi are really sweet, and they’re really just like us. Lacy’s a little bit intimidating sometimes, but we know she means well, too. And if she doesn’t Dad and Owen are more than able to protect us. So no, it’s not especially uncomfortable.

Emma: *nods*

Interviewer: Are you introverts or extroverts?

Emma: *looks up at Lauren for an explanation*

Lauren: That means do you like being around people more or being by yourself?

Emma: Oh! *grins at the interviewer* People, definitely!

Lauren: I think I’m an extrovert, too. I definitely value alone time, especially with so many siblings *chuckles*, but I generally get energy from being around other people and seeing them happy and that kind of thing. *smiles*

Interviewer: Do either of you have a favorite food?

Emma: Pancakes!

Lauren: Hm… I like apples.

Interviewer: How about a favorite color?

Emma: Purple!

Lauren: *nods* Purple is a good color. I also like sunset colors. They’re some of my favorites. *smiles*

Interviewer: Do you prefer movies or books?

Lauren: Movies.

Emma: Books.

Interviewer: Do you have any favorites?

Lauren: Anything by Marvel or Disney. *laughs*

Emma: All Together Now.

Interviewer: I don’t think I know that one. Who’s it by?

Emma: *shrugs*

Lauren: I think it’s… Anita someone? I don’t remember.

Interviewer: Who are your favorite Disney Princesses?

Lauren: Cinderella.

Emma: Jasmine. She has a pet tiger!

Interviewer: If you had a pet would you pick a tiger?

Emma: *thinks a minute* I don’t know. I think it would be too big for me. A smaller cat might be better. One of the small cats that kinda looks like a tiger.

Lauren: An orange tabby?

Emma: *nods* One of those.

Interviewer: *to Lauren* How about you? What pet would you pick?

Lauren: A husky puppy.

Interviewer: What are some of your hobbies?

Lauren: Watching movies, singing, playing guitar, sometimes reading. It depends on the book.

Emma: I like reading and singing a lot. And listening to music.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite music genre?

Lauren: I really like contemporary Christian music from the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. Not so much a lot of the more recent stuff, but there are still a handful of artists I like on the radio. MercyMe, Britt Nicole, tobyMac, Hollyn, artists like that.

Emma: *nods* Me too.

Interviewer: Which of these is most important to you: kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Emma: Bravery.

Lauren: Kindness.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Emma: *carefully pronounces the syllables* Selflessness.

Lauren: *nods* Selflessness.

Interviewer: What’s something you can’t leave home without?

Lauren: My phone. So I can call home in case of an emergency.

Emma: I don’t usually take anything with me.

Interviewer: Any final thoughts?

Emma: Can I give you a hug?

Interviewer: *nods*

Emma: *hugs the interviewer* Thank you. *pulls away with a smile*

Lauren: Thank you for the interview. *smiles* *takes Emma’s hand and heads out of the studio*

5 Traits Every Good Antagonist Should Have

Today, to finish out the last week before I get to start a super epic blog series I’m really excited for (you’ll find out just what that is next week when the first post of the series goes up), I’m writing about antagonists. I really like antagonists. It should probably be worrisome how much I like antagonists. But when they’re written well they can be some of my favorite characters in a book, at least for their depth. So we’re going to be talking about things you can focus on with your antagonists to make them deep and resonant with your readers. (Hopefully your readers aren’t like me and won’t make them favorite characters, but…)

Also, thanks to Savannah Grace and her video on whether Loki or Thanos is the better villain for inspiration for this post. (They mention a good number of other helpful traits for antagonists, if you want some more inspiration.)

1. Give Your Antagonist Motivation

No character is going to be compelling or interesting to read about if they don’t have a strong motivation for why they do what they do. This is especially true of antagonists. If your antagonist is just evil for the sake of being evil, they’re not a strong character. No one is evil just for the sake of being evil unless they’re Satan. Or possibly if they’re really mentally unstable. In that case you might be able to redeem your antagonist with some of the other things on this list, but if you’re antagonist is a sane person they’re going to need a believable motivation. Not one you can agree with, necessarily, but one that’s believable.

For instance, maybe your evil king wants to conquer a bunch of the countries around him because he feels that his kingdom is too poor to sustain itself and he needs the resources of the other countries. Maybe your jerk abusive character is abusive because he was abused as a kid and he didn’t have a healthy example to follow instead. (DO NOT use this as an excuse to make a bad boy character who’s a jerk to your protagonist but ends up totally fine in a relationship with her because he has a Tragic BackstoryTM and that makes everything right. Just don’t. Unless you can do it really well and give him redemption aside from his backstory.) Whatever the case, give your character a believable motivation.

