Some
books are harder to write than others
Sometimes I wish I could write a
story that is just a story, not one threaded through with philosophy like my
stories, but I never could, because that isn't me. It would be a lot easier
though, and that appeals to my lazy side, but it wouldn't satisfy me. I like
novels with a touch of metaphysics in them, and authors always write the kind
of books they like to read.
The most difficult aspect of writing
metaphysical fiction is that you need to remain true to whatever philosophy
you're working with without it being either didactic or extraneous to the story
line. It also needs to be expressed in universal terms that relate to people of
different world-views, otherwise it becomes religious fiction which has a different
purpose.
I find myself faced with interpreting
the technical language of my area of study, Buddhism into simple language that
means the same thing but doesn't have religious overtones. Also, my books have
teens as their main characters so the language has to be teen-speak.
Before you can simplify anything
without destroying its integrity, you need to have studied the philosophy
enough to understand it well. I can confidently say that I have done that, and
I have no problem interpreting the simple concepts and weaving them into the
story, but I was ambitious (sometimes I think foolish) enough to choose a theme
for a series that required me to go deeper, and that's when things can get
tricky.
Book one sets the scene with a simple
idea, that of demons that are an external manifestation of emotions. My
characters use skills learnt in meditation to defeat the demons, but before my
central character, seventeen-year-old Ariel can do this, she must learn how.
So, within this book are genuine and complete meditation instructions, and yet
the word meditation does not appear even once.
Yet this is essentially a new adult
fantasy with all the elements of any great example of that genre ie romance,
adventure, humour and life threatening battles!
I have just released book three,
Demon's Grip, and it was the hardest book to write, because it had to explore
the difference between wanting something and craving it. Why? Because the demon
lord, Emot, bodyguard to the Master Demon, feeds on craving.
Finding the right words wasn't easy.
Luckily I have a fabulous editor, Krisi, who by questioning the meaning of what
I had written helped me to write it as clearly as possible.
All this talk about concepts might make the book sound heavy, but
it isn't. The demons are pretty sleazy, as demons should be, but all my writing
has a light touch. There's a grumpy but amusing talking cat, a mysterious
magician, a handsome young man, a gutsy nearly eighteen- year-old and a quirky
but wise old man, and it takes place in our own time, in a realm hidden within
our world.
Here's some
perceptive things people have said about the series.
“I can't even begin to describe all
of the action you'll find in this highly imaginative
journey. This is a fantastic depiction of a fight between
good and evil.” Crazy Four Books.
"A magical world with an exceptional well-written ribbon of 'real world' weaved throughout." Twisted Sense Book Blog
“This world is the context for
Ariel, a young woman in the grip of a prophecy, desperately trying to rescue her
mother before her mother is killed... or worse.” Ruthanne Reid, author of The
Sundered.
“A
beautifully written, exciting fantasy-adventure with vibrant description.”
Krisi Keley, author of Mareritt.
It’s always best to start at the beginning of a series though,
so to inspire you to do just that, book one in the series is only 99c until the
6th July on Kindle and Kobo,
so pick it up and read your way to the top of Diamond Peak.
You can also pick up a FREE
short story prequel to the Series here.
If you’ve read books
one and two, you can find Demon's Grip at your
Kindle Store , Smashwords & Kobo
Post by
Tahlia Newland, the award-winning fantasy and magical realism author with a
metaphysical twist. If you enjoyed this blog post, you can join her on Facebook
, Twitter or Google+
You can even fan her on
Goodreads.
When not reading, writing,
reviewing or mentoring
authors you may find her being an extremely casual high school teacher or
making decorative masks.
Tahlia began writing full time in 2008 after twenty years in the performing
arts and a five-year stint as a creative and performing arts teacher in a High
School. In 2012, she set up the Awesome
Indies List to showcase quality independent fiction. She has had extensive
training in meditation and Buddhist philosophy and lives in an Australian
rainforest south of Sydney
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