Notes from New York: Meshing Fantasy with Reality

Welcome back to Notes from New York. Last week we talked about world building, but this week we are going to dive into a more specific kind of world building: meshing fantasy with reality.

Contemporary fantasy, urban fantasy, magical realism and a host of other genres involve placing magical elements into our normal, everyday world. It can be a great way to view modern day issues through a different lens or just spice up the mundane. It’s an extremely popular method of world building and most comic books make use of this trope with great success, in addition to a swath of movies, TV shows and, of course, novels.

However, just because your book takes place in the modern world doesn’t mean the world building is any easier. In fact often times, meshing fantasy with reality can be difficult. So here’s some problems I’ve noticed in these genres and how to fix them.

1. Not fully integrated

Sometimes it seems like the author tossed in a fantastical element without really thinking about how it would affect the world. Like sure, a vampire society sounds cool, but how the heck hasn’t anyone gotten suspicious, considering all of the people drained of blood? If there are magicians that cause such disturbances, why is everyone so aggressively dumb to the magic going on around them? A lot of books come up with various ways to explain this. Memory charms, hallucinations etc. But if you don’t acknowledge how your magic society deals with the outside world, then it becomes a plot hole. Conversely, if the magic elements are fully integrated and everyone knows about them, how has that changed and shaped society? If it hasn’t had some significant effect, then your world won’t seem very well thought out.

2. Skimping on the setting

Just because you’re not making up the world doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give as much detail to the setting of your novel. Your job is still to root your reader in the story and maybe they haven’t been to the city where your book takes place. Make sure you still do your research and know what you’re talking about or the world will seem quite inauthentic.

3. They Just Don’t Mesh

Sometimes fantasy elements can seem downright random. I read a manuscript in which a fairytale like buddy comedy was mixed with a real life abusive relationship and it just did not pair at all. The fantastical elements felt so random and poorly integrated that sometimes I thought I was reading two different books. Make sure your fantastical and realistic aspects are all wholly necessary to the story you are trying to tell and take time to seamlessly fit them together.

In some ways, I think contemporary fantasy is even harder than inventing a world from scratch, because you do have to play by certain rules. However, so long as you focus just as much on the world building, your manuscript is sure to draw in readers.

Lessons from Anime- Ensemble Casts in Angel Beats, Durarara and Assassination Classroom

Welcome back to Lessons from Anime! This week, we’re looking at another group of shows that all share one key element: ensemble casts.

There are lots of different ways to tell a story. For instance, you can take the Harry Potter route and root the narrative firmly in the perspective of one character. But, on another hand, you can write a story that is about a group of people, like in Mistborn, or even hundreds of people, like in Game of Thrones. When you have several main characters and just as many stories, it can be a tremendous balancing act. If you’re not careful, the scales will tip and you’ll give way too much focus to a few characters while letting others become practically nonexistent and unnecessary. Today we’re going to look at three anime that sport ensemble casts to varying degrees of success.

First off, there’s Angel Beats, a well-known tear jerker and a show that sports quite the large cast in its group picture at the closing song. This show relies on a wide range of characters. Even though it has its main characters, it clearly wants you to focus on the group as a unit, especially when the show takes its more feelsy turns later on. Does it succeed?

Not…really. Outside of a group of about five characters, none of the other cast get any noticeable screen time. They are reduced to typical anime caricatures, good for a laugh but not as their own people. They are sometimes indistinguishable from each other. The show just didn’t have balance in its writing and at only thirteen episodes, it really didn’t have time to keep such a large cast afloat. If you’re going to have a lot of characters, make sure they actually need to be there for more than a one off joke.

Then there’s Durarara, which yeah, I know, this is the third time in a row I’ve brought it up, but its relevant. Durarara also supports a large cast with a few clear leads in the mix. However, each of its characters are involved in different stories that collide at different points. The characters aren’t a collective unit. They’re a series of moving pieces that pass each other in the street. This is more the Game of Thrones approach of having several different storylines that eventually converge.

