Will, Way, and Heart

Meditation, rest, and nourishment…that is how you restore will, way, and heart. To ignore one is to weaken the others.

                                    ~Maseer, wizard and Lord of the Seven Cities

While brainstorming for Gift of Shadow, it was vitally important to me that the novel would have unique elements to its magic system. Yes, there would be spells, and some of those spells would be recognizable to readers of fantasy (or players of Dungeons & Dragons), but what would be different would be how that magic is accessed. Ultimately, I devised the system of Will, Way, and Heart. 

Magic in Prima (the central, mundane realm at the center of the Nine Realms) is not exclusively limited to certain individuals. Theoretically, anyone can perform magic. Having said that, some people have a greater affinity for magic, just as in the real world, some individuals are exceptionally gifted artists or athletes. Whether you have an inherent affinity for some activity or not, the path to true mastery comes from developing your will, way, and heart. 

Will

Will is concentration and willpower. It is the ability to focus one’s mind and ignore distractions with the intent of achieving some goal. Do some people have stronger will than others? Absolutely. We see it all the time. Can will be improved? Again, yes. Through mental training, a person can enhance their will, strengthening their mind and increasing their overall mastery. 

Way

Way is simply knowledge. It is knowing how to accomplish something. In the case of magic, this information is highly academic, including the study of mystical runes, alchemy, arcana, and language (both verbal, written, and sign). The curriculum is challenging, and not everyone can master the required subjects. This is not a case of only certain individuals having an inherited, natural ability to do magic; it is the fact that some find the subject too challenging for them. There is an exception to way being necessary to do magic. Creatures of the eight Outer Realms do have an inherent affinity for certain types of magic. A fairy’s ability to charm, a ghost’s ability to possess, or a fire elemental’s ability to control fire requires only will and heart. Way is inherent to them. 

Heart

Heart is strength of body and mind. Magic, in Prima, requires energy. As we participate in an activity, whether performing magic or running a 10K, we expend energy. Heart is our store of energy. In video game terms, it is those two red and blue globes (or lines) on your screen that represent “mana” and “health”. The more you cast spells, the more work you do, the more effort you put out, the more physical and emotional punishment you take, the more you are drained of heart. While will represents your ability to concentrate and focus, heart gives you the endurance to perform magic repeatedly. An additional note on heart: no human body can contain the energy necessary to manipulate the material world in the way certain magic spells do. So how is this accomplished? All magic in Prima is pulled from the eight, magical Outer Realms (more about them in my next post). Heart allows you to maintain that connection and channel the energy of the Outer Realms without the spell consuming you. This is also why Prima is known to the wise as Mundane. It has no magic of its own, but “steals” magic from the Outer Realms. 

(Clarity)

The intersection of will and way is clarity. If you have the willingness and knowledge to do something, you have clarity of intent. You simply need heart to sustain the action to achieve your goal. 

(Potential)

The intersection of way and heart is potential. You know how to do something, and you have the physical and mental fortitude to bring it to a conclusion; you just need the motivation that comes from will to make it happen. 

(Intensity)

The intersection of will and heart is intensity. You are willing to accomplish a task, you have the energy to complete it, but you just don’t know how to do so. You need to find the way. 

The intersection of all three—will, way, and heart—is magic. In truth, will, way, and heart go beyond magic—they result in mastery. If you want to achieve anything or accomplish something great, don’t you need will, way, and heart? 

Plotting versus Pantsing

Gift of Shadow is my seventh novel, but it marks a significant transition from how I’ve previously written my novels. First of all, it is the first story set outside the world of The Orb series. The characters and story are entirely unrelated to my other books. Secondly, while The Orb is an epic fantasy, and The Green Wyvern is more a sword and sorcery tale, Gift of Shadow is a grimdark fantasy. Finally, my approach to writing Gift of Shadow was much different from that of my other novels. Previously, I was a plotter, more so with my earlier novels than later ones, but Gift of Shadow was a seat-of-the-pants ride. 

When I set out to write my first novel, Eternal Knight, I did so with great enthusiasm and little planning. All I knew was that I wanted to write an epic fantasy about a good guy who turns into a bad guy. And so, with very little planning, I wrote a one-page outline for my novel and started writing. Let me tell you, it was a disaster. I fumbled through writing a page or two, realized it was a disaster, and decided on a different approach. Instead of starting at the beginning, I would pick a climactic scene in the later stage of the novel and write that first. Well, that was just as disastrous. As was my approach of writing the conclusion first. Dismayed, I realized I needed help. 

