Some things just shouldn't exist: new YA UF release, IMPOSSIBLE INTERN

Despite being depressed after her high-school graduation, insecure artist Alice Stone has a bright summer awaiting her. She’s managed to land an internship at the prestigious National Gallery of Art, a perfect entrance into the fascinating world of art and art curation.

All that changes one hot summer night in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. A trip to a party leads to an encounter with an otherworldly creature called an impossible, a type of being so bizarre most people can’t even remember seeing one.

Her immunity to the imp catches the attention of a secretive government agency and the owner of a mysterious library in Oregon. There’s also the little matter of the shadowy lizard eyes that seem to be following her around.

Alice planned to spend her summer interning at an art gallery, not a magical library. Now she finds herself drawn into a deadly world of magical factions and a ruthless sorceress boss determined to unlock the intern’s mystical potential at whatever cost.

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The Eternal City, Book 2 of the Osland Trilogy

Months after a shocking showdown, Gail Dorjee is doing her best to recover and settle into her new role as a Rift Watcher at Osland Academy. Her friends are distant, and she’s uncomfortable with her growing relationship with the handsome Nick MacEvoy. That’s all stressful enough, even before she wakes up one night to a ghost warning her about a powerful enemy coming to Osland to seek vengeance.

The suspicious and timely arrival of a too perfect foreign exchange student feeds Gail’s paranoia. It doesn’t help that killer shadows keep appearing.

At a place known for beautiful lies, she finds it difficult to trust anyone, even herself, but with the rift in danger, she has to risk her life and friendships to carve through the darkness and find her true enemy.

Now available at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.


For those of you who haven't read The Emerald City, the first book in the Osland Trilogy, I direct you to here.

Nazis, Love, and World-wide Magical Adventure: An interview with young adult contemporary fantasy author Matt Posner

Today I'm talking with author Matt Posner about the latest in his School of the Ages series, a young adult contemporary fantasy series.

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1) Please tell us about your book.

The War Against Love continues the story of teen magicians attending a magic school in New York. In this adventure, the heroes gets into a life-and-death struggle with a gang of Nazi wizards from Europe who have a long-standing grudge against the school and are willing to make it very personal. They attack Simon's house in the first chapter and they attack his partner Goldberry in the street shortly thereafter. From this point, the conflict is all-out, and only blood can follow. But in the middle of this, Simon falls in love with the Arch-Mage's daughter, whom he feels is so perfect for him that it hurts to be near her. And she's not the easiest person in the world to deal with, and he doesn't know if he can win her heart, and even if he can, there's still the magical war going on in the background. 

It's the darkest book of the series, in the way the middle of any series must be. The closest parallel I would say is The Empire Strikes Back, the middle movie of the first Star Wars trilogy. The enemies do damage that maybe can't be healed.

2) This is the third in your School of the Ages series. You're working on  a fourth. That's certainty a lot of writing time invested. What inspired you to start on this particular series?

I've been writing about magic and coming of age since I began my first fantasy novel at age 14. In this case, my original idea was to write about one wizard and about three teen apprentices travelling the world, but at the time I was working in a yeshiva high school, and I decided it would be more cool to use what I was learning there, so I switched to a magic school concept. I also got the villain of The Ghost in the Crystal from something I read in the yeshiva. With this basis, I began to draw in other elements of my life and knowledge. My wife is Hindu Indian, so I added in this cultural background, and I was then new to New York and wanted to use the city also. And I have a lot of knowledge of the paranormal and Hermetic magic. So it all came together well.

I started this series in early 2002. So I've been working on it for ten years, and it will be a total of twelve years by the time it's done. I'm writing other things also, but honestly, I'd like to get it over with, and start something else. However, the story isn't done yet, and I don't have any choice now -- I have a traditional publisher who is expecting five books. And there is so much cool stuff still coming that writing the rest will still be fun.

3) Please tell us a bit about the cultural background underlying your story.

The magic system in this series is an eclectic combination of paranormal studies (like you can see on TV ghost shows); and Hermetic occultism, the European magical tradition with its methods of divination and astrology and mainstream magic theory; and Asian traditions such as meditation and mantras; and Cabala, Jewish mysticism and magic.  I combine these with a variety of histories and cultures, adding new ones with each book. In book 3, I used my knowledge of learning disability to create a teen magician with Asperger's syndrome. In the present book, I use my travels in Europe to provide some intriguing settings for the kids to adventure in. So they are meeting and dealing with their allies and enemies in real places in Europe, just as I used real places in New York for The Ghost in the Crystal.

