Science Fiction & Fantasy: Elitism Pt 1

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while. Busy editing and planning for summer markets. Kinda burnt out and need to sharpen my axe before I go cut down more trees so to speak, so I figured I’d talk about something that’s been on my mind. Final paragraph is about where I’m going for shows.

At the very first C4 Lit Fest I met an artist and bought some of her prints and kept her business card. I love the cover artist I’m working with who made Fables’ cover as well as some bookmarks, but I like seeing different artists interpretation and if I can, I like to support local artists. I need business cards and want a banner for Black Unicorn Books, so I contacted her and she’s changed her website because she had enough of separating her fantasy art from her ‘real’ art. She’s a classical artist mostly working in traditional paint, and we met up at an art show, talked craft had a good laugh over the elitism against genre.

This is not about pen names or wanting to be more specific for your author brand – audiences who are reading Dreams of Mariposa are different than the ones picking up The Mermaid and the Unicorns – so it would be normal to have different pen names if you have very different work for different audiences, IE here’s my picture book pen name as opposed to me writing murder-mysteries for adults.

This is also not about liking one aspect of a genre but hating on another. Urban Fantasy got popular a few years back and there was a big kerfuffle over that. Genre is huge and sometimes can be hard to place; just because something isn’t aimed at you doesn’t mean all of it’s inherently good or bad.

It’s more about why I write science fiction and fantasy but Margaret Atwood apparently doesn’t.

It’s also normal to paint with broad strokes when you’re not familiar with a genre – when I think Westerns I think John Wayne; when I think romance I think Fabio losing his shirt. This is despite reading plenty to the contrary; I’m not super well-read on either genre but I’ve read enough to know that westerns encompasses more than cowboys and that romance is possibly the biggest, most diverse genre there is. Believe me, there’s plenty of romance readers who don’t like smut; I don’t have the numbers for who makes the most money but there’s a healthy section of Amish Romances whenever I walk into certain Christian Bookstores, so someone is buying them.

Good and bad writing exist within every genre and, if your product gets big enough, more likely than not within the story itself, if only to admit that there’s better and worse books/episodes within a series. To say that all genre is bad and we’ll praise the exceptions as opposed to the rule shows a certain amount of contempt not only for the product, but for the people who create and enjoy it.

I got called out one time by calling Science Fiction and Fantasy Speculative Fiction by a named author. He was right; in hindsight I was trying to survive university but I learned to own it. When someone said “Oh, so you write about elves and dragons” I came up with a better response then, “No”, my response is more like, “I’m not good enough to be Tolkien.”

To me the ultimate insult is when someone gets ahold of a project that is well-loved then tried to “fix it”, which would be fine if they’re say adapting it for a certain audience. I’ve noticed for the past few years, any criticism is met by calling names.

Don’t like the Disney Star Wars trilogy? Well, the OG had bad writing and plot holes. Don’t you know the product is for kids? Grow up.

Don’t like that Rings of Power made Galadriel a kick butt heroine? You’re just sexist. Nevermind that if we were to gender swap her, she’d be a terribly flat character and terrible person. Also, NERD.

Don’t like that The Witcher deviated from the source material? Toxic fans got the series cancelled.

Once the dust settles and it stands up over time, even defenders of the product admit the writing doesn’t stand up over time. Rings of Power saw huge drop off of people watching and, if I’m honest, I only watched it through once and have no interest in rewatching or seeing what happens in season 2. But to say, “Well, the writing was bad, but you didn’t like X in the original” kind of sounds like this little ditty from Lutheran Satire:

Calling people names doesn’t build up the case for good story and good writing. It’s also okay to admit that you enjoyed something and didn’t notice story inconsistency. But if we’re going to hold story to a higher standard – and we should ensure that the writing is solid, the motivations make sense, and that the stories hold up over time – we can’t use the excuse that genre is crap or it’s an excuse for not doing as good a job as something historical.

I have a niece and a nephew who both like manga. They both like fantasy, but it’s in the same way that I liked fantasy the same way that I enjoyed The Three Musketeers or Treasure Island. Settings for an adventure to take place.

One prefers Goblin Slayer the other one is getting into Snow White with the Red Hair. Both are fantasy adventures, aimed at different audiences. I’m more likely to watch the Goblin Slayer Parody but, if I tried to make one more like the other, both demographics wouldn’t be particularly happy. Know what you’re doing and own it, and aim to do the best possible job you can. Good writing, knowing anatomy, whatever your medium is let’s make it so that one can’t deny the quality of the work.

Not much of a thesis in this one. Part 2 will be why certain parodies work, and others don’t.

Ron and Larry will be at the Highland Festival in Selkirk in June – I don’t think there’s room for me so it’s still up in the air if I’m attending. I have been accepted as a vendor for Cook’s Creek Medieval Faire, so far there are four of us confirmed authors; I’m hoping to reach out to more. Probably won’t have copies of Magus Gambit, but I have copies of Witchslayer and the other books; I am hoping Fable will be ready for then but I make no promises, it is really, really good guys and I don’t want to rush it just for a show. Finally, Shelmerdine’s is a go in August and September, will post more when we get closer to those dates.

