Wattpad brings you a guest post from Anthea Sharp, author of Feyland: The Dark Realm, an urban fantasy novel!
What if a computer game was actually a portal to the Realm of Faerie?
That idea took hold of me two years ago, and I started writing Feyland: The Dark Realm. The book features two teen gamers—Jennet and Tam—who must overcome their differences and work together to save one another, and ultimately the mortal world.
I’ve read urban fantasy for years, and always loved stories of people transported into fantastical realms. The first books I remember being able to read by myself were Fairy Tales. When I was seven years old, I was given the complete set of Andrew Lang’s colored Fairy books and devoured them until they were completely falling apart.
While I don’t have actual experience with the faeries, I am a gamer girl. From the early days of Zork, to World of Warcraft, I’ve enjoyed playing in fantasy-based computer worlds. I started thinking about the similarities between the experience of gaming and the tales of mortals who are transported to fairyland.
Both are fantastical experiences, full of magic and danger. Time is distorted, with mere minutes translating to hours passing in the outside world. Despite its dangers, mortals are fascinated by the lure of the magical realm, and pine for it—sometimes desperately—when back in the real world.
What if, in a near-future world, computer games immersed the player even more completely? And what if a game became a portal to someplace beyond fantastical—the Realm of Faerie? Those were the musings that planted the seed of Feyland in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more fun I had imagining the story, and all the troubles my characters would face, both in-game and out.
The game of Feyland will feel familiar to anyone who has played a fantasy-based MMO—that is, until the magical elements appear and start skewing the game-play. My favorite part of writing the story was throwing all kinds of crazy curveballs at my hero and heroine. Just when they think they have things figured out, everything changes again. Not only is the game messing with them, they each have their own issues to sort out, plus an attraction that threatens to upset the delicate balance of their in-game alliance.
Even though there are a few inside references, the reader doesn’t have to be a gamer to enjoy the story—just a fan of adventure mixed with a bit of fantasy/sci-fi and a touch of romance.
Once I had the concept of combining high-tech gaming with the Realm of Faerie, I knew I wanted to incorporate elements of old faerie ballads into the novel. The Ballad of Tam Lin, in particular, features the guy getting rescued by the girl. It was really fun doing a modern re-telling of the elements of the ballad, and sprinkling bits of faerie lore all through the book.
I’m delighted to offer the complete novel of Feyland: The Dark Realm at Wattpad. I’ve had rave reviews from a wide spectrum of readers: gamers, teens, adults, fantasy readers, speculative fiction folks, romance readers. I can hardly wait for this story to reach more readers!
The second book in the trilogy, Feyland: The Bright Court, is now out, and the final book, Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom, will be released this fall. The novels are available as print books, as well as in all ebook formats, from most online retailers.
I’m excited to be part of Wattpad’s Writer Partner Program. Happy reading, everyone!
Come visit/friend/follow me~
Website: www.AntheaSharp.com
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/AntheaSharp
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5294897.Anthea_Sharp
FB: www.facebook.com/AntheaSharp
Twitter: http://twitter.com/antheasharp