Meg MacDonald's Blog

“If Anne McCaffrey wrote Wuthering Heights, it might be something like OATH SWORN.”

Talk about an intriguing tagline. The reviewer went on to say, “Aralt syr Tremayne is a hero in the classic gothic mold: tortured by his past, too proud to admit weakness or ask for help, and teetering on the abyss of emotional instability. In other words, a deeply flawed human being.” Now, as much as I’d like to take credit for such intentional and careful design, I didn’t set out to write a “gothic fantasy.” The book has much humbler origins, and yet something about these comments resonated with me. These were the books and stories that gripped me as a young writer, their images, themes, and elevated language percolating in my brain right alongside Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, Ursula Le Guin, Michael Moorcock, and, yes, Anne McCaffrey. After all, that’s what we do as writers, isn’t it? We take it all in. Everything we read, everything we see, everything we hear. All of life is fodder for the imagination, from the most joyous, courageous heights to moments of true sorrow and terror. It all goes in, mixing in a delightful soup that spills over with ideas. Our roots go deep into that soup, and the results sometimes surprise us.

Gothic literature, such as that authored by masters of the art like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters, frequently deals with compelling themes such as love, death, distress, madness, and the supernatural. Hallmarks of the genre are atmospheres of mystery and fear that transport the reader into sometimes uncomfortable situations and places. Dreams and nightmares foreshadow doom and provide insight into characters’ psyches. Villains are complex, even sympathetic on some level. The reviewer is right. I had been thinking gaslamp—albeit without all the historical and cultural trappings of our world—but it does have a gothic flavor. The more I think about it, the more I embrace it.

Something readers will not find is a “damsel in distress,” as that’s one common gothic trope I have no use for. At least in this book. Alira Alwynn is many things and she does suffer some distress as the story unfolds, but she is a strong, capable woman, a devoted daughter, committed to her faith and willing to risk her life for Lian’s sake. Clever and compassionate, her courage and “grace under pressure” make Aralt love her all the more. And lucky for him that she does because while he is noble, he is every bit the deeply flawed protagonist the reviewer suggests. Unlike his true gothic counterparts, who frequently succumb to their passions, Aralt’s story is infused with hope for the restoration of relationships (and faith)—but not without considerable cost. I’ll spend more time on this when I address the topic of the “flawed hero” in another post.

What do you think? Do these elements resonate with you, or are they literary dinosaurs for which today’s readers have little (or no) patience?

Want to read more about gothic literature? Check out this blog:

The Top 10 Elements of Gothic Literature

One of the things I love about Phil’s blog is that he isn’t afraid to tackle difficult (or even unpopular) topics.  And he never pulls punches.  You never get writer’s block?  LIAR!  But sometimes, he gives writers the permission to cut themselves some slack.  This is one of those times.  I know this spoke volumes to me today.  It isn’t always that the muse can’t be found, but there are days when no matter how much you want to write, outside forces prevent it.  Know what?  It’s okay.  Feeling blocked creatively or feeling blocked by life?  There is a lot to be gained by just walking away sometimes.

WHEN WRITING GETS DIFFICULT

Well, we aren’t snowed in yet this weekend, but this is Michigan. In February. Don’t like the weather? Wait a minute.

Like much of the country, we’ve had our share of snow, ice, freezing rain, ice, snow…you get the picture.  Badger, my youngest (don’t blame me, she gave herself that nickname when she was little), missed a solid week of school and hasn’t had a full week since going back after the holidays.  Even the colleges and universities were closed.  My eldest was beginning to wonder if she would ever actually attend a chemistry class this semester. Ice, snow, slush, rain, snow…come on, Michigan.  Have a Vernors.  Get it together.  Just think, spring is coming and with it, a season of MUD, followed by more freezing rain and snow.  In April.  This is why we own Jeeps.  Two of them. And a Norwegian Elkhound.  The cats aren’t too crazy about the snow.

As for me, I’m revising the second book in the Wolf’s Oath saga. Spring has come to the Northern Alliance, but Aralt and Lian’s troubles are far from over.  Harlyk Graftmeer proves to a less than hospitable host and their only way out of town looks like a reaper wagon.  Things have to get better after that, right?  Think again.  Aralt was warned not to go to Porloch.

If you’ve stopped by my website (pardon the dust, I’m working on it) that probably means that you’ve picked up the book.  If you haven’t, today’s your lucky day.  OATH SWORN will be FREE on Amazon February 15th-17th.  I hope you enjoy reading about Aralt, Lian, Scanlin and all the rest as much as I enjoy writing about them.

Deep Peace, dear hearts.  Remember the sea.

Well, I took the plunge.

I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to offer Oath Sworn for free on Amazon, but I went ahead and signed up for February 8th and 9th to kick off a series of promos that will appear over the next two weeks.  All I can say is…wow!  I didn’t have a chance to look at sales or rankings until late tonight, but I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see that so many people are taking a chance on something new.  I sincerely hope you like the book and will consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads.

After February 9th, Oath Sworn will available at the discounted price of $1.99 until the 21st.  Unless I give this FREE thing another spin…

At long last I’m getting ready to launch not only my debut fantasy novel–the first in a series!–as well as my newsletter, Meg’s Mewsings. I hope to make better use of the news feature here on the website, but you’ll have to excuse me right now because I am going just a little bit crazy trying to figure out what content to put where and how to harness the power of social media, something that anyone who really knows me knows is NOT my “thing.”  Sacrifices must be made to get Oath Sworn and future books off to a good start.  Don’t worry.  They will not involve throwing anyone into volcanoes.  And you can be sure that future content will include a healthy mix of SFF, writing craft, and cats.  Because we all know that is what the internet is for.

Hello, WordPress.  I’ve been neglecting you.  I was sort of thinking I would chronicle my experience with Kindle Scout here, but to be honest, I’ve been sort of busy with Other Things.

There are always Other Things.

I can tell you this: it seems to be impossible NOT to obsess once you launch a Kindle Scout campaign.  I mean, you want to check your stats everyday.  This is especially true when you are campaigning alongside a couple of friends and comparing notes.  Looking at you, Mark and Linn.  If your book is in Hot and Trending, you do back springs and feel a delicious sense of accomplishment and dare to hope that YOUR BOOK might be one of the lucky few.  Then your stats flat line and you are plunged into despair and self doubt and scramble around on Twitter and Facebook, hoping you aren’t making a fool (and a nuisance) out yourself.  And you surf the web looking for advice on promos and find countless opinions on whether or not to invest in your campaign and how much to spend and where to spend it if you’re going to spend it (if you have it to spend at all).

I’ve spent a little.  Not a ton.  Tried to pick and choose.  Be smart.  Met some nice folks along the way.  So… we’ll see what happens.  Tonight, I’m doing a few cautious steps of the Happy Snoopy Dance again because Wolf’s Oath is once again trending after several days of “meh” following a magnificent launch.

It ain’t over until it is over.  Not sure anyone is coming to this page.  I’ll try to write more for those of you that do.  And post pretty pictures or something.  You’d probably like to see cats.  Everyone likes to see pictures of cats.

Ad astra!

Source: Nominate my friends on Kindle Scout!