But while Durarara does a decent job with its cast of thousands, it still lets a few plots go by the wayside, including some twin sisters that are good for a laugh but have absolutely nothing to do with any of the plot. There are plenty of one off characters that felt like they needed more screen time. But, to be honest, I’m surprised Durarara managed its juggling act as well as it did. It goes to show that when you give yourself several plot threads, make sure they’re well integrated and they all reach some sort of resolution. That way they won’t fall off the map and leave your readers wondering why they were there in the first place.

The last show I want to talk about is perhaps the most effective of the  bunch, called Assassination Classroom. Like Angel Beats, this is about a group as a unit, focusing on a classroom of twenty eight students and their teacher (a mutant who is going to blow up the world in a year). It has a main character lending his narration to the events, but the show is conserned with all of the characters. And I mean all of them.

Of the twenty eight students about half get a significant part of an episode dedicated to them and every single one of them has a starring moment. And none of the kids are anime caricatures. They’re real, relatable kids. They’ve all been put in the dead end class for failures for various reasons. Some of them are lazy geniuses, others struggle with academics, some face pressures at home. But they all have their own interests and passions that their teacher ultimately uses to their advantage. Many characters don’t get much of a spotlight, but they work as they are supposed to: as part of a unit. And by the end, they really do feel like a family.

Assassination classroom has 48 episodes to work with of course, plenty of time to give its characters their rightful places. But it uses those 48 episodes exceedingly well, and I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen anything handle such a large cast so expertly, especially when they’re all in the same area for most of the show, following the same plot thread.

Its also hilarious

As you can see, there are many ways to handle large casts, with multiple plotlines or just one. Your mileage may vary, but make sure you know your characters and just how much time they deserve in the spotlight. Balance is the key and we want to love your characters as much as you do!

Notes from New York: World building is Important

Welcome back to Notes from New York! Let’s continue with more tips for preparing your book for submission. This week: World building.

Obviously I’ve posted a lot on this beforehand, given that it’s a pretty prominent part of my favorite genres. I even started a Vlog series on it that I hopefully get back to soon. I really enjoy talking about it and actually doing it. But world building is also an exceedingly difficult thing. There are a lot of elements to take into account to make your world a fully fleshed out reality.

And that’s the key here: fully fleshed out. It’s pretty easy to spot a fantasy world as thin as parchment paper. While it theoretically exists on the page, there’s clearly no foundation holding it up. It shows that a writer wanted to tell their story in a fantasy world but thought way more about the story than the world itself. Sometimes it seems like they’re making up the world on the fly, and that always shows loud and clear.

In fantasy, the world is a character. You want to give it the same development as your protagonist, maybe even more so. Worlds are, after all, more complicated than people. And when querying you can’t get away with an under developed world because a lot of awesome fantasy comes through the slush. I read more than one MS that had me ridiculously excited because of its unique world. A lackluster world pales in comparison to that. So before you query your fantasy, here are a few tips:

1. Consider all of the main aspects of your world including: Geography, government, history, economy, religion, culture, technology etc. You should understand these things even if they don’t play a huge role in your story. Because if you don’t, the gaps will show

2. Don’t skimp on the setting. Setting gives us a picture of your world and places us inside of it. So focus on your descriptions in order to envelop the reader in your world

3. Don’t use stock fantasy worlds. The typical medieval fantasy setting with few variants is played out. If you want to catch someone’s interest, make sure the world has something new to it, be it a magic element, a technology element, or a cultural element. If you’re going to stand out in a sea of stock fantasy worlds, you need to add some new twist.

World building is obviously much more complicated than that, but it’s important to know that agents can often tell even from the query and first pages whether or not your world is well thought out. So develop that setting and make your world shine! Your book will improve right along with it.

Lessons from Anime- Durarara and Rolling with the Punches

And we’re back with more Lessons from Anime!

