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.

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.

If You Like "Lost Girl" You Might like My Novel (spoilers for the show—not my novel)

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Lost Girl, a promotional image found via google images. 

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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!.

Lost Girl: A supernatural drama tv show spanning five seasons from 2010 to 2015.  The show features a female protagonist, Bo, moving constantly to hide from her past.  First episode she discovers she’s a fae (specifically a succubus) and part of a secret magical society living alongside humanity.  Bo struggles to understand the rules of this new society and find her place in either a human or fae society.  Throughout the seasons Bo gains friendships and loyalties of many around her.  These relationships teach Bo more nuances in fae society but also set her on a path to seek a more just and fair system for all fae and humans. For more details check out the Wikipedia article.

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

A surprising amount.  I found this show in 2015 and was hooked.  There is so much in it I want in my media (and therefor was building into my novel).  If you're looking for an urban fantasy with attitude and heart, I can't recommend Lost Girl enough.

Both works feature a strong female protagonist who embraces both “feminine wiles” and more physical strength as needed.  Bo, as a succubus is far more sexual than Roxi, where Roxi relies more on brute force.  It’s unexpected for a petite woman in heels to punch first and ask questions later and Roxi takes full advantage of this surprise to spend less time with people she’s decided aren’t worth oxygen.  I love that both Bo and Roxi are honest in their relationships and don't hesitate to let others know when they've crossed a line.

Bo and Roxi both start their journey as outsiders.  They've decided various aspects of the society they live in are stupid or unjust, and neither have the patience to work "within the system" for change.  Instead both choose to live outside the prescribed social system.

Both characters struggle to connect with others around them.  The two tend to pick up "strays" or fellow disenfranchised people/fae, become protective of these people, and then strive to make changes in their respective worlds for these people they've begrudgingly come to care for.  

Both Follow Me: Tattered Veils and Lost Girl have dramas focused on many various kinds of fae.  Lost Girl fleshes out the fae using different categories and names to explain why some fae are sensitive iron and others song.  If Follow Me: Tattered Veils were a longer format, it would also categorize fae and explaining the contrary reactions some fae have to the same stimulus.  Since it’s a single novel, it leans in too many fae myths and hints at elements more explicit in Lost Girl.

Lost Girl takes place in a modern Canadian suburb and Follow Me: Tattered Veils takes place in Huntsville, AL.  Both the tv show and my novel incorporate today’s technology.  Our versions of fae embrace the new tech as human counterparts have.  Instead of magic “breaking” technology, the two work together to build on the character’s strengths and weaknesses.  Allowing technology and magic to blend is rarer in the urban fantasy genre, but can lead to unique and interesting results.

Did you love Lost Girl?  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.

Haven't seen Lost Girl yet but want to now?  Check it out at Amazon or Netflix

Haven't decided if "Follow Me: Tattered Veils" is right for you? Here's: American Gods 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.

Honest Comparison: Pitching a Book When You Have Too

photo of koi at Big Spring Park taken by me 

I’ve long disdained elevator pitches.  “It’s like if  The Shining and Anne of Green Gables had a love child.” *eye roll*. 🙄

“Why can’t your story ever be new?  Why do you always have to copy something else?” I thought.  

It never occurred to me that writers create something new and then try to come up with comparisons.  But here I am, a little over a month from publishing Follow Me: Tattered Veils and I have a new perspective on comparing one work to another.  

First off, I’ve realized that many (perhaps most) people start with an idea, create said thing, and then go back to find something successful they can link it too (or at least that’s what I’ve done).    I’m not trying to ride something else’s coattails, I’m trying to draw in an audience who enjoys stuff like what I’ve made.  One way to help people know if they’ll like the book, is to compare it to stuff they are already familiar with.  

Right now I have 9 works—10 if I stretch that I could compare elements of Follow Me: Tattered Veils  to.  Over the next few months, I’ll going to drop these comparisons here on my blog to help readers know “do I want to read this?”  

This is my first time pitching my book to a general audience, and I’m apprehensive about it.  I feels pretentious to compare my debut novel to some of these amazing works, and I worry my book comes out lesser when I place it next to something else.   

I worry about spoiling my book and the thing I’m comparing.  How much information is too much?  

Last, I don’t want to be too commercial.  I want to scream “I’ve got a book and you should buy it“ from the rooftops all day every day.  I’m that proud.  However, I’m also really sensitive to this idea I might annoy people or over saturate a small group of supporters with what feels like adds.  

So I am posting these comparisons in between other content and I’ve written this small burb explaining what I’m doing and why.  I feel the thin line between too much advertising and pointing people to something they might like is being stretched more all the time.

Talk to me!  How do you/did you find the right audience for your work?  What do you think of elevator pitches?  How do you construct them (if you do)?

Want to jump right into the creative works that have some similarities to mine? Check out: Lost Girl Comparison, American Gods 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.

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.