OH MY GOD, oh my god!! Hey guys! Look, look we have Megan Derr… I know MEGAN DERR *fans self* Megan has blessed our site with her incredible, new release With Pride which is from her brilliant series Princes of the Blood *squee* (okay let me just calm down *deep breath*). Megan tells us not only how Princes of the Blood began but also how they went from ficbit to an epic high fantasy and she has a incredible giveaway where one of you lucky readers will win a copy of With Pride. So I will let you have a look at what Megan has to say, have a look at my review and don’t you dare forget to leave a comment for a chance to win this brilliant book! 😉 ~Pixie~

Megan Derr:   

Expanding a Story.

As previously stated, Princes of the Blood actually began as a couple of really short ficbits I posted to my LJ and later moved to my website (one of them, anyway. Dalibor’s never got moved; I no longer remember why).  So how does a 3700 word ficbit turn into a trilogy totaling 188,000 words?

Lots of caffeine and alcohol to start.

But the first part is figuring out if there’s more story to tell. Luckily for me that question already had a firm yes.

From there, it’s time to cannibalize the original 3700 words to figure out what can be kept and transformed and what will have to go because it worked in short form but will not hold together in long form.

Kristof and Håkon not getting along? Kept. That was the easiest part in the end.

Other bits had to go:  Kristof not understanding how the Princes work mostly had to go, though a small element was retained. Elements of the marriage and why Kristof was marrying him had to change. Hackle got changed to Håkon because Hackle didn’t quit fit anymore.

Pieces retained and fleshed out:  the concept of Håkon needing special blood, that he’s at least in part a demon. There were other things discarded or kept, but that would be spoilery.

So, roughly decided upon what is getting kept, it’s time to move on to expanding those bits.

Most obviously were Kristof and Håkon’s roles. One a paladin, the other royalty. That was changed. Princes of the Blood aren’t royalty, merely the most powerful figures in the Legion. The Legion was the next thing to come, built out from the way I designed the Princes, the way they need pure blood, etc.

A lot of world building elements are thought of all at once. Laying it out makes it look all 1,2,3,4 but really it’s more like 1T56WX3AB9CDG2.

As all of that got sorted out, I had to build the rest of the world: religion, magic system, other bits of the culture. Given they live in the fallout of an ugly war, and everything is shaped very sharply around surviving all the nightmares that plague them, this made for a lot of fun. People are slaughtered by the hundreds, even thousands, often, so keeping the population up is extremely important. You don’t see a lot of women and children (sadly) because they’re kept locked away and safe. Polyamorous marriages are fairly standard (in the beginning of OLR, Raffé is engaged to a man who already has two wives and is hoping that he’ll get along with all of them; Korin is married to Telmé, but they’re good friends with the woman with whom Korin had a daughter; the kings always have 2-3 wives).

Little things matter too. This world tells time in minutes and hours, but they mark the hours with names. Only a few of them are mentioned in the books, but I have the full list. I know the crest and colors of every force within the Legion, and all the Houses.

And all the demons etc. that come into play aren’t entirely made up, either. I spent a lot of time picking out the demons upon which to base various Princes. I drew a map, I worked out the Reaches, I figured out how they survive when pure blood is so hard to come by and people die frequently and often.

After all the little pieces were fleshed out, and I had a rough outline, laying the story out was easy. The original ficbit for Håkon and Kristof was really only the end of their story. So going back to the start, figuring out how they met and what happened from there … expanding the story really wasn’t hard.

If anything, the hardest part of doing something like this is realizing that no story is set in stone. Be it editing, rewriting, or expanding, a story is not a static thing, set down once and never allowed to change. Some of my stories I’m content to leave as they are, but I have no doubt that somebody read it and went ‘I could do this better’ or ‘yeah, but what if I did it this way’.

And they definitely should.

Other stories are like The Lost Prince. Fun as it is, once I said ‘let’s see what else you got,’ it turned into Princes of the Blood and gave me 188,000 words.

As ever, writing is less doing and more doing as one is told.

Much love to everyone for reading my ramblings.

