Fantasy Romance Novelist

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"Ram Dass has his own story!" Lord of Shadows is the tale of Devlin Ramsay Dassam Charmichael, Marquess of Headleymoor, a glittering aristocrat born of two cultures and at home in neither.

Using the cover of an Indian doctor and servant, Devlin must protect his half-brother, the King of Zaranbad, from a plot to kill him, and defeat a terrorist group working to destroy Zaranbad and its ally, the British Empire. On his days off, Dev works to save Lady Caroline Berring, a sweet and seemingly shy young lady, from Society's scorn by pretending to court her.

But Caroline is no modest miss. Due to her questionable background, Caroline has learned a few interesting survival skills from her eccentric grandfather. She shoots and rides far better than most men. Her reflexes are sharp enough to outwit a knife-wielding terrorist, and help Devlin defeat an evil villain.

What else can Devlin do with this contradictory woman but fall madly in love with her?

Look for two new characters in this next "Lords" tale - Queen Janighar, the lovely and courageous wife of Devlin's brother, King Ari.

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RECIPE FOR A GREAT FANTASY

I was thinking the other day about writing a fantasy, and it occurred to me that: The Recipe for a Ripping Good Fantasy Novel

Takes: 1 full dollop of World Building

Add: 1 Reluctant Hero, male or female, or both

    It's better if he's simmered in angst or overwhelming problems-lowly, despised, even the youngest son (or daughter). Think of other ways life can be lousy.

    Or stuck in his ordinary world (this of course can be a magical world)

    Or one normal but very, very bored hero.

Break into mixture: The Call to Adventure (and the Caller to Adventure)

    An elderly mentor up until now thought merely eccentric : example-Obi Wan in Star Wars

    A circumstance beyond the hero's control: Hari, our heroine, kidnapped in The Blue Sword, an excellent fantasy by Robin McKinley

    A wish on a magic amulet: Goddess of Spring A meeting arranged by Fate or a magical Superior Being: The Moon Runners

Blend well: Deep Characterization for Sympathetic Characters who are Real. This can mean characters who are torn between two impulses.

    Richard Mayhew in Neverwhere, by Neil Gaimon. The tug between his desire to please his beautiful and demanding fiancee and his sympathy and humanity upon seeing a wounded girl on the street.

Growth: Richard first experiences fear at being thrust into an impossibly dangerous world beneath the streets of London. By the end, he's become the sort of man who can't live in the safe, but boring world above.

Lack of confidence: Lina in Goddess of Spring-fifty-four years old, divorced, gave up looking for love several years before, etc.

Add: a HUGE grating of OVERWHELMING ODDS and TERRIBLE NEED.

    The end of the country

    The end of two countries

    The end of civilization

    The end of the WHOLE WORLD!!!!

Whip together: three TRIALS the hero must face (in fantasy, trials often come in threes).

    Each trial must be scarier and harder than the one before.

    The last must be totally life threatening. Even worse, it could be threatening what the hero loves most. Think final, climactic battle.

Fold in: A GOOD SENSE OF DOOM heats up the mix very slowly, until it's red-hot

    Think of Lord of the Rings ; Guy Gavriel Kay's The Fionnivar Tapestry the attack on the Northern Fortress.

    The Blue Sword The final battle between (again) the overwhelming hordes of the North vs. the small southern Damarian troupe that came with our heroine to the Madamar Gate.

Finally heat up: The juiciest FINAL CONFRONTATION WITH THE BAD GUYS--must be almost IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN

    A supernatural being who has enslaved a family or a small group of people: The Tam Lin Ballad is one of those that stick in the mind.

    A cruel and cunnning oppressor who has almost broken a civilization, now finally ready to rebel.

    A vile and horrifying outside to bang home the evil inside often non-human or even machine-like creatures to fight.

    Conversely, a beautiful outside that, in a terrible twist, has hidden the evil inside through the whole book. (Neverwhere)

Always remember to sprinkle with: Plot Twists they're great in fantasy.