Elana Johnson's Blog, page 17

Announcing: My New Fantasy Series!

Okay, so for the past few months, I have been preparing to release a new fantasy series. It's a futuristic, elemental fantasy series, and it's a little bit unconventional.

See, there's only one novel. I know you're going, "Elana, one novel does not a series make." And you would be right. My Elemental series has three titles, but two of them are longish novellas.

Download free here:
iTunes | Amazon (99 cents)
B&N (coming soon!)
Kobo | Smashwords

Also find on:
Wattpad | GoodreadsThe first novella is titled ELEMENTAL RUSH, and it is free everywhere, except Amazon. It's still 99 cents there until I can get Amazon to price match it to be free. 

About the novella: Eighteen-year-old Adam Gillman has trained for twelve years to earn a coveted spot on the Supreme Elemental’s elite sentry squad. His brother, Felix, is the commander, but Adam is still thrilled when his official assignment to serve Alexander Pederson comes.

He moves into nicer quarters and can stop getting up at four a.m. to complete his mandated work out time. He still rises early though, because he needs the solitude of early morning to practice his airmaking Element—something that Adam has kept secret from everyone, even Felix, because he can’t be both an Airmaker and a sentry.

When Alex assigns him to kill a group of rogue Elementals, he balks at completing his mission for the first time. See, his only friend is Isaiah Hawking, and he’s the Earthmover on the accused Council. When faced with the prospect of killing him, Adam finds he can’t do it.

He’s well trained in assassination, but he thought he’d be murdering bad guys—not innocents.

When Alex buries the Elemental Academy—and kills over one thousand Elementals—in a fit of rage, Adam’s loyalty cracks. When he discovers that Alex is really a woman, and his brother’s lover, he defects. He hops from city to city, from Elemental school to Elemental school, always escaping only minutes before Felix can embed a knife in his heart or a tsunami can make a classroom his watery grave.

He tries to fight back, but he’s just one Airmaster with exceptional tracking skills. He does his best to warn those in danger, but as the last Elemental school goes up in flames, he knows he needs to get some real firepower on his side.

ELEMENTAL RUSH is a prequel novella to the full-length futuristic fantasy novel, ELEMENTAL HUNGER, which is coming on June 12, 2014.

This technically makes the series new adult, but the novel is narrated by a different character--and she's only 16. So I'm calling it a young adult/new adult crossover fantasy series.

Buy here:
iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords | B&N | Amazon

Also find on GoodreadsHere's what Elemental Hunger is about: The second installment in the Elemental series, a new futuristic fantasy for young adults and new adults, ELEMENTAL HUNGER is a full-length novel.

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Kilpatrick can shoot fire from her hands, which would be great if she didn’t get blamed for a blazing inferno that kills 17 schoolmates. When Gabby is commanded to Manifest her Element, everyone knows what she is: a genetic abnormality. Not to mention guilty.

So she does two logical things to survive.
1. She runs.
2. She hacks off her hair to assume a new role—that of “Gabe”, because in her world, only boys are Firemakers.

Not only does she have to act like a guy, she has to pretend to know everything a Firemaker should know. When Gabby meets Airmaster Adam Gillman, he believes her act and pledges to serve on “Gabe’s” Council. But Adam has the mark of a sentry and spent years obeying Alex, the Supreme Elemental. And Alex wants Gabby-the-genetic-freak dead and gone before she can gather the magical protection of a full Council.

With Adam’s lies that sound like truths and rumors that Alex isn’t really a Firemaker—or a man—Gabby sets out to charter a Council of her own. In order to uncover the truth, Gabby will have to learn who she can trust, how to control her own power, and most of all, how to lead a Council of Elementals, most of whom have more control over their power than she does. If she can’t, she’ll find herself just like those 17 schoolmates: burned and six feet under.

Look for the third and final installment, ELEMENTAL RELEASE, an Elemental novella, coming on July 2, 2014.

I don't have a cover for the third installment--another novella which will also be free--but the entire series will be out by July 2. (It is here on Goodreads.) And I'm so excited to share it with you! So I hope you'll add these books to your Goodreads list, or order them, or download the first free novella, or pin the covers, or whatever you'd like!

