Does “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” Fit into the Hero’s Journey?

image from a google search

Notes: I’m using Vogler’s 12 steps of the Hero’s Journey and there will be some spoilers for my novel in this post.  As both Campbell and Vogler state that not every step on the journey needs to happen in every story, it's hard to judge if one’s story is a hero’s journey.  For this post I’m looking for my book “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” to have 7 of the 12 steps or over half.  

1. The Ordinary World—a snapshot of the world our characters live/work in day to day.  It establishes a status quo before something comes and tears it to pieces.  First chapter of “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” is an establishing shot, but it’s not an idyllic world I’m trying to start the book off kilter with something already wrong out and about in the world.  And readers don’t meet my hero they meet the villain. 0 points.

2. The Call to Adventure—this is about pushing the hero out of their comfort zone.  Could be a quest or an attack or something else.  The definition is so vague, I think all books have something we could identify as the “call.”  “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” has 2 “calls to adventure”, one for my hero and the other for my villain.  The first call happens to Gerry in chapter 3 where he thinks, “If she noticed him once, how hard will it be to get the right kind of attention a second time?”  Gerry’s entire year focuses on capturing Roxi.  For Roxi her “call” happens in Chapter 4 and is less quotable, but she’s given a message from her god.  1 point.  

3. Refusal of the Call—where the main character denies the invite and attempts to stay in their safe, ordinary world.  This is a re-occurring and boring trope.  As readers we already know the hero will go do the thing, let’s just skip the pouty whining and get into it shall we?  Neither protagonist nor antagonist in “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” fight their mission.  0 points.

4. Meeting the Mentor—The hero agrees to the journey, but they lack the skills or resources to succeed.  Enter the mentor could be a person or item (like a map or a powerful sword).  I don’t like fetch quests and I think the whole “mysterious old man” is played out.  In my head whenever I hear the term mentor I think of Phil, the centaur from Disney’s Hercules and yeah that guy won’t be in any of my stories.  No special items or advisors in my story! 0 points.

5. Crossing the Threshold—This is the part where the adventure kicks off, where we see our hero go forth with commitment to their new goal.  Gerry works to his new goal in Chapter 6, though we only learn about his involvement in chapter 9.  He tries again in chapters 11 and chapters 20 with mounting tension.  Roxi’s goal is more nebulous and harder to achieve, but she strikes out on her path in chapter 7.  1 point.  

6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies—Here the hero gets acclimated with their new world, goes through tests, and gains friends/assets for their final showdown.  Since Roxi’s entire mission within “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” is to gain friends/allies, she technically does this.  The series of social interactions that bond her to the girls and Roxi’s eventual lover aren’t battle hardened action pieces, but they show Roxi floundering, fighting with herself, and doing something she considered scary.  Gerry sets up trials until he realizes what he’s doing wrong and moves to alter it.  Not sure either do what this step intends so 1/2 point?

7. Approach the Inner Most Cave—Where the hero reaches the most dangerous part of their journey “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” has this, it’s when Roxi and Gerry have their face-to-face meeting. 1 point.  

8. Ordeal—The hero faces a test.  Roxi and Gerry make a wager and it sends Roxi on a dangerous quest to reclaim her friends before time runs out.  1 point.

9. Reward—The end is in sight and the hero can see everything they’ve worked for coming together.  Roxi enjoys a moment of this in chapter 28 and so does Gerry.  1 point.  

10. The Road Back—So the hero has the prize and must return the ordinary world.  The journey should be harrowing.  Um, “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” goes way off the rails here.  Both for Gerry and Roxi.  Neither achieves what they want.  Roxi creates a plan to get some of what she wants, and there is a literal flight from faeryworld, but it just doesn’t seem to match this phase to me… besides which all of this happens in pages not a 3rd act.  0 points.  

11. Resurrection—Where the villain gets one last chance to conquer the hero.  The hero may get to use the reward at this point in the story to defeat the villain.  Roxi and Gerry have a final face off. 1 point.

12. Return with the Elixir— Hero returns home older and wiser.  They may have gained knowledge or an item.  Roxi does returns to her home, and she is changed by her journey through faeryworld.  While Roxi’s return is not complete, I believe her goal to reconnect with the world around her and to become more social and connected with her feeling is a success.  1 point.

