Christmas Tales & Wishes Holiday Collection

Available through Bookbub

Book Blurb

Christmas Tales & Wishes is a heartwarming collection that combines a nostalgic poem about war with three uplifting stories, each beautifully illustrated.

This enchanting book rekindles the joy of Christmas through a child’s heartfelt wish, a tender love story set against a snowy backdrop, and a spiritually enriching tale of a chapel that finally attracts visitors.

Readers will find inspiration and a renewed appreciation for the holiday season, making it an ideal gift for all ages.

About The Author

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Shobana Gomes is a poet and writer with a deep passion for literature. She enjoys reading the works of Hans Christian Andersen and has a keen interest in Ancient and Classical Literature, having written some of her best-selling novels in that genre.

She publishes a variety of works, including children’s books, young adult fiction, and novels.

She holds a Global TESOL Certificate in English Language and has studied literature. Additionally, she completed various English courses through FutureLearn, culminating in a Professional Certificate in Teaching English Online. She is also a Certified Human Resource and Outsourcing Professional.

Her love for languages extends to French, where she has obtained professional certification and continues to enhance her skills through online learning.

Her books are available on Amazon and Kindle. To stay updated on new releases and special deals, please follow her on BookBub, https://shobanagomes.com.

Interview With Author Terrie Lynn Birney

By way of introduction, here is Terrie Lynn’s bio:

T.L. Birney is a children’s picture book author who has Cerebral Palsy. When she was born, the doctors told her mom she would be a “vegetable” her entire life.

She’d love to say to those doctors, “Ha, take this!” Not only is she pursuing a career in writing children’s books, but she also graduated from college with an associate degree in computer science.

Since she can remember, she has enjoyed writing. At first, she focused on expressing her feelings. Now, she’s following her dream of becoming a children’s picture book author. 

Giveaway 

$10 Amazon 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/Abby-AbilityTour

Hello Terrie Lynn, welcome to Angel Kiss Publications. Thank you for spending time with us.

Thank you for having me.

Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!

 I met my husband in a country nightclub in 1993.

Where were you born/grew up at? 

I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but I grew up in North Carolina where I still live with my husband.

If you knew you’d die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day? 

I would spend my last day with my family. I mostly write at night after dinner.

Who is your hero and why?

 My mother is my hero because she raised me and didn’t put me in a “home” when I was born. 

What are you passionate about these days? 

Nowadays, I’m passionate about writing children’s books featuring children with Cerebral Palsy.

What do you do to unwind and relax? 

I enjoy watching T.V. shows and movies to relax.

Describe yourself in 5 words or less!

 Five words that I’d describe myself are caring, loving, funny, a survivor, author.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

I began calling myself a writer when I started focusing on writing my books and I signed up for a coaching program in 2022 which I still take to this day.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

 I can see my series. The Buddies’ Adventures made into a TV series.

What inspired you to write this book? 

This book was created after meeting the mom of a little girl with CP, named Abby.

Her mom asked if I could help her answer questions Abby asked about having Cerebral Palsy.

To help Abby and other children like her understand, I wrote a book called Abby-Ability.

What can we expect from you in the future? 

I’m working on a children’s book that has ASL signs for the text.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Abby-Ability?

 Abby has Cerebral Palsy. Kahlan and Lexi are her older sisters who help Abby. 

Where did you come up with the names in the story?

 I titled this book, Abby-Ability because Abby is the real girl’s name, and I picked Ability to tell kids that they can do anything that they want to do.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

 I enjoyed the fact that I noticed some God-winks while I was getting ready to release my book, Abby-Ability.

You might be wondering “What Is A God wink”? Well, A God wink is what some people would call a coincidence, an answered prayer, or simply an experience so astonishing that it could only have come from God.

My Illustrator made Abby’s walker purple and then, I found out that purple is Abby’s favorite color. #abbygodwink.

My Illustrator also put Abby’s sisters in shirts that are their favorite colors without our knowledge. #godwink. I’m taking the Godwinks as signs that God likes what I’m doing.

What is your favorite part of this book and why? 

My favorite part of Abby-Ability is the fact that it’s based on a real girl. 

Have you written any other books that are not published? 

My books, The Gaming Buddies will be available for pre-order in December 2024 and Does Anyone Know ASL? will be on pre-order next summer in July 2025. 

What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?