I know I talked about Durarara last week, but honestly, I really have to talk about it again because I love this show. It honestly reshaped some of perspective on storytelling and showed me a different way to handle serious dilemmas, philosophical discussions and fantastical elements.

The fantastical elements are the focus of this particular lesson.

One of the pitfalls of any fantasy book, show or movie is the dreaded info dump. Its very easy to fall into because, hey, world building is hard and when you’re trying to bring the reader into a complex world, you just want to spout all of the information from the beginning. Its dfficult sometimes to trust your reader to follow you, or to know how much to give them at the front. I always struggle with this in my fantasy because I have a tendency to give myself over complicated worlds to work with. Thanks me.

And then there’s Durarara. This show sports all sorts of fantastical things. A headless Irish fairy that rides a shadowy bike instead of a horse. 

A man who’s body has no physical limits, allowing him to pick up and throw things like vending machines and light posts. 

A sword that loves humans and can control everything it cuts. 

And that’s just the beginning of the strange residence of the city of Ikebukoro. Most stories would try to contextualize all of these strange beings and explain why they exist in this story. And while the characters themselves are given a fair ammount of backstory, the show never really tries to explain the fantastical elements. They’re just there. Because it said so.

And you know what, there’s something kind of wonderful about that sort of storytelling. While other books sit you down for a history lesson, Durarara grabs you by the hand and asks you to roll with the punches. The explanation doesn’t matter, it’s the story and how the characters bounce off each other that the audience cares about. Don’t get caught up in the details. Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Now I’m not saying that Durarara has no world building. It explores all of its fantasy elements from a psychological perspective. And all of its elements and characters, once introduced, remain consistent throughout the run of the show. Once or twice it forgets to adequately explain something or a strange character falls by the wayside, but for a sixty episodes show sporting a cast of thousands, it does a good job with what it has.

And I think we, as fantasy writers, can learn a lot from Durarara. So next time you’re about to info dump, remember to trust your audience to follow you. Be sparing with your information, grab them by the hand and yank them right in. They’ll be able to keep up. They’re smart. And the world ultimately isn’t the most important. It’s the story within it that matters.

Hero Spotlight: Scar and Victor

Let's get this series back on track shall we?

So last time...way, WAY last time...we talked about the anti hero vs. the line between good and bad. You can give yourself a refresher here.

But today let’s take a look at two very interesting anti-hero examples: Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist and Victor from V.E. Schwab’s Vicious.

First, Scar. Scar starts out as an antagonist to our main heroes, the Elric Brothers, as he has set out to destroy all State Alchemists with his alchemy enhanced arms. However the motive of his revenge quickly becomes clear and its hard not to sympathize with him, considering that his people were destroyed by the military in a senseless genocide. 

Despite his initial villain role, Scar is often more on the hero side than he is on the villain side in both series, often having a soft spot for children and other down trodden folk.

Eventually, his bizarre alchemy becomes a cornerstone to taking down the main villain, and he puts aside his revenge to help the rest of the heroes destroy the real evil. He has a different impact in both series, but he plays an important role in each.

Scar starts out as a real threat of course, working outside the laws in every way since he’s… murdering people. But he also struggles with his own moral code, knowing that by using alchemy to destroy state alchemists, he has turned his back on the religion of his people. It leaves him to even leave behind his real name of which he doesn’t think he is worthy. It’s a lot of grade A internal and external stuff that makes Scar one of the most interesting characters in both series.

Then there is Victor, from Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Victor and his roommate Eli both gain supernatural abilities after near death experiences. But after something goes horribly wrong, they split ways in a bad way. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison to stop his crazy old roommate from killing everyone with supernatural abilities. However, while Victor is the less evil of the two, he is by no means a typical hero. Like Eli he is an arrogant genius, often time selfish, and he’s less motivated by the greater good in this book so much as settling the score with Eli. He’s willing to do plenty of non-heroic things to ultimately take Eli down.

However, despite this, Victor is still comparably better, and he does form positive relationships with some of his other super powered companions. This is still his story and his journey, and Eli is absolutely the villain in question. But Victor is just a twist on the typical super hero. He’s no knight in shining armor, but he still knows what needs to be done, making him a thoroughly interesting main character to follow.

That’s all from the spotlight this week! See you next time for our last week of the Heroes and Heroism Series. Until then, happy writing!

Hero Spotlight: Cecila/ Marco and Cassia/ Ky

This week on the spotlight we look at two of my favorite pairs of lovers. And while I talked in length about how popular this trope is in young adult fiction, I should mention that its hard to get me invested in this sort of plot. I like my romance as a spice in my fiction rather than the main course. Something along the lines of Harry Potter or Mistborn (Yes, I can work this series into literally anything). What’s more I often find that stories with romance as the core have a hard time stretching themselves out and giving themselves an engaging plot. One of my main problems with Twilight was just how meandering it was. I felt like the book could have been cut down to a much shorter, succinct story and have been better for it.

However, with that said, these are two books where the romance is the core, and they still manage to keep my attention.

First, Ceilia and Marco in Erin Morgenstern's, The Night Circus. This book is like dark chocolate to me. The beautiful prose paint the world of the mysterious Night Circus, the arena for a fight to the death between the pupils of two renown magicians. But of course, these pupils end up falling for each other, and striving to find a way around their fate.

Setting and atmosphere aside, the reason why these characters work is they stand well on their own. Ceilia and Marco both have a ton of personality to the side. Ceilia is gutsy, passionate and very powerful. She’s the natural magician, exhibiting potential from a young age. Marco however is more controlled and studious. He’s the hard worker. They both have different means to achieve their feats but they’re both powerful in their own right. However, instead of fighting to break the other, they turn the competition into a way to create different wonders throughout the circus for each other. Like extravagant love letters.

I also appreciate how Ceilia and Marco don’t have a weird misunderstanding in the third act that causes them to turn on one another. The conflict surrounding them is enough, and they don’t need any more conflict between each other. Ultimately, the way they handle their resolution is smart and beautiful. I fall head over heels for this book.

The second book we’re talking about in this spotlight is a dystopian. Its really difficult to pull of the lover heroes in a dystopian because often, the stakes are so much higher. Take this tweet from this perfect account:

"This System seems to care a lot about whether two 16-year-olds fuck or not," I say.
Anthem nods solemnly.

— Dystopian YA Novel (@DystopianYA) May 31, 2015

However this particular dystopian makes the smart choice by starting small. I’m talking about Ally Condie's Matched and the star crossed lovers Cassia and Ky. The plot of the first book is almost entirely revolved around a romance hinged plot. Cassia is matched with her best friend Xander but due to a mix up, she may actually be matched with a boy named Ky. And that is the crux of the conflict. It’s nothing society breaking yet (like in the later books). So it makes sense why this is the largest conflict at hand.

I love Cassia because she was a relatively reasonable heroine put in a genuine dilemma and this is one of the few occasions when a love triangle actually seemed to make sense (and I don’t say that easily). Cassia has hobbies and feels like a fully fleshed out person. And I absolutely adore Ky, who I found to be an amazingly interesting and reasonable guy as well. I love it when the lovers are actually reasonable human beings and don’t get in pointless fights to drag out the plot.

Better than that, these two worked well together, and it was one of the rare times the love triangle went in the direction I wanted it to. The romance becomes more of a sub plot in later books when bigger conflicts come to the surface, and while it still plays an important role, the characters had their priorities in order.

And maybe these spotlights give you an idea of how to pull off the Lover characters: Characters that stand well on their own, chemistry based on interests, reasonable handling of conflicts, and priorities in order. Because with the Star crossed lover plot, the outside world is often plenty of conflict to keep your book interesting. And these are two couples who had me on the edge of my seat whispering ‘kiss’ the whole way through.

