+Author Guest Post+ “On writing the “In the Land of Magnanthia” series by B.R. Maul

Posted Thursday, 27 March, 2014 by jorielov , , , 11 Comments

Guest Post by Parajunkee

Proposed Topic for B.R. Maul: As my first impression of “Passages, Portals, & Pathways” B.R. Maulreflected this statement of excited anticipation: “Even before the reference to “The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe” (of which, I prefer the film over the book! ironically or not!) and “The Lord of the Rings” (on my Classics Club list of books to read!), I was simply hooked into the idea of Simon being chosen as a Guardian! I love stories which are stitched together like this, as I still remember being rapt in awe over “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” (motion picture again – hadn’t realised it was a book!)!!” Therefore I knew I had to simply ask Mr. Maul about what prompted the impetus for his new Young Adult Fantasy series as much as the inspiration to tell the story therein!

I am thrilled as peaches to welcome B.R. Maul back to Jorie Loves A Story, after spotlighting a book showcase revealing all the important bits of information on his wicked keen début novel! As you most likely have garnished from my piece yesterday, his novel resonated with me as being one story I am most apt to read as soon as it goes into print! Which as they say, could very well be on the fringe of happening sooner than we all might realise! Due lend your support of which edition of preference you’d like to read his collective works within the comment threads on either post!  Otherwise, tweet Mr. Maul directly, as that would be most kind on his inaugural blog tour! Let me yield now to his creative ear whilst he gives us an insight into his writer’s road towards publication!

}: Book Synopsis :{

Portals, Passages, & Pathways by B.R. MaulWhen a portal to another world cracks open just outside the small town of Riverside, it sets off a series of events forever changing the lives of two boys; one boy is chosen to lead a world to peace while the other one is chosen to tear it apart.

Simon Whittaker lives an ordinary teenage life. That is until the most powerful ring in the land of Magnanthia chooses him to become its guardian. Overnight, Simon has had to flee from something trying to kill him, seen magical spells he had only read about in stories, and stepped into the most majestic world ever imagined.

Swept away to the fantastic world that’s in the midst of a brutal war, Simon must place his life in the hands of four unlikely travelers, a swordsman, ranger, cleric, and wizard, sent to lead him down the right path. While King Elderten has ordered death to Magnanthia’s nine guardians, the group he believes is responsible for the kingdom’s devastation, Simon remains the only hope for those who believe the guardians are innocent.

Meanwhile, Jak Jakobsin has been pulled through a portal by two of Bedlam’s undead scouts. Bedlam’s overlord plans to use Jak, along with his army of undead, goblins, and trolls, to build a force so powerful that Magnanthia will be his forever. “Portals, Passages & Pathways” is a story of our greatest journey, to discover our purpose in this life, and the consequences of the choices we make to get there. “In the Land of Magnanthia” is the first novel in the series and is complete just under 115,000 words. It’s told from the alternating viewpoints of Jak and Simon.

 

}: World-Building – The Land of Magnanthia :{

Magnanthia was pieced together, named, and expanded upon almost seven years ago. But her creation started over three decades ago. There is no mistaking it; Magnanthia is a compilation of my favorite fantasy worlds mixed together and then molded into a figment of the imagination.

The first time I was introduced to C. S. Lewis was between the pages of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. As a little boy I fell in love with an idea, an idea that walking through a wardrobe, a portal, could take me to a world where animals talked and magic was real. From that day forward, my childhood was filled with adventure! Every closet and closed-door was potentially a portal leading to a world of wizards, castles, and lost treasures. That’s all I had to do was find the portal and step into it.

I slowly side-stepped the narrow, fantasy fiction isle in my elementary school’s library. I was looking for a book to read. That’s when I stumbled upon J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I opened the worn cover and looked at the table of contents. Chapter five’s title grabbed my attention; I had to know why it was so cleverly named “Riddles in the Dark.” I checked the book out of the little library and brought it home with me. Middle Earth, a world filled with dwarves, elves, hobbits, goblins, giant spiders, dragons, creatures of all kinds, and of course magic, began its contribution to the making of Magnanthia.

The discovery of a fantasy world where worthy travelers could become heroes exploring haunted castles, goblin-infested dungeons, and finding hidden gold and magic items, became my favorite pastime. My older brother took me and a good friend of ours into the spellbinding world of Dungeons & Dragons. My favorite character to play was a magic-user.

Later in life, years of working to pay the bills disconnected me from the beautiful gift of imagination. It was finding my way into the Great Hall at Hogwarts with Harry Potter that rekindled my love of stories and my passion for magical adventures. I found it refreshing Harry Potter and his friends lived in contemporary times, cloaked in a medieval backdrop with magic and wonderment mixed into the works. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were about midway into their schooling at Hogwarts when I realized what I had and what I needed to do. Magnanthia was almost tangible in my mind, along with a handful of characters who had already made Magnanthia their home. I needed to create; I needed to write the story.