Out of 12 points, I have 7and 1/2.  I am surprised to say that “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” happens align with the hero’s journey.  I feel like I forced a few plot points to fit these descriptions, and I don’t think calling my book a hero’s journey tells readers much about the content.  Still, this was an interesting exercise.  

Talk to me!  Does your story also follow this sequence?  What do you think of the twelve steps? Are you like me and despise some suggested stops, or do you think each is crucial?   

If You Like "The Forbidden Game" You Might like My Novel (minor spoilers for both works...though nothing that gives the stories away)

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The original Forbidden Game book cover I picked up over a decade ago found via google.

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Follow Me: Tattered Veils wide image art work created by Jake @ J Caleb Designs

The Forbidden Game: A series by L. J. Smith about a highschool girl Jenny who's gained the attention of an immortal being, Julian.  After many years of watching over and protecting Jenny, Julian lures her and her friends into his world through a board game.  The group needs to make it to a tower before dawn to escape his clutches, but to do so they will have to each face their own worst nightmares.  

What does this series and Follow Me: Tattered Veils share? 

Gerry, like Julian has an obsession for the protagonist, Roxi and Roxi, like Jenny, is unaware of Gerry’s obsession until he enacts his plan to capture her.  Both stories have a friend group whom the protagonist must save.  Both characters romp through a supernatural world that doesn’t seem to follow any hard and fast rules.

The better question might be why two separate books for what feels like very similar ideas?  It's hard to spell out the difference without spoiling each individual story, but I will try to hit some larger points.

Julian is portrayed in the first two books as an all powerful being.  He is far more powerful the the human protagonists.  However book three reveals Julian to be a young and far weaker member of his race.  Book three also shows that Julian, who is portrayed as lacking empathy or emotion actually has more than he revealed and is an emo kid compared to the elders of his race.  

Meanwhile, Gerry is the king of the fae.  He is the most powerful of his people and expects praise, worship, and deference as his due.  Gerry shows emotion often, it isn't alway in sync with how a human would react to a situation but he shows joy, amusement, boredom, anger, and frustration to mention a full range of emotions.  There is no emotional moment where are tearful Roxi says something like "you don't care at all do you?" and Gerry smiles and shrugs, though Julian and Jenny get this moment multiple times in their work.

Jenny and Roxi are very different characters.  Jenny's popular, has a long term boyfriend, and still in high school.  Roxi is isolated and resents the society she lives in.  Jenny is used to people and systems that work for her while Roxi is more used to fighting for things.  This creates a harder protagonists vs one who can fall weepy at times.  

Roxi is older than Jenny too.  At twenty-three she stands in the "adult" camp, though her actions indicate she has some emotionally stunted growth related to an unrevealed past.  Roxi sometimes acts with a younger character's immaturity but she never hesitates to take advantage of all the rights and privileges adulthood bestows.  She doesn't answer to parents or any other authority structure.

Jenny is attracted and repelled by Julian at the same time.  There is no romantic subplot between Roxi and Gerry.    Some of this may be a when it was written and who the works were written for situation.  There was a period in the 90s when a boy/ immortal being stalking you was considered very romantic, especially when written a certain way.  I never agreed, so I'm thankful that now we call this kind of story out for promoting unhealthy creepy behavior.

The Forbidden Game is a young adult series, a good one adults may also enjoy, but the story beats, the scares, and so on are geared for a fourteen to seventeen audience.  Follow Me: Tattered Veils is geared for a new adult audience.  The situations, scares, and story beats are all for a more mature audience.  I think if you like one series, you'll like the other too.  And I'd love to do a more detailed post comparing and contrasting all the little tidbits, but I don't want to spoil a novel I haven't released yet!  

Did you love The Forbidden Game?  Were any of these elements you loved?  If so consider picking up Follow Me: Tattered Veils when it releases in February.  Check out my website jessicadonegan.com for more details.

Head Hopping as Lazy

This post continues a discussion we began at the NAWG blog regarding 1st person and limited 3rd person narratives where the character narrating changes through out the book.  Feel free to check out that post or just start here!

