Exciting news! For the next two weeks, I’ll be taking an academic trip / vacation to England! Having never been to Europe before, I am ridiculously excited about the prospect. In honor of all things British, therefore, this post and the two following it will feature a list of literary English places and their associated works of literature that I intend to spend far too much time enjoying.

This week: three places in London!

1. 221B Baker Street.

A once-fictional address made famous by Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books, 221B Baker Street is known as the study and residence of the detective whose superpower is the power of deduction. In real life, it is now the site of a Sherlock Holmes museum that absolutely must sell deerstalker caps.

2. King’s Cross Station

Once just one of many train stations in London, King’s Cross is now known as the departure place for the Hogwarts Express, which leaves from Platform 9 3/4 to take young witches and wizards to school. Now, even Muggles can experience the magic of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, as a monument to the books – a trolley half-transported to the magical platform – now stands between platforms 9 and 10 at the station.

3. The Tower of London

Dangerous prisoners, daring escapes, dreadful murders – all have been written to take place in the Tower of London, England’s most famous prison. One such work, for instance, is Shakespeare’s Richard III, in which the evil Richard of Gloucester has his enemies imprisoned and then murdered there. Of course, his enemies include his brother and two young nephews, which gives the play a rather gruesome twist. The Tower of London is a rather gruesome place, though, so it isn’t out of character.

There are many others, of course, but these are three I’m going to make sure to see while I’m abroad. Tally ho, sally forth, and what not – I’ll be back soon!

This week’s news, full of pictures of flags being waved in favor of legislation or taken down from government buildings, raises an interesting and integral component of culture that novelists should be aware of: that of the Symbol. By its nature, a symbol is an object that in itself means less than the meaning it is imbued or filled with by other people. Burning two sticks of wood tied together in an X doesn’t mean anything. A burning cross, on the other hand, brings terrifying images to mind of hate-filled violence. Causes in general will choose a symbol of some kind to rally behind, because once a set of meanings for a symbol is established, the display of the symbol itself can convey that entire wealth of meaning without the need for words or long explanation. For novelists, there are two issues to be aware of with regard to symbols: 1) how symbols come to be imbued with meaning, and 2) how symbols change meaning over time.

The answers to these questions are actually related. The human brain likes to categorize things – to say “this goes with that, and X and Y belong together.” When something that has meaning is commonly seen, heard, felt, etc. in proximity with something that has no meaning inherent to itself, the meaning from the first is transferred to the second. (As an aside, this is why celebrity endorsers of certain types are picked to endorse specific types of products. Advertisers hope that having an action star endorse a particular brand of car will make the car seem more heroic, or that having a beautiful model endorse a brand of perfume will give the perfume the perceived ability to make its users beautiful.) The first step in creating a symbol, then, is to take a common, obscure, or new image (e.g. a Mockingjay in the Hunger Games trilogy) and show it every time something important to a particular cause is happening. Some of the gravity of an event, the emotional weight of a speech, or the logic of an argument will get transferred to the symbol every time it is shown – and if the symbol is shown consistently in these situations, it will start to be imbued with meaning.

It is worth noting that while official adoption of a symbol, and official explanation of what a symbol means, helps speed up the process of imbuing it with that meaning, it is not actually necessary for the adoption of the symbol. For instance, if your hero is rescued by a flying Pegasus and forever after emblazons his shield with a Pegasus in flight, eventually, the sign of the flying horse will be associated with the hero, what he does, and what he stands for, even if he never comes out and claims, “This is my symbol and this is why I’m using it.” Very often, however, a particular group will make an explicit connection – however tenuous – between the design of their symbol and the ideology that they want to fill that symbol with. “Just as the Pegasus runs in a herd with his earth-bound kin but lifts himself to the sky through the power of his wings,” a demagogue might say, “so we live today through the grittiness of our earthly struggles, suffering with our unenlightened brothers, but know that we are lifting ourselves upward, out of cruelty, out of warfare, and into the clear skies of freedom!”

Since a symbol has no (or little) inherent meaning of its own, however, its meaning is always in danger of being changed based on its surroundings and how it is used. An innocent but not widely known symbol of peace can be changed into a well-known symbol of radical ideology if a radical waves that flag on behalf of a splinter organization while committing acts of terror. A secondary religious symbol for Sect A can be turned into a primary symbol for a Sect B, taking on the meanings of the Sect B’s worldview in mainstream culture even while Sect A rejects the new meanings it has been given. JK Rowling used this phenomenon to great effect in her Harry Potter series, having the symbol of the Deathly Hallows be fraught with contention since it was both an ancient symbol of a quest for good and honorable things, and also a more recent symbol of an evil wizard’s attempted reign of terror. A symbol’s meaning, in the end, depends on what most people currently think it means. Just because a symbol meant something a hundred years ago doesn’t mean it still has that meaning today, and just because a symbol means something today doesn’t mean that meaning will stay the same tomorrow.