In 2007, the year the Harry Potter series ended, Portals, Passages & Pathways was born. I love that parts and pieces of Lewis, Tolkien, and Rowling are embedded within the fabric that is weaving Portals, Passages & Pathways together. I hope readers around the world find it as easy as I have to fall in love with the characters, and are exhilarated in the land of Magnanthia!

Author Connections:

Site | @BRMaul_author | GoodReads
Converse on Twitter: #LandofMagnanthia
& #BRMaul

 

I must confess, the one fantasy novel I had difficulty in soaking into was the precise fantasy series which inspired you to write Magnanthia! The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe for me was greater appreciated in its motion picture adaptation over the printed word in which C.S. Lewis left behind! It was one of the first times where I noticed that I had trouble shifting into the heart of a narrative I already knew I would enjoy! Perhaps an early nod to realising that not every story is tangible to our hearts through our eyes, and that sometimes we have to seek out an adaptation of the story in a new medium in order to allow the merit of why the story was left behind to resonate with us fully.

On a similar vein, I was experiencing a reader’s rut (I am sure this will make most of my dear readers gaff with disbelief!) during the years of Harry Potter’s epic adventures at Hogwarts, yet I was the happy spirited twenty-something who felt as though she had a renewed childhood whilst wandering off into the local movie-houses on release days, weekends, and even at midnight releases! Ah, yes, young Harry Potter will forevermore hold a special niche in my heart! His stories I know I will appreciate on long cold Wintry nights, where the blizzards are howling and the warmth of his character and friends will guide me from one book straight-through to the startling conclusion! These are the types of fantasy series I long to unearth and discover,… as I was reflecting yesterday fantasy gives us such a beautiful window into fantastically honest worlds where characters are able to do things that modern contemporaries are oft-times limited in achieving. Fantasy of today are the fables, folk, mythological stories of an ancient age. Sage advice wrapped inside a heroic adventure!

The fact that your sharing the kernels and seeds of inspiration behind Magnanthia is a credit to your own character and bold confidence as a writer, as often you will find new authors a bit hesitative about discussing their craft and progress towards getting the words onto paper rather than being stored inside their imaginations! I always felt that the best gift the writing community has given all writers through the generations is the ability to reach out and connect with each other! The sharing of knowledge, of strife and of joy, all the tools in which are needed to encompass a novel’s birth and straight-through back over the day-to-day journey of what a writer on the verge of discovery is experiencing! Bless you for being open and responsive!

Alas, I kept Tolkien for my concluding thoughts, because I fear before I sit myself down to read Middle Earth (in the Order of Middle Earth — inclusive of the Histories!), I am always going to be on the brink of relaying my total thoughts as once more, I yielded to the adaptations, this time through the grace and eloquence of Peter Jackson whose capturing finesse for the extraordinary world which is Middle Earth left me forever changed afterwards! The depth of the narrative is hard to not lay a pensive thought upon each installment’s endings, and yet, it’s the capstone of what pulls each of us into our own stories. By allowing us not to limit our potential or the girth of the final draft, in which lies our epic tales!

The genre-bender aspects of Harry Potter were not lost on me either, and I only had hoped in some of the bits of the films (as I presumed they were reflective of the stories) they could have held the tradition of their clothes a bit more, but I respected the fact that it was a modern story lit inside as you say a world of yesterday! Being a Dragon Master and player you might want to read my recollections of gaming on my Virtual Blue review! Congratulations for holding onto your world and for being daring enough to build the story in the hours and moons long after it was originally breathed into life!

This Author Guest Post is courtesy of:

In the Land of Magnanthia by B.R. Maul Blog Tour with JKS Communications Literary Publicity FirmBe sure to scope out my Bookish Upcoming Events

to mark your calendars!!

Be sure to drop by my Book Spotlight Showcase

on “Portals, Passages, & Pathways”!

Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.
Kindly post notes in both B.R. Maul comment threads, discussing what you enjoy about Young Adult Fantasy series! Leave behind a reflection of how you started to read fantasy series and novels, and what you are hopeful to find inside this new one by a Mid-West writer! All comments are welcome, short or long! I look forward to reading your thoughts & engaging with you afterwards! Remember to come back to see my responses! And, the author himself might surprise you with a reply as well!