Yes, head hopping, like any story telling device can be lazy.  Answer unlocked we can all go home now.  

But lazy how and to whom and what metrics can we use to verify? 

In my novel Follow Me: Tattered Veils, I have 3 chapters that are told from minor character’s perspectives.  Each of those chapters are HUGE moments in the book.  They may be my 3 favorite chapters.  

Still, in a 29 chapter book where all the other chapters are told from my protagonist’s or my antagonist’s view points, I had to ask myself “Are these 3 chapters lazy?  Are their other ways I could give the readers this information?” Or conversely “Should I add more split perspectives from minor characters to make these three chapters blend more?”

Since these chapters remain in the final book, it’s clear what my conclusions were, but I believe there’s a valid argument one could make for why these chapters were lazy.

1. I could have told all 3 of these chapters from either Roxi or Gerry’s perspective.  

• “Snares” wouldn’t have been as much of a gut punch, but it’s almost unchanged if I split the perspective between Roxi and Gerry.

• “Waiting, Waiting, and More Waiting” COULD be more tense with a split perspective between Roxi and Gerry.  On one side we’d have Roxi idle chit chat and waiting in line and the other is Gerry watching, waiting for his moment to hit Claire’s Facebook feed and get the group to come his way.  I would have lost the opportunity to redeem Alice or to make her more than a “mean girl” but I may have gained more story continuity.

• “After the Party” can be told from Roxi’s perspective, though it’s WHOLE POINT in the book would be lost.  The reason that chapter exists is because I want readers to see more of Conor and they get that from his take on the night, not from the events themselves—but people could argue that readers don’t need to know Conor.

2. OR I could have added more head hopping to make these chapters “fit” better. 

• The most obvious place to add split perspectives is in faeryworld.  One chapter Roxi’s journey and the next chapter check in on where another character is and how they’re handling their night.—I didn’t do this because I like the flow of Roxi’s journey for place to place without the breaks these chapters would create.  AND I wanted readers to be surprised with Roxi at what she encountered, not spoiled through someone else’s perspective. 

• I could have created mini-adventures for each character and created more “slice of life” in the middle sections—I was so busy pairing things down in this section, adding anything non-essential seemed terrible.

I stand by my literary decisions.  I love these chapters, but I 100% see where people might argue they are lazy.  

So yeah, even head hopping done well might be lazy.  There might be more interesting, more complex solutions to a story issue and one should explore them, but that’s not the same as choosing it.  I compare head hopping to a showing vs telling issue.  I think there are cases where telling just moves the story on to the good stuff faster and head hopping may do the same.  You don’t know any of that until you do both and see which works best for your story.  

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!  Please go look at "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" and see if it might be a story that interests you.

Looking for more posts about the writing and publishing process?  Check out more posts on my novel publication process: Going Through Copy Edits, 1st Daft vs 2nd Draft, Goal Planning: Getting Through the First Draft, My Character Looks Nothing Like My MC, Cover Art: Truth in Advertising, and Post Book Launch: Reflections.  

Want to know more about my novel?  Check out my childhood stories recapping themes in my life I hope prepared me to write this book: Remember the Magic of Santa?, Closet Monsters: Gone too Far?, and Garden Gnomes and other Evils.

OR check out my series where I find similarities between my novel and other popular media.  Hopefully it gives you a better idea whether there are elements in my book you may enjoy. Lost Girl Comparison, American Gods Comparison, and The O.A. Comparison.

If You Like "The O.A." You Might like My Novel (spoilers for the show—not my novel)

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promotional imagery from The O.A. found via google

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Follow Me: Tattered Veils wide image art work created by Jake @ J Caleb Designs

This is part of my Honest Comparison series.  Hopefully, it helps you decide if my novel might be something you'd enjoy reading.  Thanks for tuning in!.

The O.A. : A Netflix show featuring a female protagonist who disappeared years ago and when she resurfaces, the once blind woman can see.  Prairie, now referring to herself as the O.A. has been through something traumatic, but she won’t share with the FBI or her adopted family.  Instead, she recruits four highschool students and a teacher whom she tells her story to and asks they help her save four other captives she left behind.  Teeming with supernatural, scifi, and fantasy elements, the show is a slow burning mystery told at the survivor’s pace.

