Stealing Magic by Alex C Vick - Book Tour and Giveaway

Stealing Magic

by Alex C Vick

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Today I have author Alex C Vick here to tell us how she does her world building. I also have the blurb and an excerpt from Stealing Magic.

Firstly, thank you very much to Jo of Mixed Book Bag for inviting me to write a guest post today!

The subject is world building. My books are contemporary fantasy, which means that it’s an ongoing challenge for me. Of course, all stories require world building to some degree, but there’s an expectation with fantasy that you’re going to give the reader something brand new to discover.

On the one hand, that’s great, because you can let your imagination have some serious fun. On the other hand, it’s tough, because all this new information has to blend seamlessly with the plot and the characters. If your magical fantasy world keeps interrupting the story, your reader is eventually going to get fed up with it. No matter how amazing that world might be, or how brilliant the new spell you’ve just invented (and dropped into your character’s lap out of nowhere!).

I cannot claim to be any kind of expert on world building. I absolutely love doing it, but it shines a very unforgiving spotlight onto my writing skill. As with most things about being an author, I’ll be learning for the rest of my life. But right now, a few books into my series, there are three things that work for me.

1.     Believe

Bear with me on this one! I’m not suggesting that I think Androva and Imbera, the two worlds I’ve created so far, are real. But in my head, when I’m writing, they are. I know how they look, how they sound, and what it feels like to live in them. I’m there. If I ever struggle, it’s usually a sign I won’t be able to write that part of the story very well and something needs to change.

2.     Plan, and keep a record of it

Even if you're not a natural planner (and I’m not!), you should know a lot more about your world than will ever make it onto the pages of your book. And you should try not to contradict what you said about it ten chapters ago.

3.     Remember your reader

I  write for a Middle Grade audience, which means that I need to strike a careful balance. There has to be enough description for my readers to believe in the story, but not so much detail that they get bored. And I’ve learned to leave some gaps, too. I’m fortunate to have a couple of advance readers that are in Middle Grade, and sometimes they tell me they’d rather imagine certain things for themselves. They actually don’t want me to describe it for them.

No author approaches world building in exactly the same way, and different readers like different things. What are your favourite imaginary worlds, old or new? If you could spend one day in a world of your choosing, which would it be?

Thank you for reading, and thank you again to Mixed Book Bag for featuring my post!

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GENRE:   Middle Grade Fantasy

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BLURB:

Shannon thought there was no such thing as real magic. Until that day. The day that changed everything.

Put yourself in her shoes. Would you open your eyes, if you were the one that heard them? Two magic-takers from another world, arguing about whether they can collect what they came for before you wake up. It sounds like a crazy dream, or a practical joke.

But what if the air around you started to vibrate with an invisible force field? What if, all at once, it felt scary, yet familiar too? You would have no way of knowing that this discovery would set you on a path no-one from our world has taken for centuries. Towards a deadly enemy, and a fight you will almost certainly lose.

All you know is that your heart is beating so fast you're worried they will hear it, and your brain is starting to buzz as the force field reaches it. Would you open your eyes?

Join Jax and Shannon as they live through the most exciting and terrifying ten days of their lives!

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EXCERPT

“I knew it!” shouted the voice triumphantly.

Shannon nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected words. Abruptly the force field seemed to snap back inside her head, leaving her hands and the surface of the tree completely back to normal.

She scrambled to her feet to confront the owner of the voice, knowing already who it was.

“Jax, I presume?” she said, as calmly as she could manage, though her heart was still jumping from the shock, and she was already half-smiling in amazement at what was happening.

Jax, standing with his hands in his pockets, and smiling the same mischievous, slightly mocking grin that she remembered from last time, raised his eyebrows.

“You have the advantage over me, Terran,” he said. “I don’t know your name.”

“Shannon,” she answered. “And you knew what exactly?”

Jax gave a half-bow. “Pleased to meet you Shannon. And I knew you were a magician.”

Shannon’s mouth fell open. Before she could reply, he continued.

“I shouldn’t even be able to travel here on my own. You see this symbol on my shirt?”

He pointed to the star, the centre of which was spinning again just as it had the week before.

“It wasn’t until I met you that it started to spin. It’s not supposed to be able to do that until I come of age. In four years’ time.”

He paused, to make sure she understood the significance of this fact. “Who are you? Why is this happening?”

Shannon laughed. To think that Jax was the one asking questions of her!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Alex writes contemporary fantasy books for a middle grade audience and older. There are three (self-contained) stories in the Legacy of Androva series so far, with a fourth on the way. You can contact Alex, and find more information about Androva, including a character interview, at http://www.alexcvick.com

Alex lives in the South of England with her husband and two daughters. When she's not working, or writing about magic, she also loves reading and photography.

Stealing Magic Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXQEPYR

Stealing Magic Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LXQEPYR

Stealing Magic will be $0.99 during the tour.

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Alex C Vick will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway