It has been almost twelve hundred years since Jing Dong Ma brought the magic down from the mountains. It is considered a great blessing to be able to hold this magic, to practice wielding its power. But Natalie Lowry sees it only as a curse.
While the magic threatens to tear the nations of Pocatello apart, Natalie searches for…
Well, that is not even remotely close to what the back of my novel’s cover is going to say, but I thought it might pique your interest anyway.
I’m hard at work on my first (second? third?) draft of City of Orphans. And when I say “hard at work,” I mean dragging my feet all the way. I’ve finally gotten to the part of the story where I’m not sure what’s supposed to happen, so I kind of just keep throwing obstacles at my characters and hoping that they get out of it somehow, and with a little more knowledge of what’s going on than before. I know they’ll make it to the City of Orphans eventually, but man, is this journey treacherous!
The image above is how I picture the land of The Styx. It’s a marshland, pretty much a swamp, where my main character, Natalie Lowry, grew up. It’s not a very nice place to grow up.
Natalie is not one of my favorite characters to write. You were probably not expecting me to say that, were you? She’s not even my favorite Pocatellian. She is crude, selfish, and most of the time just plain mean. But now that I’ve spent some time with her, I can say that I sympathize with her situation, and in the end I really do want her to be happy. And she gets nicer, once you’ve been around her a while. And can you really blame her for wanting to punch you instead of shaking your hand when you meet? It’s pretty safe for her to assume that you want to hurt her, so she is looking for you to prove yourself first. Once you do prove yourself, you can be certain that she’d give her life to protect you. If she had to.
I hope my description of Natalie hasn’t put you off wanting to read my fantasy when it comes out. She is a pretty cool cat, overall, once you get to know her.
I’m still busy telling her story, so until next time…may the Great Dragon look upon you!
Well, you’ll be unsurprised to know that I LURVE unlikable main characters. And throwing more and more horrorshow at them can’t be a bad thing.
Mostly I’m mad that you got to call something City of Orphans. That is a truly amazing name of a thing.
Aw, thanks, Josh! I hope I can do the title justice.