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
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