Laura Gilfillan's Blog - Posts Tagged "upcoming-release"

I'm in the mood to celebrate, because, after 6 months of work, I have finally finished my current draft of Magic Thieves. It's a milestone. A big accomplishment. But my non-writer friends, who at first are excited about my announcement too, quickly become disappointed when they find out that, no, that doesn't mean it's ready to publish yet. Then they get downright impatient when they find out that it might be another year yet, before I'm ready to release it. So it is with some trepidation that I make this announcement. But I can't help it. I'm excited.

I guess it just takes a lot of patience to be a novelist.

But how about the artwork Sean, my son, has come up with as a suggestion for the new cover? I think it is very cool, and I think I might use it. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks, so please drop a comment and let me know. Do you think we should go with this idea, or should we send him back to the drawing board?

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How's the writing going?

My usual answer to this question is: slowly, one page at a time. So I really want to celebrate when I do reach a certain milestone, like getting all the way to the end of a draft. Even though I know that draft still needs a lot of work. Therefore, I'm excited to announce that, after 269 handwritten pages, I have finally finished the third draft of Magic Guardians, the sequel to Magic Thieves. In Magic Guardians, Rita returns to the magical alternate world she discovered in Magic Thieves. But something has put magic out of balance, and she is the one being blamed for all of the problems. She herself isn't sure whether it really was her who might have inadvertently caused a leak of magic into her own world, therefore causing a lack of it in the magic world. But the reality is, whether she really is to blame or not, she's in a whole lot of trouble.

Watch for my next post and a sneak preview for Magic Guardians.


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Sneak preview: Magic Guardians

As promised, here is the sneak preview to my upcoming novel, Magic Guardians.

*Warning: this draft is still in progress, and there may be some changes in the final product. Any comments are welcome.

Magic Guardians, by Laura Gilfillan

Chapter 1

Vernon is a mess. He has been for the past year. It's that elf girl he fell so badly for. He is pining away for her, when he should be concentrating on his college classes. So his grades are floundering, and that's really quite a shock, considering what a super-achiever my brother usually is.

He wants me to take him back. He has to have my help, because he can't do it himself. He doesn't have enough magic to work the portal. He'll be home on spring break tomorrow, and he wants me to take him to Terra for it. I have no idea how he thinks he's going to explain that to Mom and Dad. They are expecting to have him home, so they can spend time with him. Besides, he also seems to have overlooked one other little detail, which is that I'm not on spring break myself, so I would have to miss school. Not that I would mind missing school. But again, Mom and Dad would hardly approve.

Besides, I think it would be a waste of time. He'd go and have his visit, and be happy for that, I suppose. But then he'd be back to missing her again once he came back home. Unless he doesn't intend to come back home...



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There's one question I get asked quite often: what are you writing these days? It's a good question, which I love to answer. And a good assumption. Yes, I am actually writing something. I'm always writing something. That's the best way to actually get a novel written; just keep working at it every day. Currently I'm working on two novels: Magic Thieves, and its sequel, Magic Guardians. Yes, I know. I already published Magic Thieves. Quite some time ago. It was my first novel and admittedly, the writing was rather rough. But a lot of people liked the story. And wanted a sequel to it. Besides, I was too embarrassed about such a rough piece of work being out there for everyone to see. So I have applied my improved writing skills, the result of having written three additional novels now, and gave it a nice, shiny re-write. It's nearly ready to be released.

Isn't it bad enough to be writing one novel? You may ask. How can you do two at a time? Well, one of the things I discovered is that it's actually easier for me that way. I work on one novel for a while, and then take a break from it while I work on the other. Even the best of stories gets old after reading it over and over dozens of times, and thinking so much about it for months, years at a time. Novels take years for me to write, and usually at least four drafts. That means writing the same novel four times. And then re-reading it, fixing errors, touching up scenes… I end up getting quite sick of the story, and then not doing as good of a job. It's really nice to take a break from it, and then when I work on it again, I can do it with a refreshed perspective.

