The magic continues with my May interviews with fantasy writers. I'm down to the last couple interviews - don’t miss out
on the fun!
This week I’ve invited Judy Goodwin, author of Heart of the Witch to be my guest star. Thanks for being here, Judy!
If you had to do battle with a mythical monster, which one would you choose and how would you defeat it?
I'd choose a dragon because if I'm going to battle a monster, I might as well choose one that tends to sleep on a big pile of gold. And then I'd use a sniper rifle from about 20 yards away. You didn't say it had to be up close and personal!!!
What do you take into consideration when setting parameters for the magic in your books?
It's the big line in this season's "Once Upon a Time" series, and it holds true for every fantasy novel. Magic comes with a price. In order for readers to be able to suspend their disbelief and accept your world as real, the magic needs to have rules and regulations just as firm as any law of gravity or physical science. There should be a cost to use it, and it shouldn't be limitless. Limitless power equals a boring novel.
In my book "Heart of the Witch" there are actually several costs to using magic. The first is that magic is an energy that permeated the world from its creation and joined with nature. This means that magic users--witches--must pull
that energy directly from something living, like a plant or a tree. The second cost is that certain societies have decided that magic is evil. Zerrick's people burn witches at the stake. So there is a danger in being discovered using magic.
Tell us a little about the magical world in your latest book, and what went into creating it.
I had an interest in the Salem witch trials. I've been reading fantasy for many years, but I'd grown a little tired
of the medieval setting, and I wanted something different. I thought that a colonial period setting with the background of Puritanism and witch burnings would make a perfect world. What would happen if magic in such a society was
actually real? And what if there really were gods for and against its use?
To make my world different from colonial America, however, I placed the continent in the southern hemisphere, so
instead of forests you have jungles and rainforests. The land is actually based on Australia, and the native people are based on Aborigines. I even used some of their words in the Put-na language in my book.
What’s your fantasy novel about, in 25 words or less?
To learn if his soul is damned, Zerrick must find the heart of magic, buried deep within the land of Argessa.
Where can we learn more about your books?
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-of-the-Witch-ebook/dp/B00AR5HMZO/
on the fun!
This week I’ve invited Judy Goodwin, author of Heart of the Witch to be my guest star. Thanks for being here, Judy!
If you had to do battle with a mythical monster, which one would you choose and how would you defeat it?
I'd choose a dragon because if I'm going to battle a monster, I might as well choose one that tends to sleep on a big pile of gold. And then I'd use a sniper rifle from about 20 yards away. You didn't say it had to be up close and personal!!!
What do you take into consideration when setting parameters for the magic in your books?
It's the big line in this season's "Once Upon a Time" series, and it holds true for every fantasy novel. Magic comes with a price. In order for readers to be able to suspend their disbelief and accept your world as real, the magic needs to have rules and regulations just as firm as any law of gravity or physical science. There should be a cost to use it, and it shouldn't be limitless. Limitless power equals a boring novel.
In my book "Heart of the Witch" there are actually several costs to using magic. The first is that magic is an energy that permeated the world from its creation and joined with nature. This means that magic users--witches--must pull
that energy directly from something living, like a plant or a tree. The second cost is that certain societies have decided that magic is evil. Zerrick's people burn witches at the stake. So there is a danger in being discovered using magic.
Tell us a little about the magical world in your latest book, and what went into creating it.
I had an interest in the Salem witch trials. I've been reading fantasy for many years, but I'd grown a little tired
of the medieval setting, and I wanted something different. I thought that a colonial period setting with the background of Puritanism and witch burnings would make a perfect world. What would happen if magic in such a society was
actually real? And what if there really were gods for and against its use?
To make my world different from colonial America, however, I placed the continent in the southern hemisphere, so
instead of forests you have jungles and rainforests. The land is actually based on Australia, and the native people are based on Aborigines. I even used some of their words in the Put-na language in my book.
What’s your fantasy novel about, in 25 words or less?
To learn if his soul is damned, Zerrick must find the heart of magic, buried deep within the land of Argessa.
Where can we learn more about your books?
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-of-the-Witch-ebook/dp/B00AR5HMZO/
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