Cover Reveal: GIRLS ON FIRE boxed set

Okay, so there's an amazing boxed set coming out next Monday, June 16. The reason I know it's amazing? I know all of the other nine authors, and I've read several of their books!

The tenth author and book is mine. A title I've never released before--one I'm announcing tomorrow (so stay tuned for that!).

Here's what the boxed set is about: Ten powerful YA heroines kicking butt and fighting for love.

Today we're revealing the cover for the boxed set. Here it is!!



About the novels in the GIRLS ON FIRE boxed set:
WITCH FALL – Amber Argyle
High Fantasy
Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the witches. Born of witches but raised among their enemies, Lilette searches for a way to heal the rift between mankind and the witches. But it may be too late to save either. For if there is one thing Lilette has come to know for certain, it’s that all things fall.

ETERNAL STARLING – Angela Corbett
Paranormal Romance
For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie Starling. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

AWAKENING – Christy Dorrity
Fantasy
When an ancient curse threatens McKayla McCleery's family, she must decide what in her life is real and what is fantasy. Based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

INEVITABLE – Tamara Hart Heiner
Suspense
Visions of death plague Jayne, who thinks watching her sister die is the worst that could happen to her. But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne realizes that the next death she sees might be her own.

WATCHED – Cindy M. Hogan
Romantic Suspense
Change. She longed for it.
A murder. She will never be the same.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES – Laura Howard
Fantasy
Allison O'Malley doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his fairy tale about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

ELEMENTAL HUNGER – Elana Johnson
Futuristic Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Kilpatrick can shoot fire from her hands, which would be great if she didn’t get blamed for a blazing inferno that kills 17 schoolmates. Gabby will have to learn who she can trust, how to control her own power, and most of all, how to lead a Council of Elementals, most of whom have more control over their power than she does. If she can’t, she’ll find herself just like those 17 schoolmates: burned and six feet under.

THE FAERIE GUARDIAN – Rachel Morgan
Fantasy
Kickbutt faerie Violet is about to graduate as the top guardian trainee of her class, but when an assignment goes wrong and the human boy she’s meant to be protecting follows her back into the fae realm, a dangerous plot is set in motion.

PERCEPTION – Lee Strauss
Dystopian/Romance
Eternal Life is to Die For.
A spoiled genetically altered girl needs the help of a jaded “natural” boy to find her missing brother.

INTRINSICAL – Lani Woodland
Paranormal
The gene that allows the women in Yara’s family to see and communicate with spirits seems to have passed her over. Until the night she rescues a local hottie from an attacking ghost. Her act of heroism attracts the attention of the evil spirit, and she finds herself entrenched in the middle of a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening her own life as well as that of her friends.

Publication date: June 16, 2014
Price: 99 cents for 10 amazing YA novels!

Add the boxed set on Goodreads.
And click on each author's name to learn more about them and their books.

Amber ArgyleAngela CorbettChristy DorrityTamara Hart HeinerCindy M. HoganLaura HowardElana JohnsonRachel MorganLee StraussLani Woodland
I'm very excited about being included in this amazing boxed set, with these amazing titles and authors! What do you think of the cover?

Cover Reveal: A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY by RaShelle Workman

Dude, today I have the coolest cat around here on the blog: RaShelle Workman. If you haven't heard of her, I'd be surprised. She's got a tons of novels out, and she's an Internationally bestselling author.

Her next book is called A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY and today we get to reveal the cover!!

About A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY: “For your vanity, your cruelty, and your cold unfeeling heart, a curse I leave upon you . . .”

What happens if the beauty is also the beast?

The stunning Beatrice Cavanaugh is considered American royalty. She has everything except the ability to love. Cursed on her eighteenth birthday, she becomes more beastly than ever, having a newfound craving for raw meat, and an undeniable yearning for the night. Bitterness is her only companion.

After accusing a maid of stealing, a disgustingly kind and exquisitely handsome guy named Adam shows up asking Beatrice to drop the charges against his mother.

Infuriated by his goodness, Beatrice vows to break him. Destroy him. Make him hurt the way she hurts. So she agrees. On one condition: Adam must take his mother’s place as a servant in the mansion.

Because Beatrice won’t stop until he’s more beastly than she is.

Genre: Fractured Fairy Tale
Book 1 in the Beastly Series
Release date: July 3, 2014

And now for the cover!!