2. Make Your Antagonist Intimidating

An antagonist your main character can defeat with a snap of their fingers is not a strong antagonist. An antagonist your main character only loses to once is… probably also not a strong antagonist. Make your antagonist somehow stronger than your protagonist (whether that’s physically stronger, mentally stronger, more knowledgeable, etc.) or else there’s no real threat. There’s no tension if the reader knows the protagonist can defeat the antagonist whenever he wants.

Graceling did this really well with Katsa and King Leck, which is most of why he’s my favorite book antagonist. Readers appreciate it when we can worry about the protagonists and the ending isn’t assured. It makes for a more meaningful story in the end when the protagonist does triumph over the antagonist.

3. Make Your Antagonist Human

As mentioned in the “motivation” section, chances are your character is not a remorseless robot who exists solely for the purpose of destroying the world. They’re going to have hobbies, people they care about (even if it’s only their sibling or parent or something), things that make them happy, etc. Give them relatable characteristics. Maybe even make them redeemable. Give the readers something that tells them your antagonist is not solely there to be an obstacle for the protagonist; he has feelings and a life and passions just like the protagonist.

4. Give Your Antagonist Boundaries

Even the most evil of antagonists is likely to have a line they don’t cross. Maybe they’re totally fine with killing innocents, but not if they’re defenseless and can’t fend for themselves. Maybe they’re more than willing to steal from people, but they’d never intentionally injure someone. Maybe they’re willing to take justice into their own hands and avenge their families, but they won’t kill anyone not directly standing in their way.

This is another that ties in with your antagonist still being human, just like all your other characters, and there’s still a bit of morality in them.

5. Give Your Character a Backstory

This is another one I touched on in “motivation.” For any person or character, good or bad, their past has shaped who they are now. Backstory is crucial to knowing a character and their current personalities and motivations, and that’s just as important for an antagonist as for a protagonist. (Moral of this post: your antagonist is just as important as any of your other characters, so develop them as such.)

Bonus: Give Your Antagonist History with the Protagonist

This one isn’t required, but it can be a nice bonus. If your antagonist and protagonist knew each other in some capacity before the main plot of your story, it can add fun dynamics to their conflict. Did they go to school together? Were they in the same military division? Their relationship then will color their relationship now and make things extra interesting. Did they hate each other back then, and this only fuels that hatred more? Was one protective of the other and now they don’t want to hurt them even though they’re on opposite sides of a battle? Did they care about each other and neither of them wants to hurt the other?

Again, this one’s not required, but it can be fun to play with.

Are there any crucial parts of antagonist-building that I missed? What are some of your favorite villain tropes? Let me know down in the comments!

Recommended: Four Traits Villains Need to Effectively Oppose Protagonists

Book Review: Shadowkeeper by Hope Ann

Rating: 4 stars

Hope Ann’s latest novella is arriving today, and I was privileged to get to read it ahead of time. Shadowkeeper is inspired by the myth of Castor and Pollux and the story of Hades and Persephone, which is awesome in and of itself, but then you add in snarky, stubborn characters whose family means more to them than anything and it becomes even better.

The worldbuilding in this book is wonderful. It’s been good in the other two Hope Ann books I’ve read, too, but I think it most comes through and it’s most clear in Shadowkeeper. I really enjoyed learning more about the magic system she’s created.

I also enjoyed the characters. Cedra is stubborn and fiercely protective of her sister, Pethra, which I loved. It’s rare to find such strong family ties in YA (at least in my experience), so the relationship dynamics between Cedra and Pethra were encouraging to see. The relationship between Death and The Shadowkeeper were also really intriguing, and very well-written. I did have trouble telling Cedra and Pethra apart throughout the book–their names are similar and their voices aren’t especially distinct from each other–but I was able to keep enough of a mental image of each one based on Hope’s character images that I was able to remind myself which was which.

I really enjoyed the plot–it centered around all the sibling dynamics, which I already talked about–and overall the book was a really good read. :)

About the Author

Hope Ann uses chocolate to bribe a wide ring of spies, from the realm leapers of Aslaria to the double agents of Elkbend, for their stories. Based in Indiana, she is the self-published author of the Legends of Light series, personal writing coach, and the Communications Coordinator for Story Embers. You can find out more about her at authorhopeann.com.

Pre-order the book here!

