The Making of an Epic Fantasy Writer by Paddy Tyrrell – Guest Blog and Giveaway

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The next challenge is the complexity of the plot, the characters, and the world they live in, but this is also the fun part. Let’s take a look at some of the key elements involved in this type of fantasy writing:

Firstly, there has to be some imaginary system that does not exist in real life. That can be magic and sorcery but also could be fantastical creatures, or perhaps characters, animals, or objects with special powers. For example, in Lumina there are snow-wolves and dragons, a light-star and a golden race created by sorcery. When I created monsters like the Slitherns, I used inspiration from nature. I researched the ugliest fish in the sea, the strangest insects, and the most deadly reptiles in the hope that a few of these would spark ideas for my own fantastical creatures.
Another challenge is building the setting for your story: how the world looks, what the inhabitants are like, how the society and power structure works. The latter is particularly important for upping the stakes and giving depth to the story. There are two conflicting powers and societies in Lumina. One, Lumina itself, is sophisticated and civilised, governed by reason not magic; the other, Kuhla, is brutal, barbaric and controlled through tyranny and sorcery. Some fantasy authors love the other aspects of world-building – what people wear, the flora and fauna, the buildings and so on, but I find this less appealing, partly because I don’t want to slow down the pace of the adventure with too much description.

Of course adventure is key and, like all genres, conflict on many levels is essential to create that adventure and to ensure enough complexity in the plot. Epic fantasies like Lumina normally involve a series, with each book a great read on its own but with a large-scale overarching conflict that runs through the series.

And what about characters? To create an epic you need a large cast of characters and you will normally want to write from multiple points of view. Managing to interweave plot lines and different character viewpoints without confusing the reader is essential. There are three main ‘good’ characters and three ‘evil’ ones in Lumina, but each with their own weaknesses and strengths, as well as minor characters on either side of the equation.

So to be a fantasy writer you need to be comfortable with complexity, to love adventure and to have a strong visual imagination to bring your fantasy world alive.

A generation designed by sorcery to destroy your people. Two races mired in conflict. Can a pair of outcasts unite them against an enemy who would enslave them all?

The birth of ‘bronzite’ babies in Lumina heralds the onset of war. The people take fright at the golden children and banish them from the land. A dangerous move. King Zheldar, commander of the black dragon, is attacking Luman borders. If he wins bronzite support for his army of monsters, Lumina is lost.

Davron Berates cannot share his people’s hatred of the children and, on discovering he has a bronzite brother, sets out to find him. At his side travels Chrystala. A bronzite, she has twice his strength and three times his determination.

When the black dragon kidnaps Chrystala, Davron is faced with a terrible choice: save his friend or save his nation.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Jaldeen strode towards an ancient font at the far side of the tower and opened wooden shutters in the wall behind it. Leaning out, he checked the platform outside for any decay. It looked solid enough and he stepped over the windowsill and walked to the center. He cupped his hands around his mouth and spelled a summons, his voice a rasp of vowels that floated on the damp air. He ducked back inside. There was a thrash of wings and the tower shuddered. Xeralith, black dragon of Kuhla, had answered his call.

Any fleeting sense of power deserted him in the terror of her presence. She was as old as the moss that ate the castle walls. Evil had putrefied her beauty, her once crimson scales stained black by Rach’s corruption. She thrust her head through the opening in the wall. Bony nodules covered her upper jaw and the dark armor plating of her head. Steam belched from her nostrils.

Jaldeen ran and hid behind the font, clinging to the carvings of the demons that served his god, as though they could protect him. He averted his face from the scalding droplets. Xeralith’s breath, heavy with malevolence, contaminated the air with the stench of burning metal and rotten meat. Stomach heaving, Jaldeen forgot to maintain his shield. Her eyes swirled and she locked her gaze on his. Trickles of flame erupted through teeth that could rip him in two. He lost control of his limbs and fell. She lunged at him and he scrambled back, his heels banging on the stone floor. The horns on her sinewy neck snagged against the outer wall and pulled her short. She screeched in frustration.

About the Author:I was raised in Kent, the garden of England, and lived in an Oast House whose round rooms were once used for drying hops. Must be why I’ve enjoyed a drink ever since!

At university, I fell in love with medieval French writing, discovered The Gormenghast Trilogy, and became hooked on fantasy.

I have sailed down the Yangste, survived an earthquake in Cairo, and picnicked in the Serengeti. My travels for work and pleasure have inspired my fantasy world. I now live in France with a naughty Australian Labradoodle, a jealous cat and a squash mad husband. Our two huskies, Ice and Sapphire, are sadly now gone but are transformed into wolves and immortalised in my book. Lumina is my debut novel and the first in a trilogy.

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