Isn't it gorgeous?! I think it's absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to read it! Find it on Goodreads , and preorder on Amazon .

Special Note: A BEAUTY SO BEASLTY will be available for 99 cents until its release date on July 3rd! Then it'll go up to $2.99. So pre-order now!

About RaShelle: RaShelle Workman is an international bestselling author. She writes fractured fairytales with bite and young adult science fiction that's out of this world. RaShelle likes cherry pie, movies, family adventures, and chocolate. If you want to get on her good side, send chocolate. RaShelle's sold more than 500,000 copies of her books worldwide. Sleeping Roses, Exiled, Beguiled, and Dovetailed have foreign rights contracts with a Turkish publisher.

Her books include:

Sleeping Roses

Exiled
Beguiled
Dovetailed
Blood and Snow (1-12)

The Cindy Chronicles

Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season 2)

Short stories:

Rose, Undercover

Cindy Witch

The Hunter's Tale

Gabriel
After the Kiss
Zaren's Travels

Find RaShelle on twitter, Facebook, her blog, or Pinterest.

AND she's giving away $25 Paypal cash to help spread the word about the cover for A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY!! Be sure to follow all the participating bloggers, tweet out the messages, and follow RaShelle over the weekend. The contest ends at midnight Monday! Enter in the widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


What do you think of the cover?

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Seven

Okay, I'm back to talk about the next question to ask yourself when setting up your magic system.


Question 7: What are the limitations of the magic?

The limitations of a magic system are what sets it apart from everything else that has already been done. These limitations will force the characters to have to work for their goals, which makes the writing simply more interesting and the characters more sympathetic.

Limitations in magic give the enemy an advantage, which makes for more tension in your novel. And that makes it exciting!

This is where you can really shine. Force yourself to stretch your imagination and come up with something that is unique in it’s limitation. This is tied closely with cost, and the cost of using magic could lead to a limitation. So spend some time on both of these to truly work out what’s WEAK about your magic, and what’s WEAK about your character, and then have them work and strive to overcome those weaknesses. Because that’s what readers like to read about – regular people who are weak becoming heroes. It’s why Superman is so popular. Or Spiderman. Joe Bloggs who can’t get the girl can suddenly leap off tall buildings and save the world. We want to BE that hero. But not if he’s all-powerful. We want to see in ourselves that we could become that person. So the magic still has to have a limitation, a weakness, that makes it “human.”

When you establish limitations on your magic, it can:

Force the MC to work for their goalsMakes the MC more sympatheticIncrease tensionTie to the nature of your world

So what limitations does your magic have?

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, Question 5, and Question 6.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How I Lost 50 Pounds

Okay, so this post has absolutely nothing to do with writing. I mean, not really. But my tagline for the blog is "Navigating the publishing world with splashes of real life," so I figured I'm covered to talk about real life too. Right? Right. Okay.

So if you're friends with me on Facebook, you may have seen me post this week that I've finally broken through the lost-50-pounds ceiling. And I have! I'm super-stoked about, and it is so motivating to see the numbers coming down on the scale.

But a lot of people are asking, "How?" or "What's the secret?"

I wrote a post on losing a while back, but I thought I'd expound a little bit.

First of all, there is no secret. I'm not taking a pill, or following a diet, or ordering foods from a company. I meal plan, buy all my own groceries, make all my own meals, every day, day in and day out. (Yes, I am tired just writing that. Ha!)

Basically, I subscribe to this principle: Eat less, move more.

That's really general to what I do. I am eating less, but not only that, I know exactly how much I'm eating. Down to every last calorie. I count calories. For a couple of months there, I was guesstimating, and I wasn't losing weight. So I went back to strict calorie counting, where I write down everything I eat.

This is not has hard as you might think. I email it to myself. In general, I eat 200 calories for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 100 for an afternoon snack, and 500 for dinner. That's 1100 calories/day. No more.

I do move more, but it's more specific than that. I do weight training twice a week, for 20 minutes. It's not hard to fit into my morning pre-work routine, and I listen to something uplifting while I do it. I go to the gym for carido 5 days a week (if my schedule allows, but never less than 3 days. I'm not that busy! It's usually 5 days/week) and I work out for 45 minutes.