Thoughts on The Jude Trilogy from Folk of the Air by Holly Black

I wasn’t going to review this series until I’ve read more of the overall series; there’s another duology and a comic and another standalone based in the same universe I haven’t gotten to yet but, my niece absolutely adores this series and is a little annoyed I have only given it 4 stars. Personally I love it when the author expands on the world and focuses on different characters or settings, so will I read more: Probably.

Jude is seven when a stranger appears, having similar cat eyes and fur-tufted ears like her older sister, Vivi. The stranger claims to be the first husband of her mother, who upon learning she was pregnant, fled to be with Jude’s father to live in the mortal realm. The stranger and Vivi’s father is Madoc, general of the High King of Elfhame, and in jealous rage, murders both parents in full sight of the three sisters. Madoc brings back his heir and two adopted daughters, Jude and Taryn, and raises them as children of an unfaithful wife. He later remarries and their strange family comes to include Oak, a son.

In spite of her initial hatred and fear of Madoc, Jude becomes the most like him of his daughters, training to become strong and becoming an excellent duelist and strategist. Ten years later, Jude has become a product of Elfhame; where fae of many courts of sea and land congregate. Humans are easily glamored and enchanted, but she’s aware of the dangers and almost thrives in the face of them; not so much to the consternation of the fae races (who would be threatened by a mortal?) but starting to fascinate some, the least (at least initially in Jude’s mind) is Cardan, youngest prince and possibly biggest pain in the ass of the royal family. As Jude and Taryn come of age she has the choice of returning to the mortal realm, or becoming something beyond a scion of Madoc: becoming accepted into the fae realm for mortals is done one of two ways: service or marriage. Jude chooses to become a knight in a world that is every bit as cruel and tricky and at the same time dazzling and beautiful as the faerie tales of yore.

It’s urban fantasy with a take on fae/elves that I adore – the beautiful elves are giant assholes for the most part, beautiful and/or terrifying, jealous and seemingly accomplishing less with their near-immortality than humanity does in their more limited years. Humans have more uses than the fae are willing to admit: They can carry the bloodline, and they can lie, and it seems that there’s more fire in the humans that we see than the majority of the fae. They seem almost stunted because they take for granted their beauty and their excess. They’re not all terrible – Orianna, Jude’s adoptive mother and Madoc’s second wife, played against my expectations and was a great character once I understood her game.

This is not a nice story where nice things happen or even where bad things happen to good people and they grow because of them. Cruelty is rewarded and terrible things occur, in a way that seems satisfying and real. Jude at first despises Prince Cardan, the youngest of the current king’s bloodline, but because they’re both products of Elfhame, they grow from nastiness and bullying to her using him to avenge her former employer, to the pair of them falling in love… lust… whatever; and Cardan growing beyond his trauma as well. The story explains why he is the way he is, but doesn’t apologize and make him seem a victim for it.  I think the story is ultimately about trauma and overcoming it, and how those of us who have undergone certain trials and tribulations are better suited for helping those going through them, but I’ll talk about that below.

My complaints of the first book are 1) It should have been longer; the events in book 1 easily could have been 2 books, it felt like the plot was rushed 2) Jude is way too noticeable to be a spy; not just is she a beautiful teenage girl, but she’s Madoc’s daughter ergo, she’s known and 3) The limited scope worked against the story telling in the first book. Book 2 and 3, it worked really, really well. Often times, first person narration puts the author in a corner where the villain has to explain the plot for the reader, and it seems contrived. Jude’s tunnel vision blinds her, but also played against some of my expectations as well. It felt like the world of Elfhame and everything going on was much bigger in the first book, that the scope seemed so much smaller because of that intimate voice – but book 2 and 3 worked so well, whatever. The second book is fire, and deals with all the consequences of book 1. Book 3 was in my opinion the best but there were some things about the series as a whole that made me lower the overall grade to 4/5.

The story is ultimately meant for a YA audience, so I felt that the author had to tone things down, while at the same time being brutal and honest I kept getting the feeling that certain things were added because the publisher was worried the audience wasn’t smart enough to figure things out. Jude has a sort of weird, Stockholm syndrome going on; she has the ability to dust off her hands and exist in the mortal realm and stay away from everything but she’s part of the fae realm; but things like social insurance numbers and birth certificates aside, she’s a product of a fae realm and, when she’s temporary exiled to our world, rather than getting a minimum wage job to make ends meet accepts potentially lethal missions for much less than the going rate of regular old hit jobs so she has more time to mope. Towards the end of one book, a character is pregnant and abortion and adoption are mentioned even if there was no indication that the character was doing anything but trying to protect said baby prior to the event. There is some comeuppance – Jude tries to rescue a human servant at one point, bungles it up, and it costs the human her life. Another character, Heather, is brought to the fae realm and is so disturbed she asks Vivi to wipe her memory, although she later alters the bargain so that Vivi can introduce her to it again  – sort of a second chance at beginnings.

Ultimately I felt that the story is about breaking the chains of trauma and moving forward – not that you’re perfect but a product of it. It really comes to play is at the end of the trilogy, Jude has every right to take Madoc’s life as he’s opposed the throne and the ones who sit on it. Instead, Jude banishes him to the human world and ultimately his profession – a bloodthirsty warrior – to raise his son because her parents never had the chance.  Besides all the conspiring, murder and everything else he’s a stand up chap, really. Jude isn’t trying to change everything so much as helping Cardan become the king he’s meant to be, and loves her realm and people in spite of their many, many, many flaws.

