{"id":1299,"date":"2015-10-22T16:37:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T20:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/?p=1299"},"modified":"2015-10-22T16:37:30","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T20:37:30","slug":"ask-alice-orr-how-to-create-a-fantasy-world-that-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/ask-alice-orr-how-to-create-a-fantasy-world-that-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Alice Orr: How to create a fantasy world that works?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In celebration of the print \"FINALrelease of HOPE'S PRELUDE<\/em>, I'm reprinting this wonderful article written by Romantic Suspense Author, Alice Orr<\/em><\/strong>. You can read the interview I did earlier this month with Alice HERE<\/a> about writing, romance, and her Riverton Road<\/strong>\u00a0series.<\/p>\n

This Q&A article originally appeared in the RWA \/ NY Chapter's Newsletter in the Keynote section published a few weeks ago, and is being reprinted with permission from RWA and Alice. I was thrilled that she mentioned HOPE'S PRELUDE in her article.<\/p>\n

Here you go…<\/p>\n

Q: How do I create a fantasy world that works?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: You create a world that real-life readers can relate to.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all write a series. Creating an entire alternate world is too much work to undertake for a one-off novel. Besides a series is the road to success for an author in today\u2019s marketplace. A series is also an adventure through that alternate world. Your goal is to draw readers in and make them want to stay through one book then the next and the next. To do this you must create a world that has reality and resonance \u2013 a world that is relatable.<\/p>\n

Then you must immerse your reader in that world. You must immerse her so completely in your story world that she\u2019s wants \u2013 even needs \u2013 to remain there until you release her at The End. So completely she will miss that world when she\u2019s forced to leave it and be eager to return asap. Achieve that and you\u2019ve set a powerful narrative hook for the story and for the series as well. But how do you manage such immersion?<\/p>\n

I found an answer to that is in a book by L.G O\u2019Connor. Hope\u2019s Prelude \u2013 The Angelorum Twelve Chronicles \u2013 Book 2.5 <\/em>is part of a very big story world. The biggest as a matter of fact because O\u2019Connor\u2019s macro story world encompasses nothing less than the struggle between good and evil to determine the fate of the universe. I love big stories and good versus evil but most authors have difficulty managing the scope of that canvas. Specifically they have difficulty making the story believable and relatable.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor manages the vast scope of her story and the series by anchoring us in credible human territory. The landscape may be vast but the situation is intimate because at its heart is a love story and we relate to love stories. This is the powerful narrative hook we all carry in our romance genre kit bags. We can use it to make a potentially overwhelming story canvas personal. We immerse the reader in the world of the lovers and that is our open sesame to immersing the reader in the alternate world of the story.<\/p>\n

But we must do so as deftly as O\u2019Connor does. At the center of an apocalyptic struggle scenario she grounds us in a tender love story that humanizes all of the rest and gives it an up-close-and-personal scale which touches our hearts. I was fascinated by her faceoff between the forces of good \u2013 the Angelorum \u2013 and the forces of evil \u2013 the Dark Ones. But I was truly captured by the love between Hope in her worldly guise as Dr. Sandra Wilson scientist \u2013 and her guardian and mate Ishmael whom she calls Isa.<\/p>\n

Their passion is both human and otherworldly and Isa is one of the most sexy-powerful yet gentle lovers I\u2019ve ever read. As romance storytellers intent upon creating conflict we are often forced to situate that struggle between our lovers or lovers-to-be. The alternate world framework allows us to situate the struggle outside of the love relationship in the complex universe beyond. O\u2019Connor takes beautiful advantage of that opportunity by creating a hero who openly adores the heroine. I found that refreshing and endearing from the start.<\/p>\n

However engulfed I may have been by the multi-layered world of the series \u2013 what really grabbed me was Hope\/Sandra and Isa\/Ishmael and how much they are besotted with each other and devoted to each other. Theirs is the kind of relationship we all long to find in our real-world lives and that longing is the ultimate reader involvement. We not only want to read about this couple \u2013 we want to be part of a couple just like them.<\/p>\n

What deeper hook can a writer set? How much more relatable can a story be? Does O\u2019Connor\u2019s fantasy world work? You betcha it does. Check it out at http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00XKID2UE<\/strong><\/a> and be inspired.<\/p>\n

ABOUT ALICE<\/p>\n

\"Alice<\/a>Alice Orr\u2019s latest novel is A Year of Summer Shadows \u2013 Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 2 \u2013<\/em> <\/strong>available at http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00ZBOTH5O<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In celebration of the print release of HOPE’S PRELUDE, I’m reprinting this wonderful article written by Romantic Suspense Author, Alice Orr. You can read the interview I did earlier this month with Alice HERE about writing, romance, and her Riverton Road\u00a0series. This Q&A article originally appeared in the RWA \/ NY Chapter’s Newsletter in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAsk Alice Orr: How to create a fantasy world that works? - LG O'Connor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/ask-alice-orr-how-to-create-a-fantasy-world-that-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask Alice Orr: How to create a fantasy world that works? - LG O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In celebration of the print release of HOPE'S PRELUDE, I'm reprinting this wonderful article written by Romantic Suspense Author, Alice Orr. 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