The Alliance of Worldbuilders

            It is hard to believe I haven’t written a post about the Alliance of Worldbuilders yet. I’ve mentioned them once or twice, but it’s about time I actually told you who they are.

            It all started, amazingly enough, about four years ago. It was a year after I’d finished writing my first book and I was still extremely ignorant of the world of publishing. I had timidly stuck my toe out to test the waters with no results – usurping for me now, with all that I’ve learned. It was during this time that I discovered Authonomy.

            With all the trouble I was having writing query letters, this website seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. It allowed me to share my writing, get criticism and, if I got enough support from the other writers on the site, I would get a review from a Harper Collins editor and potentially a publishing offer. How could I pass that up?

            So, I signed up, uploaded my book and headed over to the forums to post a shameless plug. There, I was almost immediately recruited to the Alliance of Worldbuilders by Sam, the Vice Captain in charge of Cake.

            How to join? It was a simple matter of hopping over to the Alliance of Worldbuilders forum thread, eat the ceremonial virtual cake (that in no way had any mind-controlling drugs to bind us to the will of the Dark Lord TRM) and I was a member. I was even offered a title, which I chose to be Lord of the Wyrms (I felt, as a new member, Dragon Lord would be too pretentious – plus, I couldn’t pass up the play on Lord of the Flies).

            So, what is the Alliance? Well, it was started by Dark Lord TRM (along with his evil rabbit, Midnight) as a criticism group for fantasy writers and anyone else who built their own worlds for their writings. It grew into much more – a writing support group and a group of close friends from across the world, all dreaming of being published. There were probably over 100 people who joined, but there are about twenty of us who made up the core of the group.

            The group ended up talking about everything from writing through philosophy, real life issues and, of course, our plans for global domination. We soon became the thread with the most posts on the entire forum (the legendary battles between Vice Captain Sam and Ice Queen Lisa helped – come to think of it, neither of them returned the dragons I lent them...) Of course, the forum wasn’t built to handle that much traffic, so we were requested to start a new thread. Which we did, then brought it up to the top threads before starting a third.

            We all learned quickly enough that to get the editor review on Authonomy, we’d have to play the political game that had become rampant on the site. So, most of us didn’t bother. We gave each other reviews when we had time, chatted, supported each other and became a close-knit group.

            Thanks to this group, I was able to improve my writing substantially. More than that, though, I learned far more about the publishing world than I ever had before. Plus, I had fun.

            Then things changed a bit. Many of the group started getting published, some traditionally, some self-published, and there wasn’t quite as much chatting happening. Then Authonomy did an overhaul which we were disenchanted with, so we moved out headquarters over to Facebook. We’re still a close group, we just don’t chat or battle as much.

            So, why do I choose to tell you about this wonderful and talented group now? Why, because we’re about to release an anthology of short stories! On September 4^th, we will be releasing A World of Their Own in memory of our fallen comrade, Lindsey J Parsons, with all proceeds being donated to the World Literacy Foundation.

            This collection of short stories is extra exciting for me, as it will contain my first published works. It should also be exciting for you, because it’s an opportunity to discover new favourite authors from a very talented bunch.

            So, mark your calendars and join the Facebook release party. Invite your friends, too! While you’re waiting, you can even check out the group’s Facebook page, website, and scout out all the authors who will be in the anthology. Then you, too, can share in the wonderful imaginations of the Alliance of Worldbuilders.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Swept Away by Vortex

            Here’s another book review and it’s about time. I told you I read slowly – this is the only book I’ve read since the last review and I should add that it had nothing to do with the quality of the book. What it means is that I should also spend far more time reading than I currently do.

            Vortex by Lindsey J Parsons entirely swept me away. I could hardly put it down (on the rare occasion I found time to pick it up)! This book follows a pair of characters, switching between their perspectives almost every chapter, as they are dragged along on a wild and mysterious journey. Sam, a university student in our world, is a girl studying law because it was what her father had wanted, but she isn't sure if it’s what she wants. Damian looks like a human except for his horns and wings, which are unique even in his magical world where the castle he lives in is guarded by a dragon. When Damian is somehow dragged into Sam’s world, both their lives are turned upside down.

            Since I've already commented on how much I enjoyed this book, I would like to take a moment to touch on the one thing that bothered me: the prologue. If I were to decide whether or not to read this book based on the prologue, I would have put it down because I found it to be too slow paced and description heavy. Beyond that, it was well written and gave some excellent back-story and foreshadowing while remaining exactly what a prologue should be – an optional chapter that gives extra information, but does not provide anything that is important for reading the story. So, if you’re like me and turned away by slow pacing, don’t let this prologue chase you away (skip it, if you must) because the pace picks up right away from the first chapter – and this book is worth reading.

            The characters Lindsey has created are phenomenal – and I'm not just talking about the main ones. Each side character has unique depth and clearly has a deeper background than we will ever know. More than that, they are believable. It’s rare to come across so many characters in one book whose personalities could have been plucked out of the real world and dropped into print.

            As for the story, it is excellently constructed. Every chapter is packed with information while leaving just enough questions unanswered that you don’t want to stop reading even though it’s midnight. By the end of the book, I was left feeling that all the loose ends had been tied, yet I would still happily pick up the next book to discover what happens next.

            I'm currently writing a book which, like this one, takes place in a mixture of real and fantasy worlds. Because of that, I am able to comment on how much of a challenge it is from a writing perspective – the hardest part is deciding what characters already know or are able to understand when not in their own world. Lindsey did a marvellous job not only in keeping characters from knowing more than they should, but in allowing them to know enough to maintain realism.

            My advice isn't just to read this book, but to spread it around to everyone you know who reads. It deserves to get a lot of notice.

            You can find Vortex here and LindseyJ Parsons’ website here.





 

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.