It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author Sunayna Prasad, who shares...
The Best Part About Writing Fantasy
by
Sunayna Prasad
The most enjoyable aspect of writing fantasy is the
worldbuilding. I have had a lot of fun creating the enchanted world in my
books. People have compared my novels to “Harry Potter” constantly, although a
good number of elements differ from J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. A big
example is that wizards use magical technology that is far more advanced than
the ordinary kinds.
I could go on with the magical world in my books. But, of
course, that would be too much. I will give a little history of how my
attraction to writing fantasy began.
As a child, I loved to imagine things constantly. After all,
many little kids like to play make-believe as a way to express their
imaginations.
I was no different. But I did imagine my own little
fictional worlds numerous times. Of course, as a kid, I knew nothing about
creating a compelling fantastical world.
But once I finished high school, I learned to study the
writing craft, which took 7 years. I’m sure it will mature as I grow older.
However, my current writing abilities can attract great overall ratings and
reviews rather than just good or decent, which is how it when I was between 19
and 24.
Once I learned the writing craft, I discovered more tips and
guidelines for creating fantasy stories. One of the tips I’ve learned was to
avoid cliches. That is how I produced my own magical creatures in my book
series.
A guideline I’ve learned is that magic must have limits in
fantasy stories. Although the magic in my series has a lot of limits, a
person who edited the first book when I updated it assumed that there were no
limits to the wizardry since I merely talked about what was possible first. And
this is when my MC is just starting to learn about the wizarding world.
Since that bugged me, I wrote to that editor long after, and
stated the many limits of magic in the novel. The editor responded by saying
that I didn’t have to mention all the limits up front, but that he or she (this
site I used doesn’t give out the names or genders of the editors) appreciated
me sharing them.
I am currently working on the 4th installment of
the “Magical Missions” series. I started in March of last year. However, it
took a while to discover an exciting plot.
Once I started online grad school, I pushed the writing and
outlining to the side. Even though I am taking a summer class, I still set
aside time to write every day. But I’m doing it in a notebook to avoid
distractions.
****************
by
Sunayna Prasad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Middle Grade Fantasy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Cursed
by a sorcerer’s hex, Alyssa McCarthy finds herself in a fight she can’t afford
to lose, or everything she knows will be lost!
After she finishes her
final year of junior high, fourteen-year-old Alyssa faces an uncertain future
in more ways than one when a sorcerer casts a hex that leaves her with
involuntary magical powers that are too dangerous to remove.
Unable to control her
newly gained abilities Alyssa’s end-of-middle-school sleepover ends in disaster
when she knocks her friends unconscious when her powers go out of control. If
Alyssa can’t learn to master her magic soon, she will be cursed to forget her
loved ones and serve as the warlock’s slave for all of eternity.
Her only hope is to
focus on controlling her emotions if she is to break the curse. However, the
difficulties of adolescence, along with the perils and growing disasters she
faces, make Alyssa struggle even more. From putting her friends’ lives at risk
to losing their trust, she continues to fear what will become of her if she
fails.
Will Alyssa be able to
break the hex and become the enchantress that she was meant to be, or will she
become enslaved to the sorcerer forever?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Alyssa played the video she’d made for the upcoming teen
film festival. If she submitted it, she would earn five extra points to add to
her 70 in math. That would allow her to drop the mandatory extra-help class for
students with final scores less than a 75.
She watched the clip, experiencing watery eyes when she
heard herself discussing losing her parents in a car crash when she was seven
and other tragic events in her life. It concluded with how those times had
shaped her into the person she was today, Friday, June 10th, 2011. She exported
the project and would upload it to the festival’s site later. The deadline was
not until Monday, 7 P.M. So, after this, she could focus on the
end-of-middle-school sleepover that would happen today.
But the screen froze, and a small popup stated, “Cannot
export file.”
“Huh?”
How could a two-month-old device encounter issues already?
Alyssa had had to wait until her last birthday, in April, and needed to
maintain good grades at school to get her own computer. She recalled what her
godfather, Alex, had told her in February after her math substitute had
informed him about her scores dropping. “Alyssa, if you don’t get your grades up
in math, you might not earn that laptop.” He loved and cared for her like a
daughter yet shared no blood relation to her family members. She’d lived with
him since turning thirteen last year.
Her breathing caught at the popup—a new model should not
have a virus already. But she told herself,
I’m fourteen and am going to start high school this fall. I can fix this.
The computer turned itself off, closed itself, and crushed
Alyssa’s fingers.
“Ow!” she cried.
The device slid off her lap and under her bed. She looked
underneath it—without warning, dust blew onto her, covering her petite body.
She coughed as the soot settled. Then she brushed the dirt
off her black shirt and its straps on her narrow shoulders, followed by her
short shorts and skin. She shook bits out of her straight, pale-blonde hair,
which fell a few inches below her hips.
She’d dealt with enough sorcery already, once last year in
March and again this past fall. However, neither she nor anybody in her life
possessed magic in their blood. From age eight until two springs ago, she’d
believed that magic hadn’t existed.
She had interacted with a few magicians when dealing with
supernatural situations that no one as young as she should have to experience.
She planned to find that idiot who just ruined her summer by
stealing her laptop. A folded piece of paper appeared on her bed and seemed to
include the word, laptop, so she read it.
Alyssa,
Your
laptop is going to become a new brain-domination computer. The International
Magic Control has disabled all the existing ones and has banned any magic from
transforming enchanted technology into mind-managing devices. But your laptop
is needed exclusively for my particular process.
Also,
don’t remove your new magic powers. If you try, you might die.
Anonymous
The note vanished into thin air. Alyssa touched her forehead
and breathed since wizardry shouldn’t work on standard technology.
Possibilities advanced over time, but they still had numerous everlasting
limits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Sunayna Prasad
enjoys writing fantasy books for children, as well as cooking, creating
artwork, watching online videos, and blogging. She has also written The Frights
of Fiji and A Curse of Mayhem. She is passionate about modern-day life in
fantasy stories, worldbuilding, and even humor. She is constantly brainstorming
new ideas and using her creativity.
Sunayna
graduated from college in 2017 and lives in New York.
*******************
GIVEAWAY
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday! Thank you for sharing your guest post and book details, The New Enchantress sounds like a wonderful story to share with my granddaughters. Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the post the book sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and excerpt, The New Enchantress sounds like a fantastic read for the kids! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a marvelous TGIF!
ReplyDelete