I was in college at the time, and approached my Creative Writing professor for advice. He listened to my woes and then started asking me questions about my world. What’s the geography? What religion do they follow? How is their government run? What is the basis of the economy? What technology do they employ? He also asked me about my characters. What did they look like? What were their personalities? What were their backstories? I was at a loss. Yes, I vaguely knew this was a second-world fantasy novel loosely based on medieval Europe. I knew my protagonist was an exiled prince and that his father was an asshole, but beyond that, I didn’t have a clue. 

And so, for a year, I devoted myself entirely to worldbuilding and character creation. In social studies terms, I thoroughly outlined the GETWAGS of the world. GETWAGS? Geography, economics, technology, world-view, arts, government, and social structures. For my characters, I created Dungeons & Dragons-style character sheets, which included ability scores, skills, and abilities. I drew maps, sketches, timelines, and architectural plans — a notebook full of them. And then, after that year of effort, I started writing again. 

All the effort paid off. The writing flowed. I felt good about my story. The word count continued to rise, and I saw real progress. It went so well that it only took another ten years to finish the rough manuscript, which, by the way, weighed in at over 250,000 words. For those of you not in the writing game—that’s a big book! (By the way, after editing, it was 115,000 words.) 

Ten years, though? Why so long? Because I was still an amateur in my early twenties. For the most part, I still didn’t know what I was doing. When I read my manuscript, I saw the weaknesses in my own writing and compared it to Tolkien's, and I would promptly give up on my dreams. Sometimes for years at a time. I kept coming back, though, and eventually persevered. 

It still wasn’t good, but I’ll save the story of how I improved as a writer for another time. 

As I said before, Gift of Shadow is my seventh novel. How have things changed from when I started? 

First of all, Gift of Shadow is much more of a character-based novel. The Orb series was inspired by a story I wanted to tell. The story of a good person turning into a bad person. A story about the pursuit of power. When I wrote The Green Wyvern, it marked a shift. I came up with a character and set them off into the world and asked them to survive. But it was a world I knew very well. It was set in the same world as The Orb novels, albeit in a much later time period. With Gift of Shadow, I started with a character and almost no worldbuilding. In fact, the only worldbuilding that occurred stemmed from character creation. 

I knew that Gift was a wizard’s apprentice. This meant that it would be a fantasy world with a formal structure for learning magic. Gift’s master was not only a wizard but a mighty lord. So it was a world with a system of nobility. Gift had recently escaped from the Realm of Shadow, but I only knew that Shadow was deadly and terrifying—otherwise, it was mostly undefined. I knew that there were other realms, but I had only a vague idea of how many and what they consisted of. Finally, I knew that Gift had a dog (a puppy) as a companion, because Gift was based on a Dungeons and Dragons shadow sorcerer, and at sixth level, they get a Hound of Ill Omen. But in this case, it would start the book as a puppy. Finally, due to the traumatic events that had happened to her in Shadow, Gift had only a fractured memory of her time spent there. 

Ultimately, I started writing the novel with a fairly well-defined character (a young, vulnerable-looking wizard’s apprentice who had survived the savage Realm of Shadow) and her goal (to get back to her wizard master). I knew the world would be vaguely reminiscent of the Northern European Dark Ages. I didn’t know the specifics of the world (no GETWAGS), the importance of the Nine Realms, or how the magic system worked. Very importantly, I had no plot. I had no idea what was going to happen.

So how was I going to write a book? It was going to be seat-of-the-pants, but I had a plan. Any time there was a fork in the road, any time something bad could happen to Gift—I would make that happen. I would throw everything I could at her and force her to survive it. It was both cruel and fun, and I don’t know what that says about me. 

Fun, but challenging. The worldbuilding had to be done while I wrote. I meant that I had the chance to be super creative, but it also meant a lot of going back and changing things I’d written before. Magic, the realms, geography, and history all had to be consistent throughout the novel. I made story decisions very late in the book that required revisions, going back to the first page. Many of these changes wouldn’t have been necessary if I’d done all of the worldbuilding ahead of time. But would I have been as creative if I’d locked myself into a pre-made worldbuilding “box”? 

Will I write this way again? Hell yes! Will I write every book this way? Hell no! Seat-of-the-pants worked very well for a sword-and-sorcery grimdark novel with a single protagonist discovering the world. There’s no way I’d attempt a multi-character, multi-plot epic fantasy without serious planning and worldbuilding. 

