Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 9

Psychotic Delusion

No, not the Republican administration!

This is something I’m coming across recently that puzzles and annoys me. As a reader, I’m presented with a character and story, but in a late plot twist, it is revealed that the character is actually experiencing a psychotic break with reality. It goes beyond the “unreliable narrator” some authors like to use.

Example 1: In the video game Veilguard (Dragon Age 4), your character is second-in-command to a beloved character from the previous games. Early on, that character gets stabbed in the chest. Your character is also kayoed, and you wake up in the infirmary with the other character in the bed next to yours. Your character is quickly up and about, and you proceed through the plot, frequently checking in with your chief. But near the end, it turns out that character has been dead the whole time. Your character has been hallucinating those conversations.

Example 2: In the video game Dredge, you are a fisherman working for a mysterious collector who has you fetching arcane artifacts from around the map. You also uncover clues to why there are eldritch monsters and mutant fish infesting the region. But in the end, it turns out the collector… is you! With a delusion of some kind, you have “forgotten” what you did in the past.

Both my examples are video games, rather than other storytelling forms. Maybe this is a fashion in video games? Whatever, it really burns my biscuits. The game writers had to engage in a lot of deception to hide this information from the player. For example, in Veilguard, the other characters should have been talking about memorials, informing the fallen hero’s family, and other evidence of grief. Ignoring that cheapened the characters for me. Maybe the writers think the shock of the revelation makes the deception worth while, but for me as a player, I lost confidence in the writers.

So this technique of deluding characters would be something I don’t recommend my fellow writers to do.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

The Deer King

I just got back from a three-hour training seminar after a full day of work, and I’m tired. So I’ll just tell you about a fun show I saw on Netflix. It’s called The Deer King, a movie-length anime.

It’s a cozy fantasy about a kingdom that tried to hold off an invading empire. They were saved by a lethal disease, which only infected the invaders. Plus, it was carried by a pack of magical wolves surrounded by a purple cloud in one of the most striking images of the film. All this happened ten years in the past. An alliance was eventually struck between the kingdom and empire, and the common citizens are somewhat integrated. (Although, they say the men of the kingdom all were given wives from the empire, and I couldn’t help wondering how exactly they got the women to agree to this.)

As the film opens, the magical wolves reappear and attack a salt mine worked by slaves — including Van, who formerly led the soldiers of the kingdom. He somehow is immune to the wolf bite and survives to rescue a little girl who is also immune. Van’s own family had died before the war, and he initially resists claiming Yuna as his own. Van takes Yuna to a traditional village, where they try to live peaceful lives. Van knows how to tame some deer for riding, which is how the movie got its name.

But there are factions, including some sly politicians who are connected to the wolf attack, and a young doctor named Hohsalle who is trying to find a scientific solution to the disease. There’s also a young woman named Sae who helps to track Van down for the politicians. Then Yuna is abducted. It develops that either Van or Yuna could potentially take over leadership of the wolf pack and spread their disease against the empire again.

This movie is based on a pair of fantasy novels, aptly called The Deer King. It was made into a manga series and later this movie. I sort of could tell, based on the number of characters and how some of them flitted in and out.

Visually, it definitely has what you could call the Miyazaki aesthetic. The characters are reminiscent of his style, and the backgrounds are beautifully done watercolors. The plot is also in Miyazaki’s style, as Van becomes friends with Sae and Hohsalle, who should be his enemies. He chooses a peaceful resolution rather than leading the wolves into a war of revenge.

With so many American movies being noisy and violent, full of special effects and yet the story is not at all special, The Deer King was a breath of fresh air. I recommend it for a more relaxing experience in these tense days we’re living through.

And, I can’t help mentioning, my YA novel Acorn Canyon (Cleodora, Book 1) fits perfectly with the Miyazaki aesthetic, too!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Woman at Work, February 2025

What’s Happening? I’m in the thick of it, preparing for RadCon (see below) and my next publication. It’s a good way to stay busy.

What I’m Working On. The third draft of The Agency is well under way. I’ve currently revised up to 4000 words of a projected 15,000. Smooth going so far.

What’s Next? I’ve approved the cover image for Cleodora, Book 1: Willow Lake. As soon as the artist delivers the image, I can start on layouts. Probably not until after RadCon, though.

Where I’ll be. Speaking of RadCon, it’s in two weeks. I’m making a list and checking it twice of all the things I need for my artist alley table. I’m also keeping an eye on their schedule. They accepted some of my panel ideas and I look forward to speaking on those topics.

Fun and Games. Right now I’m playing a game called Dredge, where I’m a fisherman in a New England village. There’s some atmospheric horror as I start fishing up weirder and weirder things. So far I’ve enjoyed it.

Watching the news every day is giving me lots of ideas for The Agency. Maybe that’s all I’ll say about it this time.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Cleodora and Petra

Work proceeds with my next publication. That is Willow Lake (Cleodora Part 2). I’ve been working with the cover artist all month. Today they sent over a draft, which I’m pleased with. The colors are muted, as suits a drought-stricken landscape, but the character has a dynamic pose. So that work goes on.

As for my current WIP, The Agency. I got Petra past her panic attack and the tale has been developing nicely. After I get done with this post, I’ll be working one one of the most unique characters I’ve ever created. Jincrest is the furnace that lives in the bowels of the Agency. It’s one of those monstrous old “octopus” beasts with a huge central firebox and great round tubes stretching up through the buildings.

Yes, it’s a magical furnace. I often include magic-adjacent objects in my stories. Similar to the Larder in Prisoners of the Wailing Tower, which had been occupied by mages for so many generations that it developed a consciousness of its own. Jincrest is going to be an ally in resisting the corruption of the Agency.

