Author: reroth77

Finally, I have completed the third book in my ‘Mists of Cala’ series, called ‘Darphon’s Dawn’. This book provides the conclusion to the story that was begun in ‘Karin’s Cloak’. In this third book, the barrier has finally fallen, and Urdumal and his demons have taken over the magedoms. The story picks up about two years after the fall. The characters who were central to the first two books continue on in this third book, and the reader learns the details of the fall through their eyes as they reflect back on events while planning their next steps. To be honest, I approached the writing of the third book with some trepidation. Could I make this book as interesting as the first two, and still reach a surprise, exciting ending that wraps up the loose ends? Like my other books, inspiration finally came, and once I got started I had little difficulty completing it. Unlike my other books, this one at least I created a rough outline before I started, because I had so many disparate pieces I needed to bring together. It worked so well, I am taking that same approach with the second book in my ‘Abicus Turne’ series.

By the way, a very interesting boutique store in Indian Trail, North Carolina, called ‘Dragonfly Thrift Boutique’ now carries my ‘Mists of Cala’ series. They have a very interesting room within their store called the Fantasy Realm–a perfect venue for selling my books. If you prefer paperback novels to ebooks and live in the Charlotte area, this is the best place to buy these books, since you save the time and expense of Amazon shipping.

You may have noticed I published a new book, Goodwin’s Magic Shop. I did not initially plan to release it, as I wrote it for one of my grandsons, who had to spend a day in the hospital for testing. It turned out to be such a good story (in my opinion!) that I decided to expand the size and release it as a completed novel. While it was written for middle-grade and teens, adults should enjoy it as well. Within this fantasy world I have included some social commentary through the story and dialog, using Magic as a representation for power and control, and discussing how it can be a corrupting influence few can resist, without the aid of a higher power.

It’s been awhile since my last newsletter. Mostly, it is because I’ve been head’s down working on finishing up my latest fantasy novel, ‘Dragon’s Dare’.

This is my second novel in the ‘Mists of Cala’ fantasy series. It is undergoing final review, and will be available at Amazon/Kindle in about a month. I will send out notification when it is released.

The ‘Mists of Cala’ series is an epic fantasy series about a realm governed by ‘magedoms’… medieval kingdoms where benevolent wizards rule as servants of the people. The Prime Mage of the greatest magedom is overthrown by an evil wizard who gains ‘under-magic’ from the under-lord. His under-realm was blocked 1,000 years earlier from the magedom realm through a magic called ‘Karin’s Cloak’. But the magic is failing, and soon the under-lord may be released. No magic currently in the magedom realm can stand against him, as the knowledge of how he was defeated is long-forgotten. Two other realms are important in this epic fantasy… Dramansur, a realm of warriors who are almost impossible to kill, and the Mist Realm, where the ‘elders’ rule. They are seers that see ripples of the future and can influence events slightly, but are forbidden to intervene. These four realms are threatened if Karin’s Cloak fails. A small number of villagers and wizards try to preserve the  balance and save the realms through quests their individual circumstances will thrust upon them.

If you haven’t already read the first book in the series, ‘Karin’s Cloak’, you may wish to get a copy now.  Here’s a link to the book at Amazon:  Karin’s Cloak

The ‘Mists of Cala’ series is mostly for adults, but I also have books that not only adults, but pre-teen and teenaged reader will enjoy as well, if fantasy and magic appeals to them (more for YA and NA readers)

Abicus Turne and the Time Locks

Specter – Day of Reckoning

If you have friends that may enjoy reading Fantasy or Science Fiction, please forward this note to them, or have them check out my website where they can register for this newsletter and see my other books:

robertrothfantasy.com

Having read a number of more contemporary novels, I’ve come to realize I would classify my fantasy novels as “classic fantasy”. What do I mean by that? I have heroes and villains in my stories. Sometimes someone you think is a villain changes, or else is revealed to be a hero, and vice-versa. For example, Snape in Harry Potter appears to be a villain but is revealed to be a hero. In my book ‘Specter’, you will see one character who appears to be a hero become a villain, but for a reason later explained. And one who you think is a villain is changed into a hero. That is all fine and good in classic fantasy. Even the king of classic fantasy, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Saruman must have started out as a hero, but is turned to the dark side (not to mention ‘Darth Vader’).

