Author: | Jeanette O'Hagan | Published: | over 6 years ago |
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Tags: | setting, blog tour, Jeanette O'Hagan, point of view, Blood Crystal, Under the Mountain series | Category: | Blog tour |
This week, it’s my pleasure to welcome guest author Jeanette (Jenny) O’Hagan, as part of the blog tour for her new fantasy novella Blood Crystal. It’s Book 2 in her Under the Mountain series, the first being Heart of the Mountain. I really loved both novellas and you can read my review for Under the Mountain here and my review for Blood Crystal here. As part of the blog tour, Jenny is giving away a $50 Amazon gift voucher to the winner of an online scavenger hunt. Those who comment on today’s blog also have the chance to win a copy of Heart of the Mountain, so read to the end for more details on both of those competitions.
In the last stop on the tour, Jenny visited the site of Cindy Tomamichel, author of Druid’s Portal. In that post Cindy interviewed Jenny about her writing and you can read that blog here. In today’s post, Jenny shares about how point of view and setting interact with each other to create great characters and stories.
POV & Settings
Thanks Nola for hosting me on your blog. Blog tours are fun.
I’ve been reading your series on point of view and how the different choices have both strengths and weaknesses. For instance, whether to write in first person (I), second person (you) or third person (he/she/it) - and again with third person, whether to have an outside omniscient pov or a more limited or even deep third point of view.
Most writers have their preferences, I mostly write in third limited or third deep pov. Sometimes I stick to the one pov especially in short stories (Ruhanna’s Flight, Lakwi’s Lament or The Herbalist’s Daughter, for instance). However, most of my longer pieces are multi-protagonist - with alternating points of view. In both Heart of the Mountain and Blood Crystal - the point of view is shared between the twins, Retza and Delvina - and the outsider and shapeshifter Zadeki. Each has his or her own perspective and drive, which I think adds to the story. In particular, the twins come from a very different background and society than Zadeki.
So what does setting have to do with pov? In first person and deep third pov, we see the action and the setting through the pov character’s eyes. This means we only know what s/he knows, especially with deep third. For instance, if something is happening outside the room - or cavern - he or she is in, then s/he can’t tell us what’s happening unless s/he is looking out the window or maybe detects outside noises or smells. So, the character’s setting makes a difference to the reader’s experience of the story.
However, setting can have an even stronger impact on pov than mere limitation of place. The character’s experience and interests determine how they see the world and how they see new things. The twins come from an underground realm, tunnels lit by glimmer lights deep below the mountain and, until the start of Heart of the Mountain, they have never ventured outside. In contrast, Zadeki’s people live lightly on the land and they are one with the forests. Zadeki feels trapped and hemmed in under the mountain, while the twins find the endless sky and its changing, unpredictable moods frightening.
More than that, when each character seeks to understand the world, they do so in terms of what they already know. Delvina and Retza often use rocks, minerals, mining terms and cave creatures as metaphors and similes and insults. Zadeki on the other hand is more likely to use the things of the forest or weather. For the twins, relationships are defined by work (the crew they belong to), while for Zadeki extended family relationships are significant.
The physical nature of the character’s setting as well as the culture, society, their own status, personal interests and experiences all influence how characters experience and interpret the world. Including such nuances with point of view characters help us understand both the characters and the settings they find themselves in.
I love the contrast between the twins’ view of the world and Zadeki’s differing view. It was a lot of fun to write - and I hope that you will enjoy reading through their eyes in both Heart of the Mountain and Blood Crystal.
Synopsis
Blood Crystal is a Young Adult Fantasy Adventure in the lost realm Under the Mountain
The underground realm is under attack from mad Overseer Uzza and the Crystal Heart is failing. As things become desperate, Twins Delvina and Retza must brave a treacherous journey to seek help from Zadeki and his people.
Will they find the answers they seek before it’s too late? Is the blood of Uzza’s children the only way to restore the Crystal Heart? What are the twins prepared to do to save their realm and those they love from certain destruction?
Blood Crystal is the second novella in the Under the Mountain series. Like most of my fiction, it is set in the world of Nardva. Available from Amazon, or Kobo, Nook and other retailers.
Bio:
Jeanette O’Hagan first spun tales in the world of Nardva at the age of nine. She enjoys writing fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardva stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and fantasy.
Jeanette has just released Blood Crystal sequel to Heart of the Mountain with four short stories coming out this year. She is writing her Akrad’s Legacy Series—a Young Adult fantasy adventure with courtly intrigue and romantic elements. Other publications include short stories The Herbalist’s Daughter and Lakwi’s Lament and stories and poems are published in several anthologies.
Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life and communicating God’s great love. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.