4) What sort of challenges does Simon face in this book that he hasn't faced before?

He faces adult magicians who want to kill him, including one who is a serial killer, and there are also really deadly spirit opponents. He has to face down an arch-mage, and he has to deal with wild, passionate love for a girl he's not sure likes him. But worst is really the challenge of dealing with his own rage and corresponding potential for violence. In book one, Simon was an innocent child. In book two, he was a wounded child. In book three, he learns that he has the power and the capacity to kill. In book four, he will deal with remorse.

5) A lot of people die in this book. Do you have any concerns that readers will be off-put by some of their favorite characters dying?

Well, I didn't like it when Ben Kenobi died in the original Star Wars. I was only seven when I saw that in 1977. I guess it had a strong effect on me to see a character die that I liked so very much. For most contemporary readers, it's the death of Sirius or of Dumbledore that hurts the most. However, if it makes you feel any better, remember that my books are full of ghosts. Being dead doesn't mean the characters won't appear anymore.

6) With all the darkness in this book, did you find it difficult to integrate the romantic elements?

I think I had a sense fairly early on that the story arc of the book was going to damage Simon, Goldberry, and the rest of the cast on the emotional level, showing the cost of war. It is the war against love -- which Simon describes early on as the conflict that would deny him peace. So the whole shape, including the romance, was in my mind throughout the writing process.

One event that made a difference is worth reporting. I work two jobs on most days. Back in 2009, I drove to my second job and had 45 minutes to unwind before beginning work, so I lay down on the sofa and listened to my iPod. The song "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica came on just as I was starting to fall asleep, and in my half-asleep state, the emotional impact of the song triggered my creative process, and I realized the climax of this novel for the first time.  So music helped me a little with the integration, I must say. But music always helps.

7) You've engaged in a bit more stylistic experimentation in this book. What motivated those writing choices?

I suppose you mean the scene that is told as a screenplay. I wrote it that way because I conceived the events of the story as the sequence of a film, and I just wanted to put them on paper that way. Those events can be told best in montage form not as a straight narrative. Also, because this book is heavily designed around dramatic irony, I intend for the readers to know things Simon doesn't know, and accordingly to feel sorry for him as he makes mistakes.  It's a tragedy, really. I love tragedy as a literary form. I have since reading Oedipus Rex back in middle school.

I also have an extended sequence in which the Jonathan twins beat up Simon by throwing at him fantasy novels that were popular in the 1980s. They make a variety of remarks about the books and the authors, some complimentary, some not.  (I'll bet my publisher in India takes this part out…)  This is based on Chapter VI of Don Quixote, in which a priest and a barber go through Quixote's library of romances and judge them one by one as either good, or suitable only for burning. I'll leave it to the reader to decide which of the Jonathans' opinions are mine.

8) How many more books are planned for this series?

There are two more books planned. Book IV has had a name change and is now called Simon Myth. It brings back time travel and has a heavy focus on India and Indian mythology. It also has a lot more of Goldberry, who gets entire chapters on her own. I have written more than half of this book, but my progress is very slow. Book V, which has not been written but is just partly planned, is called The Wonderful Carol and will employ Arabian and Persian mythology as well as some cool popular culture tropes.

Jeremy, I appreciate the chance to appear on your blog to talk about The War Against Love. My next book, possibly for the end of September, will be How to Write Dialogue, to which you are also contributing. So I'm going to get to work on that, and please, more of your series too, ASAP!

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Thanks, Matt. If you'd like to see more from Matt please check out his site at http://schooloftheages.webs.com/.

The War Against Love can be purchased at:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/School-Ages-Against-Series-ebook/dp/B008VXUI0K/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1344683973&sr=8-26&keywords=matt+posner
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/​School-Ages-Against-Series-eboo​k/dp/B008VXUI0K/​ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=13446841​50&sr=8-8
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/school-of-the-ages-matt-posner/1112451675?ean=2940014860512

Hidden Worlds and Fantasy Destiny: An interview with Alecia Stone

Today I'm talking with Alecia Stone about her young adult contemporary fantasy, TALISMAN OF EL.


Tell us about your book.


TALISMAN OF EL is a story about acceptance, about accepting one's destiny no matter the consequences. Charlie Blake is a young boy, who, in a bid to find out about himself, discovers a reality he knew nothing about, but that he is so much a part of.

What inspired this book?