In your stories, consider giving your symbols a history – or even different meanings to different people. Some individuals may not even realize that a symbol has a meaning at all, and could find themselves in a great deal of trouble if they wear a symbol that they think is just “cool” or “pretty” without realizing what it signifies. Additionally, people from different subgroups might have differing opinions about what a symbol means. To one group, a religious icon could mean love and acceptance, while to another group it could mean fear and oppression. If you can properly give meaning to symbols in your story, then, including them can be a powerful way to add depth, breadth, and realism to the worlds you create.

What other symbols have you seen authors create and use well in fiction? Leave a comment below!

Last week’s blog post discussed various types of commonly chosen magical systems in fantasy worlds. What happens, though, if you don’t want to choose a fantasy system that has already been done? What if you want to world-build your own? How do you proceed? While the most technically correct answer is “it’s your world – make up whatever you want,” there are some more common ways of going about creating magical systems that are coherent, hold together well, make sense to readers, and will help further a plot. Here are three common methods of creating one’s own magical system, as well as some things to consider when using each.

Magic Stemming from a Single External Source

First, you may choose to build a world where magic comes from a particular source that gives magic to other sources through its touch. For instance, Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives series has magic be carried in and through magnificent storms that sweep through his fantasy world regularly. Alternatively, one could choose to have magic emanate from a rock that fell from the sky, or gamma radiation, or the touch of a god, etc. Magic from an external source might also only be able to be used near that source or it may be able to be carried away or stored. This type of magic could be either “raw power” that could be shaped by mages, leading to different types of manifestations, or it could only be magic of one sort, so all mages are only able to do the same things.

The advantage of this type of magical system is that by creating a source of magic that is not similar to something found on Earth, you don’t build readers’ expectations about what the magic will do or what rules it will follow. This is up to you to decide, based on the needs of your story. Possible plot issues with this type of magical system include short-term running out of magical power or the potential destruction of the source of the magical power.

Magic Stemming from Spells and Incantations

Second, you might choose to create a world where magic is governed by spells and rules. Where the power comes from isn’t so much of the question – it could be something like “the Force,” or an innate ability that some have and others don’t – as much as is question of how it is used. By emphasizing the rules of magic, then, the author is given the ability to make magic make sense. Much more than in an elemental context or stemming-from-a-single-source context, having magic be a field of study that gifted intellectuals have built upon for hundreds of years gives you as an author the ability to create an entire culture, complete with strengths, weaknesses, and politics, based around the ability to use magic and to bend it to one’s will through careful and precise language and movement.

The advantage of this type of system is that it is human in a way that the others discussed previously are not. Human mages, in this system, discover, codify, and invent new ways of using magic, so the magic that is created can feel like it has a specific human purpose. A disadvantage of this system is that if limits aren’t set firmly in place, magical systems can tend to feel overreaching. There can be a spell for everything, making it harder for characters to actually be in danger or be a part of an interesting plot.

Magic from a Personal Source

Last, magic in your world might be limited to another race of beings besides the one to which your main character(s) belong. In this case, perhaps a single divine character has power (either limited or unlimited), or multiple characters might have different types of power (e.g. a pantheon, or elves versus druids versus fairies). In either case, magical occurrences might be expected or unexpected, might be able to be petitioned for and be granted (or not), and may either affect a story at a grand macro level (e.g. withholding rain from a country for years) or a micro level (e.g. a barren woman conceiving a child). Each magical source race in your story, then, will need to have its own ways in which it interacts with and uses its powers, what it wants in exchange for blessings, if this race interacts with your main character’s race or stays aloof, and to what extent the source of the magic can actually solve the main character’s problems.

Advantages of this magical system are that the main character, by living in a world with magic but having no way of using magic on his or her own, is suddenly made more relatable to readers who also have to navigate a mysterious and frightening world with only human abilities to draw upon. The threats to a “mere mortal” character by a character with power (e.g. a druid, a god) are also greater than threats to a character who has magical power of his own. This can lead to greater plot tension and keep reader interest. Of course, it also then means you have to work harder as an author to write clever, believable plots where your human characters can either work with divine or magical characters without being overshadowed by them, or work against divine/magical characters without being destroyed.