I’m not talking is greedy and taking all the bananas because that’s something Cardan would do; she takes a cannibal fae into her service and it somehow works.

How Much Inaccuracy is Acceptable In Fantasy?

               My first book where a publisher requested the full manuscript was ultimately rejected. Among the many concerns of the book, was that “This author doesn’t know much about medieval culture”.

               To this day I still think this is a stupid comment, but to each their own. It was explicitly making fun of fantasy tropes as a whole as opposed to it being a primer about Ye Olde England in the thirteenth century, ultimately the novel was a love letter to the tropes I enjoyed. I’ll talk another day why people who love a thing are the best people to poke fun at a thing.

               When I’m writing a fantasy novel of made up… everything, why is it that everyone (critics or at least people I deal with) accepts the worst in history as being ‘realistic’ (IE, grimdark underage marriage and way to much emphasis on gorn) meanwhile there’s some dragons that physics won’t allow flapping aboot. My short answer is you can do whatever you want in your story so long as you are consistent with the idea. You want grimdark with dragons that aren’t technically accurate? Amuse me, good author. Meanwhile, let me have the same luxury when I’m taking liberties.

               For instance, I spoke about how much real-world religion we can sort of infuse into a fantasy world without making it so foreign or an obvious analogy, as said the tenants of knighthood were based around Christian ideals at the time. So in Fable, I have knights and squires, and part of their ideology came into frame. I had a knighting ceremony, and to my surprise Ron liked the scene (I was worried it slowed the story down) but didn’t like that I had a woman of low status do the knighting. I thought it was good thematically, but it’s a hill I’m not going to die on; I’m going to have her do something else and have a knight raise up said squire. I have to show what a knighting ceremony looks like in a fantasy world – setting a standard for what it would be like for all knights of that kingdom, meanwhile satisfying the historical buffs that this isn’t an affront to history.

               I thought this would be more straight forward in Tower of Obsidian, set in Ireland around 1000 AD. I wasn’t wrong so much as mistaken, as I wanted Kale and Aaron to be knights, but knights didn’t exist at that time in Ireland. Changing them to Men-at-Arms? Not a problem. The book still required world building, as many people would have been quasi-familiar with the era, but many people would be coming at the era and not knowing the ins and outs of the end of the Viking era. It’s a fantasy, but I can’t just do whatever I want, it has to feel like it belongs in our history, at least until we get to the unexplored and undocumented fringes where the fantasy happens.

               A Fable of Wood and String is a more idealistic world than our own but still a place where danger is actualized. In Tower of Obsidian, Kale and Aoife have to dress befitting their station in their culture, whereas I can have Tiffany wear whatever she wants – it has to make sense for that character. Once I decide an aesthetic for the folk of Stagmil, Tiffany needs to look like she belongs to that region. Her costume has to reflect: Where is she from, what she does, her social status, and little hints that tell me about her as a person. And while I’m not saying I can’t have some sort of weird, contemporary-fantasy hybrid clothes, if everyone other girl is wearing aprons and wool clothes, Tiffany running around in a silk ballgown, there’s better be a good explanation as to why. What really irked me watching Rings of Power was Bronwyn’s dress.

               It’s a pretty dress and it looks nice. My problem is she’s the only one dressing this way.

               I am the first one to say: Hey, give her a slightly different color so she stands out in the crowd for the sake of this being a visual medium or, whatever about someone not wearing a helmet to battle because he’s needs to emote. She’s from the Southlands so I can assume it’s warm. Thing is, I should see other women of her area dressed similarly. I think I’ll go off on good and bad costume design on another post (it’s a long-time coming, from someone who isn’t particularly good at designing costumes herself) but this to me is jarring because she’s the only character who is like this, and it’s not like she’s always a little ‘out there’ or trying to make a fashion statement, she lives practically and works hard.

               Anyway, back to the short answer: if you’re going to do something: Do it, but be consistent. I will talk more costume/fashion in another post. I had Catarina stealing liberating tea in The Mermaid and the Unicorns and, the British discovered North America before they were sipping tea. To me, that’s not a deal breaker because the story is a fairy tale and I’m not particularly specific about the technology of that time period. We have knights on horses and we have ships with cannons. I also have foxes who can enunciate, deal with it.

               In other news, I had to get stuff done for the paramedic college and have been busy with other RL stuff, but in general I’m feeling really good about how Fable is turning out. My original plan was to finish the second book, but the more I’m thinking about it I’m going to shift my focus and start working on another project, then circle back and finish the rough draft of the second book. It’s not fatigue so much as I’m getting creative ideas and even if I start with them, I can always come back to the other project which will need to percolate anyway.

Cook’s Creek is having a medieval festival; I submitted an application to sell books and will advise probably some time in April so fingers crossed they’re only taking 20 vendors. I had some bookmarks made (They are beautiful) and my next event will be at my old High School (my cousin is graduating – eee I feel old) so if you’re in the Charleswood Area April 13, pop by and say ‘hi’ it’s in support of their Safe Grad.