What does this series and Follow Me: Tattered Veils share? 

Follow Me: Tattered Veils and The O.A. season one share a slow burn full of tension.  Both stories unfold at the protagonist’s pace instead of the viewer’s desired speed or the speed the surrounding cast may prefer.  The O.A. and Roxi make readers wait for it, but the release is all the sweeter because of the building.

Both the O.A. and Roxi have spiritual and esoteric knowledge the world around them doesn’t value.  As their respective stories unfold, their knowledge gains value, and becomes the key to their ability to survive their situations.  

Both The O.A. and Roxi share stories of strife and survival against all odds.  Their antagonists have an insidious obsession with them and even when they break free of these men’s power, the men refuse to leave them alone.  Questions of stalking, possession, and the toxicity of the male gaze are rife in the narrative.

Lastly both stories use established myth as a connecting foundation.  Even though views consider these myths and not truths in their lives, the audiences' familiarity with the original myth helps to build credibility and a sense of realism to the experiences the O.A. and Roxi go through.  Like an urban legend one might debate the validity of because a cousin's friend once said something like that happened to them, these old myths help ground the fantastic and bring it into the realm of possible.   The O.A. uses angelic myths and after life experience stories to weave it’s narrative.  Follow Me: Tattered Veils uses a collection of Italian, Greek, and Irish mythology to grow its own story.

Did you love The O.A.?  Were any of these elements you loved?  If so consider picking up Follow Me: Tattered Veils.

Still unsure about purchasing my novel? Check out  Lost Girl Comparison and American Gods Comparison for more context.

Looking for more posts about the writing and publishing process?  Check out more posts on my novel publication process: Going Through Copy Edits, 1st Daft vs 2nd Draft, Goal Planning: Getting Through the First Draft, My Character Looks Nothing Like My MC, Cover Art: Turth in Advertising, and Post Book Launch: Reflections.  

Want to know more about my novel?  Check out my childhood stories recapping themes in my life I hope prepared me to write this book: Remember the Magic of Santa?, Closet Monsters: Gone too Far?, and Garden Gnomes and other Evils.

Need an introduction to Roxi Starr? Here's her performing an Imbolc ritual to help whet some appetites.

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!  Please go look at "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" and see if it might be a story that interests you.

And for updates please check out jessicadonegan.com and subscribe.

4 Ways I Use Sigils as a Writer

sigil for my word of the year "Manifest"

While sigils have different uses historically, here we’re considering them symbols that represent another word or phrase.  They embody a whole string of words or ideas in a more simplistic way.  

The writer in me loves dead languages, codes, and creating whole cloth new words/ideas.  It’s little wonder sigils have lasting appeal.  Today I will cover 4 ways I use sigils to help me write.   

1. I make sigils for my book titles (and working book titles) and it helps me get into the atmosphere of my books.  So “Follow Me: Tattered Veils” is a mouthful, and its acronym FMTV feels ugly, plus the TV reminds me of television and I HATE that.  So instead, I use a sigil for the book.  Since I created the sigil, something about its flow and design helps me feel more true to the contents of the book.  It looks like this:  

2. I make sigils for characters in my books.  I’m not an artist.  I make mediocre chibis sometimes, but nothing I’d share or want to represent my written ideas.  You can make a collection of lines that look cool with little skill or time.  So I collect the character’s name and defining traits and make a sigil from that, which represent the character in my outlines.  

3.  Sometimes I use sigils to refer to spoilers or different endings.  Here’s the paranoid writer in me.  I don’t like for people to see what I’m working on until I’m ready.  Sometimes I use sigils to further obscure what I’m working on in case there is a casual person looking over my shoulder (my husband and I KNOW he doesn’t care, but I don’t want him to read even a stray word).  But the symbols take on their own emotional resonance.  They can help color the events of a story with their curves and points before I even write the scene. 

4. Sigils can be motivational.  I made a sigil out of my writers’ goals for the year and I look at them/doodle them just whenever.  I reinforce those commitments and sometimes drives me back to them when I was clowning around.

Did you enjoy this post and want more sigil goodness?  Check out An Urban Fantasy Writer's Toolkit: Sigils. 

