What Am I Doing?
Looking back over the last few months of posts here, you would be forgiven for thinking that the From the Ashes of Victory series is a romance or becoming one, and I think I need to pull back on that a bit.
It's not. It has strong romantic elements, with Millie and Elise's relationship being a central part, but these books are historical fantasy, above all else. They are about how those who never saw combat were nonetheless affected and transformed by a catastrophic war, with the added wrinkle that they exist in a world where magic is real. Primarily, the series is about consequences, good and bad.
All the posts I've been making are me sorting out how much I've taken to and enjoy writing the romantic elements, and how it's made me eager to spin off into writing books that are primarily romances (which have their own rules and expectations). I will get to those, believe me, but Ashes takes priority, and I just wanted to take today to restate the case for why I'm writing these books in the event it may have gotten a bit muddled by all my gushing about kissy bits and whatnot. (I still like them, don't worry. There are a lot more coming!)
Anyway.
People who don't like fantasy often cite magic as the reason why. 'It can do anything, so what's the point/where are the stakes?'
Being a fantasy writer, I of course love magic. It's the extra element that can make a story even more special, a layer of non-reality that can make it transformative and not something you see every day. (I see every day every day, and personally, I could do with a little more unreality. Escapism? Maybe. But magic is cool.)
I've tried to make the magic in the Ashes books feel real without being too powerful. It has a cost, and it can't do everything. In some cases, it can't do much of anything at all. As Ivy points out in Hall of Mirrors, its primary use is as a catalyst, making ordinary things extraordinary. It also requires training and willpower, and isn't something you can just do willy-nilly. For Manifested witches, it's a bit different, as they can do a variety of things, but it also comes at a higher cost; the more power, the more taxing it is. Witchlights, as spectacular as they are to non-witches, are relatively benign, and more a symbol of how much control and focus a witch has attained.
One of the things that has always appealed to me, and why I write fantasy, is because those rules and restrictions are mine. They are an element I have complete control over, and can use as I want to, fold into larger stories and add different angles that wouldn't otherwise exist. Could the Ashes books work without witchcraft? Maybe, but they would be very different. That power I introduced belongs to the characters, and forces them to make choices that they wouldn't otherwise be able to, or need to.
What do you do if you're Victoria Ravenwood? The real-world struggle for equality and recognition, the real-world tragedy that so many have faced (and will always face) in times of war, being ahead of your time in many ways, and fighting hard to force everyone else to catch up. Compelling all by itself, but add to her the ability warp the laws of physics. She has to understand them first, but then she can manipulate them as she wishes. What does that do to her? To someone who has seen what she has, been through what she has, and then you give her that kind of power? Without it, her story is still worth telling, because it's the same (undertold) story so many actually lived at that time, but the power/opportunities granted by fantasy change it and enhance it, giving even more avenues to explore her character.
And that is the heart of this series. Not magic, not romance, not action; but the realities of these extraordinary women in this extraordinary time. The fantasy parts make them extra-extraordinary, but the stories begin and end with character. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes bad. Very bad.
Many stories end where this one starts. The end of the First World War is the climax; November 11, 1918, the last day of not only the war, but the story. Not so, here. I wanted to explore what happens when the guns fall silent, when the battlefield is just a field again; about the survivors, only now with the power and resolve to do something about it that is impossible in the real world.
In the process of writing this series, I have come to appreciate romance (something Hollywood tainted for me by shoehorning it in where it didn't need to be and being poorly written in so many cases), and the power that love can have in the proper context and with characters you care about, but I think I've given the fantasy and historical elements of what I do short shrift as of late. These books, like life, are about a lot of things, all working with and against each other to tell a story. A story about life, loss, tragedy, hope, self-determination, the lingering effects of trauma, finding and accepting help from others, trust, taking what you've been denied, rebuilding, and yes, love. In many forms.
Remember, November was my first novel, and From the Ashes of Victory is my first series. It's ambitious, maybe too much so sometimes, and I'm learning as I go about writing it. I've learned from what I've done well, and more from what I haven't, and there are things I will yet learn as more people discover and read my work. Things I didn't know I didn't know, and things I dislike that resonate with someone else and becomes their favorite part!
This post kind of got away from me a bit, but I've been thinking about these things for a while in the background while the new shiny got all the digital ink. But, in short, I enjoy all aspects of my work, but felt the need to clarify what exactly that work is at the moment. I've suffered quite a crisis of confidence lately, and I think I needed to organize some of my thoughts to help me work through it.
Regardless of what I've penned here, I sincerely hope you enjoy my books, and continue on with me and this series as well as on to all the stories as yet untold that are currently holed up in my brain.
