Laura Engelhardt's Blog, page 6
April 14, 2020
April Showers
I hope you and your family are healthy, safe & staying as sane as possible! I���m not sure what you���re doing to keep sane, but I���ve been eating way too much chocolate. The Easter bunny was indeed able to make it to my hous...
March 16, 2020
March Mage Madness
"So true a fool is love that in your will
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill."
As we all hunker down and practice social distancing to combat the pandemic, I’ve taken off for a week at the beach. While it's sunny and beautiful here, it's still a winter sea. The ocean carries the cold a bit longer than the inland air, so it’s too chilly to stay outside for long. But the beach is deserted, and the view of the water inspiring. I’m hoping for a whale sighting!
It's the home stretch for the Mages Unbound developmental edit, and I'm relieved that the crises in this book have nothing to do with what we're facing in the real world. My editor told me a horror story about a novel she was editing where reality intruded just as they were about to publish, bringing a major plot point too close to actual events. Needless to say, the author had to make some drastic revisions before they could go to press.
Fortunately, I can’t imagine the Fifth Mage War as a real-life modern crisis. In my story, the coming mage war is a clash of ethics around freedom. Is your version of utopia a world where everyone is looking out for their neighbors or a world where you can do whatever you want? How much autonomy can people be forced to give up before we view them as unfree?
In Mages Unbound , we learn that the American and European mages have sacrificed much of their autonomy for safety and mutual protection. At the same time, the Australians are ready to destroy the world to free their enslaved fellow mages. Who’s right? Can the ends ever justify the means? Sounds like an epic tale to me…
And as an epic tale, the political struggle is mirrored in the characters' personal struggle. I kick off the book by quoting this sonnet. The ending couplet really underscores the dilemma for the characters. I’ve enjoyed writing a story that starts with the personal issue of free will before developing the same theme in a political context. Mages Unbound is mostly a personal story, as the characters deceive and discover while they manipulate and love one another in equal measure. And isn’t that about as human as it gets?
During this very human period of instability, please take care of yourselves and your neighbors! To the extent you can, stay indoors and catch up on all your reading. I put my kindle down yesterday to re-read a few of my paperbacks. For me, this kind of escapism is what balances out the relentless news cycle. Mages Unbound feels nothing like modern life anymore, so later today, I’ll be escaping the tedious anxiety of our quasi-apocalyptic thriller reality with some Shakespearean passion :)
If you’re interested in receiving an advance review copy (ARC) of Mages Unbound sometime this May, please shoot me an email. And if you haven't yet picked up Sirens Unbound, it's available on Amazon.
Best,
Laura
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill."
As we all hunker down and practice social distancing to combat the pandemic, I’ve taken off for a week at the beach. While it's sunny and beautiful here, it's still a winter sea. The ocean carries the cold a bit longer than the inland air, so it’s too chilly to stay outside for long. But the beach is deserted, and the view of the water inspiring. I’m hoping for a whale sighting!
It's the home stretch for the Mages Unbound developmental edit, and I'm relieved that the crises in this book have nothing to do with what we're facing in the real world. My editor told me a horror story about a novel she was editing where reality intruded just as they were about to publish, bringing a major plot point too close to actual events. Needless to say, the author had to make some drastic revisions before they could go to press.
Fortunately, I can’t imagine the Fifth Mage War as a real-life modern crisis. In my story, the coming mage war is a clash of ethics around freedom. Is your version of utopia a world where everyone is looking out for their neighbors or a world where you can do whatever you want? How much autonomy can people be forced to give up before we view them as unfree?
In Mages Unbound , we learn that the American and European mages have sacrificed much of their autonomy for safety and mutual protection. At the same time, the Australians are ready to destroy the world to free their enslaved fellow mages. Who’s right? Can the ends ever justify the means? Sounds like an epic tale to me…
And as an epic tale, the political struggle is mirrored in the characters' personal struggle. I kick off the book by quoting this sonnet. The ending couplet really underscores the dilemma for the characters. I’ve enjoyed writing a story that starts with the personal issue of free will before developing the same theme in a political context. Mages Unbound is mostly a personal story, as the characters deceive and discover while they manipulate and love one another in equal measure. And isn’t that about as human as it gets?
During this very human period of instability, please take care of yourselves and your neighbors! To the extent you can, stay indoors and catch up on all your reading. I put my kindle down yesterday to re-read a few of my paperbacks. For me, this kind of escapism is what balances out the relentless news cycle. Mages Unbound feels nothing like modern life anymore, so later today, I’ll be escaping the tedious anxiety of our quasi-apocalyptic thriller reality with some Shakespearean passion :)
If you’re interested in receiving an advance review copy (ARC) of Mages Unbound sometime this May, please shoot me an email. And if you haven't yet picked up Sirens Unbound, it's available on Amazon.