These are just some ideas to get you started – what other types of magical systems might you want to create? Are you more of a magical system creator or a magical system adapter (last week’s topic)? Which will you choose for your next story (and why)? Leave a comment below!

This week is the Christian “Holy Week” – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. As an author, I find the story of Holy Week to be the most powerful, amazing plot ever devised – if true, too good to seem true; if not true,  so good everyone should wish it were true (to semi-quote C.S. Lewis).

Some of you may remember this piece of writing from last year; I am reposting it with the hopes that it will help you reflect anew upon the ancient story that is an integral part of the Great Story of human history, an ancient story that changed the world, and continues to do so today.

Have a blessed Holy Week.

Check this out! Just a few more days to go on the Ultimate Reading Quest that I’m a part of – enter to win neat prizes, including Amazon gift cards and free books!

What do pirates, explorers and children have in common? They all love treasure hunts!

THE ULTIMATE READING QUEST will end on Monday, January 19th, at midnight. This is your last chance to explore new books and authors, and to take home free prizes and books. Plus, one lucky winner, will get a

MYSTERY BONUS TREASURE!

To enter your name for this SPECIAL TREASURE you must prove yourself worthy by collecting the 49 letters of a secret message! Just by reading this post you already have two of the letters (A and B).

Find the rest within the Quest, writing them down as you go. When you have all 49, unscramble them to decode the secret message. Enter the exact words of the message in the Mystery Prize Rafflecopter right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As you’re searching for the letters, be sure to leave a comment for each and every author. Not only will you get to chat with the amazing Quest authors, but each comment will earn you extra entries in the general Quest prize giveaway that includes an astonishing XX free prizes and gifts!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are you waiting for? Click this button to start collecting the rest of the letters. Then return here and enter to TAKE THE TREASURE!

CLICK ON THE BUTTON TO START THE QUEST

Welcome, all seekers of adventure and magic! Welcome, all heroes and heroines, detectives and explorers, mermaids and hunters and knights and knaves. Welcome…to the Ultimate Reading Quest!

My name is A.L. Phillips, and I’m one of the many novelists who has been invited to take part in the Ultimate Reading Quest. I was excited to hear about the opportunity to join this adventure, because quests are a topic I’m pretty familiar with! My fantasy novel, The Quest of the Unaligned, is all about a young man named Alaric who’s tricked into going on a quest by a crazy old mage who’s convinced he’s a prince. (Actually, Alaric IS a prince, and he can use magic too, but he doesn’t know it yet.)

The Ultimate Reading Quest is an adventure designed for readers from ages 8 to 14 to find new books by independent or small-press authors that are in genres that are of interest to them, such as historical fiction, humor, and fantasy. Just click the button below to get started! Then, as a reward for finishing the quest, enter your name in the Ultimate Reading Quest Raffle below for a chance to win an Amazon gift card or other great prize! Ready? Then let’s go on a quest!

 
a
Rafflecopter giveaway

This week marks the beginning of a new year. I know, it’s late August – it isn’t the Western New Year, or the Lunar New Year, or even the Jewish New Year. But at the University of Nebraska, the 2014-2015 School Year has begun, with its own rituals, traditions, and fresh faces appearing in one’s old classrooms. I’m now a second year PhD student, with more responsibilities and harder classes (yay?).

As I transition from one year to the next, then, I want to use this week’s post to look back at what I’ve done as a novelist since last August. I know I haven’t been able to share most of it with you, but I hope this is encouraging nonetheless – as one of my writer friends says, “Every piece of writing is practice for your next project.” As I’ve continued to write, my writing has improved (at least, so say my reviewers), which means that my next published work – whatever it may be – should be hopefully even more enjoyable than The Quest of the Unaligned.

So, without further ado, here’s What I Did Since August 20, 2013.