If you've read this far, thank you so much, and know that I am grateful. Your patience as I work my way through this journey is appreciated.
Forward and back, the work goes forever on.
It's not. It has strong romantic elements, with Millie and Elise's relationship being a central part, but these books are historical fantasy, above all else. They are about how those who never saw combat were nonetheless affected and transformed by a catastrophic war, with the added wrinkle that they exist in a world where magic is real. Primarily, the series is about consequences, good and bad.
All the posts I've been making are me sorting out how much I've taken to and enjoy writing the romantic elements, and how it's made me eager to spin off into writing books that are primarily romances (which have their own rules and expectations). I will get to those, believe me, but Ashes takes priority, and I just wanted to take today to restate the case for why I'm writing these books in the event it may have gotten a bit muddled by all my gushing about kissy bits and whatnot. (I still like them, don't worry. There are a lot more coming!)
Anyway.
People who don't like fantasy often cite magic as the reason why. 'It can do anything, so what's the point/where are the stakes?'
Being a fantasy writer, I of course love magic. It's the extra element that can make a story even more special, a layer of non-reality that can make it transformative and not something you see every day. (I see every day every day, and personally, I could do with a little more unreality. Escapism? Maybe. But magic is cool.)
I've tried to make the magic in the Ashes books feel real without being too powerful. It has a cost, and it can't do everything. In some cases, it can't do much of anything at all. As Ivy points out in Hall of Mirrors, its primary use is as a catalyst, making ordinary things extraordinary. It also requires training and willpower, and isn't something you can just do willy-nilly. For Manifested witches, it's a bit different, as they can do a variety of things, but it also comes at a higher cost; the more power, the more taxing it is. Witchlights, as spectacular as they are to non-witches, are relatively benign, and more a symbol of how much control and focus a witch has attained.
One of the things that has always appealed to me, and why I write fantasy, is because those rules and restrictions are mine. They are an element I have complete control over, and can use as I want to, fold into larger stories and add different angles that wouldn't otherwise exist. Could the Ashes books work without witchcraft? Maybe, but they would be very different. That power I introduced belongs to the characters, and forces them to make choices that they wouldn't otherwise be able to, or need to.
What do you do if you're Victoria Ravenwood? The real-world struggle for equality and recognition, the real-world tragedy that so many have faced (and will always face) in times of war, being ahead of your time in many ways, and fighting hard to force everyone else to catch up. Compelling all by itself, but add to her the ability warp the laws of physics. She has to understand them first, but then she can manipulate them as she wishes. What does that do to her? To someone who has seen what she has, been through what she has, and then you give her that kind of power? Without it, her story is still worth telling, because it's the same (undertold) story so many actually lived at that time, but the power/opportunities granted by fantasy change it and enhance it, giving even more avenues to explore her character.
And that is the heart of this series. Not magic, not romance, not action; but the realities of these extraordinary women in this extraordinary time. The fantasy parts make them extra-extraordinary, but the stories begin and end with character. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes bad. Very bad.
Many stories end where this one starts. The end of the First World War is the climax; November 11, 1918, the last day of not only the war, but the story. Not so, here. I wanted to explore what happens when the guns fall silent, when the battlefield is just a field again; about the survivors, only now with the power and resolve to do something about it that is impossible in the real world.
In the process of writing this series, I have come to appreciate romance (something Hollywood tainted for me by shoehorning it in where it didn't need to be and being poorly written in so many cases), and the power that love can have in the proper context and with characters you care about, but I think I've given the fantasy and historical elements of what I do short shrift as of late. These books, like life, are about a lot of things, all working with and against each other to tell a story. A story about life, loss, tragedy, hope, self-determination, the lingering effects of trauma, finding and accepting help from others, trust, taking what you've been denied, rebuilding, and yes, love. In many forms.
Remember, November was my first novel, and From the Ashes of Victory is my first series. It's ambitious, maybe too much so sometimes, and I'm learning as I go about writing it. I've learned from what I've done well, and more from what I haven't, and there are things I will yet learn as more people discover and read my work. Things I didn't know I didn't know, and things I dislike that resonate with someone else and becomes their favorite part!
This post kind of got away from me a bit, but I've been thinking about these things for a while in the background while the new shiny got all the digital ink. But, in short, I enjoy all aspects of my work, but felt the need to clarify what exactly that work is at the moment. I've suffered quite a crisis of confidence lately, and I think I needed to organize some of my thoughts to help me work through it.
Regardless of what I've penned here, I sincerely hope you enjoy my books, and continue on with me and this series as well as on to all the stories as yet untold that are currently holed up in my brain.
If you've read this far, thank you so much, and know that I am grateful. Your patience as I work my way through this journey is appreciated.
Forward and back, the work goes forever on.
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