Tag: Urban Fantasy

Authors Life, Blog, Books, Fantasy, Fried Windows, Magic, Magical Realism, New Releases, novel, Publishing, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Writing

Get the Backstory for Free

Elgon Williams, Author

Some of you may have interest in this. It’s for everyone and it’s FREE.

On my Medium account you’ll find the backstory for the Brent Woods character who appears in The Fried Windows series as well as The Thuperman Trilogy. He also pays a visit to The Wolfcat Chronicles which will begin publication later this year with the novel Dammerwald. And Brent is involved here and there along the way in many of my yet-to-be-published manuscripts.

Brent tends to be an alter ego for me, as most of the novels in which he appears are written in the first person POV. He is a lot like me, shares some of my life experiences, but generally, he is more adventurous and less risk-averse than me.

Currently, I am posting chapter installments of FINDING IT, which is part of The IT Series that begins during Brent Woods’ senior year of high school and eventually culminates with his first semester of college. It is important, perhaps, to a better understanding of the events and character interactions in FRIED WINDOWS and NINJA BREAD CASTLES, the latter releases on 4.13.22. You will learn a lot more about what it means to be a wolfcat and how Brent came to realize his incredible abilities. The story is a magical realism/coming of age escape into a world of 70s nostalgia, teen angst, and budding romances. It also provides insight into the illusion that underlies the world and an ongoing battle between those who have the attributes, aka magical abilities, and those who have not.

I invite everyone to follow me on Medium and enjoy FINDING IT, available now.


Books, Fantasy, New Releases, novel, Publishing, Science Fiction, Technology, Urban Fantasy

Review: PHAROS by Rachel Sharp

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

Front Cover

Jack and Rosie tried to return to their normal hacker lives after encountering the metal fae, but now people are disappearing. Their next-door neighbor Zelda, a psychobilly actress with a screaming habit, is on the receiving end of a home invasion by a living cloud that was likely meant for them. They’re not sure what they’re dealing with…and Rosie may have been infected by the same black dust as the missing locals.

She feels it drawing her out to sea, where the others disappeared. She knows better than to go, but when they exhaust their other options, Rosie follows the only lead she has; chasing the impulse she’s felt since encountering the black dust. It leads her to the Graves, an old lighthouse, where a Kindwraith has taken up residence. Instead of trying to kill Rosie, it heals her.

But if the Kindwraith is a helpful faerie…what’s eating people?

My Take:

PHAROS picks up about a year after the events in PHAETHON, Book one of the series. Note: PHAROS stands alone well without prior knowledge of the series. Sharp does an excellent job dealing with the backstory without it seeming forced. Jack and Rosie’s life is dramatically altered from what it was before book one, but it has settled into a new normal as they coexist with not only the knowledge of the existence of the fae around them but also cohabiting with Lassie, a brownie introduced in book one. Here, Zelda, a new, quirky neighbor is introduced and she rapidly becomes an integral part of the story.

Character development is Sharp’s forte, spending the correct amount of attention to the relationships exposed through dialog and interactions. She expertly weaves the plot elements around the characters as she explores the new challenges before them. But it is her way of telling the story that makes this book a must-read. It feels real despite the far-fetched premise and surreal situations; she invites the reader to suspend disbelief, almost immediately immersing them in a fantasy world where magical realism is not only the norm even if most people don’t realize the truth, but also an elemental part of the interworkings of its nature. The resulting foundation defines the interactions of fae with humans and exposes how dangerous or beneficial it can be depending on dispositions and circumstances.

I thoroughly enjoyed PHAROS and already look forward to the next installment, which I understand is currently under development.

Author Bio:

After a decade of touring the country, Rachel Sharp now lives in Vermont with several plants and her questionable sense of humor.

At time of writing, she is working on entirely too many projects. The previous statement will be true regardless of time of reading.

She also lives with chronic illness, plays ukulele, and tries to save the planet. Learn more about Rachel Sharp and her writing at her website. Get her books at Amazon and Pandamoon Publishing.

Amazon, Books, Fantasy, New Releases, novel, Publishing, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Two Weeks from Today

Elgon Williams, Author

The launch of Homer Underby, Book 2 of The Thuperman Trilogy, is set for August 14. It continues the story of Will and Sandra, two precocious 8-year-old kids with active imaginations and budding superpowers. The story picks up where Becoming Thuperman, Book 1 of the series, left off. Sandra is grounded. Although Will is not, having his best friend unavailable is like being grounded. All they can do is wait until Saturday. If they win the first Little League game of the season Sandra’s grounding is over. But a new adventure is just beginning as the kids learn about a 20-year-old unsolved mystery involving the deserted old house down the street from where they live.

