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Stephanie Beavers

~ Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Then always be a dragon.

Tag Archives: magic

Noblebright Fantasy

23 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Writing

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adventure, amwriting, author, books, Calling On Fire, fandom, fandoms, fantasy, fantasy adventure, Fire Within, fun, grimdark, Harry Potter, heroic fantasy, lol, Lord of the Rings, lovebooks, magic, magical, meme, noblebright, noblebright fantasy, read, reader, reading, Stephanie Beavers, writer, writing

One of the first thing people ask me when I tell them I’m a writer is, “What do you write?”

I, of course, tell them that I write fantasy, but unfortunately, that doesn’t really narrow it down much. You see, there are many different kinds of fantasy. So after I say, “fantasy,” I get responses like these:

“Oh, like Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones?”

Well, kind of, because there are races of magical creatures and it’s a medieval setting and whatnot, but I don’t write epic fantasy, with the massive cast of characters (many of whom die) and all that. Also, in my fantasy, I like to have more magic than those.
lord of the rings you shall not pass meme
Or, “Oh, like Harry Potter?”

Well, kind of, because I like to think I have a similar spirit of adventure and create a fun sense of awe for magic, but mine aren’t really intended to be children’s books, and the setting is not in modern times.
Harry Potter what house are you from
Or, “Oh, like [insert some author I’ve never heard of]”

Er…maybe?

And the thing is, I couldn’t think of a term to describe my kind of fantasy. “Heroic fantasy” is close, as is “fantasy-adventure,” but neither quite nailed it.
Then I heard about noblebright fantasy. It’s something of a new concept, and not a widely-known term (yet?), but I like it. A lot.

Noblebright fantasy centers around good characters who try to do good things for good reasons. Not everything is peachy and happy, but in the end, they’re able to make some kind of difference. There’s hope. There’s magic. It doesn’t have to be a children’s book; in fact, sometimes even a noblebright novel can be quite dark.

I feel like we need this label. If I know a story is noblebright, I know I don’t have to worry about reading yet another story where a good character can’t get ahead and just makes things worse until everything is awful and the characters are all so corrupt you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys.
noblebright sunlight hope
I like it better when fiction inspires us and brings hope. Life needs a little more noblebright.

If you’re curious to know more about noblebright, I set up a page about it here.

So what do you think, readers? Do you like the concept of noblebright? I know some people love the “gritty” and “grimdark” stories that are so popular today. Are you one of them? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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New Release: Calling On Fire!

17 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in News, Writing

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author, Calling On Fire, fantasy, independent author, magic, self publishing, selfpub, Stephanie Beavers, writer

I have some insanely exciting news! (As in I nearly went insane making it happen and now I’m so excited I’m like a chipmunk on a sugar rush. XD)

Calling On Fire is now available!

FireTwo brothers with magical abilities seek to stop an evil mage but find the fate of an entire race in their hands.

For now, the novel is only available in ebook form, but I’m working hard to get it printed as well!

You can buy the ebook here:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Smashwords |
Multiple formats are available through Smashwords. Other retailers will become available as Smashwords distributes them.

Novel description:

For centuries, the evil mage Moloch carved out a swathe of destruction, creative in his use of torture, oppression, and outright slaughter. Families, towns, and even whole kingdoms fell before him. But in one village, one boy survived.

Esset’s adopted brother Toman is that boy. Scarred by the tragedy, the two boys swore to stomp out evil when they grew up.

Now adults, they travel the world, seeking out evil wherever it may lurk. Esset can summon fiery creatures from beyond their world, and Toman can make inanimate objects come to life. Together, they look forward to the day that they’re strong enough to take on Moloch himself.

With every battle they grow stronger, but Moloch’s reach is greater than they imagined, and his minions lurk in the most unexpected places. If Toman and Esset can only barely survive the battles against Moloch’s creatures, how can they hope to stand against the mage himself?

Will they be strong enough to defeat him, or will Esset have to choose between his promise to end evil… and his own life?

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My Inspiration: Mercedes Lackey

02 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Recommendations, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

books, entertainment, fandom, fantasy, inspiration, magic, Mercedes Lackey, reading, Valdemar, writing

All writers are readers; it just goes with the territory. And I have been reading for as long as I can remember. When I first started learning to read, I devoured everything in site. It didn’t take long before my reading level was far beyond what my age suggested it should be. In fact, I remember reading books with sex scenes (not like erotica, but still) before I really understood what was going on. I just went flip, flip, flip- oh good, we’re back to the story. My voracious reading continued until university, when unfortunately my reading lists took over and I didn’t read much for pleasure anymore. Even so, I expanded my mind in new ways, with different kinds of reading and learning.

But for me, the most memorable author is Mercedes Lackey with her Valdemar series. I started with Arrows of the Queen and I was completely enchanted by her characters and her world. Who wouldn’t want an amazing animal companion of human intellect who loves you to the depth of your being. I have to admit, those Companions were a big draw for me, but so was her character-focused writing in those early books. Alberich is still my favorite character of… yes, I think ANY book, ever. His book, Exile’s Honor, came a little later in the series, but it has become my favorite by far. And it wasn’t just the characters – Mercedes Lackey has built an incredibly vivid, magical world for her characters to live in. Everything from the geography and the mix of cultures and races, to the carefully crafted system of magic, to the unique creatures that roam her world, all work to draw the reader in.

I have to admit though, I am a far greater fan of her earlier works that her more recent ones. But such is life – things change, and her writing has changed. She has expanded in new directions while I remain curled up, snuggling her old books, much beloved. Of all the authors that I’ve read, she has probably had the greatest impact on my own writing. She has an immersive, straight-forward style that discards fluff in favor of moving things along. Her imagery is vivid without taking 6 pages to describe something (I’m looking at you, Tolkien). She has her flaws, sure, but I recommend her books to anyone who loves fantasy. Start with Arrows of the Queen, like I did – it was her first book and one of her best, in my mind. Maybe you’ll fall in love with her characters and her world like I did.

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Calling - Ebook Calling On Fire by Stephanie Beavers!
Two brothers with magical abilities seek to stop an evil mage only to find the fate of an entire race in their hands.
Buy now!

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