Inspiration can come from
anywhere and anything, if you’re eyes and heart are open. I’m often inspired by
things I see around me. For the House of Xannon series, the city of
Philadelphia infiltrated my story senses. I lived there for a couple of years,
and explored quite a few neighborhoods on photo hunts. A lot of the next story
(book 4, working title Finding Earth) takes place in a not-so-nice neighborhood
of Philly, and its dilapidated park. The park is known as a “pocket park”, and
was inspired by a cute one in the Italian district of Philly. It’s a small park
rescued from what would have been a concrete triangle formed by the odd
intersection of several diagonal streets. In a city as dense as Philly, it’s a
pleasure to stumble across a little piece of nature in the middle of urban
jungle.
The House of Xannon is embedded
into the rock of an island off the coast of Maui, and was inspired by the
Island of Kaho’olawe. When I was visiting Hawaii on vacation, I took a tour
which gave a bit of history about the island. It was once used as a military
post and testing ground during World War II and after, until protests returned
the control of the island to the state of Hawaii. They say that both the island
and the surrounding water contains unexploded ordinances, so it’s off limits to
visitors. One family and a handful of workers live there. There’s no other
contact with it.
Of course, even as they told me this, I made
up my own version of the story. I say it’s not land-mines at all, but magic.
Tarian and her family live there, with most of the house hiding underneath the
rock. The rumor of dangerous land mines is to keep us non magical types away
from her home. She’s over there, on the beach. I was sure I could just make her
out across the waves!
The inspiration for the
Ancients, and in particular the Water Ancients, came from another vacation. It
was a dolphin adventure, one where we got to swim with the dolphins and learn
all about them. I was mesmerized, entranced, enchanted and completely hooked on
these amazing creatures. I’m quite sure they are vastly more intelligent than
us, and full of magic. You can see it in their eyes. The fascination I felt
that day in the water with such a beautiful creature inspired the entire system
of Ancient elementals, and in particular Tarian’s love of water and dolphins.
Promise of Magic takes place in
mostly magical realms, but the inspiration for the final scene was also a very
real place I visited in Hawaii. Standing near an active volcano is definitely
something I’ll never forget. I doubt Tarian will either.
<<<<>>>>
Promise of Magic
House of Xannon
Book 3
Melinda VanLone
Genre: urban fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-9887455-4-4
ASIN: TBD
Word Count: 65k
Cover Artist: bookcovercorner.com
Book Description:
On instinct, Tarian bowed her head in return, shocked. “Dulra. Welcome.” She breathed the words, awed by the presence of creatures she’d only known through legends. What is the Balance Court doing here?
“Tarian A’marie Maitea Xannon, of the House of Xannon, Keeper of the Water Artifact, you are summoned to the Balance Court.”
She’d been summoned, and every particle of her being cried out to answer it.
Despite the advanced stage of her pregnancy, Tarian has some explaining to do. Fulfilling her Agreement with the Carraig was an issue of honor—but it led to complications. The Keeper of the House of Xannon is called to account, and Tarian must embark on a dangerous mission which could cost her the life of her unborn daughter, end in disaster for all planes of existence—or save the world.
Some promises are deadly to keep. Will the promise of magic be one of them?
About the Author:
Melinda VanLone writes fantasy and science fiction, freelances as a graphic designer, and dabbles in photography. She currently lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband and furbabies. When she's not playing with her imaginary friends you can find her playing World of Warcraft, wandering aimlessly through the streets taking photos, or nursing coffee in Starbucks.
twitter: @melindavan
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2 comments:
Thanks so much for having me over!
I have only read a few urban fantasy but I love the one's I did read and yours looks like it will be great to.
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