There’s no one right way to write a novel. One style will work on one author but be a catastrophe for another. Be wary of people who tell you there’s only one way to write a book. I will end with one note: whatever style of writing you choose, the book only gets finished if you put in the effort. You can dream about it all you want, but you have to get the words on the page. Don’t worry if they’re an awful jumble at first—get them on the page. 

Inspiration

What inspires a novel? For me, it’s very straightforward. My first novel, Eternal Knight, was inspired by a movie series I wish I could love more, as well as a book series that really frustrated me. I guess, in a way, you could call it negative inspiration. I saw something I wanted to like, but didn’t, so instead of complaining about it, I’d make it my own. 

The movie series was Star Wars — I’m talking about the original three movies here. What was my complaint? Luke Skywalker should have gone to the dark side. He was immature, impulsive, emotional, and never finished his training. He was a perfect Sith candidate. If Luke turns into a bad guy, who then should have been the hero? Princess Leia. Cool, competent, controlled Leia. She would have been a great Jedi. Many will disagree with me, and that’s fine. I’m not here to debate Star Wars.

I’m here to talk about inspiration. Star Wars inspired me to write a book about a hero who turns into a villain—a chosen one who can’t resist the call of the dark side. Yes, I'm familiar with Anakin and his story, but I began writing Eternal Knight in 1986, thirteen years before The Phantom Menace was released. I’m telling you what inspired me to write at the time.

The second inspiration came from a very well-known fantasy series. I’m not going to name it, as I’m not big on dumping on another writer’s work, so I’ll leave it at that. But in this series, the protagonists eventually become so powerful that all sense of jeopardy is lost. It was very clear that the author loved their characters so much that nothing awful was ever going to happen to them. 

So there was the second part of my inspiration. I’d write a book that would beat up its heroes and create a genuine sense of jeopardy. A book where no one was truly safe. Those initial inspiring ideas spawned a five-novel series called The Orb, as well as a sixth book set in the same world. 

On December 5th, I’ll release my latest novel, Gift of Shadow. It departs from my other books in many ways. Gift of Shadow is a grimdark fantasy novel, set in its own world, and is unconnected to The Orb. Gift, the protagonist, was inspired by a character I created for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. She was a Shadow Sorceress with an origin story I loved, but then our Dungeon Master told us he was running a nautical campaign. I switched to a Storm Sorceress instead. 

The thing is, I couldn’t get Gift out of my head. She had such a cool backstory that the more I thought about her, the more I realized that her story needed to be told. So, instead of telling it around a D&D table, I’d do it in a novel instead. 

We draw inspiration from all around us—art, movies, television, books, people, travel, nature, and more. And, as Mark Twain said, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.” Take your inspiration from the world around you and make it your own.

Gift of Shadow Preorders

Preorders for the ebook of Gift of Shadow are now open! You can purchase it now, and it will be delivered to your reading device on December 5th.

All my best,

Matt

Looking for Gift of Shadow ARC Readers

 

Hello, Friends!

My latest novel, Gift of Shadow, is coming out on December 5th. I'm looking for volunteers who would like to receive an ebook Advance Reader Copy (ARC) in return for your expressed willingness to write a review when the novel comes out.

This is not an obligation! If you never get around to reading it, don't finish it, or for any reason don't want to leave a review, that is perfectly fine.

Reviews don't have to be anything fancy. They usually involve a star rating and can only be a few sentences long. Longer reviews are appreciated, but aren't necessary.

Follow this link for details on how to get your ARC.

Thank you!

Matt

Puppy Rough Draft Done

 Sooo...it's been a while! I've been busy, but clearly not with blogging. 

What's brought me back to my poor little neglected blog? I've finished writing another book. This book is different in many ways. The biggest news is that it isn't set in the same world as my other six novels. Why did I change worlds? This book simply required different world-building in order for it to work. The magic system, geography, and cultures all had to change. 

Another big change is that this book is a grimdark fantasy. And I've definitely embraced the grim and the dark. I pretty much decided that whenever my character faced a situation, I'd choose the worst outcome possible. This wasn't very kind to my protagonist, but did make for a good grimdark novel. 

The rough draft of the cover by Dallas Williams.

Where am I right now? The novel is finished, and I've sent out nine manuscripts to my beta readers. Two have been returned so far.

I had a great day editing today. It took five hours, but I worked through all of Shelley Uthgenannt's edits on my "Puppy" manuscript. Shelley is my editor/proofreader and does a fantastic job with my books. She's worked on all of my books except for Eternal Knight.

