About Tales of Ever After's "The Greatest Adventure" (Jill)

When I was approached to do a guest blog on Lands Uncharted, I jumped at the chance. Because I used to blog here with these fantastic authors, it felt a little like coming home. I'm thrilled to share with you a bit about my story in the Fellowship of Fantasy's anthology Tales of Ever After.

 About six years ago, I began writing a series titled The Firebrand Chronicles. (Spark was the first book in the trilogy). My short story, “The Greatest Adventure,” is intimately connected to The Firebrand Chronicles. It’s a prequel that takes place many, many years earlier in the same location. I had no idea what I’d do with it when I began writing what was supposed to be an interesting backstory. But when Fellowship of Fantasy decided to release the fairy tale anthology Tales of Ever After, well, I couldn’t resist. After all, part of good world-building (something I’m still learning) is creating legends, folktales, and fairy tales connected to that world’s history.

 The main character of “The Greatest Adventure” is Aideen Siriol, a level five Firebrand. In this alternity, people receive gifts or abilities as they come into their teen years. Those gifts may range from the ability to control water, to a skill with weapons, to the ability to sense the moods of others. Many of them are visible, unlike our talents here on Earth that aren’t always easily spotted. Aideen’s exceptional talent to manipulate fire enables him to use it for healing or destruction. He becomes known throughout the Jasper Territory’s history as one of the greatest Firebrands. But “The Greatest Adventure” doesn’t start there. It introduces us to Aideen as a young man who’s anxious to see more of the world than his small hometown where he grew up. (I can just hear Belle singing, “There must be more than this provincial life…”) When his instructor sends him on a quest to save an abducted princess, Aideen is thrilled with the chance to travel, as well as assist a damsel in distress. He jumps on his griffin Lysander and flies to the Fallon coast to help. But rescues are tricky businesses. Add in dragons, and the rescue becomes dangerous. After all, none of the other men sent to find the princess came back alive.

The tale of Aideen Siriol is mentioned in the series, but Brenna (the main character and a Firebrand herself) never hears Aideen’s full story, so readers actually learn more about his greatest adventure than Brenna does. Perhaps I’ll have pity on her and have her learn the whole story in the last book.  

Spark came out in May 2017, and the sequel Flare is coming soon! The last book is finished, but I’m currently revising it. In the meantime, I hope readers enjoy “The Greatest Adventure.” It was great fun creating a fairytale connected to the series.

Would you like to know more about the anthology?

Rescue a princess, meet a mermaid, win your reward.
The authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy tackle fairy tales from once upon a time to happily ever after. Explore twists on old tales and brand new magical stories. Meet feisty mermaids, friendly lampposts, and heroes who just might be monsters themselves.
This fourth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy will lead you on a quest for entertainment and storm the castle of your imagination. So make a wish and enter the deep dark woods to find stories that will make you laugh, shiver, and maybe even fall in love.

Amazon Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Ever-After-Fellowship-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07FFMHM8M/
Books2Read Universal Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/bwYKry
Goodreads Listing: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40788623-tales-of-ever-after

Follow this link to find the blog tour schedule.

And finally, would you like the chance to win a prize?

For our US readers, follow this link to win a paperback book (possibly signed by the author!)
and for our International fans, follow this link to win an ebook in your format choice.
The person who leaves the most comments across the blog tour will receive the chance to read special sneak peaks from several of the authors’ upcoming works!

Top 3 Worldbuilding Resources (Lauricia)

You would think that writing fantasy would be easy. You have an idea, one that no one has ever had before, and you run with it. While getting the initial idea may not be hard, sometimes fleshing that idea out with resources can be tricky. I tend to patterns, which can lead to repetition in my world-building, and I’m also finding that the adage about there being nothing new under the sun is pretty true. When I’m feeling stuck or uninspired, I submerse myself in research among the sources on my writer’s bookshelf, and when that research involves building my story world, I consistently return to the following sources:

The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A-Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic, written by John and Caitlin Matthews

This rather large beauty is currently out of print, but if you ever happen to stumble across a copy, grab it! As the name indicates, it is an encyclopedic collection of fantastic creatures and monsters compiled from fairy tales, myths, and classic fantasy stories. Each entry even includes delightful details that can add nuance to your story through which ever creature you decide to incorporate. As of the time of writing, I think there were four copies available on Amazon through third-party sellers.

The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding, edited by Janna Silverstein

Kobold Press is a treasure store of resources for people who enjoy role playing games (RPGs). There are a lot of similarities between building a campaign for an RPG and a fantasy world for a novel, which makes Kobold Press titles an invaluable resource for me. Each book contains a collection of essays written by different authors who happen to be RPG game-masters, and this particular one contains several essays that I come to frequently when I’m considering the cultural details of my stories.

The Kobold Guide to Magic, edited by Ray Vallese

Did I mention that I refer to Kobold Press resources often? This particular book is a must-have when building a magic system for your fantasy world. Just exploring the details about the types of magic systems that are possible can be astounding and enriching, and I often peruse through this book when I want to do some free-associating in order to give my current story world a bit more detail about its magic system.

Since the Kobold Guides can technically be viewed as a two-for-one, I’m also throwing in a bonus resource: Google Earth.  I love this program so much that I’ve downloaded the app to my phone (a highly regulated use of digital space in my case). There is so much about the Earth that is amazing beyond belief that I can never use it all in one book, so I use this resource for inspiration in landscapes and settings.

What about you? If you’re a writer, what are some of your favorite worldbuilding resources? If you’re a reader, what are some of the details you enjoy the most from the worlds of your favorite stories?