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Introducing a New YA Fantasy 8/30/2010 9:37:20 PM
October 23rd, 2010 will see the release of the ninth and final novel of my adult fantasy series. It has been an eight year epic journey in writing to see the last adventure in Nayla Treeborn’s story told, but as the feisty little warrior always says: “The end is only the start of a new beginning.”
This is so true, for it is also the launch date of my debut YA fantasy novel, ‘The Magic Crystal’, the first in a trilogy from ‘The Dream Merchant Saga’.
With today’s blog, I’d like to introduce my loyal following of Imago fans to a new adventure that I hope they will find just as entertaining. And even though the vast majority of Imago readers are adults (yes, some parents gave the books the thumbs up for their ‘mature’ teenagers to read), it is my hope that the new characters will be intriguing enough, the action and conflict intense enough to draw them over to the dark side. Just kidding, it’s more like drawing them to the lighter side of epic fantasies. Even though the issues of friendship, loyalty and self-sacrifice are serious issues weaving its way though this new trilogy, it was deliberately written with a greater touch of humour.
If it were to be made into a movie, it’d probably be rated as PG because of the language and situations. So it’s appropriate for twelve-year-old readers with more mature tastes in literature, as well as older teens, but adults who did a test read said it was very entertaining and they’d recommend it to adult fantasy readers as well. One of these mature readers actually locked herself in her bedroom for the weekend to read uninterrupted, but bouts of loud laughter would send her roommates a-running, knocking on her door to see if she was okay and to find out what the heck she was doing that was so funny!
So, yes! ‘The Magic Crystal’ (TMC) was my first attempt at writing for a YA audience as I wanted to undertake the challenge of a new project that I felt was quite different from the Imago series. I also wanted a fantasy series I could finally say ‘yes, you can read this book in its entirety’ to my daughter, nieces and nephews as well as my daughter’s young friends, many of whom had asked if they could read the Imago series, but I gave a resounding ‘no’ to because I feared the adult content would ruin their young, impressionable minds! (Plus, I really didn’t need to contend with them giving me weird, side way’s glances for creeping them out.)
This YA novel differs from the Imago series in a number of ways, and not just in the fact that it was written for the YA group. First of all, it is my first book that’s been written in collaboration with my daughter, Nia. Not only is she well read, but also a gifted student excelling in language arts. She has regularly caught typos, missing punctuation, etc. that adult proofreaders have missed and she is all but twelve years of age. Though Nia is now taking an active role in writing the sequel, she acted more as a sounding board and story consultant for ‘The Magic Crystal’. She was an invaluable resource, especially as it’s been many, many, many years since I was her age. Things I found humourous or issues I felt would cause angst in most teens back in my era may no longer be applicable with her generation, so Nia was great for feedback.
We discussed the story line; had our own casting call for the heroes and villains of this series; developed the characters and their back-stories, as well as how events would unfold. Along the way, Nia seemed to enjoy naming some of the characters, in particular, the delusional Sorcerer with a strange plan when it comes to world domination!
In the case of the female protagonist, Princess Rose, she evolved when Nia and I were discussing some of the matters she and her young friends took issue with.
Interesting enough, one of the things that Nia was quite annoyed about were her peers who had a sense of entitlement. One 10-year-old student she knew received an iPod for his birthday. This was something Nia was quite interested in owning herself, but it was not in her near future at the time. When this student brought it to school and then lost it the same day, Nia told me she’d be so upset if it had happened to her. But what she found truly appalling was this student’s response to how his parents would react to this news: “Oh, they’ll just buy me a new one.”
Nia noticed that some young people had this sense of entitlement, that they deserved brand-named clothes, the latest high-tech gadgets, and if they ruin or lose them, it’d just be replaced, just like that! There was no sense of appreciation or gratitude, just the expectation that they deserved what she deemed as ‘luxury’ items in life.
Another significant difference between TMC and the Imago series is not so much in the level of action, but with TMC, the battle scenes are nowhere near as bloody and detailed as they are in the Imago series. In fact, in TMC, the first big battle scene to unfold, the heroes are greatly outnumbered by an army of disenfranchised mimes (yes, you heard right, I said mimes) and the ensuing battle will be unlike any (I hope) you’ll ever read.
The word count for TMC is 153,000, while the last novel in the Imago series, Book Seven The Broken Covenant is 187,000. My former agent told me a nice size for a YA novel is 150,000. Being self-published, I aimed for this count, but with the intention of telling this particular story using only as many words as I deemed necessary. It’s enough to tell the story without losing the forward momentum, while taking the necessary time to share in the details of these new characters and this fantasy world Nia and I created.
Where the Imago series was written in the style that would land it in the genre of epic fantasy, but with a twist as the heroine Nayla Treeborn lacks supernatural powers like many of the Xena, Warrior Princess type characters typically found in these books, TMC is more of a lighthearted approach to this genre. If you read between the lines, you’ll see I pay homage to some classic fairytales as well as J.R.R. Tolkien (and maybe poke a little fun at some fairytale stereotypes).
Another thing that makes TMC stand out from Imago are the female protagonists in these stories. Princess Rose and Nayla Treeborn are polar opposites. One has grown up pampered, spoiled and manipulative, while the other understands about self-sacrifice and the difference between wanting something and needing it. Princess Rose is in the habit of treating her subordinates with indifference and disrespect, while Nayla is the champion of society’s downtrodden, fighting against those in power who willfully wage war on those who rail against their corruption.
In many ways, I did what some in the publishing world would consider a big no-no! I created an anti-hero in Princess Rose. She is beautiful (and knows it), willingly uses (and flaunts) her royal title to manipulate others, and she truly is cursed with a sense of entitlement. Not exactly the type of ‘hero’ readers would want to cheer on.
In fact, Nia said it best as she read through the manuscript. “It’s like watching the TV reality show “Survivor” but set in a Fairytale world. The princess is like one of those competitors who tries to get people to do her work for her by just being beautiful, using her charms to manipulate people. Rose is like the beautiful, spoiled competitor who’s lazy and sneaky, so each week you watch, just to see her subjected to the torture of enduring the next challenge! Rose is like that. You want to read on just to see how she copes in the real world outside her castle and if she’ll actually learn anything in the process.”
Not to say that Princess Rose is all bad. She does have some redeeming qualities; you just have to search for them! But from a creative point of view, it was an interesting challenge to create a heroine with some less than likeable qualities. Under the pretty veneer of her physical beauty, she does have a heart… it’s just buried deep inside and needs the occasional prod to reveal there is compassion. It is my hope we’ve struck a balance creating a protagonist the readers will still find engaging enough to follow. Even if it is to see how Rose fares once she accidentally sets into motion a curse that sees her banished from her own castle and thrust into the real world where her title has no bearing on her ability to survive, we hope it will provide many hours of enjoyable reading.
So, come this October, I hope you’ll join us on this new adventure as we launch ‘The Magic Crystal, Book One of the Dream Merchant Saga’ in both the paperback edition and ebook version!
Now, here’s a sneak peek at the cover my hubby Scott White (Nia’s dad) of Shinobi Creative Services, a professional graphic artist and a man of many talents created for us: Just visit the blog page of my official website at
http://web.me.com/imagobooks
