Donkeyskin: The Similarities, Part II

Magic Redeemed has been out for a while now, but I still need to warn you all this is a huge, massive, spoil-filled post! So if you haven’t read Magic Redeemed, yet, don’t read this! Now, with that warning out of the way, let’s begin!

There were a couple of smaller pieces of Donkeyskin that I threaded into Magic Redeemed–several of you have already called out the sparkly, silver dress, which, yes, I designed after the second dress Gross King orders for his daughter–but the two biggest things I focused in on were Hazel’s signet ring/Princess Donkeyskin’s ring, and the parents, version 2.0.

Let’s start with the ring!

In the original story, the princess brings her dresses, and some of her royal jewelry with her when she’s on the run. Because she’s pretty conniving, when the Prince declares himself heartbroken and says he’ll only eat if it’s a cake made by her, donkeyskin drops her ring in the batter and cooks it into the cake. The pervy prince almost swallows it, but for him it’s the confirmation he needed. Donkeyskin is indeed the beautiful girl he peeped on.

Frankly, to me that sounded dead boring, and a waste of a good twist.

I like magic battles and fights in my books, so I decided to take ring in a different direction, and make it something Hazel needed to find, and instead of plunking it a cake, she goes through a lot of pain–and even breaks into a magical vault/bank–to get it. However, l kept it as the end all ‘proof of being who she says she is’ in order to pay homage to the original fairy tale. If Hazel has the ring, she has proof she’s the Adept–just as Donkeyskin slipping the prince the ring was the signal of who she was.

But instead of making the whole ring thing super obvious where everyone knows about it, I hid the ring in plain sight in Book 1 because–unlike the original story–I wanted it to be a real surprise to Hazel and you Champions when she found the real ring!

If you squint you can also see the similarities in the ring’s role–Prince Pervert says he’ll only marry the girl who can wear the ring, and in the end the House will only accept the Adept who has the ring. Killian doesn’t really play a role in the part of the story, except in that Rupert is right and he kicks Hazel out because he knows she can get her House back.

Next, Magic Redeemed gave Hazel’s parents their opportunity for a redemption arc.

OOOOHHHH, pulled that one over on you, didn’t I?? (Right?? Please say right!)

Actually, I’m aware this is possibly the twist you guys saw coming. I’m not overly fond of fairytales that constantly turn the parents into the bad guys. I’ve done some that way, but whenever possible I like to avoid it–and Donkeyskin is, weirdly enough, the perfect book to have the parents’ restored in, because Gross King in the original story actually gets a redemption moment when, at the end of the story, he attends Donkeyskin’s wedding and apologizes for everything he did.

Since both of Hazel’s parents were dead, Hazel couldn’t get a moment of physical closure, but I still wanted to give her that emotional closure that would assure her that her parents really were the kind, good people she thought they were. I also wanted this to be a defining moment for Hazel, because her parents essentially back up her decisions, which has a big impact on her actions in the future.

The thread of their redemption arc actually begins before Hazel even gets a hint of what they’d done to her. I designed this trilogy knowing that when Hazel’s parents called her in the very first scene of Book 1, they were asking her to meet them at the Curia Cloisters so they could tell her everything, and reveal to her the truth of her stunted magic. But I wanted to use Book 1 & Book 2 to draw out growth in Hazel–she learns a lot about making her own decisions–and to fulfill the icky parents’ end of the bargain, so I needed to hide the truth of their actions from you readers as well.

So, what do you think, Champions? 😉 Did you see any of the other small hints of Donkeyskin  I glossed over in book 2?

A Jaded Vampire

This is a little belated because I got behind while working on some other side projects–like bookkeeping, ewwww–but a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to leave honest reviews on Magic Redeemed!

The book launch has been fantastic, and that’s only possible because of you awesome and amazing Champions. Thank you so much for your support in this new series!

Now I’ll cut to the chase because I’ve been making you guys wait for it, but ta-da! I have the short story to celebrate the launch of Magic Redeemed! This one is called “A Jaded Vampire” and is about our very dear and most favorite red-headed vampire, Rupert. 😉

Note: If you haven’t read Magic Redeemed, this book contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for it, so you’re going to want to pass on reading it!

But for everyone else…Click Here for the PDF!

I hope you enjoy it, and thanks again, Champions, for your loyalty and for being a part of the best community an author could ever ask for. <3

Magiford Universe: Fae

Attention, Class! Today’s supernatural topic is…the Fae!