With Pride comes out April 16th from Less Than Three Press (third party vendors will follow after about 24 hours).

Of Last Resort can be found all over. In Despair comes out July 9^th.

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GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment to enter. One lucky winner will get a free copy of With Pride. Giveaway will run until April 22^nd, at which point I will randomly draw the winner. Make certain to leave a way you can be reached! Winner has 24 hours to respond, after which another winner will be chosen.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

<3

Meg

About Megan:

Megan is a long time resident of m/m fiction, and keeps herself busy reading, writing, and publishing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her cats, or watch movies (especially all things James Bond). She loves to hear from readers, and can be found all around the internet.

Less Than Three Press: Megan Derr

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So seeing as Thommie pointed out that some of you might not know about Megan’s Ficbit’s (really! *shakes head*)I am sharing the direct link

http://maderr.com/?page_id=232

Title: With Pride

Series: Princes of the Blood 02

Author: Megan Derr

Genre: High Fantasy

Length: Novel (231pgs)

ISBN: 9781620043202

Publisher: Less Than Three Press (16^th April 2014)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: When his sister falls ill, Kristof is ordered to assume a duty never meant for him: become the Duke of Stehlmore and marry a notorious Prince of the Blood. It is one of the oldest honors and duties undertaken by his family, but Kristof feels only resentment that he must leave behind all he knows to serve an arrogant half-demon.

His resentment must be set aside, however, when evil is found lurking far too close to the castle—an evil that has many pieces, controlled by someone they cannot find and who always seems one step ahead of them. Someone who seems to think that demons are little more than toys … 

Purchase Link: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=92&products_id=576

Review: This story is part of a series and can be read in any order. Kristof was never meant to become the Duke of Stehlmore but when his sister is taken ill and his brother assumes her duties Kristof has no choice but to forget the life he had planned and accept his fate as the betrothed of a Prince of the Blood. Kristof has to set aside his fear and resentment when danger comes close to the palace and an evil lurking in the land begins to show its face, and when his betrothed goes missing Kristof is determined to find him even if he has to go against the King.

This story is a brilliant addition to the Prince of the Blood series where we get to know the story between two of the characters we met in Of Last Resort. Kristof is resentful of being torn away from the life he expected but he accepts his fate with gritted teeth and swears to do his duty to his country and family…. No matter how much it will hurt. Håkon acts like a brat and makes no exceptions for his betrothed; he makes assumptions about the bigger man and is quickly dissuaded when he spends more time and works with Kristof. But it might be too late when Håkon wakes up on an island with no way off and an evil that has seeped into the bedrock. This rollercoaster ride of a story has dangers and action and a relationship that looks doomed, but with a Prince of the Blood and a Paladin anything could happen.

So if you read Of Last Resort you will remember Kristof and Håkon as the besotted couple who adored each other, you will also remember when Alrin briefly explain his great friendship with both men, well I for one had wanted to learn more and we definitely find out the entire story now (and if you haven’t read Of Last Resort… what were you thinking!). Kristof is a great man but with one little problem when it comes to demons and it certainly messes things up for him when he is told to marry one of the half-demon Princes of the Blood. Håkon is used to larger men throwing their weight around so treats all large men with disdain, even his betrothed. Neither man is happy with what they have been told to do, and they both have things from their past that still affect them, but when it comes down to it they manage to conquer the past for a future together.

This is another exceptional high fantasy story from Megan Derr, immersing us in a fantastic world where danger is always just around the corner. The world building is wonderful and very descriptive, letting us sink into the story and fully enjoy the world we find ourselves in. We learn a lot about both men and their backgrounds so we understand why both men are the way they are and what drives them. Their relationship is shaky right from their first meeting and it is a hard battle for both of them to get to a place of understanding, both characters are wonderful in their own way. The excitement of the mystery and hunt for the wrongdoer is brilliantly written especially with the slight twist of it being linked to Håkon’s past… now that I never saw coming.

I have no choice but to recommend this to those who love high fantasy, demons, twisting storylines, action and danger, a doomed relationship finding a way forward and two men never giving up.