Best,
Laura
March Mage Madness
As we all hunker down and practice social distancing to combat the pandemic, I���ve taken off for a week at the beach. While it's sunny and beautiful here, it's still a winter sea. The ocean carries the cold a bit longer...
February 19, 2020
February Update
While still in the throes of editing Mages Unbound, I���m also beginning to sketch out the next installment of the Fifth Mage War epic. Instead of diving right into Book 3, I decided to write a novella focusing on one of t...
February 18, 2020
February Update
While still in the throes of editing Mages Unbound, I’m also beginning to sketch out the next installment of the Fifth Mage War epic. Instead of diving right into Book 3, I decided to write a novella focusing on one of the main characters. This will let me to get you a new book more quickly, as well as streamline the action in Book 3. Nope, I’m not going to tell you which Bant will be the star just yet. Suffice to say, it’s someone we don’t really get to know until Book 2...
The other day, I was explaining to a friend that I chose the name Cordelia for one of my main characters because it means “daughter of the sea” according to some reports. Yes, that is an esoteric nuance I'm not expecting my readers to notice. But like many authors, I enjoy including such fun details in my books.
For example, Cordelia isn’t the only character in my books with a meaningful name. Mira means ocean or sea in Sanskrit and also relates to the Latin word for wonder. The first faerie we encounter in Sirens Unbound is called Boyaryshnik (hawthorn in Russian), and I used a hawthorn tree as the inspiration for both the scent and image of his transformation. Until I started writing the prologue for Sirens Unbound, I had no idea that a blooming hawthorn actually smells like a rotting corpse! I wanted the fae in my book to be both delightful and terrifying all at once. Kicking off Cordelia’s first Aos Sí encounter with that visual of a blooming hawthorn accompanied by the stench of decay, created the juxtaposition I was looking for to exemplify the poisoned fae slowly fading away.
In the forthcoming Mages Unbound, I play with the theme of being a stranger in a strange land. I named the fae changeling Thomas encounters in Australia, “Oksana,” to fit that theme. Oksana is a Ukrainian derivative of the name “Xenia,” meaning foreigner (and is also the name of the bad-ass warrior princess from that fun ‘90s TV series).
On a different note, I’m excited to tell you that we have an approved cover design for the Songs of the Suffragists! This is the book I co-wrote for my local chapter of the League of Women Voters in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s ratification. The 19th Amendment, which granted U.S. women the right to vote, became law on August 26, 1920. So if you’re in the U.S., you may see a lot of centennial events this summer. Our LWV book is set to be published this spring, and presents a short history of American feminism through song lyrics.
In honor of the forthcoming publication, I’m attaching a link to a 1911 poem by the suffragist, Charlotte Perkins Gilman. People often underestimate their power to effect change through the exhausting process of winning hearts and minds. Gilman’s poem is short, but evocative of what I think the pace of enduring change really is: “slow advancing, halting and creeping.”
As always, please write and let me know your thoughts! Readers have told me they want to meet the were-jaguars and werewolves, so Book Two features both groups. Let me know what you want to read more about in my series.
Best,
Laura
The other day, I was explaining to a friend that I chose the name Cordelia for one of my main characters because it means “daughter of the sea” according to some reports. Yes, that is an esoteric nuance I'm not expecting my readers to notice. But like many authors, I enjoy including such fun details in my books.
For example, Cordelia isn’t the only character in my books with a meaningful name. Mira means ocean or sea in Sanskrit and also relates to the Latin word for wonder. The first faerie we encounter in Sirens Unbound is called Boyaryshnik (hawthorn in Russian), and I used a hawthorn tree as the inspiration for both the scent and image of his transformation. Until I started writing the prologue for Sirens Unbound, I had no idea that a blooming hawthorn actually smells like a rotting corpse! I wanted the fae in my book to be both delightful and terrifying all at once. Kicking off Cordelia’s first Aos Sí encounter with that visual of a blooming hawthorn accompanied by the stench of decay, created the juxtaposition I was looking for to exemplify the poisoned fae slowly fading away.
In the forthcoming Mages Unbound, I play with the theme of being a stranger in a strange land. I named the fae changeling Thomas encounters in Australia, “Oksana,” to fit that theme. Oksana is a Ukrainian derivative of the name “Xenia,” meaning foreigner (and is also the name of the bad-ass warrior princess from that fun ‘90s TV series).
On a different note, I’m excited to tell you that we have an approved cover design for the Songs of the Suffragists! This is the book I co-wrote for my local chapter of the League of Women Voters in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s ratification. The 19th Amendment, which granted U.S. women the right to vote, became law on August 26, 1920. So if you’re in the U.S., you may see a lot of centennial events this summer. Our LWV book is set to be published this spring, and presents a short history of American feminism through song lyrics.
In honor of the forthcoming publication, I’m attaching a link to a 1911 poem by the suffragist, Charlotte Perkins Gilman. People often underestimate their power to effect change through the exhausting process of winning hearts and minds. Gilman’s poem is short, but evocative of what I think the pace of enduring change really is: “slow advancing, halting and creeping.”
