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Posts Tagged ‘magic’

In conversation with author Nerine Dorman

14 Aug

On shadows, dens of iniquity, magic, and the influence of South Africa

Tea with Nerine Dorman

Nerine Dorman is a South African author, sub-editor and fiction editor. She débuted with the dark horror series of Khepera Rising and Khepera Redeemed, but has many strings to her bow – travel writing, young adult fantasy and erotic fiction. How she keeps this caleidoscope of creativity going while working a full-time job with a national South African newspaper is beyond me. I got to know her during one of her projects last year: giving an editorial polish to my fantasy novel Second Sight.

1. Can you give us a glimpse of what writing projects you have bubbling in your pot?

Right now, writing as Therése von Willegen, I’m completing another work of contemporary erotic fiction involving a young lass’s entanglement with a bad-boy celebrity. I am, however, very excited about the next dark fantasy I’ll be releasing under my real name after I’ve completed the revisions. The story follows a botanist turned reluctant vampire who has an unfortunate habit of being shipwrecked. After that I’ll be rebooting a YA urban fantasy for the adult market. Not to give too much away, the story features a carnival-style travelling circus, which I’m really looking forward to as I’ll be consulting with a friend of mine who is a performance artist. In the meanwhile I’ve been researching the old freak shows that were so popular years ago. Yes, there’s a vampire, but another favourite character of mine is a 1948 Hudson Commodore called Rose, who may be a little more sentient than people expect. Read the rest of this entry »

 

A reading of Second Sight

13 Jul

Sometimes, it is really lovely to be told a story. I recorded an audiobook of The Riddler’s Gift, which plays out over 22 hours. But I’m not planning an audiobook for Second Sight, because of the many tricky voices and dialects involved in the story. I think I need the professionals on this one, to do it justice. I’m happy to offer you a reading from the first chapter, nonetheless. Join me for a few minutes of fireside story-telling.

 

Who writes the best fantasy?

02 Jul

I’ve wandered through a hundred books, searching for a good tale. What is it I am looking for in a story? More than entertainment (or I’d just switch on the TV). I want to have my reality replaced, redrawn. Reinvented. I want that sense of discovery. I want to become someone new. And so I search, for a touch of mystery, an edge of danger, a spark of intrigue and that doorway into the world beyond this world. I have yet to find all the elements I love in one book … which is probably why I’m a fantasy author myself. I write, to answer the need — to find the perfect fantasy story.

Along the way, I’ve come across some shining examples of fantasy. Read the rest of this entry »

 

The real magic of fantasy writing

22 Jun

When I was thirteen, I went to the College of Magic, to learn all I could. It was kind of a Harry Potter school for stage magicians – there are rabbits coming out of hats, white doves flapping about and silk scarves that turned into ropes. I sat down eagerly to my first class, apprentice wizard that I was. I was told there is no magic. I was told it is all illusion, all trickery, all a sham. I couldn’t have been more disappointed.

What followed were three years of interesting sleight of hand techniques, visual effects and misdirection. They were right; there was no magic in it. They only used clever dyes, trick card decks and boxes with false bottoms. But I did not believe them that there was no magic at all. It was just that they had no magic to offer.

I believe in magic, and so I found a way to work with it, or rather, it found me.
Read the rest of this entry »

 

The Tale of the Lifesong

01 Jun

A new fantasy series that will weave music through your soul.

There is a song that drifts on the breeze through all the world. Its rhythyms are echoed in our breath, the music is caught in our laughter, hidden in our language, woven through our life. Singers reach for the melody, but it is too delicate to hold and too elusive to remember. As the Ages pass, so the Lifesong retreats under the sounds of our time, its potent beauty and danger ever more a mystery.

Few know how the Lifesong has shaped our world, for those who hear its tune would rather sing than write, and to grasp its tale we must go back, far back beyond our brief and incomplete history, to when the world was changing; when life was shadowed by a mighty legend.

Epic fantasy novel The Riddler's Gift
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New fantasy novel Second Sight
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“A highly recommended fantasy novel … enormous fun to read”
FANTASY BOOK REVIEW

 
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Posted in Lifesong