Top 3 Portal Fantasies (Laurie)

Happy Saturday, everyone! As I mentioned in a recent post, my short story "Threshold" was published in an anthology titled Mythical Doorways at the end of March. It was my first attempt at writing a portal fantasy, and I had so much fun with it! Since I've had portal fantasies on my mind, I thought today I'd share my top 3! Now I know there are some amazing, world-famous portal fantasies out there, such as C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, but I thought for this post I'd focus on books that aren't quite as well known :)


3. Spark by J.M. Hackman

You read that right, this book is by our very own Jill, and I LOVED it!! Brenna travels through a portal in a search for her missing mother and winds up in an alternate reality called Linneah. Brenna's voice was so genuine and humorous as she experienced joys and challenges on her adventures, which made exploring Linneah such a blast! And the descriptions of the scenery and creatures of Linneah were spot on - enough to give a stunning visual but not so much that it slowed the narrative down. Linneah was the perfect mix of familiarity and novelty, and I can't wait to visit again in future books! (The next of which, Flare, happens to be releasing later this year!)





2. Unblemished by Sara Ella

This book blew me away! Eliyana discovers that the world we know is only one of seven Reflections, and travels to another Reflection to try to save her mom (apparently a lot of moms need saving in portal fantasies!). I loved the way that each Reflection was distinct, yet had parallels to familiar landmarks. And the methods of travel between Reflections were so crazy! Combine all this cool world-building with gorgeous writing, an edge-of-your-seat love triangle, and a few major plot twists, and it's no wonder I was hooked!






1. Illusionary by Desiree Williams

*Happy sigh* This book, you guys - I read it over a year ago, and it still makes me giddy! When Kamryn falls down the stairs and wakes up in the Land of Ur, she needs to find a way back home. And help save Ur from destruction. Ur had so many fun parallels to other famous fantasy worlds, such as Neverland and Oz, but all with a unique twist. And the storyteller! Reese's abilities were so cool, and I loved how his well-being was so connected to Ur as a whole. The message and heart behind this story were just beautiful, which, combined with the adorable romance, totally made me grin :) One of my all-time favorite books!!




I look forward to reading (and maybe even writing!) many more portal fantasies in the future! Have you read any of these books? What are some of your favorite portal fantasies?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie

Top 3 Types of Romantic Relationships (Laurie)

Did you even need my name in the title to know who was writing this post? :) I of course write fantasy and this blog is about fantasy, but I just can't seem to help it - I get so excited about romance! In fact, in the past few months I did a guest post called Romance in Fantasy on Emilie Hendryx's blog and a Girls Who Write video focused on romance, in case you don't believe me :) So please bear with me today as I indulge my inner romantic and talk a little bit about my favorite types of romances.

In this case I'm not talking genre, I'm talking more about how the characters know each other, interact, and fall in love. I found this great list of 25 Types of Romantic Relationships on the AbsoluteWrite forums in case you're interested in exploring the subject further.

So, using that list as a starting point, here are my top 3 types of romantic relationships:


3. Lovers in Denial

These are relationships where the characters already have an established relationship and typically get along well, often in a partnership or work type of setting, but for some reason have trouble admitting to themselves and each other that their feelings go deeper than friendship. What I love about these couples is I end up rooting so hard for them! Their relationships tend to progress as a slow burn, with lots of fun flirtation and close calls where the relationship almost takes a romantic turn, but something always gets in the way. I can definitely get frustrated and impatient with these couples as they take their sweet time revealing their feelings to each other, but in the end it makes that happy sigh all the happier when they finally get their acts together :)

My very favorite "Lovers in Denial" couple is Darby and Mark from Liberty Speidel's Darby Shaw Chronicles. So frustrating and sweet and everything in between! Brenna and Baldwin from our own J.M. Hackman's Spark and El and Ky from Sara Ella's Unblemished both have a bit of this dynamic as well, and I love it!

2. Love - Hate Relationships

I'm not sure I'd want to experience this one in real life, but they're so fun to read about! Two strong-willed characters get off on the wrong foot, and then circumstances force them to spend more time together until they start to see each other's good qualities. I love these stories because they have so much great tension and witty banter. They also tend to be potent illustrations of how wrong first impressions can be, and the characters learn so much about themselves in the process of overcoming their pride enough to admit they were wrong. Plus, when that initial dislike finally transforms into love, it can produce some pretty swoon-worthy romance!

My first full-length manuscript featured a love-hate kind of relationship, and I'm very much looking forward to revisiting those characters when I re-write it someday! Other love-hate favorites are Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Han Solo and Princess Leia from the original Star Wars movies, Audrey and Logan from Julie Hall's Life After series, and Ember and Rain from Sara Baysinger's Black Tiger series.

1. Best Friends / Friends First / Childhood Friends

I'm probably biased since this is how my real-life romance worked out, but I just love stories where the characters start out as friends first. There's a beautiful innocence, trust, and respect that these relationships are built on that I find really appealing. It's easy to believe these relationships will last, because the characters already know they enjoy spending time with each other in a non-romantic way. And it's so fun to see them develop! I love it when they reach that turning point moment for one or both characters when they start viewing the friend in a different way. Then comes that sweet, awkward transition where they attempt to make the confession or take that next step in their relationship, fearing it might ruin the great rapport they already have going. All of which makes the conclusion that much more satisfying :)

Jane Austen also wrote one of my all-time favorite friends-first couples - Emma and Mr. Knightley from Emma, but the couple in my upcoming novel, Common, also starts out with a childhood friendship (same with the couple in the short story I'm working on right now - I'm sensing a pattern...), and I love Emily and Teddy from L.M. Montgomery's Emily series and Clara and O'Neill from The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble.

 

How about you? What are your favorite types of romantic relationships in books, TV shows, or movies? Do they mirror what you would want in real life, or are they opposite?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie