Journey with me through a magical world (Chapter 8 | Book 3)

The ninth excerpt (including Prologue) from "Do You Believe in Miracles?"

Jul 19, 2024

Each Friday, I will send you the opening paragraphs from a chapter of Do You Believe in Miracles? (book 3). I will also break down the excerpt with comments about context, themes, and conflict. Finally, I will include writing tips. Previously, I did the same for Do You Believe in Magic? (book 1) and Do You Believe in Monsters? (book 2).

Though my series is appropriate for ages 13 and older, I’m finding that readers younger than 13 — and many who are a lot older than 13 — are enjoying it.

Here is a brief synopsis of the series: When Charlie Magus enters a fantastical world hidden deep in the forest, his life is turned upside down. The timid 13-year-old transforms into a powerful wizard wielding formidable powers.

Below are the opening paragraphs of Chapter 8 of book 3. My author’s breakdown follows this short segment.

Context: The great quest has begun at the border of a mysterious forest. Later in this chapter, James, an immortal, tells the tale of his long life, which is the start of a sequence of intense revelations from other characters as they unveil their own stories.

CHAPTER 8 — JAMES’ STORY
William had been to many places fair and foul.
He had witnessed beauty that could swell a person’s heart. And ugliness that could shrink a heart like salt on a slug. He had been to faraway planets as magnificent as Earth or Pacchann. And to some places where you could not survive more than a few seconds without synthetic shelter.
He had encountered countless beings, some human-like, others strange and exotic. Some had the power of demigods; others were weaker than rodents.
He had made friends and enemies. Allies and foes. He had matched his strength against both. Most often, he was the stronger. But not always, and less so now than he used to be.
As he had described to the members of the company the previous day, Pacchann was a polestar of magic. It was imbued in the planet’s bones. It was also why time passed here so quickly when compared to other worlds like Earth. The abundance of magic sped things up. Pacchann was small but spectacular.
When William approached the southern border of Evi-Vana, he could sense that the huge forest was a magical cornucopia. Unlike Pa Cha Ray it was not evil, but it wasn't good either. At least not what most members of the quest would consider good. Evi-Vana was simply what it was, and people not familiar with it entered at their own risk. William suspected Amanussa had more than one reason to start the quest here. If the company survived the journey through Evi-Vana, every one of them would emerge magically stronger than when they entered. And they would need every bit of this added strength in the days to come. Amanussa would also be enhanced. She might even regain much of her former might. He would have warned the company about this, except for one thing: The ancient vampire knew that William, James, and Poppy would be aware of her scheme. And yet she went forward with it, anyway. This made William believe her reasons might not be entirely devious, so he had not brought it up. He assumed James and the Yellow One had also remained quiet on purpose.
“Dad? Are you okay?”
The voice was so familiar, but his thoughts had drifted far away and at first he had difficulty placing it.
“Dad! Everyone’s already heading to the forest. We’re being left behind.”
Ah, yes. Now he remembered. It was Charlie. His son.
“I was daydreaming. I do that from time to time.”
Garrick yelled at them. “What are you doing? We need to get under the cover of the trees. Hurry!”
The cover of the trees. What an odd thing to say. Evi-Vana was not a place to hide. It was a place to live and learn. Or die trying.
End of excerpt.

Themes: The quest; psychological growth; immortality.

Between the lines: Most of us have experienced the pain of losing a beloved pet. This usually happens simply because we live longer than they do. Over the course of a lifetime, we might suffer the passing of more than a dozen pets, causing us to experience the pain over and over. I wonder if an immortal being would look at us the same way.

Writing tips: To some readers (and writers/editors), backstory is a dirty word. So much of today’s popular writing tends to start at Point A and end at Point Z with little variance. It goes like this A-B-C-D … W-X-Y-Z . Stories that contain a lot of backstory go more like this: F-G-H-C-I-J-A-B-K … Well, you get the picture.

I understand the reasons why backstory isn’t for everyone. Just when the narrative has built up some nice momentum, the author takes you back in time. And just when that part of the story becomes interesting, the author jumps forward. It can be frustrating.

But backstory is not all bad. It can add context, depth, and richness. In Book 3 of Dark Circles, my main characters go on a dangerous quest through forests and over mountains in an attempt to hunt down their evil nemesis. During the quest, the characters take turns telling stories about life-changing events in their lives. Using this technique, I reduced the jarring effect of jumping back-and-forth and replaced it with the illusion that the dominant narrative was still in place.

I’m far from the first writer to ever do this, of course, but to me it’s one way of having your cake and eating it too.

Past episodes of Book 3 (Do You Believe in Miracles?)

Past episodes of Book 2 (Do You Believe in Monsters?)

Past episodes of Book 1 (Do You Believe in Magic?)

Promotional notes

My teen fantasy adventure series Dark Circles is the winner of Best Book Series in the 2024 LitStar Book Awards (see very cool video above). Meanwhile, Do You Believe in Magic? is one of six finalists in Fantasy in the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards; the top winners in each category of this contest will be announced in a few weeks. Both contests received hundreds of entries.

Dark Circles is appropriate for ages 13 and older, but readers as young as 10 and as old as 80 have told me they loved it — sort of like the Harry Potter series or C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. All three books of my series are now available in four formats: ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook. This heartfelt coming of age series has won eight international awards in addition to the two mentioned above.

Do You Believe in Magic? has been included in Amazon’s Prime Reading program from June 1, 2024 through Aug. 31, 2024. If you are a Prime member, you can read the book for free.

DARK CIRCLES
Book 1: Do You Believe in Magic? (debuted May 25, 2023)
Book 2: Do You Believe in Monsters? (debuted Oct. 30, 2023)
Book 3: Do You Believe in Miracles? (debuted April 21, 2024)

All told, more than 23,000 copies of books 1-3 have been downloaded, with an additional 84,500 pages read on Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP).

Jim Melvin's Realms of Fantasy

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