Sunday, February 2, 2014

Guest Post: Swordplay, A New Fantasy Novel by Katharina Gerlach



I became a fan of fellow Magic Appreciation Tour novelist Katharina Gerlach after reading her fun 2011 historical fantasy novel, Urchin King. She's just released a new fantasy read called Swordplay and I'm happy to have her tell us a little bit about it. Take it away Katharina! 

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Developing Swordplay

Swordplay sneaked into my life. It started out as a short idea of a magician examining a sword and entered the world as a short story of less than 10,000 words. Surprisingly, it was accepted by a small magazine, and the readers loved it. Some suggested that there was more to the story and that I should write something longer about the Commissiare Magique (back then, his name was different from what's in the novel now). Nothing came to mind, so I let the ideas simmer. I often do that when my Muse (my creative side) refuses to hand me answers immediately.

Then, one night, I woke up with Moira in my mind. I felt her desperation when her father left the family, and her determination to join the Gendarmerie Magique despite her shortcomings in magic-control. I knew I had my story. Still, it took me another three months of figuring out how all the ideas my Muse threw at me were connected to each other. When that was done, I settled down to write. I had planned the novel to come in at 70K words but it ended up near 90K instead.

That was when I realized something was wrong… not with the current novel, mind, but with the whole background my Muse had handed me. There was simply too much for a single novel.
"But I hate series. I hardly ever read them," I said.

Smug grin from my Muse. She pointed to Wattpad, where I had shared some of the story with my fans. There, black on white, several of the readers requested a sequel or two.

"I cannot write a series. I wouldn't know where to start." I was practically begging, but it was no use. My Muse simply pointed at the "How to Write a Series" course by Holly Lisle (my mentor). I gave up. So, here you have it, the first volume of the first ever series I will write. Volume two and three are currently in the planning stage and I should start writing late spring or early summer. They'll be somewhat shorter than the first volume, so I can publish at least one more before the year is out (yes, writing novels does take that long – plus, I have to translate them into German too).

About the Book
CSI with magic but without the gore
Despite her obvious lack of magical talent, nineteen year old Moira Bellamie apprentices with the Gendarmerie Magique, the magic police. She puts all her effort into solving a burglary at the National Museum where antique weapons have been stolen, to keep the hard won job. Falling for her partner Druidus wasn't part of the plan. When more and more people are murdered with one of the stolen weapons, Moira must tame uncontrollable magic, or the people she cares for will die, her partner first and foremost.

For lovers of Fantasy and Mystery from 14 years up

eBook on Amazon:       German, English
and Smashwords:          German, English
other retailers will follow

Paperback in German or English on Createspace (Beware: postage), Amazon (no postage) will follow soon and can be found through the eBook pages

About Katharina
I’ve been telling and writing stories all my life, but only two year ago, with the success of eBook publishing, I became an Indie author. I never looked back. Sure, my manuscripts have found praise with traditional publishers, but no one had the courage to publish something they couldn’t neatly stuff into a labeled box.

Well, just like my books, I don’t fit one box. I’m the daughter of a forester and a studied forester myself. I’m sister to three brothers, and a mother to three daughters. I’m a tomboy at heart and simultaneously tidy and chaotic – I can’t be any different with my Muse (the creative part of me) dragging me in one direction and my Editor (the neat, logical side) pulling in another.

There are three things in this world I love more than anything: my family, stories (mine and those of others) and nature. The best thing that can happen to me is when someone I don’t know leaves a review for one of my books telling me how much (s)he liked it. 

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Thanks Katharina!

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