As always, please write and let me know your thoughts! Readers have told me they want to meet the were-jaguars and werewolves, so Book Two features both groups. Let me know what you want to read more about in my series.
Best,
Laura
January 10, 2020
Happy New Year!
Editing on Book Two, Mages Unbound, continues apace, and I’ve begun sketching out Book Three. In addition to epigraphs from Mira’s textbook, I’m including a new set of them in Book Two! These will be written by Thomas’ blood-son, Jason, whom you’ll meet briefly in this book.
I modeled the title of Jason’s book after the influential history, The Origins of the Second World War, which caused much fervor in the 1960s. When first published, the WWII revisionist history was quite controversial, with some historians accusing the author of cherry-picking facts to fit his thesis. Many reviewers criticized his down-playing of Germany’s aggression. I decided that Jason de Atlantic would be such a provocateur, writing a relativist history of the Fifth Mage War. Since Titania says to Cordelia in Sirens Unbound: “Parts of the legend are true. Parts are not. History is written by the victors, after all,” I thought it would be fun to include excerpts from a Fifth Mage War history that was at least somewhat sympathetic to the losers.
Don’t worry, the epigraphs won’t reveal who wins the war. But the mere fact that the book exists is a spoiler: the war will end, and the Earth will indeed survive :)
Here’s one of my epigraph outtakes so you get a sense of them:
Since the Fifth Mage War, humans have banned the nonconsensual use of mind magick as a war crime. The Fifth Mage War might well have remained a regional or intra-species conflict, but for the mind magick spells cast by combatants on both sides prior to the declaration of war.
– The Origins of the Fifth Mage War, by Jason de Atlantic, p. 75.
I modeled the title of Jason’s book after the influential history, The Origins of the Second World War, which caused much fervor in the 1960s. When first published, the WWII revisionist history was quite controversial, with some historians accusing the author of cherry-picking facts to fit his thesis. Many reviewers criticized his down-playing of Germany’s aggression. I decided that Jason de Atlantic would be such a provocateur, writing a relativist history of the Fifth Mage War. Since Titania says to Cordelia in Sirens Unbound: “Parts of the legend are true. Parts are not. History is written by the victors, after all,” I thought it would be fun to include excerpts from a Fifth Mage War history that was at least somewhat sympathetic to the losers.
Don’t worry, the epigraphs won’t reveal who wins the war. But the mere fact that the book exists is a spoiler: the war will end, and the Earth will indeed survive :)
Here’s one of my epigraph outtakes so you get a sense of them:
Since the Fifth Mage War, humans have banned the nonconsensual use of mind magick as a war crime. The Fifth Mage War might well have remained a regional or intra-species conflict, but for the mind magick spells cast by combatants on both sides prior to the declaration of war.
– The Origins of the Fifth Mage War, by Jason de Atlantic, p. 75.
Happy New Year!
Editing on Book Two, Mages Unbound, continues apace, and I���ve begun sketching out Book Three. In addition to epigraphs from Mira���s textbook, I���m including a new set of them in Book Two! These will be written by Thomas��� b...
December 9, 2019
Mages Unbound Dec. Update
Editing continues for Book Two. Here's a sneak peak at the draft blurb for Mages Unbound:
Mages Unbound Update
Editing continues for Book Two. Here's a sneak peak at the draft blurb for Mages Unbound:
Morgan le Fay’s ancient geas is now broken. The Atlantic sirens struggle under the magical backlash as the mages stealthily seek to use the Bant family in their quest for world domination.
Cordelia returns to the United States with Titania’s chalice in tow, swiftly becoming embroiled in mundane affairs, while Thomas contends with deadly mage politics in Australia. As Amy learns what it means to be a mage, Mary embarks on her own journey of self-discovery.
The sirens form new alliances with the werewolves and were-jaguars as they seek to protect the ones they love from the mages they fear. Soon the Bant siblings find themselves scattered across the globe, allied with opposing mage factions, as the epic continues ...
Let me know what you think by clicking here
Morgan le Fay’s ancient geas is now broken. The Atlantic sirens struggle under the magical backlash as the mages stealthily seek to use the Bant family in their quest for world domination.
Cordelia returns to the United States with Titania’s chalice in tow, swiftly becoming embroiled in mundane affairs, while Thomas contends with deadly mage politics in Australia. As Amy learns what it means to be a mage, Mary embarks on her own journey of self-discovery.
The sirens form new alliances with the werewolves and were-jaguars as they seek to protect the ones they love from the mages they fear. Soon the Bant siblings find themselves scattered across the globe, allied with opposing mage factions, as the epic continues ...
Let me know what you think by clicking here
November 8, 2019
Rough Draft Done!
Well, it's been a busy fall. The rough draft of book two "Mages Unbound" is now done and I've started the editing process. This book picks up right where Book One left off, and packs a lot of action into a short period o...