+ Open Invitation for Book Discussion +

+ 28 March, 2014 +

Author B.R. Maul has expressed a desire to converse with readers who pick up “Portals, Passages, & Pathways” to return to Jorie Loves A Story giving all of us a hearty discussion about the life lessons & attributes of each of the character’s arc which translated directly into the reader’s heart! I am hoping to read a print copy of the story myself one day, and therefore, this is an Open Discussion Post where the comment threads will be waiting for you to return & share your experiences & thoughts about the story as you read it! I look forward to hearing your recollections & to dig a bit deeper into the heart of the narrative!!

{SOURCES: Book Cover art for “Portals, Passages, & Pathways”, B.R. Maul photograph and book synopsis were provided by JKS Communications Literary Publicity Firm and used with permission. I requested an Author Guest Post via Samantha Lien at JKS on behalf of B.R. Maul’s new Young Adult Fantasy series Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Thursday, 27 March, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Bookish Discussions, Bullies and the Bullied, Debut Novel, Fantasy Fiction, Heroic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Passionate Researcher, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Self-Published Author, The Natural World, The Writers Life, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage, Writing Style & Voice, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction




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11 responses to “+Author Guest Post+ “On writing the “In the Land of Magnanthia” series by B.R. Maul

    • Hallo Zoe! :)

      You’re quite welcome! I love bringing new authors to light on Jorie Loves A Story, as its not only my own eyes being opened to new worlds but the eyes of the readers who like to visit my blog! Isn’t it though!? The uniqueness and the interesting perspective of adding in those who are bullied I felt made this story stand out.

      Drop back around when you have had the chance to read the story!

    • Thank you, Zoe, for taking an interest in Portals, Passages & Pathways! If you come back to visit Jorie after reading book 1, and if Jorie is up to it, I would be happy to take some questions from you & Jorie, and perhaps other readers may have about the story. It’s an in-depth story that covers a lot of ground, such as bullying, I’m hoping will spark discussions.

    • Good evening, Mr. Maul,

      Yes, I think that is a wonderful idea, actually! :) I will start to spread the word about your openness to field Questions by readers via Twitter letting them know they can drop back on my posts for “Portals, Passages, & Pathways” leaving their Questions in the comment threads! I think its a great way to encourage the book discussions & to allow the characters to spark readers talking about the life lessons & affirmations which are surely stitched into the story-line!

      Smashing idea!

      And, of course, as Questions start to come in, I will let you know straight-away!

  1. Jorie, I am compelled to say that I so appreciate your love for fantasy stories, and how much time and consideration you took with Portals, Passages & Pathways! Authors hold a special place in their hearts for the stories they write, and I am no exception. Portals, Passages & Pathways is near and dear to me because it’s a piece of who I am left in the form of words on paper for all to see. It is for people like you and readers of Jorie Loves a Story, I love what I do! God bless you, Jorie! And thank you!

    • Mr. Maul,

      It was my absolute honour and pleasure to bring my readers an introduction series of posts relating to your debut novel “Portals, Passages, & Pathways”! One of the biggest joys I have as a book blogger is being given the opportunities to connect directly to writers I might not have discovered otherwise outside of the blog tours! I always hope that I would stumble across their stories had I not had these opportunities but the fact that I can carve out a bit of a space for you to alight here on Jorie Loves A Story warms my heart to an eclipse!

      I’ve always been bookish and drawn into fantasy worlds — the jettison bit of leaving our known realities & worlds was always a *big, big draw!* I even inherited my love of Star Trek & Star Wars from my Mum & Da, which proves my veins run thick on science fiction & fantasy! I hadn’t even thought to bring these series into the post, nor “Avatar” or “Doctor Who”,… thankfully they are indexed!

      And, may your days be equally as blessed as mine to discover readers near and far who readily soak into your novel feeling as though they were returning instead of arriving! I am full of gratitude our paths have crossed!

  2. A great introduction to this book, I recall avidly reading about the adventures of Merlin written by Mary Stuart with her crystal cave series. I love the Harry Potter books too, I enjoy the magic side of fantasy. I’m glad to see a wizard as part of this book. Great post.

    • Thank you, Ms. Amber for sharing your booklove and appreciation for fantasy! :) I had not heard of the author Mary Stuart previously, and now I have a new writer to seek! Always a happy day! Merlin I must say is a great protagonist to play with in narrative!

      Oh, my yes!

      Fantasy intermixed with Magical intrigue is one of my favourite ‘haunts’ to explore as well! Nice to see you, today!

    • I, too, enjoy the magic side of fantasy! The ability to tap into magic, that force of nature that is a conundrum to everyone else, and bend it to the caster’s will is what makes a wizard so wise, and fantastic. It’s this uncanny ability that drew me into the likes of a wizard. Thank you for sharing, Rosie.

      • Likewise, I am very grateful our paths have crossed! It is nice to see you enjoying what I am writing and sharing! Always puts a smile on my face when I see you’ve dropped by.

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