So far I don’t have much of a read on Jincrest’s personality, but that’s the fun of it. What’s the point of writing if you can’t be creative?

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Third Draft

I’ve started on it! And immediately had to stop because my main character was having a panic attack.

Although I usually tell my stories straight, I was considering having a more flippant, sarcastic tone for The Agency. Government agencies always seem to have some level of absurdity in their workings. Perhaps being sarcastic about it would soften the harsher edges of the situation.

As fun as that would be, the character’s panic attack is telling me that I can go deeper emotionally. That’s something I love to see.

When I start out writing a story, the most obvious character motives and plot twists are the ones that pop up first. That’s fine for a beginning, but a really great story can’t be so obvious. It’s the element of surprise that makes the story shine. With successive drafts, I can explore alternatives. Those different takes and extra layers of meaning are what make a story memorable.

So I’m going with a more dramatic tone for The Agency. I can use it to develop more of the character’s back story. I can always sprinkle in bits of sarcasm if the tale becomes too heavy.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Realms of Possibility

I’m continuing to do pre-work on the third draft of my novelette, The Agency. Or maybe The Department. Or maybe something else…

Anyway, I’m focused on the fourteen realms that are connected together, including the ones that feature in my previous stories. Which will only be two or three. The Agency is focused on mutual support and cooperation. They wouldn’t risk negotiating with a realm that had things like demons, dragons or werewolves. Which rules out most of my books!

So I’m coming up with cool names, and deciding which species is dominant (elf, goblin or human). I’ve thought about the environment and architecture, to have a fun mix. Presently I’m working on how they do their magic. By tarot, magic wands, hex signs, what? Again, I’m looking for an interesting variety of approaches.

If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

The Gellboar

This is one of the older novelettes that I’m considering as one of the fourteen realms within the Arcane Agency. It’s set in a world where mages caused a traumatic dimensional battle in the recent past. So that would fit pretty well with the multiversal aspect.

The Gellboar

The Holy Mothers have decreed that only women can be trusted with the awesome powers of sorcery. But Dan can no more live without magic than he could go without breathing. Disguised as a woman, he struggles to provide for his sickly daughter through illicit magic. But his life of lies has drawn a darker eye than that of the Holy Mothers…

Buy it now through Books2Read.

Interestingly, this is a story that began as a dream. “I,” in the dream, was a man cross-dressing. Not in drag, per se, but really trying to pass as female in his professional life. “I” was teamed up with a woman who dressed as a man. We were protecting a child from a strange monster.

It’s hard to remember much else of the dream, with so many years gone by. However, in any story process there are adjustments. Especially so when beginning with a dream, which very much follows its own logic. I decided that the Gellboar, my antagonist, was an alien refugee from that other dimension. And, just as Dan was male passing as female, I decided the Gellboar should be a female passing as male. Or as much as an alien might approximate, anyhow.

This is probably one of the oddest things I’ve ever written. It’s interesting, though, how drag performance and cross-dressing are still so much in the news. This is as good a time as any to shine a light on my dark fantasy, The Gellboar.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Multiversal Nexus

I did complete my latest novelette, which ended up +/- 13,200 words. It’s tentatively called The Agency. I’m not sold on this title, as it maybe sounds like a legal thriller rather than a fantasy. But I’m going with it for now.

In my last post I mentioned that I’m working on creating something unique. So the Agency is a multiversal nexus, connecting fourteen different Realms who all have magic rather than science. Multiverse stories are popular these days, so why not?

The idea is that the Realms share knowledge and community to uplift each other. (At least, until one of the Realms decides it is superior and tries to use the Agency for conquest.) Instead of the Agency having one kind of magic, each Realm will bring its own special flavor. There will be humans, elves and goblins, with their own styles of dress and magic. I like this because it gives me options to treat different situations in a variety of ways.

Of course, this also means I have to come up with the names and basic identities for all of these Realms. Which will be a lot of work, but also fun, and I’ve been focused on that this week.

Something else I’m pondering is whether I want to have some of the Realms be the settings of my other novels, novellas and novelettes. For instance, Tenebira (Cleodora duology) and Skaythe (Minstrels series) could be some of the Realms. This might spare me some world building, as I can draw on what I already created. The Agency is governed by a council of delegates who would come from these other stories.

But, I don’t know. That might be a bit too self-referential. And not that I’m well enough known that newer readers would get the self-references. But, I suppose I could always put in an index with links to the stories in question.

What do you think? Should I boldly self-reference in The Agency?

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Characters

Too many characters, or not enough? I do still hope to finish my novelette before the end of the weekend, but I’ve already identified a couple of issues that I need to work on in the next draft. One of them is the supporting cast.

Initially I started with one main character and two assistant characters. In the first draft, I thought a large organization should have more than just one person resisting, so I gave my main character two equal peers. However, with two peers, I found I had less need of the two assistants. But because it’s an organization, I want to represent all levels. So I’m wrestling with how many characters I really need to have and how to best use them.

In addition, this is supposed to be a magical bureaucracy, yet there is very little detail about how they do their magic and what the source for it is. For that matter, there isn’t much on the physical appearance and atmosphere of the Department. This is really important in fantasy, to have something unique and interesting in the magic. Sparkling, if you will.

So those are two of the factors I’m trying to work my way through as I move toward the next draft.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Going

Not so much going on around here, but I’m still working at things. I’ve seen the first sketches for Willow Lake. That’s always exciting. I look forward to seeing that develop.

In the novelette, I need to transition to the finale but I’m a bit stuck. This is only a draft, and there are still some things I’m working through. Guess I need to kick myself into gear even if it isn’t the greatest transition.

Anyway, I hope your creative works are going a bit better at the start of the year.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.