A learning experience is one of those things that says, ‘You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.’
Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
Magic Bloodlines
Book One In The Black Rose Series
Sage Harrison has a plan—move to New Los Angeles, enroll in her dream college, and become the world’s greatest alchemist. There she finds a world of wonder, where magical races live among humans, and enchanted crystals power skyscrapers.
However, things go wrong when Sage stumbles across some black-veined creatures with a thirst for blood. Now she’s a target and doesn’t know why.
With the help of a driven summoner and a tormented heiress, Sage must fight to defend the school from this new enemy. Maybe then she can finally concentrate on her magical exams, and her dreams.
Interested in Beta Reading?
Like what you see and want to read more? Great!! I’m looking for urban fantasy beta readers and I’d love your feedback!! Leave me your details and I’ll contact you with more information!!
Turning Dreams Into Stories
I started writing my fantasy novel, in earnest, in January of 2021. It was one of those projects I had been mulling around for quite some time but never sat down to do. However, with circumstances what they were, I made the plunge. Three months, and a lot of headaches, later my first draft was complete. Then came the crunch. I started the tedious process of the ‘self-edit’ phase or as I like to call it, the ‘try not to set my laptop on fire’ stage. This is where the real pain, heartache, and struggles began.
Becoming a Better Author
Over the next few months, I dug in, realizing the errors and mistakes that have made this novel a jumbled mess. Incoherent plots, flat characters, lack-luster world-building, and that doesn’t even touch the boring writing I called a ‘style’. The upside? I could see the problems. So, now I moved on to fixing them, one phase at a time. So now, I’m editing and reviewing the chapters with a sense of excitement. I’m finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, a very very long tunnel, but still. I will finish a book I can be proud of.
Monthly Mistake: Understanding Genre
When I set out to start my novel, I was an enthusiastic, ambitious, and passionate ball of overconfidence. I had no idea what I was doing and thought to myself, ‘well I can just figure it out as I go.’ Obviously, this ignorant thought of mine has caused me more than one headache, and the first is Not Understanding My Genre. I talk about this in my youtube series What Not To Do but I wanted to expand on this particular mistake.
So What is Genre? Well, Writing Explained describes it as such: Genre is the organization of literature into categories based on the type of writing the piece exemplifies through its content, form, or style. What does this mean? It’s simple, it is a standard or list of expectations your readers will have. So when you describe a book as Fantasy, the reader isn’t confused if you introduce magic or dragons. They expected Fantasy elements.
So How Did I Mess Up?
I knew my story was going to be a Fantasy story in a modern setting, but I didn’t delve into the various options. I knew nothing about the difference between Magic Realism and Urban Fantasy, and so I hit a roadblock. Worse yet, I didn’t realize my mistake until I finished my first draft, which meant edit after edit, trying to basically rewrite my novel to fit into a genre more accurately. Did I have to do this? No, I could just push it out as is, but then my readers would be confused or upset when their expectations aren’t met.
So what is my novel? The Black Rose: City of Angels is an Urban Fantasy novel set in New Los Angeles. It focuses on a group of College-Age new adults and the troubles surrounding them.
But What Is Urban Fantasy?
MISHELL BAKER says good Urban Fantasy contains 5 key elements: The City, The Magic, The Mystery, A character-driven Point of View, and a sizzle or sexy spark. Although a reader may not demand every one of these elements in an Urban Fantasy Novel, together they form a template that creates the Urban Fantasy Genre.
My novel was lacking, in many ways. Some of that I expected, it was the first draft after all. But some key factors needed major overhauling. Revisions, rewrites, late nights of bashing my head against the wall, you know…it was a Tuesday. So, my advice and warning is to figure out your genre before you start plotting and writing. I know you’re probably thinking ‘well duh idiot’ and you wouldn’t be wrong. But this is my first novel, my first real experience, so I didn’t know. I got so excited about my story, I just rushed forward. Let me be a cautionary tale and figure it out before you get started.
VLOG
I’ve had my ups and downs writing this passion project. Check out my VLOG for some of the tips and mistakes I’ve made along the way.