Faes are the tricksters of magical society. While they are unable to lie, they have become masters at obscuring the truth and twisting words, making them difficult to trust and uneasy allies. They are not immortal, but they are long lived, frequently living to age 100 and beyond, and they are very slow to age.

At the top of the Fae food chain, we have the Paragon. The Paragon is the fae representative for the entire country, and is universally acknowledged to be the strongest fae in his/her boundary. However, the Paragon has strictly a representative role. He serves on the American Committee of Magic, and acts as a go-between for the various fae courts and nobles, but he is not the top fae ruler.

Beneath him, the fae rulers have the most input inside their regions. There is not a single, powerful member for the Regional Committees of magic, but rather a fae monarch who—like the Paragon—is a stand in and votes according to the will of the other fae courts. The monarch representative switches frequently as per the region’s rules.

The Fae monarchs have absolute control over their own domains, but they are often forced to work together with the other rulers if they want anything passed in the Regional Committee of magic. Alliances are frequently made and broken between Courts, thought there are some friendships and enmities that stretch on for centuries.

Most monarchs who rule over Courts, and some nobles have land in the fae realm, which is toxic and can only be lived in through the extensive use of wards and magic. All Courts and nobles, however, have human lands as well.

They have strictly defined territories, although the rulers often try to expand their reach. Most, however, are unable to enlarge their territory in the fae realm due to its toxic nature. The fae realm wasn’t always so deadly, but the lands were poisoned when the elves died.

The Fae used to fall under the control of the Elves, who cared for the lands and stifled any/all theatrics and rebellions the fae would normally pull. The death of the elves created a power vacuum among the Fae that they haven’t ever quite managed to fill. As a result, the various Courts tend to feud a lot, and there are always a bounty of court politics and drama.

The number of courts in a region varies a lot, as does the type of courts. For example, there are several winter courts—each is individually ruled by a single monarch, and all the monarchs are siblings. On the other hand, there is only one Night Court and Day Court in all of America. The Seelie, Unseelie, Spring, and Summer courts are most numerous–there is at least one seelie and unseelie Court in every region, sometimes there are even individual seelie/unseelie courts in large cities like Chicago and LA–and their territories shift the most as they war among themselves.

Court inheritance is dealt with on an individual, Court basis. The Seelie and Unseelie courts are frequently ruled by whomever is deemed strongest, until they willingly give up their positions or are killed by a challenger, where as the American Winter monarch siblings are among the most long-lived of fae and have been in power for over two centuries with no plan for inheritance. Some Courts are inherited, and others–like the Night Court–have monarchs specially chosen from its citizens.

Fae can have different physically appearances. Most commonly fae nobles appear humanoid, but their fashion, skin, hair, and eye colors vary greatly based on their Court. Similarly, Fae nobles do have wings, but the appearance and size vary from fae to fae. Wings aren’t often seen as they are signs of power and Fae often wish to conceal their true natures and powers.

Less powerful fae appear less humanoid—like hobgoblins and brownies—and there are lines of fae creatures that are animals, but are still known to be incredibly intelligent. (ie: Sun Stallions of the Day Court, Night Mares of the Night Court, etc.)

Lower fae always serve monarchs and nobles. Without the protection of a monarch they cannot survive the deadly ins and outs of Court life, unless they renounce their citizenship and live in the human world as a normal human.

Fae creatures are often seen as belonging to a court, but most of them run wild and free, and are usually quite vicious given that they survive in the fae realm, although there are some notable exceptions that live in protected woods.

Fae are more easily able to blend in than any other supernatural besides wizards, but they don’t often give up court life given their need to visit the fae realm, which always refreshes them and the magic they can use. If they do not live in/frequently visit the realm, their lifespan significantly drops, and they are unable to use magic.

Fae have several innate abilities—like the ability to create a glamour, which conceals their real appearance—but in order to use true magic, they must use magical artifacts.

The greatest magical artifacts were forged by elves, though wizards and fae together have managed to make some as well.

Magical artifacts come in two varieties—kinds that are forged for a specific purpose and hold a specific spell, and artifacts of power, which will allow its wielder to form magic on command, although for the most part they are very limited in their ability to harness the magic of elements, unlike Wizards. Artifacts, however, are still useful for creating wards, protective spells, healing magic, a form of basic hypnosis, explosions, and advanced forms of magic like spells that can seek out and destroy higher forms of magic.

As a supernatural race, the power balance of the fae Courts is in great need of balancing, unfortunately, there currently is no leader that is willing to work together with the other Courts…