Homer Underby is a Pandamoon Publishing release available for pre-order at Amazon.

Authors Life, Books, Fantasy, Future, New Releases, novel, Publishing, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Writing

What’s this…Another Update?

Elgon Williams, Author
Cover for HOMER UNDERBY

This past weekend marked another milestone. HOMER UNDERBY is now on pre-sale for Kindle with a launch date of August 14th. That also means the ARCs are available and being distributed for pre-launch reviews. I’m proud of this book, not that I haven’t been proud of my others. But this one is a little different because of the collaborative effort that went into its conceptualization.

If you’ve been following my blogs, I mentioned that the first draft of BECOMING THUPERMAN was written in the summer of 2013, while FRIED WINDOWS was in editing. I polished up the draft a bit and submitted it to my publisher who eventually put the book under contract a few months later. From the outset I intended the book to be a one of kind thing as an author. It is a story about kids, after all, and although my books have been kid-friendly for the most part, they have been intended to be YA or older. Despite the ages of the two main characters, BECOMING THUPERMAN is not a children’s book, per se.

During the editing process for BT, about a month before it was released, Jessica Reino, the substantive editor, suggested that a couple of story lines might be easily extended if I feathered in some foreshadowing earlier on in the story. And after an hour or so discussing the possibilities, I had two more books plotted out in a rough outline. I know that’s the way some writers work, but it was unusual for me. My first drafts tend to be free form. I create an outline after the fact to organize the resulting chaos. So, you see, HOMER UNDERBY is the first book I have ever composed according to an outline. The third book in the series, titled THUPERMAN AND CASSANDRA, will be the second book produced that way.

What about all my other manuscripts? They were created the old way. However, I am revising all my Wolfcat books and have begun imposing an outline structure for the sections that require some rewriting. And for those who are interested in following their favorite characters in other series, Brent from Fried Windows is in HOMER UNDERBY and THUPERMAN AND CASSANDRA as well as THE WOLFCAT CHRONICLES. Will and Sandra from the Thuperman Series are also in the sequel to FRIED WINDOWS, titled CASTLES OF NINJA BREAD. Ela’na from THE WOLFCAT CHRONICLES appears in other manuscripts the titles for which have not been determined. In some of those stories Brent, Will and Sandra are also included.              

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The Wolfcat Chronicles Book Five Revision Underway

Elgon Williams, Author

Scanned Image 2-2

Last night I started revising Book Five of The Wolfcat Chronicles, titled A Change Of Heart. Since I rearranged the order of the first nine chapters in this and moved some material to the end of Book Four I’m mainly looking for continuity issues. Also I’m considering splitting chapter one of Book Five into two parts. It is marginally too long and, as it does have two basic scenes, I could make a case for doing it.

Mostly I don’t want to rearrange things again until I’ve read through to chapter ten or so. Then I may feather in an additional chapter somewhere early on into the flow. If that is all the adjusting I have to do I’ll be happy. I vaguely recall from the previous revision in 2012 that the last half of this book flows fairly well. I’m hoping that proves to be the case.

As far as changes to the actual text go, I’m not doing a lot of that yet. I added a few lines and delated a few – normal stuff for a revision. I will say that when this one is published readers will likely consider it the keystone to understanding the entire series. It also reveals how this series ties into everything else I have written. Perhaps it is fitting in that this book completes the first half of the series. This is where all the characters begin to interact and the conflicts come into full play.

Scanned Image 2-1

In large part the revelations in this book come from Terry Harper who appeared in the storyline toward the end of Book Four. Here in Book Five he explains to Ela’na how the universe is constructed and defines a lot of things about the boundaries of science and magic. This is necessary because of what happens shortly afterwards, Ela’na’s first true adventure away from Anter’x.

The Wolfcat Chronicles is going to be one of those series that is difficult to categorize as any one genre. It is a convergence of epic and urban fantasy with a good deal of science fiction seasoned in here and there, thanks to Terry Harper and Andy Hunter from One Over X. As someone who has read all of my stuff in draft has told me, one day there may need to be a genre called Elgon Fiction that encompasses pretty much everything weird that refuses to fit neatly anywhere else. I doubt that will happen but it probably would make sense to give these books a separate section.