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Character Interview: Nathaniel & Levi Samuels

Nathaniel (“Nathan”) is the main character of Brothers, an apocalyptic-ish novel that’s currently on the back burner but I’m super excited to write at some point. Levi is his little brother. I don’t actually know that much about them yet, so I don’t have much to put in their intro, but they both care very deeply about each other and their family in general and they’re both super sweet.

 

 

 

 

Nathan: *heads into the interview room, with Levi right behind him, and takes a seat in one of the two provided chairs*

Levi: *climbs into the other chair*

Interviewer: Hello, gentlemen. How are you?

Nathan: All right.

Levi: I’m good. *smiles*

Nathan: *smiles slightly at Levi*

Interviewer: What are your names?

Nathan: Nathaniel Samuels, but everyone calls me Nathan.

Levi: Levi Jacob Samuels.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Nathan: I’m seventeen, Levi’s seven.

Interviewer: There’s a ten-year gap between you? *to Nathan* How were those ten years for you? Did you always wish for a younger sibling? Was Levi a surprise to you?

Nathan: I’d wanted a younger brother, yeah, from about the time I was five. Our mom had a lot of miscarriages before Levi came along. He almost didn’t make it either, but he pulled through. *smiles and pulls Levi into a side hug*

Levi: *smiles* Mama called me her little fighter.

Interviewer: Is your mom still around?

Nathan: *swallows hard* She, um… There was an attack on the army base we were on. Our house didn’t make it.

Interviewer: I’m so sorry.

Nathan: There’s a chance she’s still alive somewhere. *attempts to smile down at Levi* *looks back at the interviewer* There’s still a little bit of hope.

Interviewer: *nods* Was your mom in the military or your dad?

Nathan: Both, to begin with. That’s where they met. When they had me Mom retired and Dad stayed. I haven’t seen him in years, though.

Interviewer: Is the military something either of you are interested in?

Levi: *nods and pulls away from Nathan* I want to be a pilot in the air force!

Interviewer: Really? Why’s that?

Levi: I want to fly. *grins*

Interviewer: That sounds like a great goal. *smiles and turns to Nathan* How about you?

Nathan: *shakes his head* I’d rather work on a ranch. Mom always wanted to go back to a ranch like the one she grew up on. *smiles a bit*

Interviewer: I’ve always thought working on a ranch would be a lot of fun. A lot of work, but fun work. *chuckles* *to both* Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Nathan: Introvert.

Levi: What does that mean?

Nathan: Do you like people or alone time more?

Levi: People! I love people. *grins*

Interviewer: *grins* Do either of you have a favorite food?

Levi & Nathan: *in sync* Peach pie.

Nathan: *grins at Levi* Mom makes a great peach pie. It’s especially good with vanilla ice cream.

Interviewer: That sounds delicious. How about a favorite color?

Levi: Green, like the forest.

Interviewer: Have you ever been to the forest?

Levi: No, but I’ve heard about them. I want to go sometime. I want to see a bear.

Interviewer: Better be careful around the bears, though. Don’t go messing with any cubs.

Levi: *nods* I know. I won’t get too close.

Interviewer: *chuckles* Do you prefer movies or books?

Nathan: Movies.

Levi: *nods* Me too.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite?

Nathan: Captain America.

Levi: The Avengers. *swings his arm around like the Hulk smashing Loki* “Puny god.”

Nathan: *laughs* That’s his favorite scene in the whole movie.

Levi: *nods*

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite animal?

Levi: Bears.

Interviewer: Ah. I should have guessed that one. *looks at Nathan*

Nathan: *shrugs* Dogs, I guess. I’ve never really lived somewhere near animals.

Interviewer: What are some of your hobbies?

Levi: Watching movies.

Nathan: *nods* Watching movies, reading, hanging out with this kiddo. *ruffles Levi’s hair*

Levi: *pushes Nathan’s arm away with a grin*

Interviewer: What are some of your favorite things to do together?

Levi: Play superheroes! Nathan always lets me be The Hulk. *grins*

Nathan: *nods* I do. It’s a hard sacrifice. *winks at the interviewer*

Levi: *laughs* No it’s not. I know you like to play the others more.

Nathan: *grins*

Interviewer: Which of these is most important to each of you: kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Levi: *sits and thinks for a moment* Bravery, I think.

Nathan: *nods* I agree.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Levi: Selflessness.

Nathan: *nods*

Interviewer: What’s something you can’t leave home without?

Levi: *pulls a chain necklace out from under his shirt* Daddy gave it to me. I put it on every morning and don’t take it off until bed.