Bob Sulentic finished his beta read the day after I gave it to him (this was a couple of weeks ago). It's always a good sign when someone reads your book in one day! He made some excellent catches and provided some great feedback.

The manuscript improves with each beta. I don't need all nine of them to publish, but the more, the merrier.

I still have several steps to go:

1) More beta reads and edits.
2) A title! (Yeah, I don't have a title yet.)
3) The final version of the cover.

Publication date? Sometime this fall.

Green Wyvern Kindle Countdown

 Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that The Green Wyvern is a  Kindle Countdown Deal for this week. You can pick up the ebook for just $.99 on Amazon. You can also read it for free if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. 

I've been working on the sequel (there will be two volumes in The Green Wyvern) and another project as well. Not long ago I came up with an awesome concept for a D&D character that I just couldn't get out of my head. Well...that character's backstory led to the concept for a novel and now I'm 10,000 words in after only three days. For now, I'm going to keep working on that project (working title: Puppy). I've got great momentum and the word count is just flying. 

Don't worry, I'll get back to Bull very soon!

Green Wyvern Publication Day

Happy birthday to The Green Wyvern! It's publication day!

Here's the blurb...

Baron Theodus of Sursival arrives at the Green Wyvern Inn to tell his life story. Each night, he returns to regale the townspeople with tales of monsters, treasure, foes, and friends. And when his story is done, he says he will leave his subjects, never to return.

To most people, the baron’s name is Bull. He is a giant of a man. They say the great warrior has never been defeated in battle, but he will tell you those tales are lies. He has come to set the record straight and promises to tell the whole story of his life: victories and losses alike.

Tonight, he will tell the tale of his road to adventure. It starts with a goblin raid that leaves Bull, his sister, and his mother as penniless refugees on a perilous journey. The trials that follow push Bull to the very edge of human endurance.

The Green Wyvern is set in the same world as the five novels of The Orb, however, it takes place five hundred years later. For those who haven't read The Orb, don't worry, you don't need to have read the previous books to thoroughly enjoy The Green Wyvern.

The Green Wyvern was actually born out of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. A group of my friends joined me for a campaign in which I was the Dungeon Master. I set the game in the world of The Orb (which all of them had read). I thought it would be a blast to run a game in a fantasy world that I'd created. 

I was right. It was awesome. 

The campaign was very story-driven, and as it went on I kept a very careful journal of everything that transpired. Not only that, but my players created an awesome cast of characters. Well, when the campaign ended, I just couldn't let the story go. I had to turn it into a novel. 

No, The Green Wyvern is not simply a log of our D&D adventures. In fact, the story is heavily modified from the campaign. The characters are as well. The way I'd put it is that the book is inspired by our D&D campaign. 

Are there more Green Wyvern novels to come? 

Absolutely? There will be two to three more in the series. And they should come pretty quickly. In fact, I should get back to writing right now. 

Green Wyvern Cover Art

 Here it is! The full-color cover art for The Green Wyvern: Volume One. I'm posting it today because The Green Wyvern is now available for pre-order on Amazon. I've set the pre-order price at $.99 so that friends, family, and fans can pick it up at a low price. The ebook price will rise to $3.49 after the release date on April 21st. 

The cover art is by Dallas Williams. He's a wonderful artist to work with. I couldn't be happier with the work he did on this cover--and all my other covers for that matter. 

The Green Wyvern was my favorite novel to write so far. I really enjoyed writing in the first-person point of view. I'm looking forward to diving into the next book in the series. 

Here's a link to The Green Wyvern on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it!

The Green Wyvern: Volume One

Progress Report and Kindle Unlimited

 

Hello everyone!

I made a big decision a while ago. Instead of publishing my "Bull" novellas as individual books, I decided to collect them together and put them out as a single novel in four parts. It will be published as The Green Wyvern. 

You can see a rough draft of the cover for The Green Wyvern above. The artwork is by Dallas Williams, the same artist who did the work on The Orb series. He's been fantastic to work with and has knocked it out of the park again. I love his work. 

I've been making great progress and expect to publish The Green Wyvern in mid-April. I've also decided to do a publishing experiment and will join the Kindle Unlimited program. This means that my books will be available exclusively through Amazon. I'll lose all of my sales on Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Google, but the increased visibility on Amazon should result in more sales overall. That's the experiment, at least. I'll try it for six months and see what happens. 

If you buy my books from non-Amazon sellers, you'll have a week to pick up any books you haven't yet read. They will still be available to your e-readers even if my books aren't sold at those establishments any longer. 

Hope you're all doing well! All my best,

Matt