To be honest, my curiosity about the mysteries of the world inspired this book. The planet we live on is so fascinating and full of history that I just had to explore its secrets. The great thing about writing a fantasy story is that anything goes. You can write a story about aliens, alternate dimensions ... anything. The topic of people who vanished without a trace came up and I decided to take it one step further. The story just took on a life of its own.

What fundamental themes does your book explore?


The book explores many themes including, but not limited to, things are not always what they seem, self discovery, the importance of relationships and fear of failure. I think many people will be able to relate to the themes of the book as we've all experienced them in some way.

What's the appeal, you think, in fantasy stories that initially ground themselves in the real world and then pull in a character from that world into a fantasy world? In urban fantasy, there's still an overlap, but in contemporary stories where characters end up in a more discrete separate world, the relative link to the real world seems less important on first brush.


Personally, I think it's the adventure and the idea that there is more out there than what we see that is the appeal of fantasy stories. We often hear about the universe being of vast proportions, so, naturally, anyone would want to explore more than the eyes can see. It is also a means of escaping one's own reality for a certain period of time. Sometimes, our own reality can seem somewhat limited and restricted, so when I pick up a fantasy book, it's almost as if I'm breaking the rules by stepping out of the ordinary.

World building is a big part of any fantasy book, but you went so far as to even create a language. Can you tell us a little bit about that and why you chose to do that?


When the story first popped into my mind, I hadn't set out to create another world much less a language. When I created the world and saw how fascinating the characters of this world were, I knew they would have to have their own language. The people of Arcadia are mystical beings who can do things we can only imagine, so they needed a form of communication that they alone could interpret. They are, after all, from another world.

Besides your lead, do you have a favorite character in the story?


This is a hard one as I have many favourite characters. If I really had to choose one, besides the main protagonist, Charlie, I would have to choose Alex. I had such fun with her character. There is so much to her. She's smart, witty, feisty, a bit crazy and so much more.

People tend to want more of what they like. Do you plan to write a sequel?


Yes, I do. I'm currently writing the sequel. There's definitely more to come, as I've planned this as a trilogy.

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Thanks, Alecia.

Author Bio:


Alecia Stone has been in love with anything and everything paranormal for many years. She grad­uated with a BA in Film & TV and has worked in tele­vi­sion for a short period of time before branch­ing out into storytelling. When she isn't writ­ing, she enjoys going to the movies, lis­ten­ing to music, and travelling. Talisman Of El is her first novel. She currently lives in England, UK.

Links:

Website: http://www.aleciastone.com
Official Book Website: http://www.talismanofel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AleciaStoneFan
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Alecia_Stone
Amazon: http://amzn.to/tNbFaD
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/tMa9E5

Girls should be killing the vampire next door, not dating him: An interview with author Janine McCaw

Today, I'm talking with Janine McCaw about her tale of family women and supernatural dangers, HELENS-OF-TROY.

1) Tell us about your book.

There's a lot of love and teenage angst in HELENS-OF-TROY, but it's not anything like Stephanie Meyer's books, because let's face it, it's NOT okay to love a vampire. When Helen senses that Ellie's supernatural powers are about to present themselves to the world, she realizes she need help dealing with it, even if it means moving back in with her own mother, Helena. The three LaRose women are about as different as you can get. Ellie's friends call her Goth-Chic, Helen is highly educated but super uptight, and Helena gives Dolly Parton a run for her money, if you get my drift. When children of Troy begin to be found murdered, the LaRoses know more than they are willing to admit about the crimes.

2) What inspired this book?

The title came to me first. I then wondered who the Helens were and what they did. I watch a lot of the paranormal shows on television, so it evolved to three kick-ass demon killers, maybe because I live in Vancouver, where all the best supernatural/sci-fi shows are filmed (Supernatural, Fringe, The Secret Circle, Sanctuary). It's in the air I breathe.

3) Why did you choose to explore the dynamics of three generations of women in this book?

Times are tough. A lot of parents are seeing their children move out and then come back home for economic reasons. In the Helens' case, the need is less about the money and more about the fact that despite their ages, they all need babysitters. They all need each other. Their paranormal gifts are genetic, passed down mother to daughter since the beginning of time. There's a lot they have to teach each other, as they struggle to live normal lives. I also wanted to write a book that could be enjoyed by different age groups. There's a little bit of the Helens in all of us, depending on our own age.

4) The book has been described as "The Gilmore Girls meets Buffy The Vampire Slayer." Both of those shows are well-known for witty dialog. Was dialog something you spent a lot of effort on developing during the writing process?