Looking for more posts about the writing and publishing process?  Check out more posts on my novel publication process: Going Through Copy Edits, 1st Daft vs 2nd Draft, Goal Planning: Getting Through the First Draft, My Character Looks Nothing Like My MC, Cover Art: Truth in Advertising, and Post Book Launch: Reflections.  

Want to know more about my novel?  Check out my childhood stories recapping themes in my life I hope prepared me to write this book: Remember the Magic of Santa?, Closet Monsters: Gone too Far?, and Garden Gnomes and other Evils.

OR check out my series where I find similarities between my novel and other popular media.  Hopefully it gives you a better idea whether there are elements in my book you may enjoy. Lost Girl Comparison, American Gods Comparison, and The O.A. Comparison.

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!  Please go look at "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" and see if it might be a story that interests you.

If You Like "American Gods" You Might like My Novel (mild spoilers for the book/show—not my novel)

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Original American Gods book cover.

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Follow Me: Tattered Veils wide image art work created by Jake @ J Caleb Designs

This is part of my Honest Comparison series.  Hopefully, it helps you decide if my novel might be something you'd enjoy reading.  Thanks for tuning in!.

American Gods: is a novel by Neil Gaiman that's seeing a resurgence in popularity as a Starz TV show based on the book just finished its second season.  The basic premise Shadow, upon his release from prison, agrees to work as a bodyguard to Mr. Wednesday.  The two go on a road trip recruiting various associates of Mr. Wednesday.  A bunch of stuff happens that I would spoil if I went any further.  It’s a great supernatural/fantasy hybrid story that incorporates many kinds of storytelling.

What does this series and Follow Me: Tattered Veils share? 

One element both this story and mine have in common is that the magical/supernatural world intertwines with the mundane world readers know.  It’s happening next to us non-magical people and we’re just not looking at it.

In American Gods, gods and mythical creatures are just chilling on the human plane, working mundane jobs, and interacting with humans as they feel is best for their survival.  The inhuman beings in Follow Me: Tattered Veils are like that too.  They show up and bless or curse humans as they feel appropriate.  And just because the characters’ have ended the summoning or the ritual, doesn’t mean the beings they called have left.

American Gods uses real road trip landmarks as mystical energy centric places for gods and supernatural creatures to gather.  Since these places are real, readers can create their own American Gods style road trip if they desire, but it also helps to ground some more fantastic elements of the narrative in the real world.  I went to Rock City because of how it’s featured in American Gods and how I experienced that place was impacted by Gaiman’s description.  I’m aspiring to do the same for a few locations in Huntsville, Alabama.  

The characters in American Gods and Follow Me: Tattered Veils have critical flaws.  Sometimes the characters are down right unlikable.  What drives a reader to keep going is how interesting they are, it's a different type of charisma.  No one wants to sit down and have a beer with them, but they might be curious to see what the next move is anyway.  

While never intended for this use, American Gods comes up a lot in American pagan discussions.  There are a subset of polytheistic pagans in America who wonder what gods to honor.  We don't have ancient land gods like our European cousins (we do, they are Native American deities but there is a whole side discussion over whether we should/can honor these gods and which gods apply to which territory/how we would verify this info with the still living Native peoples).  I can't tell you how often "This is a bad land for gods," was quoted in a forum.  While not a religious or theological texts, American Gods creates a jumping off point to start discussing what it would mean if there were multiple gods, if those gods had limited powers, and if those gods had a fluctuating morality.  

Follow Me: Tattered Veils is a smaller, more personal story.  It doesn't discuss the nature of gods and how they may exist in a non native landscape.  Instead it tackles one woman modernizing an older practice to suit her lifestyle and it further tackles what happens when myths and legends are real and interacting with each other in the real world.  I don't expect it to be an intro to paganism, but I do think it may open a conversation up on many magic and legend based topics.

Did you love American Gods?    Have you read the book, watched the show, or both?  Do you like the book or the show better? Were any of these elements parts you loved?  If so consider picking up Follow Me: Tattered Veils when it releases in February.  Check out my website jessicadonegan.com for more details.