I walk on the treadmill (with an incline) because running is only what happens when dogs are chasing me. If I'm bored of the treadmill, I get on the elliptical. I think I'm going to add a water aerobics class this summer for even more variety.

And that's what I do.

I personally think the key is in what you eat. I could probably reduce the exercise and still lose weight. But for me, the exercise MOTIVATES the good eating.

I'm not really sure what "Paleo" or "clean eating" are, but I think that's what I'm doing. I eat low-fat proteins, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and cheese. I eat very, very few carbs (bread, rice, muffins, cereals, granola, etc.). The only sugars I take in are from fruits.

Is it hard? Absolutely. Sometimes I just can't take it anymore, or I really need a treat. I have a stash for these days, and I am disciplined in how I eat them. (This means I eat the chocolate caramel covered pretzels, but I count the calories.) Sometimes I drop off the program for a week or more. And that's okay. I'm not on a diet. I'm living my life.

See, I'm an emotional eater. Eating makes me happy when I'm sad, distressed, stressed, overworked, mad, happy, joyful, celebratory, etc. No matter the mood--even if it's good!--eating makes it better. I have a little bit of an anxiety problem, and eating has always soothed that. Eating for family celebrations is awesome.

I'd like to eat everything, everyday, forever. The problem is, I weighed a lot. I could still do everything I wanted to do, but my quality of life was suffering. I didn't do some things because I was too tired, or didn't feel good about myself doing them.

One of the best posts I've ever read about losing weight went up by a friend of mine, Tristi Pinkston, a few weeks ago. Pretty much everything she says, I could ditto. I felt her post deeply, because it could be mine.

In the end, if you want to lose weight, you have to be doing it for yourself, for your own increased quality of life, for your own better health. You have to be dedicated to it, because it takes time away from writing, from work, from family, from friends, from everything. I do it, because I think my health and myself are worth the time away.

Maybe I didn't think I was before, or maybe I was just being lazy. I remember a time at critique group when we were talking about losing weight, and I remember thinking, If I wanted to lose weight, I could--and would. I don't need to. I'm fine the way I am.

I was lying to myself. I didn't know it then, but looking back, I can see that I wasn't being truthful with myself, rationalizing away the fact that I wasn't healthy or happy.

I don't know if I'm a ton happier now, because well, eating makes me the happiest. Ha! But I'm definitely healthier and I enjoy my life more, so that has to count for something.

And there you have it! How I've lost over 50 pounds. I hope to keep going, maybe lose another 25-30 pounds.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Six

Okay, so up today is part six in establishing your magic system. I hope you've been keeping up, but if you haven't, the links to all the past questions are at the bottom of the page.


Question 6: What is the cost of using magic?
Magic use should have a priceThis can be a physical cost, like getting a headache or being weak. It can be something that has to be made up in nature later. Perhaps magic acts cannot be performed close together, or simultaneously. This is where you can make your fantasy and your magic system DIFFERENT. You should always be looking for a new slant to put on your magic, and the cost of using or being associated with the magic is a great place to do it.

The cost can establish character weaknessesThis is where you can establish weaknesses in the magic and provide something the enemy can exploit later. This will force them to grow and change BEYOND the magic (the magic can’t save them, they have to save themselves), and give you good conflict when you’re building your world and characters.

Simply associating with magic can have a consequenceThis is not to simply be more complex. It’s to force you to create better stories. You can do so here, with the cost of the magic. You set a limitation, and you stick to it. Don’t let yourself give your MC (magic user) a new power every time they need one. Resist using magic to solve every little problem in the book – unless you’ve already explained and shown that aspect of how the magic works. Be careful about writing laws into your system simply so you can use them once in a specific situation. Be more creative than that!

So what is the price of using magic in your world?


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one). My magic series is here: Question 1, Question 2, Question 3, Question 4, and Question 5.

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Five

Oh my heck, you guys, I am so far behind on my list of things to do! I feel like I've abandoned you a little bit here on the blog. Because I have.

But the end of April found me planning an Eagle court of honor for my son, and then finishing up all the prep to teach at a major Utah writer's conference, at which I was also the Faculty Coordinator. It was busy to say the least. And then May hit, and for teachers, this is a very busy month.

So I'm sorry! But I am back today with Part Five of how to establish a great magic system.