I write the dialogue first. It's easier for me than the descriptive narrative. The Helens are all very boisterous in their own way, and sometimes I had to tell them to shut-up. I work with a lot of young people, and sometimes the things they say make me laugh and shake my head. The character Ryan gets a lot of his salty speech from them. Dialgoue is about talking and listening. Helen talks but doesn't listen. Ellie listens but doesn't do what "the Helens" want all the time. Helena, who doesn't seem to be listening ever, is really the most tuned-in of all.

5) Which Helen is your favorite and why?

I love all my children equally.

6) What, to you, do vampires represent thematically?

You're supposed to love the boy next door. Not the vampire next door. I like my vampires dark and brooding and well…creepy. If I were Helen, wanting to protect Ellie, I'd lock her up. Helena, on the other hand, would be more likely to say "have you met those nice Winchester boys staying at the motel down the street?" Both ways would ultimately protect Ellie, but one would be a hell of a lot more fun than the other. Demons are to be killed, not welcomed into the family. They are never to be trusted. They are people who won't stay dead. They have issues.

7) Do you have any sequels in the works?

Well, Helena has plans for a nice Thanksgiving dinner alone with her girls. You just know that's not going to happen. Uninvited guests show up just before the turkey hits the table, and not just at Helena's. It's called "HELENS-OF-TROY: NIGHTMARE ON JACEY STREET" and it will be a lot of fun, if you don't mind a few body parts along with your gravy.

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Thanks, Janine.

You can see more from Janine at her author website www.helens-of-troy.com.

HELENS-OF-TROY is available for purchase at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.

New England, The Haunted Region: An interview with YA contemporary fantasy author, Edward Eaton

Today I'm talking with Edward Eaton, author of Rosi's Castle, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series set in New England.


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1) Tell us about your book.

Rosi's Castle is a novel about Rosi Carol, a teenager who is sent to live with an eccentric uncle in a small town in coastal New Hampshire after her father disappears. The Castle she moves into appears to be haunted. The locals think the town is haunted--by her. When Rosi goes to her uncle and asks to explain why everyone is treating her oddly, he simply tells her to figure it out on her own.

Rosi's Castle is part fantasy, part science fiction, with a bit supernatural thrown in for good measure. It is probably more fantasy than science fiction. There is a certain physics to Rosi's new world, but much of it has been tweaked to fit the physics of my imagination. I do not want to give too many spoilers, so I cannot explain too much. Over the course of the series, Rosi's Doors, the physics will be explained. It is certainly consistent throughout the books. However, it plays a greater role in some than in others. There is also an element of historical fiction to the series. That is an aspect I will talk about when the second book comes out.

The whole series is Rosi Carol's journey to maturity. She learns about responsibility. She also learns about sacrifice. What sacrifices is she willing to make to keep the power that she is being offered? What sacrifices is she willing to make to do what she has to do?

2) What inspired this book?

I have a process for writing. I have an idea. I play with the idea, running it back and forth in my mind. If the idea continues to follow me around after a few days, I talk about it with my wife or my reader, Brian. Not all of the ideas are stories. I come up with games. I have even play tested a few of them, which is fun. I come up with scholarly works. If, after I talk with Silviya and Brian, the idea still follows me around, I take action. What that means is that I write it down someplace. Computers are great because the notes do not take up any space. There is a folder with a document in it. Some ideas, ones I particularly like, get a small notebook (I am partial to the Moleskin notebooks). Poetry always gets a notebook. I always write that by hand.

I work for a living. I teach, and I direct plays and stage fights for the theatre. So I do not carry around lots of notebooks at a time. I do not have the time. I simply choose one work to focus on and make sure that notebook is on hand. At a certain point, I start outlining. Then I start writing. The hard part is making myself focus. I could be one of those writers who has fifteen or twenty works at various stages and never finishes any of them. I do find it kind of fun to pull out a notebook in the middle of a meeting or social function. If I whipped out a book or my cell phone, everyone would think it terribly rude. Start taking notes on my next book and everyone is very solicitous. Of course, then they practically expect me to write the book in front of them. It reminds me of the Monty Python Novel-Writing sketch.

I love deadlines. In the theatre, you know that the show will open in three and a half weeks. This is not a debatable issue. The sets have to be built. The actors have to know their lines. Tickets are sold. The doors open. An audience comes in. Of course writing a novel is somewhat different, but if I go through the whole process thinking that it needs to be finished vaguely 'someday,' I will find all sorts of reasons not to do it. Indeed, that is what has happened to quite a few 'brilliant works of literature' that are sitting on my hard drive.

