As we prepare to launch the sixth novel in our series, it occurred to me that our stories are somewhat unique within the wider Urban Fantasy genre. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

Unique means “different” which appeals to a lot of readers who get weary with the “same old” stories regurgitated half a bazillion times. We hear this from our fans, and we feel the same way (which is why we write the stories the way we do).

But unique also means “non-mainstream” which makes it damn difficult to home in on the types of readers who crave something out of the ordinary. Just as important, we don’t want to advertise to readers who do expect something mainstream; that’s how negative reviews happen!

I got to thinking about what makes our stories different from a lot of what’s out there. How can we reach those readers who actually want something different?

I’ve come up with the following, which we’ll be adding to our books’ product pages:

About the Ascending Mage series

There are a lot of great series these days. So what can you expect from this one?

Themes you’ll find in the Ascending Mage series:

• Think: if Harry Dresden was an English woman sent to rural America.
• A strong female lead who starts uncertain and a little bit naive but grows into a force to be reckoned with.
• As strong as Ember Wright is, the foes aligned against her are considerable. Victory is never going to be easy or come without a cost.
• No romance, but there’s a subtle love story element. (This is not “chick lit”).
• Realistic adult psychology and emotions. (No silly assassin-by-night, soccer mom-by-day)
• Developing friendships, supportive community, painful defeats, triumphant victories, and kick ass action.
• No sex scenes.
• Dialog contains conversational swearing, sometimes vulgar at times.
• Violence, sometimes graphic; this isn’t a kids’ story.
• Magic is present in this world, but it’s not overwhelming. (There’s nobody so overpowered she could just wiggle her nose and vaporize a city!)
• Personal freedom versus a corrupt, autocratic establishment (guess which side Ember’s on!)
• A global, persistent story arc; these aren’t standalone novels. (That’s also why there’s a numeral in the titles; don’t you hate when reading order isn’t obvious?)
• Lighthearted, laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled throughout it all.
• Characters you’ll love… And others you’ll sure love to hate!

We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’ve read our books, do these bullet points accurately summarize the “feel” of our stories, without spoiling the surprises? Please share your comments below.

Will this help us attract the right readers to our books? We’re about to find out! 🎯

(The wicked-looking composite fiery dart image in this article’s header is by MasterTux from Pixabay)

I’m a bit of a map nerd (he said proudly), and I just love creating worlds. World building is easily my favorite part of storytelling. I spend untold numbers of hours (weeks, really) researching geography, history, animal and plant evolution, and mythological origin stories, all so I can create our own.

We refer to Aedynar throughout our stories, from the prequel novel Fog Over Mandaree onward. If you’ve read Ascending Mage 5: Changeling Uprising, then you know that Aedynar isn’t just a throwaway plot device.

It’s a real fictional world. So, of course, it needs a real fictional map!

So as a new bonus, here’s a glimpse at the work-in-progress map of Aedynar (if that sort of thing is of interest to you).

And whether or not that’s of interest to you, you can expect more Aedynar lore as time goes by. I’ve got physical binders overflowing with scribbles and sketches on this evolving world. There’s even an origin story (“Before The Beginning”) which I’ll be sharing with you soon.