Today's question is: How Are Magic Acts Performed?

chants, spells, songs = SPOKENwands, hand movements = PHYSICALLYMENTALLYcombination of the above

We see examples of all of these in Harry Potter. Harry and his friends first learn the words they need to cast spells. These have to be spoken clearly or you could end up in the wrong alley.

Some spells have specific wand movements – a physical skill that must be performed correctly. But later on, we see that spells can be cast without words, suggesting that as a magic user progresses, they can simply use a wand and their mental capability to cast spells and perform magic. Some of these are done all together, some separately, but they can all achieve magic.

So what do the characters in your book need to do in order to perform their magic? Does it require another person, a specific tool, a list of memorized lyrics, etc. to get the spell accomplished?

I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)

ROCK 'N' ROLL PRINCESSES WEAR BLACK by Kelly Polark

Okay, so I'm here today with my good friend and long-time blogger, Kelly Pollark! Her debut middle grade novel, ROCK 'N' ROLL PRINCESSES WEAR BLACK, just came out! I hope you'll all get a copy to support her!


About ROCK 'N' ROLL PRINCESSES WEAR BLACK: Music class and recess totally rock, but being teased in school and ignored at home totally stinks. Stefani Lucas is a rockin’ sixth grader who loves music and dresses like a mini hipster in all black, but there's one thing cramping her style - her lame baby brother who manages to hog all the attention from her parents.

When classmates tease her about her clothes and even double dare her to (gasp!) wear another color, Stef decides a minor makeover may be in order. Can Stef change for others and still stay true to herself?

BUY:Amazon | B&N | Kobo
About Kelly: Kelly Polark is a married mom of three and educator/author from the great Midwest. ROCK 'N' ROLL PRINCESSES WEAR BLACK is Kelly's debut middle grade novel. She is also the author of the ABC picture book, ROCKABET: CLASSIC EDITION and two Meegenius books: BIG SISTER, BABY BROTHER and HOLD THE MUSTARD! In her free time, Kelly loves to hang with her fam, read books for all ages, and sing along at rock concerts.

FIND HER, STALK HER:Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Pinterest | Goodreads
I hope you'll get a copy of ROCK 'N' ROLL PRINCESSES WEAR BLACK!!

ELEVATED on sale!

Dude, so it's the last Thursday of April, which means that National Poetry Month is coming to a close. So I thought it would be fun and appropriate to put my verse novel on sale. So from now until the end of April, ELEVATED is on sale for only 99 cents!

I hope you'll consider getting a copy if you haven't yet, and helping to spread the word to anyone who likes YA romance.


About ELEVATED: The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

How to Establish a Great Magic System, Part Four

Okay, onto Part Four today! We're flying through these! I hope that you've found them somewhat useful as you consider writing a fantasy or science fiction novel. (See Part One, Part Two, and/or Part Three.)


Onward and upward to Question 4: How Is Magic Viewed?

By societyBy other magic usersBy the MCNot only magic, but how are magic users viewed? By the public? Each other?
This is where you establish how the magic is viewed in society. Is it generally accepted? Unaccepted? Laws against using magic, or being a magician? How does the MC view magic and magic users? If s/he is a magic user, how do they feel about their society’s limitations or opinions on magic? How is the magic viewed among magic users? Is that different from society?

How are magic users viewed? Feared? Respected? Abhorred? All this should be established as you’re building your magic system. A lot of this can go toward limiting your magic users and your main character as well. So don’t skip over this step.


I did use Google to aid me in my research. I found three places that provided me with the most insight and useful information: Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), WikiHow (don't laugh, it had good stuff!), and The Four Part Land (he has six parts, but they're all linked at the top of this one).

So I read (ahem, maybe I skimmed a little. Some of the posts are long!) up on magic systems. I thought about what *I* liked in a magic system. I thought about the fantasy novels I'd read (because I don't read high-high fantasy like Sanderson or many of the authors/titles they talk about in these posts). I thought about Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the TV show Merlin, movies like The Prestige, and other -- in my opinion -- accessible references. (Basically I'm saying I was too lazy to take the time to read those high fantasy novels. I reflected on what I was familiar with. And that's a tip I always give when I'm teaching: Use what you know to draw conclusions and create learning for what you don't.)