1. Write 52 Savvy Saturday blog posts, updated every week! These have been on a variety of topics, such as:
2. “How To’s,” including how to write combat, world-build, retell an old story, or write individualistic/collectivist characters
3. Thoughts on random issues, such as an analysis of the sociological problems with Divergent or last year’s tongue-in-cheek anthropological exploration of football as a ritual as it might be described in a tribal fantasy world.
4. Original works of fantasy, such as writing an “ancient fable” from Cadaeren about Kaltin the Fool, and my pun-filled four-part story about statistics.
5. An original exploratory historical fiction piece for Good Friday (this work received the most hits of anything I wrote this past year)
6. Be interviewed by INh online magazine, Anna del C. Dye, and Samantha La Fantasie
7. Write a short story about Alaric’s childhood, “Black and White,” which was sent to fans as a Christmas present
   1. Length: 2,860 words
   2. First paragraph: Alaric trudged through the slushy streets of Tonzimmel, swinging his practice baton by its wrist strap. The sun was setting over the tops of the skyscrapers behind him, casting his shadow long and dark over the half-melted snow around him. Alaric kicked at a piece of ice; it bounced down the empty street. It was weird seeing the streets so deserted. On most days, they were full of grown-ups rushing to or from work, full of the buzz of conversation and the rumble and whine of hover-cars streaking overhead. But it was Near Year’s Day, and everyone was already off celebrating somewhere. What they weren’t doing was walking home after a grueling day of training. Unless they were apprentices in the Tonzimmel First Security Force, of course.
8. Write a fantasy novelette as a gift for friends from college
   1. Length: 30,000 words
   2. Basic plot: A small group of superhero friends faces its most dangerous foe yet: themselves. When a smooth-talking poet with a god-complex and visions of utopia brainwashes one of their group, the others immediately seek a way to save her. They quickly discover, however, that succumbing to the mad poet’s brainwashing may be the only way to save the world – and their own lives.
9. Write a novella set in the new fantasy world of Alepago
   1. Length: 42,000 words
   2. World-building: five distinct cultures, including three tribes of man, the mountain-dwelling Bohlridj who are made from and return to stone, and the glowing Kalatelena, descended from the stars.
   3. First paragraph: Grandfather was talking to himself again. Hida smiled sleepily at the familiar sound and pulled her buffalo skin blanket more tightly around her shoulders. Her older brothers were already asleep, their soft breaths blending with the crickets’ happy chirping outside. Grandfather thought she was asleep too. He never talked to himself when other people were awake except when he was in one of his trances, and that didn’t count.
10. Co-author a chapter in the quasi-academic book The Economics of the Undead, titled “Where Oh Where Have the Vampires Gone? An Extension of the Tiebout Hypothesis to the Undead” (actually written last year, but published in Summer 2014)
    1. Fun fact: This is the first piece you’ll find in the field written by Phillips, Phillips, and Phillips. (I’m the first one, in case you were wondering.) Hopefully it won’t be the last!
    2. You can find the book available for sale on Amazon.com.
    3. First paragraph: The question of where vampires and zombies can be found – where they unlive, that is – is of immense importance for Slayers and average Americans alike. There are two possible answers to this question: first, that the undead are distributed proportionally around the United States, meaning that anywhere you live, you are in equal danger of being turned in the night. Alternatively, the undead might be more concentrated in certain areas than others, leaving residents of some states in relative safety even as they threaten others. According to economic theory, the second is far more likely.

All in all, it’s been a productive year! As this next year starts, I’m looking forward to seeing where my pen takes me in 2014-2015. First up: a Cadaerian retelling of a classic fairy tale. After that? Who knows! There are many options, outlines, and ideas for new stories floating around in my head (and on my computer) – we’ll see which ones resonate with my muse.

As always, I want to finish off the old year and ring in the new by thanking you all for your continued reading and support. It’s been great interacting with you online and in person, and I look forward to sharing more stories and posts with you in the year to come. Thank you for being awesome!

This week’s Savvy Saturday blog continues last week’s theme of inspiration and writing prompts – but this time, it’s in pictures!

Photo by Stefan Hefele

You can imagine the magician who lives in the tower built into that pillar, can’t you? With his power over water, he is most at home surrounded by the sea. There, alone in his tower, his frail physical body neither garners sympathy nor contempt, and greedy kings and meddling earth-sprites can’t hinder his studies and research. His one worry stems from the inaccessible larger mountainous island nearby. Hundreds of years ago, a wizard even mightier than he lived and died there – leaving behind only a castle blasted to rubble, and a powerful containment spell that wraps around the entire island. Year by year, however, the spell is weakening. Whatever caused that wizard’s death and shattered the castle is still trapped on that island, and when it is freed, no one knows just what it will do…

Photo by soundjack

“Earth and heavens, hear my call; fire and water, meet tonight!

Blast to ashes all who fear, Come and let dark swallow light!”

Face shrouded in shadow, hands extended toward the storm raging overhead, the cowled figure screams the invocation from the top of the tower built by long-dead kings. This spell predates them by a thousand years, and the fate that met them will soon meet the cowardly worms who betrayed him. Even as his voice combines with the thunder raging around him, he feels a thicker darkness gathering around the tower.

