Today
I'm pleased to have fantasy author Katharina Gerlach sharing a guest post about
her new release, Swordplay. Check out her book and also her awesome giveaway at
the end of this post.
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Short answer: Yes. No.
Long answer: balancing the elements of a story has always
been the hardest thing for writers. Any novel you pick up holds more than one
story line. It has to or it would be practically impossible to fill 200-500
pages ore more with words. The art lies in balancing it all.
Of course, there are scenes that will not make good,
traditional romance scenes. Imagine the heroine and her boyfriend fleeing from
a super-fast horde of zombies… that's probably not the best time for a
traditional marriage proposal, knee fall and everything (I call it: external
romance). But it could be a great place to make the heroine realize just how
much that guy means to her when he's nearly lost to the horde (I call it:
internal romance).
The same goes for Magic. A story that's just about the use
of magic and the way it's taught would be dead boring. Imagine Harry Potter
without his nemesis Voldemort. It'd be nothing but a boy going to school and
learning a few interesting things. The whole conflict would be missing, and
he'd probably be going home to his parents during the holidays instead of
living with the relatives whose name I keep forgetting.
Can magic, family life and/or romance be balanced into a
crime novel? I think so. What would the Wallander series be without Wallander's
relationship to his daughter and his advancing Alzheimer disease? What would
Sherlock Holmes be without his friend Watson and the hints at his inability to
sustain relationships (except the one to Watson).
Novels of any one genre are full of elements from other
genres that balance out into something the reader will either like or dislike.
Those readers that like a story will return for more, the others won't. There's
no way, an author can write stories that will please everybody. So, stop trying
and trust your gut, your Muse or however else you call that unpredictable,
creative part of your brain.
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About the
Book:
CSI with magic but without the
gore
Despite her obvious lack of magical talent, nineteen year old Moira
Bellamie apprentices with the Gendarmerie Magique, the magic police. She puts
all her effort into solving a burglary at the National Museum
where antique weapons have been stolen, to keep the hard won job. Falling for
her partner Druidus wasn't part of the plan. When more and more people are
murdered with one of the stolen weapons, Moira must tame uncontrollable magic,
or the people she cares for will die, her partner first and foremost.
For lovers of Fantasy and
Mystery from 14 years up
other retailers will follow
Paperback in German
or Englisch on Createspace
(Beware: postage), Amazon (no postage) will follow soon and can be found
through the eBook pages
About
Katharina:
I’ve been telling and writing stories all my life, but only two year ago,
with the success of eBook publishing, I became an Indie author. I never looked
back. Sure, my manuscripts have found praise with traditional publishers, but
no one had the courage to publish something they couldn’t neatly stuff into a
labeled box.
Well, just like my books, I don’t fit one box. I’m the daughter of a
forester and a studied forester myself. I’m sister to three brothers, and a
mother to three daughters. I’m a tomboy at heart and simultaneously tidy and
chaotic – I can’t be any different with my Muse (the creative part of me)
dragging me in one direction and my Editor (the neat, logical side) pulling in
another.
There are three things in this world I love more than anything: my
family, stories (mine and those of others) and nature. The best thing that can
happen to me is when someone I don’t know leaves a review for one of my books
telling me how much (s)he liked it.
Blog Tour Giveaway:
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1 comments:
Thank you for hosting me.
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