Villains and Villainy- The Lucifer Figure

Hello and welcome back to the villain series where we’re tackling the many different shades of villainy and honoring some of the best representatives. Or… shaming them. Depending on how you look at it.

Today let’s look at the baddest of the bad. The trope that aims for hell more than any others. Yep, I’m talking about the Lucifer figure.

The devil is one of those things a lot of villains choose to emulate, mostly because he is the symbol of pure evil for many people. So many dark traits from this guy. He’s a deceiver and a trickster. He’s governed by pride and ambitious to a fault. He’s unrepentant and opposes all things good. A Lucifer figure is ALWAYS the big bad guy. Never a henchmen. They’re the one running the show and often the shadow on the wall, the puppeteer of all the other villains in the story.

Take Sauron for instance. We don’t see him much but we see his influence. We see the destruction his armies sew across Middle Earth. But we rarely see him or hear him speak really. It’s his presence that matters. It’s his work.

Or take Father from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. He controls the homunculi and is the driving force behind most of the wrong doings across Amestris. His servants do most of his dirty work and he rarely gets involved in the action himself (except at the end), but we feel his power none the less.

And that, I think, is the secret to pulling off a good Lucifer figure. Unlike other villains on this list, you’re not trying to make them human. If you want a straight up, pure evil, nonredeemable villain, keep them in the background.

Its easy to overplay your hand with a super evil villain and they can become ridiculous if they get too much page or screen time. But if instead you focus on the destruction of their evil, we’ll feel their presence without even meeting them. It will make them over all stronger.

Sometimes its okay to have a pure evil villain. But don’t leave them in the spotlight for too long or it will seem like you're trying too hard. Let their deeds speak for them.

Book Reviews: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

I’ve done posts before on my reader weaknesses and one of those particular weaknesses are characters with super powers. I’m especially fond of stories that play with the struggle of having power and show the dark underside of the issue. Villains and antiheroes with power always intrigue me. So I was of course drawn to Vicious by V.E Schwab. But did it appeal to my already high expectations?

Plot- Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

The Characters- What I love about Victor and Eli is that neither is necessarily the villain or the hero. I mean, we see things from Victor’s perspective but he and Eli are morally on equal ground as far as I’m concerned. But one fights to destroy others with powers and the other fights to protect them. But they’re still both morally ambiguous. The closest thing to a moral center is Sydney, a girl with the stunning ability to bring back the dead. She is likable and I enjoyed her as much as I enjoyed her considerably darker sister. Over all each character is distinct and likable even through the unlikable things they do. And I love how the book approaches power and how it corrupts ambitious young minds.

The Good Points- I’ve raved about the concept and the characters, but I really have to continue on that front. The characters are the focus of this book and the concept surrounding them makes the novel. This novel reads like something out of a comic book and yet far more cynical than most would approach heroes. And don’t get me wrong, I love superheroes. I’m a Marvel girl at heart. But stuff like Vicious gives me life. It dives into the psychology of flawed human beings and lets the intrigue of the characters stand tall. The book is also just really cool. The writing is cool. The images are cool. The story is cool. I found myself whispering that over used word under my breath at many parts. The pacing and jumps through time are handled deftly and never feel forced or confused. A well-crafted story on every level.

The Bad Points- I wanted more. This is the kind of world I could get lost in but as far as I can tell, it ends with no intention of a continuation. I almost wanted a more expansive story so I could meet more of these super powered humans. And I guess my demand for more ultimately means the book was doing something right.

Overall, Vicious is a fun, intriguing and super cool book for any lovers of super heroes and contemporary fantasy. It made not have an optimistic view of human nature, but its exploration is fascinating. Read it and see for yourself!

Final Rating- 5/5 stars 

Book Review: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

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I snatched this book off the library shelves when I read the summary and saw the title. A carnival with demons? By the author of Wicked Lovely? Better read it immediately. But did the book live up to my excitement? Let’s find out.