 I enjoy reading books from Nicolas Sparks, Karen Kingston, Lolly Winston, Judy Blume, E.L. James, Danielle Stelle, Nora Roberts, Jane Austen, Francine Pascal, and Laura Ingalls Wilder

How long have you been writing?  

I started seriously writing in 2022. But I wrote a novel loosely based on my life.

What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?

I researched the type of Cerebral Palsy that Abby has- Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy

What do you think about the current publishing market?

 I think it’s crazy that anyone can write a book with AI. 

Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?

 I read romance.

If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?

 The Baxters Series.

Pen or type writer or computer? 

I write on a computer.

Advice you would give new authors? 

I  would tell new authors that they can do it and I can help, email me at author@terrielynnbirneyauthor.com.

What makes a good story?

 Emotions and feelings make a good story.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

 I try to deliver to readers what they want.

Where can readers find you?

Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website: https://www.terrielynnbirneyauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrielynnbirneyauthor

X: https://x.com/tlbirneyauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrielynnbirneyauthor/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Terrie-Lynn-Birney/author/B0BXFP8FGG

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23810995.Terrie_Lynn_Birney

Thank you, Terrie Lynn , for spending time with us and sharing your story. We wish you continued success and lots of luck with Abby-Ability!

Available on Amazon

A mother of a special-needs girl (Abby) asked the author for advice on how to answer her questions: why does she have Cerebral Palsy and why is she different from her sisters?

The author and her decided to write a book that answers her questions.

Abby-Ability

by Terrie Lynn Birney

Illustrated by Pavani Apsara

Genre: Special-Needs Children’s Book  

Has your special-needs child ever asked you why he/she is different from his/her siblings or classmates?

Well, this book, Abby-Ability, is for your family. Abby has questions asking why she has Cerebral Palsy, and why she is different. With her faith in God and getting answers to her questions, will Abby understand that she does have a special ability, just like everyone else?

A mother of a special-needs girl (Abby) reached out to me on Social Media, asking for advice on how to answer Abby’s questions: why does she have Cerebral Palsy and why is she different from her sisters.

We decided I would write a book that answers her questions.

As a woman who has Cerebral Palsy, Terrie loves writing children’s books featuring children with Cerebral Palsy for kids aged 5-8.

She hopes that not only kids with any kind of disability, but also every kid will enjoy her children’s picture books about diversity.

With her children’s picture books, Terrie also hopes to get the word in the world that anyone with any disability is the same as anyone else.

Amazon * Author’s Site * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Abby-Ability-Terrie-Lynn-Birney-ebook/dp/B0DGDM2VH1

Author’s Site: https://www.terrielynnbirneyauthor.com/my-store

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/abby-ability-by-terrie-lynn-birney

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218597408-abby-ability

Threshold Book Tour

On Threshold time travel is about to become possible. The huge space habitat, already 500 years in our future is about to go forward to a safer time and place. Aliens from the All-Time hold the keys. Wanna go?

Threshold

The Threshold Series Book 1

by Janet & Chris Morris

Genre: Science Fiction Thriller Adventure

Set a millennium from now on Threshold Terminal—virtually a Grand Hotel in space— a young test pilot, Joe South, is thrust five hundred years into his future and finds himself in the thick of interstellar smuggling, intrigue, and the rough underworld of an alien environment. It is a time of danger and ever-shifting powers . . . and the destinies of a lost test pilot, an underworld scavenger, and two young lovers become irrevocably intertwined . . .

*November’s Featured Title of the month with Perseid Press!* 

**On Sale for Only $2.99!**

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Threshold-Book-1-Janet-Morris-ebook/dp/B09PRQ4P1W

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/threshold-by-janet-morris-and-chris-morris

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62315061-threshold

Giveaway

Choice of Print or ebook of Threshold, $20 Amazon giftcard – 1 winner each! 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/ThresholdBookTour

About The Authors

Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others.

Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels.

Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.

Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Bookbub 

 Amazon * AmazonGoodreads * Goodreads

Author Links

Website: https://theperseidpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerseidPublishing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Perseid_Press

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perseid_press

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/janet-morris

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/chris-morris

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Janet-Morris/author/B001HPJJB8

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chris-Morris/author/B008L41JNO

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/121072.Janet_E_Morris

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/317667.Chris_Morris

Katie Walsh Book Blast

GENRE:  Historical Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Katie Walsh expects to write a love story someday. The hero resembles her father, and the heroine the deceased mother she never knew but imagines from the longing on her father’s face.