Magus Gambit out for Ebook, Instagramming

Magus Gambit has been released – books get pushed back all the time. I learned years ago there’s nothing I can do about certain things, so focus on what I can do. If you’re waiting for print, Champagne tends to wait six months to a year, as said before it’s something I don’t control and, even when I have ordered print, orders can sometimes be delayed.

I’m hoping that if Cooks Creek has a medieval festival, 1) They’ll let me sell 2) I’ll have copies of it and Fable in addition to the others, but no promises.

I’ll circle back to the long publication process on another post, but if you’ve been following me along on my Instagram, X, or FB you’ve no doubt noticed I went from posting once in a while the pretty instagram shots of just Magus Gambit to… all my titles besides Tower of Obsidian and Garnet and Silver. That’ll be remedied, I was learning.

The short is I asked the same artist who designed a cover to do some instagram shots, and she obliged and I thought they were pretty. But, nitpicky me noticed something was off, and my reaction was, “I can fix that”. As I was doing that, I realized I can make my own instagram shots with 3D mock-ups.

Some not-so-useful advice I got when I first started writing was not to do my own cover, my own art, etc., but to hire a professional. I see the point in that, as I have seen them very amateurish looking projects, but before I graduated high school, I was really into drawing, and was teaching myself how to use paintshop pro. Not photoshop; my dad was downloading tutorials and I found it waaaaay too hard to get into (plus as I got older I was getting progressively less free time), plus comic style line art was more my forte. Paintshop remains one of my favourite programs, and I’m not saying I’m an expert or even “good” with it; so much as I can fart around and have people who will be honest with any aesthetic choices.

I think you *can* do your own cover, use your own art, etc; it depends on where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to do. My niece has asked me to redo The Mermaid and the Unicorn and Fable covers in my own art style; not quite like Marissa Meyer’s illustrated version of her Lunar Chronicles, and I said I needed to have a series before I can redo the covers for said series – plus I am not polished enough to pull it off juuuust yet. Getting there.

So feel free to make fun of these bad ones below, expect more of better quality but not to be so spammy; IE I will only post something like every 3 or 4 days for a little while, unless there’s something funny or timely.

In other news: Titan’s Ascent edits are back where they belong, and I have one more tour then I am on vacation. I have a ton of work to do, but seriously, Polar Vortex right now. There’s a reason I’m productive in January.

I liked this one but my sister said the colors and font are all over the place. I didn’t mind the book shadow at first, now I hate ’em.
Also, needs a banner. I can make that, right?

On second thought, let’s go with Champagne’s for the titles under that house.

I actually do like this one, but it reminds me of green kool-aid.
Oh, let’s do one for Fable while I’m goofing:

Not terrible, not not great either. I’ll get there.

Better Late than Never 2023 Round Up

Happy New Year! Normally I do a December wind up and talk about where I am and where I’d like to be, the short of it is the last four months have been really emotionally draining for personal reasons. I keep on keeping on, and even was able to use my stat time to take some time off end of November/early December, but my body decided it had enough so I’ve been fighting off something for almost two weeks now. I was feeling better last week but it’s not all coughs and sniffles.

I got my thinking brain back and I’m attacking my cramping legs with nutrition and every trick I have, so let’s update about the writing.

Magus Gambit galleys are in my grubby paws so it will launch later this month. Stay tuned I will let you know here as well as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Yes, I am using Instagram Sevannah made me some pretty promo material. The artist I hired for Fable made me some for that cover too, and I have like, posted a pie and a spider.

I failed my Goodreads reading challenge for the first time I think ever – whatever, I am half-done a bunch of stuff and could have read more or at least listened to audiobooks while I was down and out, but que seras. I remain well-read and have a bunch of stuff to get to around here, plus I had a book come in I’m probably picking up either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I did not finish Book 2 of Puppeteers nor have I properly edited book 1. Book 2 is going fantastic so far, if I pushed I could do the rough draft for my vacation but I doubt that’ll happen; right now I’m concerned for health and wellness not for a project that’ll take another year to edit and have ready for the market. Yes, I’m slow, but my process takes time so I get it right. I have a beautiful cover for book 1, need to find an editor but that’s all possible unless I get sick or work myself so I’m burnt out again. The goal is to get book 1 ready for an editor, finish book 2 and the prequel and then go work on something else completely while book 2 percolates.

I did not write three shorts for three different markets last year. I did do most of a prequel and did do a few shorts, but seriously I have a few stories from probably 2022 or 2021 that need editing. So if I need something to do, I have two longer projects to edit during my holiday.

I did not have a book out last year. I did not revise a project like Chimera last year. I didn’t even start a project for Cassie when I asked her what her wish list was; I have ideas and still haven’t really solidified much, but let’s just say I rather enjoy swashbuckling tales.

I have two books with Champagne Books that are probably both going to be 2024 titles that I’m proud of, and I still really like this YA duology I’m working on. So in theory, I’m looking at 3 books that I think are strong for 2024, with a very solid follow-up (at least at this point) for 2025.

So goals:

Write 3 shorts, send them to different markets.

Market the books better. We’ve been working on the brand and have material, now let people know they exist.

Write that Swashbuckling Novel. Keep it short, no big epic 100k+ nonsense. Preferably in the 80-90k range. Send to Champagne.