The Plot: In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the carnival, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

All Mallory knows of The City is that her father—and every other witch there—fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the carnival.

From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series and Graveminder, comes a brand-new tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one's own destiny. (Plot summary according to Good Reads)

The Characters: There are three main characters to this story, ranging from awesome to unnecessary to really creepy. First there’s Aya. She’s pretty awesome. There are clear stakes as she enters this game and she’s all around likable, though hardened by the world. I’m a sucker for those kinds of characters. Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s Mallory. We’re told that she’s a badass. But she never does any badass things. She’s just kind of… there and I can’t for the life of me figure out why she’s in the story. And then there’s Kaleb. He started out as pretty interesting but got really creepy really fast by the end of it. A shame, because it wouldn’t have happened without the Mallory subplot. But we’ll get to that later.

The Good Points: This book does have a lot of good points. I like the world, for instance, and the basic set up. I’m a sucker for fights to the death. I know they’ve been overused lately, but heck if I care. They’re fun to read about. There is an interesting class system set up and, as I said, I really enjoy Aya. But then there’s the bad points.

The Bad Points: Execution is everything. And in this case, the execution of Carnival of Souls is a bit confused. It seemed the author wanted to write two books. One is about an awesome fight to the death in an interesting world of demons. The other is about a typical teenage girl discovering a world of demons and finding romance (much more typical paranormal romance fair). Either of those would be fine with a deft hand. Melissa Marr has handled the latter plot well before (See Wicked Lovely), but something about this just falls flat. The main character isn't memorable and the romance is so rushed and, at the end, creepy, that its disconcerting and overshadows all the fun points about the books. Every time the book jumped to Mallory I felt disoriented. The two plots didn’t mesh whatsoever.

And let’s talk about another issue I have with the world. I think the world is pretty interesting (though it could have been better developed) but one fact particularly gets under my skin, that being the subjugation of women. This has been done in fantasy. It has been done so many times. I know that women were subjugated in the past. I know that we still face disadvantages. But we’ve seen it done in fiction so much. I’d like to see fantasies build conflicts that don’t rely on fighting gender norms. It can be done and it can make great fiction. And in this case the subjugation of women seemed so typical and been done. And it also added to the extremely creepy and unsettling romance that I can’t get into because of spoilers. It left a bad taste in my mouth when I closed the book. Its not that the gender subjugation was handled poorly for the most part. I would just like to see something new.

In the end, it’s a shame this book was so convoluted and rushed. With the right focus and the removal of the Mallory plot, it could have been quite interesting. Unfortunately old fantasy clichés, a rushed romance, and weird characterization leaves this book with a low rating. It didn’t anger me, but its just not the quality of work I've come to expect from Melissa Marr.

Final Rating: 2/5 stars.

Reader Weakness: Special Powers

Happy Friday! Today I'd thought we'd look at another reader weakness of mine.

Reader weaknesses are things that make me pick up a book or keep reading no matter what. And big weakness of mine is special powers. A group of people that have cool supernatural powers will always get me jazzed up.

That said, I’m not talking superhero books. No, I like my super powers gritty and with complicated politics and battles and relationships. I don’t want one or two people with cool abilities. I want a group that plays off of each other. More X-men than Batman. I also love Avatar the Last Airbender and Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.

I probably get a lot of this love for anime. One of my favorite animes, Darker than Black, has a lot of people with cool powers that our stigmatized because of it. These are really interesting talents different from the typical brand of special abilities and I'll probably do a Lessons from Anime post on it in the future. I like stories that can put a spin on super powers. And I especially like special abilities that have a cost or aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Its not a surprise that a lot of my own books deal with stuff like that.

Basically, if you have any good examples of books or TV shows where the characters have cool abilities, send them at me. I want ALL of them. And I have plenty of recommendations for you as well!