After publishing Magic Most Deadly, I struggled considerably with writing the sequel. I struggled so much, in fact, that I ended up writing an entirely different book, my sci-fi novel From the Shadows! But I knew I wanted to get back to Maia and Len eventually, and so finally I hit on the idea of a collection of short stories to ease me back into that world. I ended up with four stories, one of which featured Maia, one Len, and two with unrelated characters (although fan favorite Aunt Amelia did make a cameo appearance in one!). It was a fun exercise that allowed to me to explore the world I had created a little bit more, and did give me the impetus I needed to finally break through my block and write Glamours and Gunshots … but that’s tomorrow’s post.
I especially enjoyed playing around with different styles in these short stories. The Third Thief has a bit of a Margery Allingham flavor to it; Passion and Practicality is very much a homage to Jane Austen; Masks and the Magician was meant to evoke a Dorothy L Sayers feel. Many Magical Returns, well, that one was all me. I enjoyed writing all of them, though I think I snickered to myself the most through Passion and Practicality. I tend to struggle a bit with short stories in general, as I always initially attempt to shove more plot in than can nicely fit in under 10,000 words, so this was a good growing experience for me as a writer as well as helping me to re-orient myself in the Whitney and Davies world. It also gave me a chance to tease out a bit more of the way magic works in this world, and to figure out some of the implications of principles and facts I had stated in the first book.
It was also helpful for me to realize that as much as I enjoyed writing individual stories for Maia and Len, I love writing them the most when they’re working together, which was, as stated above, tremendously helpful for when I was finally able to work through my creative block and make something good of Book 2 … of which you shall hear more tomorrow!