Revise a project. Probably Chimera. Send to Champagne. If they like it, finish book 2.

Get Fable out. Hopefully, Cooks Creek Medieval Fest will happen, I have been wanting to sell books in costume for years. If not, maybe I’ll make up a costume and head west to Alberta or south to the states just for the fun of it.

Fix Puppeteers 2, get it ready for 2025. See Work on developing Derelict Knights or something else in the meantime. Maybe write more than what I have sitting on my harddrive with the sequel to The Mermaid and the Unicorns. Keep the word count down. Seriously though, 2-3 titles in a year is plenty for someone who works as much as me. I see other people being way more prolific, to that I say, Good for you! No sarcasm; just my things are loooong and I want to kayak.

Do some oil painting and get good at something else creative. I spent way too much money at The Artist’s Emporium last week. Did I say too much money? I mean I haven’t had a chance to dabble with my new toys.

Basically keep on but improve. It’s funny that part of what the College of Paramedics tells us is to indulge in hobbies for mental health, meanwhile I’m running circles trying to keep up requirements and figure out how to do stuff. Little nibbles as opposed to big bites’ll do, though.

Cover Reveal for A Fable of Wood and String and November Update

I know it’s pretty early for a cover reveal, but I noticed some of my favourite cover artists are booked a few months in advance and myinquiry became a booking. This is so pretty, now I need to edit the manuscript properly. It’s a spin off of The Mermaid and the Unicorns and will be handled by the same publisher, Black Unicorn Books. I am not committing to a time at this point, my honest guess would be
sometime around June 2024. NaNoWriMo didn’t happen but that’s okay.

The artist is Hannah Sternjakob. You can buy premades or hire for custom.

I am doing more Pre-Edits on Titan’s Ascent, and as I haven’t seen a final copy of Magus’ Gambit I don’t know if December is still launch date. They could send it to me and I have some time off, but I have no idea. Don’t ask – if you saw me on Twitter a few days ago I have a lot going on right now, so honestly I keep getting mental blocks and it’s making me frustrated.  It’ll be fine; I can be edited. I promised myself that years ago. I can’t believe it’s almost end of the year – don’t get me wrong I feel productive but looking back on my goals it doesn’t seem like it. Ah well – onward and upward.

Publishing Delay, Editing Delay, Title Change

Magus’ Gambit has been pushed back to December – don’t ask. I sent in the pre-edits on Book 3, I am hoping to start a new project for Champagne after I finish the duology I am working on. On the current project, my aunt is the only one who has given me feedback and Ron is behind in his stuff, I can go ahead with some of the editing but Ron is usually good for telling me when my pacing sucks. I had it in my brain I could have the first book ready to go to an editor before the end of a year, but as of right now that’s not going to happen. I have to finish book 2 and I could edit Chimera for Champagne tomorrow, but I have enough of book 2 written for the Puppet Masters that I can go back and make changes to book 1 and it’ll be smooth and feel like they were written with both in mind. Technically sitting around 75k, I have to go and delete a bunch of scenes as I changed some things around and there’s a massive part of the story I haven’t touched yet but, book 1 wasn’t a short novel, book 2 probably won’t be as long but more challenging on my part.

Short of it, is that most editors aren’t willing to take a client tomorrow and, even if they are they want a word count. It’s going to take me one Hard Pass (that is, going over the printed out version, making massive changes and at least 3 passes of the manuscript after that. I’ll have a better idea of a word count then, so that way I’m not promising say, a 120k novel when it’s been chopped down to 90k or whatever. There’s no point giving the manuscript to an editor until I get it as good as I can (some people do this with betas – I say depends on your level, and Ron if there’s a massive issue call me out in the planning phase). So assuming my niece and Ron give me feedback for the end of the month, I could probably get it to the phase of needing an editor come January.  What’s weird is I technically finished the first draft last January (it wasn’t good, but I tweaked it for a few months) and I have to go back and add on to a few scenes, but I might be able to get all of book 2 written this year (rough draft anyway). Life’s been kind of stupid for the past two months so I’m getting back into the swing of things; I thought I’d be starting a new project for NANOWRIMO, but short of it is I’d rather push to get this second book roughed, then start fresh for 2024. Not counting all the things that need revision; I could probably not write a single new word for a year and focus on revising old projects and come across as incredibly productive.

I came up with the title A Ballad of Wood and String a while ago and was unaware that a Hunger Games movie “A Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds” was being made into a movie coming out this year; I read the trilogy but honestly I think the author wrote herself into a corner but that’s a topic for another day. I was joking that A Blank of Blank and Blank was a little too popular, but after chatting with my sister, I’m changing book one’s title to A Fable of Wood and String. I had other contenders, like Songs Foxes Sing, but my niece really wants to evoke the marionettes.

I’m a little annoyed I need to make changes because music plays such a big part of the story. I was also really worried about proper use of the word Fable – now, the common understanding of what a Fable is is that it’s a short morality tale – often including talking animals – but I looked up the meaning and, etymologically speaking it works if we go to secondary and root language meanings; words do change over time but I don’t like to invoke an incorrect meaning. I have no idea if this is going to be the actual title or I move it to the series for the duology, but for now, it’s no longer Ballad, but Fable.