You can find her at her Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JeanetteOHaganAuthorAndSpeaker/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9833645.Jeanette_O_Hagan Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanetteOHagan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bythelightof2moons/ Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jeanette-OHagan/e/B00RBSE85C/ Websites: http://JeanetteOHagan.com and http://Jennysthread.com
Competition Info:
Thanks for sharing those thoughts with us, Jenny, and thank you for donating prizes for lucky readers. Throughout the blog tour there will be many opportunities. To win a copy of Heart of the Mountain: a short novella, leave a comment below about the best mountain you have visited, and what you liked about it.
Heart of the Mountain on Amazon
Scavenger Hunt
The Blood Crystal Scavenger Hunt will run throughout the Blood Crystal Blog Tour. Each blog will have a reflection or memory related to themes within Blood Crystal – and a related question. The first person to answer all NINE questions right will win a $50 Amazon voucher. The runner up will receive copies of both Heart of the Mountain and Blood Crystal. Follow each post on the blog tour to find the questions & list your answers in the comments on the final blog post of the tour on 28 July. There will also opportunities to win prizes at each blogspot.
For your chance to win the $50 Amazon voucher for the scavenger hunt, answer the following question. When I (Nola) was in Rome a few years ago, I went on a tour of an underground series of caverns and passageways where the early Christians hid from persecution. What is the name of that underground location?
Please join us on the next stop of the blog tour where Jenny will be visiting the site of author David Rawlings.
Comments read 14 comments
I'm trying to think of any stories written in second person. Not sure I've ever read one that did ...
I think they're pretty rare, Lynne. I found some through Goodreads when I was doing an earlier blog (not fantasy though) and looked at a couple of them. But haven't read any all the way through. I think it would be hard to maintain it for an entire blog. Here's the earlier link: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au/posts/53-point-of-view-part-5-second-person
Hi Lynne
I wrote a flash fiction in 2nd person - basically letters to another character. And while I haven't read it - I believe Gilead would be in 2nd person as the father addresses his son. I did read a straight novel with 2nd person - The Oldest Song though most of the 'you passages' were at the beginning and then towards the end. Some create your own adventure stories may use 2nd person. It's a rare choice but it has been done - difficult to do well though.
Thanks for hosting Blood Crystal for the blog tour, Nola. It was fun to think of how point of view relates to setting :) Looking forward to seeing the scavenger hunt answers.
Hi Nola and Jenny,
Thanks for this interesting stop along the blog tour. I'm glad you've kept up Nola's excellent POV themes. I do like the tri-shifting POVs in these stories, and the three you've chosen are the logical characters whose points of view to use. But sticking to their personal experiences when writing from their perspectives is one of those precision, secret touches which readers aren't necessarily aware of, yet they add to the authentic characterisation. I love it.
One thing I loved about Blood Crystal was that the metaphors and similes fit really well with the particular POV character (e.g. underground things for Delvina and Retza, and forest things for Zadecki). I agree with Paula that it's those little touches that really add that extra spark.
Thanks Paula and Nola. Love that you loved the three different points of view, Paula. And I had fun with the metaphors, Nola. Being born and spending half my childhood in a mining town helped with Retza and Delvina's point of view :)
Interesting thanks, Jenny and Nola. I find it easiest to write in the first person, to get the character's pov. I was interested that you got experience from growing up in a mining town, Jenny. Hoping you get your books into print editions soon!
Thanks Jeanette. I think most authors have their favourite - whether it's first or third person. I'm planning on having print version of both Heart of the Mountain and Blood Crystal in the near future :) Will let you know as soon as I do :)
Hi Nola and Jeanette. I like how the twins use rocks etc for metaphors...it's a great level of detail and makes me think about one of my novels I'm working on - what would my characters use for metaphors?
I can't say I have a favourite mountain...I grew up in Mount Gambier, SA and therefore have a great fondness for that mountain and the beautiful Blue Lake, but I'm not sure if that counts! Otherwise, the view from the top of Ubirr in Kakadu, NT is absolutely take-your-breath-away stunning, but again, I don't think that qualifies as a mountain ☺
Thanks Sally. It was fun thinking up the different metaphors for the twins and for Zadeki :) As for mountains - that can be a relative term. Mount Cootha in Brisbane is just officially a mountain but would appear more like a slight blimp in the Himalayas or the Andes. I love the blue lake at Mount Gambia - but have never been to Kadadu - maybe one day...
Thanks Sally. I went to Mt Gambier many years ago and really liked it. I also did a day trip to Kakadu, but don't think I made it to the mountain you're talking about. :) I live on top of a mountain in Toowoomba, so I guess I'm pretty partial to that one (actually part of the Great Dividing Range). But for stunning mountain vistas, Newfoundland and other parts of Canada are probably my faves. thanks for commenting.
I think God has made many, many beautiful mountains in this world of ours!
So true Sally. Hard to pick just one. Thanks for commenting.
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