Katie doesn’t expect her father to be murdered, or his will to leave their farm to Guy Knowles, the man she hoped to marry, and order her to another state.

Betrayed by the men she trusted, what should have become a love like no other withers and dies.

Until Ted Howard, who doesn’t fit the hole Guy left in her heart. Instead, he fits himself into what she needs—someone who will stay, protect her, and break his own heart for her if needed.

Excerpt:

When our neighbor, Guy Knowles, began to drop by and take me for long but mostly silent walks across Papa’s pasture, I wondered if my parents had done the same thing and if my excitement mirrored what my mother’s might have been.

Did she, like me, translate every quiet step into tender words? Did she see lifelong devotion on Papa’s face then, like I watched for it now on Guy’s?

I expected my love story—the one I would write and the one I would live—to be like theirs.

What I didn’t expect was that both stories would begin the day a stranger came to my door and told me my father had just been killed. Killed, not died.

Nor did I expect this tale of “A Love Like No Other” to reach full bloom in a tiny jail cell far away.

Giveaway

The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Click the link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f5040/

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

The tour dates can be found here:  https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2024/10/book-blast-katie-walsh-by-colleen-l.html

About The Author

Colleen L Donnelly was born and raised in the US Midwest but ventured to other parts of the country as an adult to experience life from other perspectives.

Besides writing, she spends time outdoors, antique hunting, reading, or watching a good movie.

Even though she retired from a career in laboratory science, she is never bored and always busy at something. 

Social Media Links:

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/colleen-l-donnelly

Website: http://www.colleenldonnelly.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenLDonnelly 

Goodreads: http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/colleenldonnelly/ 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/37vcnO4

Twitter:   https://x.com/ColleenLDonnell/ 

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/3YQIFP2

Sunshine Syndicate New Release

Link: https://amzn.to/4f7kzoc

Excerpt

A high-stakes heist intertwined with a captivating romance that will satisfy fans of fantasy classics! 

Legendary Mer-king Cyclone is dead. His corpse now nailed above the conquering Elven emperor’s seat of power.

 Tetra, a Mermaid scavenger driven to make amends after her inaction caused the death of her previous pod, knows it will take a drastic act—like retrieving their beloved king’s body—to inspire the Merfolk to revolt against their conquerors, and she’ll need a team to do it.

Each with their own reason to rebel, Tetra assembles a crew made up of a gruff Kraken arms dealer, a skilled Orc spy, a genius Goblin jeweler, and an unhinged Vampire spawn, whose fractured mind connects to Tetra’s shattered heart. 

But as they prepare to pull off the heist of a lifetime, the emperor turns the country’s diverse population against Tetra’s people, forcing the crew into a dangerous race to prevent genocide as the emperor’s lies continue to poison the public’s opinion.

With her plans in shambles, Tetra’s past weaknesses come to light, and she must rally her disheartened team of misfits and murderers in time or else watch the Merfolk face extinction.

About The Author

Brittany Tucker lives on an island off the coast of Washington state with her husband, daughter, a menagerie of furry and scaled children, and her imagination.

She prefers generic cereal, collects tattoos and action figures, and was in the top 5% on the planet for ships sunk in Assassin’s Creed III.

Brittany also likes to write books from time to time. (Kidding, all the time.)

Tune In Tomorrow Book Tour

Their fantasy is her reality.

Tune in Tomorrow

by Randee Dawn 

Genre: Humorous Pop-Culture Fantasy 

A funny, thrilling and mysterious adventure into the world of alternate reality television… Perfect for fans of Jasper Fforde and Christopher Moore.

She’s just a small town girl, with big mythic dreams.

Starr Weatherby came to New York to become… well, a star. But after ten years and no luck, she’s offered a big role – on a show no one has ever heard of. And there’s a reason for that. It’s a ‘reality’ show beyond the Veil, human drama, performed for the entertainment of the Fae.

But as Starr shifts from astounded newcomer to rising fan favorite, she learns about the show’s dark underbelly – and mysterious disappearance of her predecessor. She’ll do whatever it takes to keep her dream job – though she might just bring down the show in the process.