So yeah – haven’t done everything I wanted to and this year doesn’t seem like I got much done but I’m keeping on with the keeping on. I revisited a few other smaller children’s books I wrote, and both need minor attention and I can send them off into the world of slushpiles. Maybe I’ll even get some art in, who knows? I took out a ton of graphic novels from the library with the intent to ink them for October/Inktober, that ain’t happening.

Review for The Ranger’s Apprentice (Main Series)

               Magus’ Gambit new launch date is December 11 2023. Don’t ask me I have other projects on the burner and I’ve said it before: If the difference is a project is better because it takes a few months more I say take all the time they need; proofreaders and editors have lives and I have something to edit.

               I can probably get the second book of Master of Puppets done by end of year – probably by November if I tried but I’m in no real rush. I have the book at 3 beta readers and asked them for feedback in one month, so I might make some real changes to the ending or expand book 1 into a duology and make book 2 the third in a trilogy, but whatever developmental editing is a thing. Right now Ballad feels good and I changed a bunch of names but, it also feels bloated and like it needs to come down. Book 2 I had some great ideas, but it’s tied in with book 1 so I want to get some feedback before I plunge ahead anymore. It’s already full-novel sized, but like I said these are longer books so whatever. Assuming I’m done those for end of the year I have two projects that want to get started and I can probably fix Chimera over the winter.

               I like to get books for my nieces and nephews and at least five years ago I got the first book in John Flanagan’s The Ranger’s Apprentice series for my cousin, who calls me auntie that’s how much of an age difference there is between us. One of my brother-in-laws asked me if it was good, and I had no idea – the books started coming out when I was too old for them, but if I was about eight or ten or whatever, they’d have been right up my alley.

               Fast forward and my cousin looks back on them fondly, and has read all of the main series and some of the spin-offs, and one of my nieces is looking at The Royal Ranger, which follows the next generation. Spanning a main series of ten, a prequel spin-off, a spin-off involving their version of Vikings, it’s a fantasy series meant for younger readers.

               So what the heck am I doing reading it?

               I jumped from Beverly Cleary to Edgar Rice Burroughs at a young age. I read Dune and Animal Farm because they were available. I very seldom got to go to the bookstore and when I did I usually bought art books, but my mom took us to the library, and I devoured whatever I got, but in hindsight it’s weird to read some dusty old classics I really didn’t understand and then go to Babysitter’s Club.

               So fast forward again and I wanted to write a book for my niece, who was at the time like eight. I realized I don’t know that much about kids books, so if you’re curious as to why I’m reading to many titles that are aimed at YA or even middle-grade audiences, I’m doing it to learn. It’s incredibly false notions that kids books are easier to write. They may be intentionally easier to read, but I’ve done a few now and I like the challenges they present me as opposed to writing with an adult audience in mind.

               The main series starts out following a band of 5 orphans who are turning fifteen and they’re wards of their lord, their parents been killed in a war and they’re about ready to take on their apprenticeships.  If they don’t get their apprenticeships, they get to work in the fields, so it’s a big deal.

               There’s George the skinny but clever one who wishes to be a scribe, Jenny the aspiring chef, tall and beautiful Alyss who wants to be a diplomatic courier, rough and tumble Horace who dreams of battle school, and then there’s slightly small and sneaky Will, our protagonist. Will dreams of being a hero like his father, but unlike Horace who is built for battle school, has his hopes dashed not once but twice, as those accepting apprentices don’t appear to have a use for him. It seems that everyone has their dreams come true except for Will, who doesn’t realize it but he’s being tested before being accepted into being a ranger, which he initially has apprehensions about because he has no idea what rangers exactly are.

               The first book is mostly about him and Horace finding their places in their respective professions, with Will learning that his natural talents and abilities could be fostered and trained to make him an elite ranger. Rangers are more of an intelligence force that go in, inspect areas, then report back and come back with heavy artillery if they can’t handle it themselves, but for the most part they’re trained so besides apprentices one ranger can solo an area if needed.  The first book ends with Will given the opportunity to join battle school, as he’s proved himself, but Will decides that being a ranger is the life for him.

               The rest of the main series that follows shows Will and once again, mostly Horace going on adventures while they’re apprentices and several books when they’re full knights and rangers in their own right, though other characters join them for specific adventures.

               As said in a different post, the world takes place in a world that’s really close to our own but not. They’re basically England, early on in the series Will gets captured after a battle and is made a Skandian Slave, he and his companion escape but later band with the Skandians to defeat Mongols, Holt goes to Gallica where he speaks French. There’s just enough high fantasy elements that means it is a fantasy series, but the series isn’t dripping with wizards and monsters at every turn. Don’t expect historical accuracy – in fact, the very beginning where orphan Horace is selected for battle school to become a knight would be enough to cause many authors I know to rage quit, but it’s meant for a young audience who don’t know how the knighting system actually worked in a feudal society or, does know and doesn’t care they’re here for a ripping story and like that boys like Horace can rise above their station.

               For the most part I think where the series shines is when we have the longer, multi-length books and I do think the series peaked early on. Books 2 through 4 is essentially a three-parter, and I think it had some of the best story telling and adventure. That isn’t to say that it’s all downhill from there, but it seemed to be that the series didn’t have an overall plan, so much as was meant to be more episodic.

