{"id":296,"date":"2017-09-07T12:47:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T16:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=296"},"modified":"2022-11-19T08:45:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T13:45:43","slug":"how-the-eye-in-the-stone-was-written","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=296","title":{"rendered":"How the Eye in the Stone was written"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eye in the Stone<\/em> was published in 1988, the same year as Below the Threshold<\/em>. They weren\u2019t written the same year, publishers have their own schedules, which is why writers must be patient. More on that another time.<\/p>\n

Many, if not most books that have magic, make it just a part of the world, even if the world is our own, or something like it. Everybody knows about it, as in Jim Butcher\u2019s Dresden Files<\/em>. But what if there was magic in the world we actually live in? How could we not know about it? The answer to that question was one of the keys to The Eye in the Stone<\/em> \u2014 magic is hidden because it\u2019s practitioners would be seen to be dangerous, they would be feared, and either controlled, \u201ccured,\u201d or lynched. Okay. But again, how could I make the existence of real magic in our world plausible to readers who can see no evidence of it?<\/p>\n

Besides putting magic in the \u201creal\u201d world but not letting anybody know about it, making it truly secret, I made the world just a little bit different, the way some writers give real places or real people different names. I could then use all the rest of the world just as it is. I gave my real home town a different name, Harbor Beach. I made Detroit the movie capitol. Los Angeles is famous for its jewel-like climate. The most ubiquitous fast food franchise is McDougal\u2019s Emerald Arches. I didn\u2019t change anything else. Not quite urban fantasy.<\/p>\n

I knew most of the story elements before I started, but mostly I just let my story tell itself, except for the magic. I created a huge magic system, with words, gestures, symbols, colors, all inter-related and inter-connected. I think I may still have it somewhere, but maybe not. It was a couple hundred pages, including lists, diagrams, and charts. I actually used only a little of it.<\/p>\n

The writing was easy. Sometimes I was surprised by how the story developed. I knew what the ending was about, but not exactly how I would get there, or how the ending would actually turn out. I like it when my writing works that way. My hero, Morgan Scott, made friends, confronted demonic forces and evil minions, discovered dark secrets, practiced his magic when he had to, accepted his familiar\u2019s help when he needed to \u2014 Phoebus was a black and red tabby cat, very large, invisibly part dragon. Morgan chased, and was chased, through strange astral layers, and at last came to the end. It was not a happy ending, even though he succeeded. I left him wounded and bleeding, waiting to recover from his tragic losses.<\/p>\n

My editor didn\u2019t like that ending, and made me change it. I added a character, included him in the plot, and let him be the one who had to die \u2014 someone had to die. My editor also thought that a fascinating astral scene was unnecessary, and cut it, telling me I could use it somewhere else. Which I have never been able to do, because it was written explicitly for that story, and doesn\u2019t fit elsewhere. I don\u2019t think I even have it any more. And my agent insisted that I add something at the beginning, to show Morgan\u2019s arrival in Harbor Beach, and introduce his cat, and set up the scene where\u2019s he\u2019s watching a suspicious character\u2019s house at night.<\/p>\n

I reread the story a couple times. I can’t tell now where my new beginning merged with my original start. My extra character has a real place in the story, and does not feel like an add-on. I\u2019m not sure just where the scene the editor deleted originally was. But I really didn\u2019t like doing those things, because now it was not completely my own story, it was something different.<\/p>\n

At last the manuscript was accepted and, with only minor editorial changes, all acceptable, it was published. It made back its advance and then some, and there was a very positive fan review. I don\u2019t think there will be a sequel, but I have an idea for something similar but different. When I find the time.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

You can read a sample here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eye in the Stone was published in 1988, the same year as Below the Threshold. They weren\u2019t written the same year, publishers have their own schedules, which is why writers must be patient. More on that another time. Many, if not most books that have magic, make it just a part of the world,Continue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-296","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-thumb"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":737,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/296\/revisions\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}