Today I’m hosting author S Usher Evans as part of her blog tour for her new book, Spells and Sorcery. Check out her guest below to find out what inspired her to write her new novel.

What Inspired Me To Write My Novel by S. Usher Evans

I started writing novels around age eleven, and Lexie was about the fourth storyline I came up with. I had a dream that my cousin Nicole and I were trapped in a movie theater by evil wizards and we had to hide our wands in the cracks of the wall with peanut butter so they wouldn’t be confiscated. Obviously, the particulars of the plot morphed over time.

The problem with these kinds of novels is that you get into a habit of thinking a certain way about them, and it’s difficult to break free when you’re actually writing. I’m having this issue with the second book right now. I spent about a decade thinking “I’ll figure out the particulars of this later” and now that it’s time to write the second book, I’m having to re-route my neural pathways to think of how to fix this particular problem.

When wwritingSpells and Sorcery, I really borrowed a lot from my Twitter followers. I wanted to write a realistic teen, so I made sure to give her all the concerns and stresses that normal teens have, then add to that with the frustrations of having this new gift dropped in her lap, and having (almost) no one stop long enough to help her. It really stresses the importance of mentors in teenage communities, especially positive ones, because teens in need of guidance will go to the nearest source—and that source may not be the best for them.

The magic in Spells and Sorcery is a little bit of anime-style energy flinging and a lot drawn from my experience marathon-running (amusingly enough). Magic, like human energy, is a finite source. Eventually, you run out of steam. And for someone like Lexie, who is “out of shape” magically, she struggles with using her magic at first, the same way I struggled with growing my mileage while running. Eventually, she builds up her strength so she can use a great deal of magic.

The other aspect of power in the book is that you’re either born with a lot of magic, or you work at it every day and get better. So if someone who has a lot of magic but never practices were to go up against someone with less magic, but who practices all the time, it is conceivable that the practicer would win. I like that idea of hard work being equal to innate talent.

All in all, I’m excited that this book is out in the world!

Spells and Sorcery
S. Usher Evans
(Lexie Carrigan Chronicles, #1)
Publication date: October 4th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

You have magic.

One sentence, three words, four syllables. Enough to change my life forever. And I’m not talking about the whole spells and sorcery thing.

Lexie Carrigan thought the weirdest thing about her was she preferred watching documentaries and reading the newspaper to reality TV and Twitter. But on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, her aunt and sisters drop a bomb–she’s magical.

Now the girl who never made waves is blowing up her nightstand and trying to keep from wreaking havoc on her school. When a kind stranger shows up with all the answers, Lexie hopes he’ll be able to help her control her newfound powers. But Gavon may not be as kind as he seems, and soon Lexie finds out that being magical is the least weird thing about her.

Spells and Sorcery is the first YA fantasy from S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series, the Madion War Trilogy and Empath.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

Author Bio:

S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a “real job” as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and rekindled a childhood passion for writing novels. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit.

Evans is the author of the Razia series, Madion War Trilogy, and Empath, published by Sun’s Golden Ray Publishing.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please follow and like us: