The Seventh Blessing by Ricky Baxter ***YA Fantasy - Spotlight - Excerpt - Giveaway***
Check out my stop on the blog tour for The Seventh Blessing by Ricky Baxter!
by Ricky Baxter
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release date: June 2019
Within the world of Popla, the gods rule over mankind. Thanks to their order, mankind lives safe from the dangers of the world’s monsters and demon beasts. However, even with their protection, there are some who have chosen to rebel against their benevolent masters.
Having lost his sister to a mysterious sickness called the Seventh Blessing, rumoured to have been created by the gods themselves, A young man named Luna will attempt to rescue her soul from death. Armed with a living blade, he will oppose the order of the gods - going as far as to request the aid of a legendary demon named Ten.
Within this epic fantasy adventure, the trio will explore a world together, where divinity and mortality are intertwined. However, at the end of their journey, will the true secret of the Seventh Blessing tear them apart?
Guest Post
Creating characters in a fantasy novel
There are so many interesting and diverse ways of creating characters for a fantasy novel. First and foremost, it’s important to remember that what works for me, would not necessarily work for you. Of course, there are certain rules to stick to across the board, it’s beneficial to find your creative way and go with it.Throw logic out the window
We are talking about a fantasy novel here. Nothing should make sense. Don’t be afraid to go with your most bizarre and ridiculous ideas for a character. Think back to when you were a child and the sort of characters you used to draw. It was pure imagination, which wasn’t questioned and conditioned by adult hesitations. Go back to that and throw it in the pot. At the same time, do not confuse lack of logic with plot holes. Make sure you have some explanation pertaining to how out of this world your character is. Along with how they impact the rest of the world. Whatever the explanation, make it believable and work with the rest of the story.
Personality combinations
This perhaps is one of my favourite parts of character creations. Whether it’s the main protagonist or supporting characters, they want to have a compelling personality that is alive and a wonder to observe. Think of how one personality could impact another in your story. Personality clashes and similar ways of thinking between characters are a great thing to create with your story, so try to be as vast as possible. Luna, the main character of my story: The Seventh Blessing, is a jaded, negative and stubborn man, who is not interested in the lives of other people. At the same time, his talking companion blade Adamas is the complete opposite: Childish, naive and curious about everything. Together they make for an amusing duo.
Introduce your struggle
A novel is something that isn’t written overnight. To be frank, there will come many times where you will question your story and lose interest. Why carry on a story that you have lost touch with? My answer to avoiding this problem, is to create a character that has a piece of your personality. It could be an alter ego or hidden part of your character. Just include it with at least one of your cast of characters. This will help in keeping interest. Give your fantasy character the same fears you have and overcome them, in an amazing and fantastical way.
So those are my pieces of advice. Throw away logic, explore personality combinations and add a piece of yourself.
Thanks for reading!
Ricky Lee Baxter
Excerpt
As the dark cloud disappears, the waning sunset shows itself once more – allowing for us to take a clear look at the dark and mysterious girl. Her hair is short and black, making her look almost boyish. Upon her forehead, a third closed eye can be seen. Behind her, a long scaly tail shows itself, extending down to her feet. On close inspection of her so-called cloak, they look to be wings, folded to resemble that of a cloak. More importantly, what should I do right now? If she comes at me, I won’t have the energy to fend her off. My only choice is to perhaps persuade her not to fight me.Slowly standing to my feet, I hide my nerves and state “My name is Luna and I have come here, requesting your help. I seek the Land of the Gods and I believe you know where it is.”
Eyes perked with interest, she responds “The Land of the Gods? Hmph, if you knew anything about that land, you’d know that its whereabouts cannot be spoken” confirming the words of the defeated god moments earlier. Shifting her gaze to Adamas, her smile drops and she utters “Furthermore – what are you doing with Adamas? It doesn’t belong to you!”
“Huh? How does she know my name?” Asks the surprised sword – looking to me for answers.
“How the hell should I know?” I reply to it – equally surprised by her knowledge of my companion sword. None of this makes sense. If she knows of Adamas, then does that mean it too was alive over five thousand years ago and played a part in the so-called calamity? If that’s true, why doesn’t it know of her.
Suddenly, the demon girl unfolds her dark wings – revealing a tight vest and short skirt. Shouting forth she says “I asked you a question, worm! What are you doing with Adamas? Everybody knows that it belongs to only one other person!”
Within the palm of her hand, a great ball of fire appears and grows larger by the second. “Shit… could this day get any worse?” I whisper, watching as the fireball grows to be the size of a house. Holding it above her head, she screams to me.
“You’re dead meat, mister!”
About the Author
Ricky Baxter is the author of Gideon and the Crimson Samurai, a fantasy novel newly released for Amazon Kindle. He is an avid blogger, giving advice and thoughts to fellow creators from all walks of life. His other works include Colours of Destiny, a Youtube visual novel. Currently he lives in London England where he writes and blogs.Starting out as a composer since graduating with a Ba(Hons) in music and multimedia, Ricky worked for many independent short film directors - for over six years, gaining notable IMDB credits . Since then, he has embraced his earlier passion of writing fictional stories.
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