My writing got a big boost when a play I had written, Orpheus and Eurydice, was published. About the same time as I was polishing the play, one of the actresses in the original production, a young woman who is in her teens, read an early draft of Rosi's Doors. She loved it and encouraged me to continue working on it. Then I found Dragonfly Publishing and the ball really started rolling.

So, to answer your question: I did not really get inspired to write this book. I came up with an idea that I liked. I played with it. I did other projects. I returned to it. Encouraged by some friends and readers, I finished it. Then, given publication dates and an editor by a publisher, I polished, reworked, rewrote, and got it ready.

3) The United States is a large country with many regions that have both geographical and historical backgrounds that lend themselves well to supernatural stories. Why did you choose New England?
Short answer: taxes. One of the conflicts found in the series (it will be more pronounced in later books) is between the local families, mostly shop owners and fishermen, and the wealthy newcomers from Boston. The reason the Boston families moved just across the border from Massachusetts was because New Hampshire has no state income tax.

I chose New England for other reasons as well. There is the relationship between New England and early American history, which will be an important part of Books 2 and 3. Another reason was that there is this tradition of the supernatural in the area. There is Puritanism, witchcraft, the devil. New England is full of haunted houses

Another reason is that I live in New England. I have been here for some time. I have lived in the Boston area for longer than I have lived in any other place. There is a rhythm to New England that lends itself to the story I want to tell.

Different regions in the States have different personalities. Generally speaking, most people whose families have been in the States for more than just a couple of generations have a history that includes some time in the Eastern United States. Most of them will trace roots back to the Northeast: New York, Boston, Philadelphia. These are cities with which all Americans are familiar. These are the cities that founded America. We collectively, unconsciously, identify with them. Because of this, they, and the Northeast take on a more universal quality when used settings for books or movies. That is not to say that there is not universality in regional literature. But, it is regional literature. It is hard to understand Faulkner without understanding the South, Reconstruction, and the Civil War. Readers do not face quite the same obstacles when reading Hawthorne.

4) What went into creating your protagonist, Rosi?

Rosi was a process that took several years. My image of her changed a lot while I was outlining and drafting Rosi's Castle. Early on, I was having a lot of trouble coming up with her character. I had the basic idea for the story. I even had the name of the town. I knew the history of the town. The first thing I wrote on this story was a draft of the the British landing with the first Carol. I did not have a handle on my protagonist. One day I was at my in-laws' house with a friend of my wife's. He repeatedly mispronounced my niece's name. It is Rosi, with a soft 's'. In Bulgarian: Роси, short for Росица. 'Rosi' is a simple transliteration of the word. It was not just that he saw the name and said it wrong. He was told the name several times. He just could not get it. A running gag in the book is that almost everyone says it incorrectly. Not everyone, of course. That is a clue.

I cast all of my characters. You probably would not recognize my actors. It is not like I imagine Michael Caine as Uncle Richard (though I can see that) or Walton Goggins as Jessie (a reviewer suggested that; my initial thought was : “YES!”). Rather, I find people, or combinations of people, who have some sort of physical characteristics or personality traits that help me identify and individualize the characters in my mind. Angie's physical model is a friend I knew years ago in West Virginia. Andy looks a lot like her husband and like a friend from prep school. In fact, Andy and Kirk are both 'based' on those same two people. There is a thin line between bully and victim. If Kirk did not have a popular brother and a wealthy family, he might well have turned out just like Andy. Once I can see a character walk or hear him or her talk in my mind, a lot of my job is done. And the image changes, depending on where I am in the story and what purpose the character serves, or because that image has served its purpose and I have to move on.

Rosi was the easiest and the hardest. Rosi is the character I spent the most time with. She is the focal character, so I put myself in her head a lot. Sometimes, I put myself in Rosi's personality. Her taste in books and films is mine. Her taste in video games is mine, though she is better at them than I am. Naturally, her taste in boys is not mine--not that there's anything wrong with that. I teach college students and read their essays and listen to their discussions. They are not that far from fifteen--especially a fairly mature and well-read fifteen year old. When I was growing up, I read girls' books as well as boys' books (Nancy Drew and the like). I am a fan of Buffy (the television show). I hope I have created a believable fifteen-year-old heroine. Some of my earliest readers were women, including the teenaged daughter of a colleague of mine. The responses I got from them and from readers of the published book have been positive in that respect.

Physically, Rosi has changed a lot. Her age has changed several times. There was no one physical model for her. Several young women I have worked over the past few years in the theatre could probably find themselves in Rosi is they looked hard enough.