               For instance, the first four books Will’s an apprentice, then the next two books he’s a ranger in his full right. Sounds good, time passed, and the author realized that he made a character who wasn’t meant to be Will’s love interest dear to the audience because they had an adventure together and she showed signs of affection, so he gave Will a different adventure with actual Best Girl to try to correct course.  Book 7 goes to the past where he’s an apprentice and then 8 and 9 Will’s a full ranger again.

               This of course is not a problem in and of itself, but it also feels like each story is meant to be its own thing, which is probably a good thing, but it also feels like there’s no plan or reason for me to read or even skip out of order unless it’s an obvious two-parter.

               The action is very good, though sometimes it feels like we’re grinding to a halt, but ironically I think it’s those slow moments where the book shines. There’s times where Halt’s trying to save Will but he’s stuck in a French castle, but then we have slow tender moments where Will’s trying to make the best of his bad situation as a skandian thrall. If you’re looking for a big, swooping fantasy with a masterful plot, these aren’t them, but if you want to have guys meticulously playing cat and mouse in the woods trying to flush assassins, or spend a lot of time getting information in entertaining ways, I believes really works for the target audience even though my author brain is telling me ‘hey, you couldn’t get away with this’.

               My big criticisms are the clichés that wouldn’t fly in a book for older readers, such as Halt really being royalty that escaped and is now slumming it as a ranger in another country, as well as the love story/love triangle? Mentioned above. It’s kind of funny how Will and friends go to strange parallels of different cultures from our world, and pick up friends, but whatever ten year old me would have loved having the Viking, the Arabian, the samaurai, etc., along for more adventures.

               As mentioned above, Will and a girl get captured by Skandians early on and they depend on one another to escape. I’m not a huge fan of ‘and now they must wed’ but the author set these characters up as being very endearing to one another – but hey, that wasn’t the plan – but then his actual love interest is catty.

               Now, I’m not saying people aren’t jealous or that she isn’t entitled to her insecurities. I just think way too much is spent on her being that way as opposed to setting up the resolution. Spoiler below:

               In book 2, Will, Horace and Gillam find the only survivor of a royal enterage who introduces herself as Evanlyn, one of the princess’ ladies-in-waiting. Gillam goes south to warn the king and report that the group was killed, including the king’s heir princess Cassandra. Guess who Evanlyn really is? Anyway, she is an action chick and helps Will and Horace defeat the Vikings by taking out the titular bridge, and she and Will are captured and taking to Skandia where they spent basically the next year as captives, he doesn’t only protect her as she’s the one responsible for their eventual escape. Later on when they’re rescued, Princess Cassandra conspires to keep Will close to her by trying to make him a Royal Scout, but Will is oblivious until Best Girl Alyss basically outright tells him she loves him in their duology together and he’s like “Hot diggidy” and gallops off to see her. Princess Cassandra moves on with Horace, but it feels like it’s out of left field as Alyss basically spends the entire last book being mad at Cassandra and we don’t see much between Cassandra and Horace romantically. I know the book is meant for younger readers and they don’t want a lot of mushy stuff, but they probably don’t want Best Girl being jealous over and over again neither over a non-issue as the princess had already moved on.

               My favourite parts of the series basically have to do with Halt. I won’t say he carries the series but he’s enjoyable because he’s incredibly competent and fun for readers – I think he’s the sort of fellow who’s not a bully but likes to let the audience (through Will) make mistakes but is there for when it’s crunch time. He’s a surrogate father figure for Will and generally a great character.

               Will I read more of the books? Probably, I’m trying to clean up my ‘to-read’ list on Goodreads and I’m a little behind, but I’m going to be reading more YA/Middle Grade books as I want to start writing them more often. I probably won’t be reading every Spin-Off, but I’ve given them as gifts and my one niece likes the cover with a female protagonist, so who knows?

Mounts and Draft Animals / General Update

My life at the bottom.

I was doing research (or rather, refresher) on horses because historically, we didn’t really have breeds so much as horses and other animals were bred for a reason, and the breeds came later. Horses in the medieval era were typically very expensive, but they were designated by function. I know fantasy is more than the medieval era, but it makes zero sense for me in a random fantasy world to talk about my appaloosa, so two birds one stone.

Destriers, for instance, were the archetypical horses used by knights. They were highly prized and very large. They would be a poor choice of mount, however, for someone wanting to get from place to place very quickly – a palfrey might be more suitable; so a prince might have multiple horses – one for jousting, another for when he’s in battle, and another because he has to flee the castle post haste because everyone wants his head on a pike. This doesn’t always work when we’re telling stories – very few people have access to multiple mounts and, horses themselves were typically out of range for most ordinary people throughout history.

As stated in other posts, I’m working on a story that’s meant to be a little friendlier and like a fairy tale. I for one am fond of stories where characters like Wanderer (Shadow of the Colossus) or Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) bond with their horse, and it becomes a constant companion in the quest if not characters in their own right.

For instance, in Book 2 of Puppet Masters, the character Riven gets a horse for moving around but once he finally goes home quickly takes over his dad’s old warhorse. He and the other horse still hang out (when said stallion’s not stolen by his sister) as this family and these characters are shown to be fond of horses, but if every squire or knight has 2 or more horses, most readers would get confused fast.

