Bringing the Real World into Fantasy YA

A wise old friend once told me: In order to be successful in anything in life, you mus surround yourself with like-minded people. Learn from each other and grow. 
Taking that advice, I'd like to splatter Young Adult Fantasy Author Vicki Weavil with a round of applause and gratitude. She's here to share wisdom from her writing arsenal about giving tangible breath to tales of fantasy. And lets all congratulate her on the release of her YA fantasy novel CROWN OF ICE.  

CROWN OF ICE by Vicki L. Weavil Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo  Chapters Indigo! | TBD | iBooks | Goodreads
Genre: YA Fantasy Publisher: Month9Books, LLC Release Date: September 9, 2014
Description: Thyra Winther’s seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can’t reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she’s doomed to spend eternity as a wraith.

Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal.

A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai’s childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra’s willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts — to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup’s devotion and the fire of a young man’s desire, the thawing of Thyra’s frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing.

CROWN OF ICE is a YA Fantasy that reinvents Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” from the perspective of a young woman who discovers that the greatest threat to her survival may be her own humanity.

Bringing the Real World into Fantasy – Human Emotions in CROWN OF ICE

by Vicki Weavil

Although CROWN OF ICE is a fantasy, its characters are very human. Well, except for the talking reindeer and a wolf pup, of course!

But the main characters, despite a few of them possessing magical powers, are still human beings. Even the sorcerer, Mael Voss, is mortal, although he’s used his abilities to significantly lengthen his life.

With this in mind, I wrote the characters in CROWN to reflect real human emotions, including hate, jealousy, fear, selfishness … and love. Especially love, because at its core, the true theme of CROWN OF ICE is love. Not just romantic love, although that’s part of the story, but also the love of friends and family, and the love animals give us, as well as the love we hold for them.

The main character in CROWN is Thyra Winther, a young woman whose life has been bleak and cruel. Orphaned at a young age, she’s raised in an abusive foster home until an evil mage takes her away and transforms her into the Snow Queen. Thyra is smart and a fighter, so she’s survived, but at a price. She’s had to freeze her emotions in order to endure her lonely life.

I wanted to write about a survivor because I’ve known, and admired, so many people who have overcome impossible odds to create a life for themselves. They may have suffered physical or emotional abuse, or had to live with a disability or illness, but they managed to survive. However, often the very coping mechanism that allows them to function in difficult environments becomes a burden later in life. They survive, but may lack skill in establishing and maintaining relationships. They become highly functional, but find they need to rid themselves of the habits and practices that got them through their most painful times in order to live a fulfilling life.

So, for me (and I hope its readers) CROWN OF ICE is not just a tale about the travels of a girl searching for her lost friend, or even the quest of a young Snow Queen to save her mind and body from the agony of spending eternity as a wraith. It’s also the journey Thyra makes from an icy-hearted survivor toward an understanding of love. It’s a story that asks the question—can someone who has frozen their heart ever learn to feel again?

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Vicki Lemp Weavil was raised in a farming community in Virginia, where her life was shaped by a wonderful family, the culture of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and an obsession with reading. Since obtaining her undergraduate degree in Theatre from the University of Virginia, she’s gone on to acquire two masters degrees, living in places as diverse as New York City and rural North Carolina. She’s currently the library director for a performing an visual arts university.  Vicki loves good writing in any genre, and has been known to read seven books in as many days. She enjoys travel, gardening, and the arts. Vicki lives in North Carolina with her husband, son, and some very spoiled cats. 

Author Links:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumbler

Readers, Writers: What's your take on fantasy? 
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