Nathan: *pulls a compass out of his cargo pants pocket* This was a gift from Dad, too. It’s sentimental and practical. *shrugs a bit*

Interviewer: That’s really cool. Any final thoughts?

Nathan: *shakes his head*

Levi: Thank you! *hugs the interviewer*

Interviewer: *hugs him back* You’re very welcome! Thank you.

Levi: *steps back with a grin and looks at Nathan*

Nathan: Yes, thank you. *shakes the interviewer’s hand*

Interviewer: Of course. Have a great day.

Nathan and Levi: *head out of the studio*

Handwriting for Fiction Authors

Today’s post is part one of a two-part collaboration with Julia at Lit Aflame! I’ll be talking about how fiction writers can use handwriting, and she’ll be talking about the benefits of typing instead. Her post will be going up on her blog tomorrow, so be sure to check it out!

I don’t often handwrite my fiction. I can type waaaaaaay faster than I can handwrite, so I do that instead. But there are aspects of story-writing that can definitely benefit from handwriting, and here are a few of them.

The Initial Idea

When I have a story idea, I almost always write it down in one of my notebooks, on a designated page called “Story Ideas.” I often have at least three of these to a notebook, and I fill them with snippets of dialogue, paragraphs of description, character names, plot ideas… When I fill a “Story Ideas” page, I start a new one.

You could also do this with a word document (I have a word document, too, which I migrate my ideas to either when I fill a “Story Ideas” page or when I fill a whole notebook), but it’s somehow more satisfying to me to write it on paper.

Brainstorming

This can be brainstorming right after you’ve had your next big idea, or after you’ve been writing for months and you have no idea how to move forward. Find the next blank page in your notebook and start free-writing, anything that comes into your head. Write down questions (you don’t have to answer them yet), random bursts of inspiration, past ideas you want to incorporate, anything and anything that comes to mind for the story.

If you’re at a spot in your story where you’ve been writing and gotten stuck, start by figuring out what’s keeping you stuck. Did your character act out-of-character two chapters ago and throw everything off? Did a new secret organization pop out of nowhere that now you have to find a place for? Start by figuring out the problem, and then free-write to solve it.

The reason hand-writing is going to be good for brainstorming through writer’s block is because it gives you a new perspective. Instead of staring at a blank screen with uniform black letters, you’re looking at a piece of paper with messy handwriting. It’s more free and natural for brainstorming, and you have the added benefit of the fact that it’s more tactile than typing. Yes, typing involves your fingers, but in typing you don’t have to move your whole hand into specific shapes to make letters, you just have to tap plastic keys. Handwriting could be especially helpful for you if you’re a tactile learner.

Writing

There’s no way I would write an entire novel on paper. That would take me ages longer than it needs to. However, I do know some authors who are slower typists (or just slower authors in general) and prefer to write their novels on paper. Even for myself, I don’t frown on writing actual stories on paper.

Personally, I’ll occasionally write scenes from a novel I’m working on in my notebook instead of on the computer and copy it over later. It could be that I had a burst of inspiration and didn’t want to get to the computer, or it was the middle of the night and I wanted to write it down before I forgot, it could have been that I just felt like writing on paper. I’ve written numerous scenes from The Shadow Raven, among other things, in notebooks.

When I was younger, I’d write long sections of novels in notebooks. To begin with I wrote complete stories (they were short), and as my stories grew longer I’d continue to write them in notebooks because I didn’t feel like copying them onto the computer yet. A good half of The Half-Elves‘s first draft is in a notebook. Even up to just a couple years ago I wrote long sections of stories in notebooks, and a year ago I wrote almost an entire short story on paper while I was on vacation.

Like with brainstorming, hand-writing can be a great tool to change your perspective and get your creativity flowing again.

Editing

I think editing on paper is incredibly important. You can actually jot notes in the margins. You can color-code things if you have different colored pens more easily than you can on the computer. Most importantly, again, it gives you a different perspective. Getting a different perspective on your story is especially crucial in editing, because you wrote it, and chances are you’ve already read it a million times, too. After several read-throughs you’ll grow numb to the issues, and a great fix for that is to print it out and work on paper for a draft or two. (You can check out this post for more info on how I edit on paper.)

 

The Sweet Tooth Book Tag

I was nominated for this tag by Hannah at The Catwing Has Landed. Thank you, Hannah!

The Rules:

Thank and link back to the person who tagged you
Link back to the creator of the tag- Jenna
Tag at least five sweet other bloggers.
Add your own question to the end with your favorite treat.