When should I pick what?

For the sake of this article, we will go with a mostly historical/realistic model. I can’t account for what fantasy ideas you want to put into your animals in your fiction.

As a fantasy aside, maybe your characters are smaller and ride something else. I have plenty of criticize about The Hobbit trilogy, but in the EE I enjoyed Dane showing up on a pig and, it makes sense that dwarves are riding ponies or goats or are unique from the elves, at one point Thranduil shows up on a deer. Perhaps your characters are smaller they could ride foxes or even sparrows. I love it when I see merfolk riding giant seahorses or a hypocampus, and you can be creative if your characters are riding other creatures, such as dragons, gryphons, etc.

An obvious choice would be to consider what sort of background your characters have, and what you would need the animals for. Camels, for instance, can go much longer in a hot climate without much water for longer than other creatures, but some breeds of horses, such as Arabians, were bred for those similar environments. Donkeys tended to be cheaper than horses, they are more sure of foot but not as strong, whereas a mule gives you that strength as well as sureness of foot – although sterile, the mule might be your choice of mount for a character going into the mountains.

Consider is the society and the role animals play in it. It’s one thing to have a horse, but there is a lot involved in taking good care of it, even if the horse is retired and frolicking in the meadows, as the seasons change they may not be able to just forage off the land and, suddenly the old grey mare costs coin your peasants don’t have to feed for the winter. Is the technology there for controlling these big, strong animals? Horses are herd animals, and often seek companionship . This doesn’t mean that they need other horses – maybe they’re content with their humans – but generally speaking, horses tend to congregate with other animals. I’m often amused when I’m driving through the countryside and you see a flock or small herd, and then there’s one animal who’s clearly the only one, but doesn’t want to be left out – I never took a picture, but on our way to do strawberry picking earlier this summer, there was one donkey in a flock of sheep. Adorable but also makes sense: the donkey isn’t a predator.

Using different animals among different folk from the same place also sets up who they are socially, and what they need them for.

In The Mermaid and the Unicorns, Larry sends the main trio up to Taralee with his oxen. They’re pulling a heavy wagon with supplies because, he’s a lumberjack and that’s not really a stretch to the imagination. They would be very powerful, but slower as a whole than draft horses, but you can google animals speeds and loads. The Sprites, meanwhile, are farmers and have a donkey-driven turnip cart. There’s no reason for them to have such big strong animals, as typically they need one driver and to pull a wagon load, and they sell their eggs, cabbages, whatever in a nearby town. I don’t go into the logistics, but they are friends with Larry, so if the donkeys couldn’t pull the plow he’d probably loan them an ox.

I recently went to The World Clydesdale Show in Brandon, MB. Clydesdales are draft horses; traditionally bred for pulling wagons, carriages, etc. I’ve been seeing shows like this since before I can remember.

Horses designated for different things is important, because while all horses can jump, or can pull a load, just because I have a horse doesn’t mean they can do the same as someone else’s steed, and if I were to try to use a horse that isn’t trained to do something, especially when it’s with a team, it may be rocky if it works at all. It’s a lot of work to teach the horse how to behave in an environment that runs counter to their behavior. Dogs run towards people when they’re afraid, horses run away. If I were to take a horse that wasn’t ready for it and charge him towards the sound of canon fire, he’s probably going to refuse and, last I checked, I can only ride something bigger and stronger than I am.

This is why well-trained cavalry is so expensive and impressive. These horses are charging towards things and even a horse by itself walking into people is enough to make them back up, let alone with some trained soldier clad in armor from head to toe swinging a mace.

There’s clearly more we could get into – but this is a start for considering what sort of animals to use in a story.

I enjoyed the last 12 days off, got to go kayaking and get a lot of personal stuff done, but never hit all my targets but whatever. I managed to talk someone else into beta reading Ballad, and I hit 50k on book 2 a few days ago. I probably could have finished the novella if I focused on it as opposed to doing both, but I feel confident enough that I can probably finish the rough of the novella for September. I managed to go through and edit the book again, at least the parts I had ideas to tweak; the entire thing needs more work but it feels like it’s flowing.

My goal as of right now is to try to get that duology mostly finished and then start work on that other Project for Champagne Books for November. Derelict Knights is going to take a backseat and I should get to work on the pre-edits for Titan’s Ascent.

Magus Gambit Cover Reveal

Release news and more as we get closer to the release date, which is currently September. If you haven’t had a chance to read book 1, Witchslayer’s Scion is available at Champagne Books or your choice of online retailer. The third book, Titan’s Ascent, it under contract and I have started book 4 but, I am planning on doing another project for Champagne before I launch ahead with that and make it more than a trilogy.

I will talk covers and other things later. I have been working on a few blog posts and I hit 35k on Book 2 of the Puppet Master Duology – and the supplemental novella is over 13k – two more night shifts then I am off for another tour of vacation. No travel plans, other than kayaking in the province even though it is so tempting to bomb down to North Dakota for a Ren Faire. Now that I have access to my laptop, I’m hoping to get half of Ballad edited (I need feedback from my betas, harumph harumph).