Raves for the book:

“I thought I’d seen everything in the galaxy of reality TV, until Randee’s book!” – Andy Cohen, Host / Executive Producer, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and New York Times bestselling author

“Randee Dawn has single-handedly created a glittering new genre: the Backstage Comedy Fantasy Romance — and I want more!” – Ellen Kushner, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Thomas the Rhymer and Swordspoint

“Randee Dawn’s Tune in Tomorrow is a wild ride through the world of reality TV, Faerie style. It’s a satire and a romance (of a sort) and a fairytale and a mystery, full of characters I loved (and loved to hate) and situations that had me biting my nails. It’s also hilariously funny.” – World Fantasy Award nominee Delia Sherman, author of The Porcelain Dove and The Evil Wizard Smallbone

“Tune in Tomorrow is a joyride. It takes you on a journey into the make believe world of a soap opera. It dives in and out of what could possibly be fantasy or in fact is reality. As with the sands of time, as you Search for Tomorrow, or you are feeling Young and Restless, get lost in the adventures of Starr and be taken over by all that is Tune in Tomorrow.” – Emmy-nominated actor Gregory Zarian

“Dawn’s Tune in Tomorrow is a ton of fun with a lot of heart, charming characters, and devilish foes. And it’s funny as hell.” – Zin E. Rocklyn, author of Flowers for the Sea

“Few authors can open the door to another world as easily as you might turn on the TV, but Randee Dawn has the key and the remote control firmly in her hand. Flip through the fae and the grindylows, let her be your TV guide and psychopomp. You will find yourself howling at the gate for a rerun.” – Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan

“This book is a BOUNCY CASTLE! This book is like a candy store and a screwball comedy had a fling in fairyland and the result was a mythic soap opera! There was no predicting it, there was only riding this dragon all the way to its rollicking rollercoaster conclusion. How dear and joyous it is, how satisfying, and how worthy of praise!” – World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter C.S.E. Cooney

“Dawn balances over-the-top drama and comedy with genuine intrigue to create a fun story with plenty of heart. Fans of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett will want to snatch this up.” – Publishers Weekly

“Tune in Tomorrow is a hilariously well-constructed story with surprising complexity, and one that uses its reality TV premise not as a destination, but as a jumping off point to create something uniquely interesting that stays entertaining the entire way through.” – Lightspeed Magazine

“Dawn’s witty take on society’s fascination with peering at life through a camera lens spotlights the sometimes-blurred intersection between fantasy and reality, all captured on video. Her playful narrative propels readers into the realm of alternate possibilities while questioning what is real and what is make-believe, and if we can even tell the difference.” – BookTrib

Amazon * B&N * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tune-Tomorrow-Randee-Dawn/dp/1786186306

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tune-in-tomorrow-randee-dawn/1140376607?ean=9781786186317

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/tune-in-tomorrow-by-randee-dawn

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59365823-tune-in-tomorrow

Excerpt

Tune in Tomorrow, by Randee Dawn

They twisted and turned so much Starr lost track of where she was, and Jason’s strange mixture of delight and nervousness was starting to make her feel anxious. At last, she came to a hard halt in the middle of a hallway. 

Jason tilted his head.

“Look, I get it. You’re like a big VFX warehouse or something. I’m guessing Tune in Tomorrow is some kind of space opera on the web. But your showing me every nook and cranny and door hinge doesn’t give me a clue about what’s going on. What is this place?”

Jason took a dramatic pause and his green eyes lit up, “Tune in Tomorrow is many things to so many mythics. We are the longest-running, most-viewed reality TV show ever made in any dimension. We are made by mythics, for mythics—but starring humans. “

Reality?” Starr twitched. “With dragon puppets and robots?”

Jason started to speak, took a breath and paced up and down. Raised a finger, lowered it, then stopped in front of her. Cleared his throat. “It’s been some time since I had to explain this to a human. Bear with me.” He pushed open another door and gestured inside.

Starr planted her feet in the doorway. “Jason, this is a toilet.”

“Yes, well, needs must. I don’t have any other handy water.”

He was speaking in riddles—and disappearing into a bathroom with a near-stranger was awkward at best, creepy at worst. Still, she didn’t sense Jason was up to no good.

He practically vibrated with excitement, or nerves, or both. Swallowing, Starr took the risk and stepped inside. The bathroom door swung closed behind them.

Jason turned on all four sinks in the room. Water cascaded from three; butterflies burst from the fourth. Starr gaped. Jason quickly shut that one off with a sheepish grin and turned his back on the sink. The butterflies disintegrated. 