5) Why do you think there's such an enduring appeal for supernatural stories?

Perhaps we like to believe in the supernatural because science is gradually finding answers to so many questions. Science is leaving us with a fairly dull world. I want my little boy to believe in Santa Claus forever. Not just because I want him to stay young and innocent, but because I want him (and me) to live in a world where there is magic and mystery and the unknown. I think we all want to live in that world. Wouldn't it be really cool if the Wizarding World really did exist? What if there was a magic wardrobe somewhere that could take us to a land of adventure? What if Santa Claus was a magical being who rewarded good boys and girls and punished bad ones and not simply harried, overworked, underpaid parents scratching together enough bits to let the kiddies smile at least one day out of the year. What if the Force really was some mystic force that runs within and between all things rather than a chemical imbalance?

What if there are ghosts and vampires and zombies and devils and demons? Sure, they are scary and dangerous, but they are also exciting and vital and remind us that we are alive. And they allow for angels. They are worth the price paid, the nights huddled under the pillows (if we can't see them, then they can't see us. That is the rule all monsters--save Weeping Angels from Dr. Who--inherently follow.).

We love paranormal stories because we want to live in that sort of world. The evil is easy to define, and the quest to destroy it is glorious. Of course, times have changed. Paranormal creatures used to invoke terror. Now they are being domesticated. Dracula kept me up for weeks. Edward Cullen may be dreamy, but he glitters and is a vegetarian--what's scary about that?

Perhaps the supernatural appeals to us because it is real. Erich von Däniken posited that the gods were aliens. Other ufologists have suggested that devils and demons were as well. What if they were not aliens, but Guardians like Richard and Rosi Carol? The Old Man in “Young Goodman Brown,” could easily be Uncle Richard. Legendary figures who never age, like St. Germain, Merlin, or The Wandering Jew, could well be Guardians. So could vampires, ghosts, even jiang shi and draug.

6) The ending of the first book opens the door (no pun intended) to potential sequels. How many do you have planned?

At the moment, I am contracted to write two sequels to Rosi's Castle. The three books that are scheduled will bring the story arc pretty much to a close. There will, however be some unanswered questions. In my mind, there are two further books. I know what happens in them. I am, though spending my time working on the Books 2 and 3 and getting them ready for publication. They are scheduled to come out this year. We can worry about Books 4 and 5 later.

In fact, the Rosi's Doors trilogy was originally written as one book. Dragonfly [the publisher] decided that it should be divided into three books. This is not as easy as it sounds. The original Rosi's Doors would have been six or seven hundred pages long. We talked about publishing it simply as one book in three volumes (like The Lord of the Rings). That would have been fairly easy. However, in the end, my editor, publisher, and I decided that it should be a series instead. That meant that each book had to have something resembling an end rather than simply a transition. A lot of copy-and-pasting went on. Important events disappeared. Characters were deleted and created. The entire last third of the book was rewritten by hand last summer in a café in the south of France. The mystery that had been spread out over the entire manuscript was now focused on Book 1. Part I had been mostly set up and exposition. Of course, this is how many books are structured. In The Lord of the Rings, for example, the Hobbits do not meet Strider until Chapter 10 (page 175 in my paperback edition); Frodo awakens in Rivendell on page 231; then there are two chapters, 50+ pages of sitting around talking before the Fellowship actually starts on their quest. That is almost 300 pages, most of which is exposition.

Now, Rosi's Doors is structured more like the original Star Wars trilogy (I am in my forties, so I like to pretend Episodes I, II, and III did not really happen--or get made). Book 2 will be the most open ended of the three. The characters will have reached a spot in the action at the end where they are not in active conflict with the antagonists, but a lot of the questions that are raised in Book 2 will not be answered until Book 3.

In terms of chronology, which can be very confusing in this series, Book 2 begins about a month and a half after the end of Book 1. Book 3 starts about one week after Book 2. Book 4 will begin a few months after Book 3 and will be immediately followed by Book 5

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Thanks, Edward.


If you want to see more from Edward, you can find him and his work at www.edwardeaton.com and www.rosisdoors.com.


Rosi's Castle is a release of Dragonfly Publishing and is available in ebook, paperback, and hardback from a variety of vendors including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Magic is for Authorized Personnel Only: A Review of A Highly Technickel Memoir

Over at Good Book Alert, I review Shoshana Sumrall Frerking's amusingly different contemporary fantasy, A Highly Technickel Memoir