#Elgon #ScienceFiction #EpicFantasy #UrbanFantasy #TheWolfcatChronicles Revising #Writing #Author

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Interview with Rose Montague, Author of Jade

Elgon Williams, Author

Jade_150dpi_eBook

Rose Montague is an author I met last fall at an online group party when all the Pandamoon Publishing authors were announced. Although she is under contract with another publisher many of my fellow Pandas adopted her as a kindred spirit. Her urban fantasy novel, Jade, debuted late last fall and I posted a review for it a few weeks later.

Rose says her goal in writing Jade was to have fun writing a book that is fun to read. It is all of that, exciting, action-packed with a lot of humor and mystery. There are many surprises and just a little bit of romance. In Jade, the title character is a mutt in the supernatural world, a mixture of various supernatural creatures with various abilities. How she became that way is part of the mystery and a lot of the fun.

Jade is part of a series that will continue with two of the other main characters from the book, Jane and Jill. The target date for publication of Jane is late summer 2014.

“I have been very pleased with the reviews of Jade and the book has been enjoyed by both fans of the urban fantasy genre as well as readers of fiction that enjoy a fast paced, fun read. Jade is suitable for older teens and adults and I would rate it PG-13.”

I asked Rose for an interview and she graciously consented.

EW: Imagine for a moment that you’re a famous, bestselling author. They’re making a movie out of your last book. What do you do next to top that you’re already achieved?

RM: I imagine this all the time. Honestly, Jade and my WIP, Jane would both make terrific movies. It has everything that makes a movie successful. Tons of action, humor, mystery, and just a touch of romance all combine to make this a blockbuster. Let’s not stop with just one movie. I want three and while we are making it, let’s do this thing where we make the last one in two parts making people squirm in anticipation for that last movie. And 3-D, got to have it. Maybe one of these days.

EW: How much research do you do before starting a novel? Does the research help develop the plot or do you use it to all background details?

RM: Most research I do involves the settings in my story. I like to be as accurate as possible about this type of thing as it involves readers that are familiar with the areas involved. I have had a lot of help from some of my friends, specifically in Guildford, UK and Germany on two of the settings I have used so far in my first two books.

EW: Let’s talk about when you were a kid. In school were you a troublemaker, an instigator or the teacher’s pet? Explain.

RM: And all three. I enjoyed learning about things that I was interested in from teachers that were interested in the students and that enjoyed teaching. For teachers that were going through the motions, that is what I did as well. For teachers that made the subject exciting and were excited about it as well, those I learned from and participated in. For these I was probably the teacher’s pet. For those that obviously hated teaching kids, I was rebellious, inattentive, and did not complete my work assignments on a regular basis. For this reason my grades tended to be great in some classes and not so much in others.

EW: Every writer has that one story that clicked, inspiring him or her to pursue writing as a career. What was the story and what was there about it that made it influential?

RM: For me this was the case with the Ilona Andrews writing team. They had a free installment series going on at the time on their website called Clean Sweep. (They are now on the second book in this free series if you want to check it out). They were doing this in installments, writing about 1,000 words at a time and I was going crazy waiting on the next installment. It was just a fun story and that is what I wanted with mine. I used this as a model for my writing and got some of my Facebook friends to read my installments as I completed them. Their fun and encouragement was contagious and I was convinced I could do it. It was really nice when they started begging for the next installment. Got to love that.

EW: Where do you see yourself at this moment in your life had you never decided to write a book?

RM: Writing a book and having it published was a lifelong dream come true for me. It was a void in my life that never went away and it would go several decades before that dream was realized. I can tell you how happy I was when a publisher accepted my book and what it felt like to actually hold that book in my hands. That is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine my life now without this part of it.

I’d like to thank Rose for spending some time with us today and let you know that you can visit Rose Montague online and become a friend, follower and fan as I have at:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000712227923

Twitter:

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7393094.Rose_Montague

And this is where you can find Rose’s debut novel Jade:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Jade-Rose-Montague-ebook/dp/B00GKRO8SM

Eternal Press:

http://eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781629290911

Booksamillion:

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Jade/Rose-Montague/Q593188343?id=5956566966194

B&N:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jade-rose-montague/1117563646?ean=9781629290928