LDS Authors Giveaway Hop Featuring Author Devri Walls

Hello my fine, fabulous and fanciful friends! Today is an awesome day on the blog because I get to feature a fabulous author, who also wrote a guest post, plus I have an awesome giveaway. So stick around and see all the awesomeness! And make sure you visit all the blogs participating in the fabulous hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and American Night Writers Association.

Allow me start you off on your journey by introducing you to a wonderful author. Devri Walls is the author of the incredible Solus Series, a magical fantasy with dragons, shape shifters and incredible magic. Devri Walls builds fantastical worlds that you could imagine living in, she creates characters you can believe in, characters you route for, hate, love, scream at; characters that are real. Her stories are easy to get lost in and provide a much needed escape from the stresses of the day. But not only is Devri Walls an incredible author with beautiful talent, she is an amazing person, who will make you laugh, cheer for you and help keep you going when times are rough. She is one of those fabulous gems you meet on Twitter, and claim as a friend. She truly is awesome, if you haven't befriended her yet or read her books, then what the heck are you waiting for? This is your chance.

About the Author

Devri Walls lives in Kuna Idaho with her husband and two kids. She has worked as a music teacher and currently, a preschool teacher. She majored in theater and her love of a story still drives her today. Thankfully, she has finally found an outlet for all the voices in her head.

Find Her: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Hey guys! Today I am going to talk to you about writing fantasy! First of all, I loooooove fantasy. Real life is boring. I have never enjoyed reading about real life. I get enough of that as it is, thank you very much! But oh, to have magic! To talk with dragons, to ride a Pegasus. * sigh *

In some ways writing fantasy is incredibly freeing. For starters, no one is going to tell me that my mountain range was not described accurately, or that the amount of time it took to get from Meros to the Shifter’s cave was not correct. I can create my world however I want it with zero of the confines from writing reality. I can even change fundamental laws of nature if I choose. That, is the magic of fantasy. The only confines I have are the ones I place on myself.

But, a lesson for all you new fantasy writers out there. It is easy to get carried away when you have no reigns. You have to give yourself some parameters—limitations. It’s impossible to have tension in a book when your hero is invincible. Everyone and everything has to have it’s, Kryptonite, if you will.

When creating a world and it’s rules, you have to make sure you are happy with them. What I mean by that is this; once you have created a rule you have to mentally follow it through every situation you can think of and look at all the implications.

For example, in my book everyone and everything has a thread. A thread is unique to you and can be felt by others at a reasonable distance. This thread tells the intents of your heart, good or evil, and how powerful you are. Kinda cool idea. I was rather pleased with it. BUT, writing a battle scene in which you can feel exactly where everyone is just doesn’t work. That left me two choices; either delete it, or deal with it. I liked the idea enough I chose to deal with it. My threads kryptonite is the bubble—a magical barrier that locks threads inside. But once again, writing a battle where everyone can run around invisible is very anti-climatic. This took the lame battle and made it even more lame. It too needed a kryptonite, the bubble could not be a cure all.

To deal with that I had the bubbles follow the same restrictions I had put on using magic. Using a bubble drained their power, making it unsustainable and thus not a long term solution. A bubble can also be ‘popped’ by a direct magical hit. Now I have rules that work with each other to make realistic problems and solutions that add tension into scenes.

Always, always, always run through the implication of what you are about to do. I can’t even tell you how many times I have typed a skill or backstory for my character only to immediately delete it as I mentally carry that through the rest of the story. I have seen authors get so caught up in this “totally amazing idea” only to have it reach a point where the whole story falls flat because there is no tension, or because there is no feasible resolution. Being forced to offer one, the authors attempt, but the resolutions fall flat or are unbelievable.

Fantasy can get big, as big as you want, as long as you balance it with limitations. Watch some movies, read some books and find some examples. And then let your creativity go wild!

Her Books

Wings of Arian: Goodreads

Wings of Tavea: Goodreads

Wings of Nestor: Goodreads

Wings of Lomay: Goodreads

And guess what??? Because these books are so awesome and so is author Devri Walls, she is going to give you all the chance to win some awesome prizes!

Grand Prize: 1st 3 eBooks in the Solus series (Wings of Arian, Wings of Tavea, & Wings of Nestor) this way you will be ready for the Wings of Lomay release. 

2 Winners: eCopy Wings of Arian

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