I guess all of that might make it seem as if it's a lot of work to write a novel. Well, all right, it is. But it's rewarding too. And I'm really excited that Magic Thieves is about ready to be released. Please watch for it. I plan to have it out there by spring of 2016.



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Magic Thieves, Second Edition is almost ready to be released. I have ordered the proof, and once I get it, I'll be able to look it over and fix any last minute issues. Hopefully there won't be any major flaws and it can finally be released. Maybe by next month. Hopefully. Notice that there's a lot of hope involved? I'm also hoping you will all enjoy the story. That would make all the work more than worthwhile.

In this rewrite of the original Magic Thieves I have taken the opportunity to apply my improved writing skills to focus the storyline and refine the character development. Magic Thieves is the story of Rita, who has a nice, normal life and lives in a nice, normal neighborhood. All of that changes when a boy who lives just down the street disappears mysteriously. Rita chances on the only clue of what might have happened to him when she finds his pendant caught on a bush. A pendant, made of a raccoon fang, that he never went without. All of her preconceptions about normalcy are shattered once she discovers that the pendant is actually magical. This isn't something she can report to the authorities. And it convinces her that Ricky must be in a lot of trouble. That leaves it up to her to find him, and do what she can to sort things out. The problem is, things are even more complicated than she could possibly anticipate. Because there's also an angry wizard involved, and nothing in her nice life has prepared her for how to cope with that.

Once Magic Thieves is released, it will be available for sale at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo, so you can buy it at the store of your choice. And if you like it, I would be grateful if you would take the time to leave a review.


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Get out the champagne! (Or well, maybe the root beer, since I don’t actually drink champagne. But you know what I mean—something bubbly!) I have finished yet another draft of Magic Guardians! Best of all, I’m thinking this draft is finally nearly there. I’ll let it rest, then give it another read through, but I’m thinking all I’ll have left to do is check it for grammar and wording, and all those endless little typos. Then I still have to get it into book form before I can finally publish it. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s worth celebrating. I’m one step closer!

So what is Magic Guardians you might ask. What is Laura babbling on about now? Well, Magic Guardians is my YA fantasy sequel to Magic Thieves. (If you haven’t read Magic Thieves yet, go ahead and get with it, so you’ll be ready for Magic Guardians!) In Magic Guardians Rita goes back to the land of magic that she has discovered to help fix the magic which has become blighted. Or to try to fix it anyway. After all, how much can one human girl do?

Here’s to the hope that I will have Magic Guardians released soon. Just as a reminder, all of my books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and Kobo, in both paperback and ebook formats. Happy reading!

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Well, that took longer than I expected. But isn’t that the way it is most of the time? I was hoping to have Magic Guardians released before this, but I had to re-work a couple of chapters. Now it is ready at last for the final stages of publication. It will be available soon—I promise.

In Magic Guardians, the sequel to Magic Thieves, Rita is back home from her adventures in Terra, a land where everything depends on magic for survival, even the plants and insects. But then friends from Terra visit and tell her that the level of magic there has decreased so much that patches of death are developing all over the world. And people are succumbing to a mysterious magic sickness. Rita feels she must return to Terra, so she can use her special gift of magic sight to help repair the magic system. But first she will need the cooperation of the wizards. And she isn’t likely to get that, since they think she is the cause of the disaster.

Once Magic Guardians is finally ready, you will be able to buy it at Amazon, B&N.com, or Kobo in either paperback or ebook form. I will let you know soon!


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Magic Guardians, sequel to Magic Thieves is now available in paperback and ebook.

Rita is back home from her adventures in Terra, a land where everything depends on magic for survival, even the plants and insects. But then friends from Terra visit and tell her that the level of magic there has decreased so much that patches of death are developing all over the world. And people are succumbing to a mysterious magic sickness. Rita feels she must return to Terra so she can use her special gift of magic sight to help repair the magic system. But first she will need the cooperation of the wizards. And she isn’t likely to get that, since they think she is the cause of the disaster.

So head on over to Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com or Kobo and buy your copy of Magic Guardians. I hope you enjoy reading it and if you do, please leave a review.


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