Starr blinked.

“You see,” he raised his sing-song voice over the noise of the remaining water, “we adore human to’ings and fro’ings. We are the original fans of stories-without-end. Some hundreds of years ago when the Seelie came up with the idea of telling stories to mythics, they were known as Stories Of All Purpose, or for short –”

“SOAP,” Starr realized. The room was starting to heat up and the mirrors fogged; Jason had apparently turned on only the hot water. She wondered where he was going with all this; the fantastical elements of his story were fanciful and charming, but silly. Maybe he was just being very method about the show. “You’re making a soap opera?”

“Shh!” he quieted her, glancing around. “Yes—and no. That’s how we started. But most mythics are self-cleaning. Bathing is a hobby, not a practice. SOAPs fell a bit out of fashion. Mythics wanted real human stories.

Finally, once humans on your side of the Veil began writing their own TV shows, one of us—me, in fact—infiltrated a few writing rooms and discovered that you were doing what we’d been doing for years and calling it ‘reality TV.’ That fit us perfectly . Our viewers tune in because they believe we are telling real stories, and that’s what keeps us going.”

Giveaway

Giveaway 

$20 Amazon 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

https://bit.ly/TuneInTomorrowTour

About The Author

Randee Dawn is an author, journalist, and lucky denizen of Brooklyn. Her first novel, the humorous pop-culture fantasy Tune in Tomorrow, published in August 2022 (Solaris/Rebellion).

Randee’s short fiction has appeared in publications and podcasts including 3AM Magazine (“The View of My Brother’s Profile in the Rear-View Mirror,” 2001; “Warm, In Your Coat,” 2004) and Well-Told Tales (“Home for the Holidays,” 2015; “Can’t Keep a Dead Man Down,” 2017). 

Dawn’s stories have appeared in anthologies including Where We May Wag (“The Last Dog,” Writing Piazza Press, 2018), Children of a Different Sky (“Can’t Find My Way Home,” Kos Books, 2018), Magic for Beginners (“Queen Zoe and the Spinning Game,” Fantasia Divinity, 2019), Dim Shores Presents (“Rough Beast, Slouching,” 2021), Another World: Stories of Portal Fantasy (“The Way Is Clear,” SummerStorm Press, 2021), and Horror for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads (“Cat Person”).

She has a short collection of dark speculative fiction short stories, “Home for the Holidays” (2014) and co-authored “The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion” (BenBella Books, 2009). She co-edited the speculative fiction anthology of “what if” stories about The Beatles, “Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles” (Fantastic Books, 2019).

When not making stuff up, Randee publishes entertainment profiles, reviews, and think pieces regularly in outlets including Variety, The Los Angeles Times, Today.com and Emmy Magazine, and writes trivia for BigBrain. 

She can be found at RandeeDawn.com and @RandeeDawn (on Twitter).

Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website: https://randeedawn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRandeeDawn

X: https://x.com/randeedawn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randeedawn

Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/randee-dawn

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Randee-Dawn/author/B002F1BDJO

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6568202.Randee_Dawn

Book Of Magic Book Tour

Unravel the secrets to crafting a masterful magic system from best-selling fantasy author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Charlie N. Holmberg’s Book of Magic 

By Charlie N. Holmberg

Genre: Speculative Nonfiction, Writing Self-Help

Unravel the secrets to crafting a masterful magic system from best-selling fantasy author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Whether using magic as flavor or as an essential piece of plot, this book will guide fantasy authors, from new to experienced, through the delicate layers of creating, utilizing, and mastering magic systems.

In this book, we will…

*Discuss the schools, laws, and spectrum of magic

*Learn to build individual pieces of a magic system

*Dig into magic’s influence on worldbuilding

*Examine different types and styles of magic

*Develop and polish original magic systems


With workshops, work pages, and reference materials included, this succinct one-and-done guide to crafting the magical elements of the fantasy genre is a must-have for speculative fiction authors.

“If you haven’t had the fortune of attending one of Charlie’s writing classes (which I have), this is the next best thing.

Book of Magic contains so much wit, wisdom, and practical suggestions for helping any beginning author, or veteran, make their magic systems rise up and be noticed.

She uses expert examples from other authors you know as well as teaching a masterclass on developing magic systems from scratch based on methods she’s invented.