Haven't read American Gods yet but want to now?  Check it out at Amazon.  Looking for the show?  Look here.

Still undecided on whether you want to give my novel a chance? There's more stuff to help you! Check out:  Lost Girl Comparison and The O.A. Comparison.

Looking for more posts about the writing and publishing process?  Check out more posts on my novel publication process: Going Through Copy Edits, 1st Daft vs 2nd Draft, Goal Planning: Getting Through the First Draft, My Character Looks Nothing Like My MC, Cover Art: Turth in Advertising, and Post Book Launch: Reflections.  

Want to know more about my novel?  Check out my childhood stories recapping themes in my life I hope prepared me to write this book: Remember the Magic of Santa?, Closet Monsters: Gone too Far?, and Garden Gnomes and other Evils.

Need an introduction to Roxi Starr? Here's her performing an Imbolc ritual to help whet some appetites.

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!  Please go look at "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" and see if it might be a story that interests you.

And for updates please check out jessicadonegan.com and subscribe.

The Character On The Cover Looks Nothing Like The MC!

image by J. Caleb Design all rights are mine

The Roxi on the cover of my novel doesn’t match how I describe Roxi in the book.  Today I will go through the differences and explain how they came about.  

Spoiler alert, it has NOTHING to do with my cover artist.  J. Caleb Design did amazing work.  He is patient, open, and easy to work with.  He would have adjusted whatever I wanted and made it look good.

1. Roxi has blue eyes on the cover and brown in the book.— blue eye color pops with the background and brown doesn’t, yeah it’s that simple.

2. Roxi has tattoos on her chest, while book Roxi only has tattoos on her arm, shoulder and back.—Roxi is wearing a cool jacket and the only way to communicate her tattoos from this pose was to have put them on her chest.  Yes, I could have asked for another pose or outfit, but the whole appearance seemed fitting and I didn’t want to make major changes to artwork that was working.  Anyone who’s tried to get cover art knows sometimes changing the smallest thing ruins it and can leave you feeling "how do I to fix it?”

3. Roxi’s tattoos are draw in black line work on the cover but in the book they have full color descriptions—The black line work stands out as color would not in this cover.  I suppose I could have used a dark background and brightened Roxi’s image with color tattoos, but it would have messed with how the title and my author name pop, and it was just cleaner to suggest the true nature of her tats over showing it.  

4. Roxi’s hair is shorter on the cover vs the book description—I tried a character with longer hair, it took away from the sense of movement this character has AND it made Roxi look unapproachable, which is something she may desire but is not a great look for a main character to sport on a cover.  I kinda loved that cover design but EVERYONE else HATED Roxi and found her unapproachable in that character design… I learned a lot about me and my internal perspectives in this process.

5. The bridge Roxi’s walking over is a real place (Big Spring Park’s Japanese Friendship bridge) and it has railing—Again tried a cover with a railing, it was cool but too busy.  Put emphasis back on Roxi by lowering the bridge.

Overall, I think my cover captures the spirit of the book, even if it lacks a photo realistic representation of its contents.  What do you think?  Should I have made Roxi’s image match my descriptions?  Do you like the cover, or would you have gone a different way?  Should Roxi even be on the cover?

Hungry for more book cover content?  Check out Cover Art: Truth in Advertising? where I explore  more general reasons the cover may not match the book.  

Looking for more posts about the writing and publishing process?  Check out more posts on my novel publication process: Going Through Copy Edits, 1st Daft vs 2nd Draft, Goal Planning: Getting Through the First Draft, and Post Book Launch: Reflections.  

Want to know more about my novel?  Check out my childhood stories recapping themes in my life I hope prepared me to write this book: Remember the Magic of Santa?, Closet Monsters: Gone too Far?, and Garden Gnomes and other Evils.

OR check out my series where I find similarities between my novel and other popular media.  Hopefully it gives you a better idea whether there are elements in my book you may enjoy. Lost Girl Comparison, American Gods Comparison, and The O.A. Comparison.

I have an extra out on my blog too. See Roxi perform an Imbolc Ritual and get a little extrai "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" flavor.

MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON!!!  Please go look at "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" and see if it might be a story that interests you.

And for updates please check out jessicadonegan.com and subscribe.