August 2020 | A.S. Akkalon

Questions to ask when designing a magic system, part 2

If you’re designing a magic system for a fantasy novel, here are some more questions you might want to ask.

My last post gave five questions you might find useful to ask when designing a magic system for a fantasy novel. Here are five more questions that should have been in that post but weren’t because it was getting long.

What is the downside or cost of magic and how long do any negative side-effects last?

If magic is free, life will be too easy for your protagonist. They might love you for it, but your readers won’t.

So magic must come at a cost.

Maybe magic is forbidden, and if a user is discovered she risks being dunked in boiling butter.

Perhaps the cost of magic is lifespan–each spell cast shortens the practitioner’s life by a month.

Or each spell cast means someone close to the spellcaster will randomly die in a horrible accident.

Questions to ask when designing a magic system, part 1

If you want to design a magic system for a fantasy novel, these questions might help you. Or they might not. Either way, they’re free.

The title of this post might indicate this is going to be a writing advice post. It’s not! I promise.

A better title might be “The questions I found that I (tried to) answer in the recently-discovered document that explains the magic system in my current WIP”, but that’s a bit of a mouthful.

I almost definitely stole at least some of these questions from someone else’s writing advice blog post, but I’m afraid I did it so long ago I have no idea where I stole them from.

If they’re yours, I offer recompense in chocolate fish.

I’m not saying you must answer all or even any of these questions if you’re designing a magic system for a fantasy world. But if they’re helpful to you, you’re welcome.

Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries by Kim M. Watt

If you enjoy zany humour you might enjoy Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries by Kim M. Watt, a hilarious urban fantasy about a cat private investigator. If you hate cats, you might not.

I finally got around to reading the first Gobbelino London, PI book by my prolific and talented friend, Kim M. Watt. (Did I mention I interviewed Kim recently?) This book has been on my to-be-read list for some time now, but you know how devious and ever-expanding those lists are.

Anyway, boy am I glad I did.

As we talked about before, I know you won’t believe any of my gushings about a book written by a friend, so instead of gushing I’m going to talk about who might and might not enjoy this book.

Yes, but what’s the book about?

Kim’s website has this to say:

“What’ve we got?”

“Tigers. Snakes. Alligators. Tears in the skin of the universe.” Susan shrugged. “I think I saw a kraken in the sink, too.”

Find a missing book.

That was the job the woman in the Doc Martens gave us. Easy money, right?

Only now it seems she’s actually an ancient, powerful sorcerer, and the book is a Book of Power that doesn’t want to be found. It wants to tear reality apart at the seams, and it’ll use anyone it can to do it.

So now we’ve got one spectacularly displeased sorcerer, a hungry, still-missing book, a dentist with bad hygiene, and a neighbourhood having some reality issues to deal with. Plus about a day before the book turns our world – and us – inside out.

We’ve totally got this. I hope.

This is the first book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centred around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance – and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they’re not looking.

Which, of course, they are.

Gobbelino London, cat PI — You did what to my heated bed?

Who might enjoy this book?

* Anyone who needs a zany, hilarious escape from 2020. I think everyone can agree 2020 has major personality problems, but don’t fret, here’s the escape you need. I laughed out loud so many times reading it. Sure, it’s ridiculous at times (okay, most of the time), but in a way that oddly makes sense. It’s urban fantasy with a capital F.

* Cat people. Yes, the main character is a cat. Smart, opinionated, and a little too knowledgeable about life. He’s probably more intelligent than his human sidekick, but he can still put on a brainless cute kitty act when cornered by a livid dentist. And he understandably hates getting wet. If you don’t fall in love with him, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.

* People bored with your average fantasy book that takes itself way too seriously. Gobbelino London (the cat, that is) does take the world very seriously, and that makes his snarky comments all the more funny. His world of Leeds, however, has seriousness (as well as reality) issues. Or maybe that’s just the Book of Power, bent on making the world a better place… before it destroys it. Enter pastel coloured rats, bewildered penguins, and so much more.

* People who enjoy physical humour in their books. Sure, the cat private investigator of the title does some cerebral sleuthing, but a lot of the laughs (and there are many) come from Gobbelino’s attempts to save the world while being, well, a cat. I would so love to see this book as an animated movie. Rich friends, where are you?

Flamingoes are ridiculous birds no matter where they’re located. But they’re twice as ridiculous in the middle of Leeds.

Who might not enjoy this book?

* People who hate cats. What can I say? Such incomprehensible people should go back to their dog parks and play catch with Rover.

* People who hate long book titles. I admit I didn’t think too much about the title before I read the book. But looking back now it’s kind of perfect–apart from being long. Leeds is facing a wave of transformations that make it a nicer place… but nothing so nice comes without a cost. (And sometimes it tries to eat you.)

* People whose hearts stop every time a cat runs across a road without looking both ways. I mean, I love you, Gobbelino, but please stop giving me heart attacks. I don’t care what you’re running from. Be more careful crossing the road.

* People who are offended by blasphemy. It’s not extreme by any measure, but it’s understandably there. I mean, you try teaching a cat polite language.

Watch out for the old lady next door. She has some new friends.

Have you read any of the Gobbelino London books? (Shortly there will be three!) Do you want to now, or are you a dog person?

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Garh! Garh! Garh! Covid-19 is back in New Zealand

After 102 days of no community transmission, Covid-19 is back in New Zealand. We kicked this once, let’s do it again.

You’re not going to get much sensible out of me today. On the way to work this morning, hubby’s cellphone got an emergency announcement from the government that Covid-19 cases have been discovered in the community in New Zealand and the whole country is going to a higher alert level.

After 102 days with no community spread.

A hundred and two days.

It was never going to stay out, but it was nice while it lasted.

Now is the time for me to be grateful.

The value of fresh eyes on your draft

Recently I’ve had a lot of fresh eyes on my first chapter, and I was amazed at what my readers picked up on. Here’s why fresh eyes are so valuable.

This evening I finished the tenth draft of my WIP. It’s been a long time coming and the story still has a way to go, but it’s definite progress.

I have a story that runs from a beginning, stumbles through a middle, and finally reaches an end.* The number of characters who magically appear or vanish without a trace can now be counted on one hand, and I’m pretty sure no one who dies is suddenly walking around later on.

* Okay, this was also true of draft six (or was it seven?), but the plot works better this time.

The avian part of my world is still populated solely by owls, sparrows, and the occasional hawk, though.

What now? I hear you ask.