Muted shouts from below and the stamp of armored feet signal the arrival of the palace guard. Soon, the enchanter hears them pounding up the steps. Let them come. Their fear will consume them. He bares pointed teeth in anticipation, clenching his hands at the climax of his spell. He opens his hands. Thunder peals, shaking the tower from its foundations. As it gathers in strength, a vortex blacker than space itself begins to form in the sky. Now is the hour of my revenge. Now shall all who fear the darkness face it forever. Now! The vortex opens, pulling roofs off of houses with its strength. Screams suddenly fill the night, barely audible over the howling over the gale and the enchanter’s hissing laughter. Nothing can stop him now…

 Photo by Gawain Jones

This, gentle readers, is the Rainbow Sea. The water of this ocean is so clear, the colors of the setting sun travel to its floor miles below, painting the merfolk’s houses and streets bright with pink and orange. Each night, the colors are absorbed into these living mother-of-pearl structures, and until the sun rises again, the streets and rooftops glow with its stored rainbow hue. Only one corner of the sea remains in shadow all night and all day: the Inky Crevice, where the only color that can be seen is the beady yellow of eyes that hate the sun…

How do these stories end? You tell me! Leave a comment below, and have a wonderful week of creativity!

As a marketing student, I am fascinated by the idea of what influences people to buy things. As a novelist, I am selfishly interested by what influences people to buy the things I write. Fortunately, these two areas of interest go together very well for me – and hopefully will lead to research findings that will be helpful to others as well.

I’m actually at a conference this weekend, so this blog post will be shorter than usual. However, I wanted to share an example of how thinking about marketing one’s book ahead of time, and identifying the benefits that your book brings to readers, can result in success (i.e. sales to interested people).

This past week, I personally sold copies of The Quest of the Unaligned to two people who are pretty much as different as possible – and who seem equally excited about the prospect of reading it. The first of these was a conservative, homeschool mother (purchased for her daughter who’s interested in reading and writing), and the second was a liberal PhD student with a background in sociology. In marketing speak, these people are in two of the target markets that I identified for my book, and I developed differentiated marketing strategies for reaching out to them.

One target market that I’ve had some success with is the “homeschool crowd.” Since I was homeschooled, I was able to write The Quest of the Unaligned to have elements that homeschooling parents would look for: a tie to curriculum (social science), discussion and essay questions, and a high school reading level and age-appropriate content. When I spoke with the homeschooled girl and her mother, we talked about writing stories and publishing, and ended up planning to have me hold a small writing seminar for homeschool students in the early summer. The student is excited to read my book because she likes stories and wants to be a writer, and the mother is excited to have her read my book because it has educational content (and will inspire her daughter to keep writing!).

Another (smaller) target market for me is the academic sociology crowd. This is a bit trickier to sell to, since most professors and students of sociology aren’t used to reading novels that incorporate their area of study, and they certainly aren’t used to using novels in their classes as teaching tools. It’s even rarer to find a sociologist who’s interested in reading a fantasy novel for its own sake. This weekend, however – at the conference I’m at, actually – I was conversing with a PhD student from another program, and it turned out that his master’s degree was in sociology. We started talking about doing research from a sociological bent, and he made the observation that what we do really comes down to storytelling. I agreed. A while later, I asked if he liked reading fiction. It turned out he did, and that further, he liked fantasy books. Needless to say, I brought up my novel.

I have to admit, it was fun explaining The Quest of the Unaligned as a sociology-fantasy, using sociological jargon, to someone who was interested and knowledgeable about both topic areas. He, for his part, is excited about reading a book that is written for people exactly like him.

And that’s the trick. People want to buy products that are made for people exactly like them. When someone’s reaction to hearing about a product is to say, “You know exactly what I’m looking for! Please, take my money!” marketers know they’ve done their work well. In my case, there is one large main group of people that The Quest of the Unaligned is designed for (people who like well-written fantasy adventures), but there are a number of books that fall into this category that would compete with mine. By targeting two smaller groups of people – niche markets – who are looking for something far more specific, I can do a better job of finding, talking to, and selling my book to people who will actually like it.

The goal is that even though I sold them the book for completely different reasons, both the homeschooled student and the sociologist will like the novel equally well and recommend it to others. They will likely never know that I position the book differently based on who I’m talking to, but they don’t need to. All they need to know is that the book is designed for people exactly like them. And it is. That’s the power of marketing.