A new trend has emerged in our current society where no one is really all good or all bad. A good example is ‘Game of Thrones’, where the only truly good guy (Eddard Stark) is killed off. The rest in my view seem to fall in the realm of sometimes good and some bad. While some might think this to be a more accurate reflection of reality, I personally don’t write books for complete realism. I write books to try to make people desire to become better. I believe that’s what ‘classic fantasy’ is about. I love reading stories where I come to the end and feel great about the ending, and desire to act more like the characters I read about or watched in the movie. Spoiler alert – thus far all my books have happy endings, and the good guys win. Almost all fiction novels in the past were like that. But no any more. So, I promise I will alert my readers if I decide to go a different way in one of my novels. But for now, I hope to encourage and delight my readers with a satisfying story and a positive ending to my novels.

Fantasy is broken down into a number of subcategories. Reedsy is a sight that helps authors, and they have actually identified 50 subcategories! If you are curious you can look at them here: Reedsy Fantasy Categories.

The first book I wrote, ‘The Elicon’ is a cross between Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and incorporates several of those subcategories, including:
– Christian Fantasy
– Crossworlds Fantasy
– Portal Fantasy
It was meant for adults but any reader, especially those who like science such as Quantum Theory, Space Travel, Meteors, etc will love this adventure.

The next two books I wrote, ‘Abicus Turne and the Time Locks’, and ‘Specter – Day of Reckoning’ I wrote to entertain my grandkids, although the age target is a bit older (my daughter read chapters to them each night). I had Kirkus review my first one, ‘Abicus Turne’ and it got a good review from them (not all books do, including some top sellers out there!). It’s a great story, and although I didn’t have ‘Specter’ reviewed by Kirkus (due to the cost), some readers like that story even more than ‘Abicus Turne’.

Adults who like Young Adult Fiction will enjoy both of these stories, as I threw in some complex elements to keep everyone entertained. Just be aware the protagonists are younger teens (in Abicus Turne) and older teens (in Specter). Both of these are ‘Urban Fantasy’ primarily, with ‘Coming of Age Fantasy’ being the other subcategory. Urban Fantasy just means it takes place in the real world, but with magical aspects.

Currently I am working on a fourth novel that will be the first of a ‘High Fantasy’ series of books. For now I am calling the first book “Karin’s Cloak” but the name is always subject to change. I don’t have a series name chosen yet. This genre is more difficult, because it involves world-building. It does not take place in any real-world location, so I have to invent and create… well, the whole world. The first book is written, but will take weeks of editing before I consider it complete. Then, of course, I’ll need a good cover! I may be looking for some early readers, when the time comes. For that you get a free copy and help spot errors for correction before it goes to publication. Let me know if you are interested in being an early reader (I would like about 5. Otherwise I can’t manage all the suggestions and improvements).

Please comment to this blog to provide the author (me) feedback

In order to write a good novel, it has to be something you are really interested in, and would love to read yourself, or you won’t likely succeed. This is especially true for your first novel. When I decided to write my first novel, I asked myself, “what would I want it to be about, and where would it take place?” I actually thought about this as I was driving back from a trip to Florida. I thought about who I would be if I could be anyone I wished to be—if I were the main character. What would I be doing, and where would I be? That’s how I got the idea, “I love meteors, so I’d be a scientist exploring a meteor crater.” Also, someday I’d love to see Meteor Crater in Arizona, so I decided that’s there it would start out—my character getting ready to lecture at a conference in Flagstaff. I also love fantasy, so I decided he would find something special in that crater—something that would transport him to another dimension somehow. I also figured there would be some conflict with a force of evil.

That is really about all I had for an idea. I didn’t know where it was going to lead, or anything like that. I literally just started writing the book. I imagined it to be like a movie in my head, so what would the first scene be? I pictured my protagonist standing in the desert with his jeep and a pair of binoculars, looking for a meteor. (Note, if you read my latest version of the book, I added a prolog later, because I didn’t feel like it started out strong enough. So I added a little evening party in the desert the night before so eye-witnesses could describe how the meteor got there).

I came up with my first sentence:

       Dr. Jason ‘Jace’ Larkin, former professor of planetary geology at the University of Colorado, leaned his head back to take another drink from the canteen while the hot Arizona desert sun glared down on his upturned face.

Ok, I had set my stage with the main character as I envisioned the opening scene in my mind. I think it’s a great way to start. Sure, during later editing you CAN add material before that if you decide it makes sense. But this strong visual in your mind gets the story going.
After that, here is the Big Secret of how I write all my stories—I asked myself, ‘ok, what logically should happen next with this character?’

That’s it. I didn’t know where ANY of my stories were going to go, initially. I usually had a one to three sentence description of what the book would be about, and I write it from there. The benefit of doing this is that you enjoy writing the story as much as if you are reading it. It brings just as much pleasure to you, because you don’t know where it will go.

I will add more in my next blog about how I got my other inspirations, and what other elements you need to be concerned about, when writing your first novel. Feel free to comment on my blog.