You just may need this book to help find out what kind of magic-based diseases might be festering in your neighbor’s cabbages.” —Jeff Wheeler, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain series

Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4MZM3XK

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/charlie-n-holmberg-s-book-of-magic-by-charlie-n-holmberg

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217485012-charlie-n-holmberg-s-book-of-magic

Excerpt

Originality

Before we get into the bones of building a magic system, I want to take a page or two to discuss originality. 

Originality really is what separates a lot of books and a lot of authors. In fantasy, it’s tempting to default to an “easy” magic system so we can focus on storytelling.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—if I want to start my story in medias res, with a man being assaulted by a vampire in an alleyway, all I have to do is say “vampire” and the antagonistic force is set.

I don’t have to waste time grounding the reader, because vampires are so common, I can start the story with no learning curve. And if I’m trying to hook readers on the action, then this is absolutely a tool I’m going to use. 

Books can employ simple or preset magic systems when the goal is flavor, highlighting power, or invoking a fantastical setting. Easy magic has a shallow learning curve, and therefore can attract more readers, especially those unused to the conventions of the fantasy genre.

But for those who want magic to be a large part of the story—tied in deeply with characters and plot—take a moment to differentiate yourself from the books that may sit beside yours on the shelf (or above and below you on the Amazon scroll).

Take your time with it—don’t rush development. Great magic systems, like great stories, need time to marinate in your brain before they come to life on paper.

A few tips to spark originality:

Take note of what’s currently saturating the market and avoid it. If you bank off writing to market, then jumping on the bandwagon of what’s hot now can pay off in the short term.

However, if you want something to stand out in one of the many slush piles of traditional publishing, or you want to guarantee your book will still be interesting ten years from now, consider taking the untrodden path. 

Take a “done” magic and make it different. If your heart is set on elemental magic or powered-up tattoos, that’s okay! Just put a unique twist on it. This is what Stephenie Meyer did with Twilight.

She took vampires (done, done, and done) and made them her own. This is also why you can have two books with seemingly similar magic systems and have completely different stories.

Case in point, both Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer trilogy and Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker use color-based magic. But the magic is explored in such fundamentally different manners that the casual reader would never dream of comparing them. 

In regard to my Paper Magician series, I wasn’t the first person to think of magical origami (though at the time, driving in my car between Idaho and Utah, I thought maybe I was).

Paper magic is also in the 1999 manga series Read or Die, for instance. But my expanding paper magic into the realm of manmade materials made it unique. If you’re trying to turn heads, you don’t need an entirely unique, never-seen-before magic system (or hey, let the book’s premise be the unique element and go ahead and write about fairies or fire or whatever makes your id happy). You can have something familiar with a unique twist or quirk.

Make a list. This process can be done with any aspect of brainstorming, not just magic. Make a list of whatever it is you need to figure out, such as what kind of creature will innately possess magic in your story (more on this in Chapter 6). And just start vomiting out ideas.

The further down the list you get, the harder your brain is working, and the more original your ideas will be. (Note that going too far down the list might leave you with something too bizarre to realistically work with.)

For example,

  1. Unicorns
  2. Vampires
  3. Pegasi
  4. Flying frogs
  5. Flying fish
  6. Giant bats
  7. Giant butterflies
  8. Wolves with butterfly wings
  9. Forest-eating caterpillars
  10. Three-headed snakes

Based on that list (which I literally did write off the top of my head and have not changed from the rough draft of this book for the sake of reality), I really like the idea of forest-eating caterpillars. And they can transform into giant butterflies, so that’s a two-for-one.

Remember, more often than not, simpler is better. It’s really easy for us to go overboard with our worldbuilding and open a giant can of worms that will devour and suffocate our readers, so it’s important to keep it simple.

Take a moment and think of the best magic systems you’ve read in your favorite books. More likely than not, you could explain them to someone quickly and concisely. Getting too complex with magic steepens the learning curve and frustrates readers.

Rule of thumb? If you, the author, have to continually look at your notes to remember how your magic works, your reader isn’t going to stick around to learn it.

Giveaway

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About the Author 

Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, including the Paper Magician series, the Spellbreaker series, and the Whimbrel House series, and writes contemporary romance under C. N. Holmberg.

She is published in over twenty languages and is a Goodreads Choice Award, ALA, and RITA finalist. Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names.

A BYU alumna, she discovered in her thirties that she’s actually a cat person. She lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at www.charlienholmberg.com.

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