Although for most of the time here I blog about medieval social history, occasionally I like to discuss my fantasy novels, which are informed by real history even though they are not historical fiction. So today I'm going to talk about A Bad Spell in Yurt, my first published novel, and comment on publishing in the thirty-plus years since it first appeared.
It was originally published by Baen as a mass-market (small size) paperback and, after going through three printings, went out of print some time ago. But it's now available again in a variety of formats: ebook on all major e-platforms, trade paperback (larger size) that can be ordered through any bookstore, hardcover from Amazon, and audio book from Audible and iTunes. Here's the link on Amazon.
Sometimes an author will be embarrassed by their first book (especially these days when it's so easy for anyone to self-publish). Alternately, sometimes an author will pour years of ideas and writing and rewriting into their first book, and it remains their favorite and the readers' favorite, as they throw together later books without the same prolonged attention. For me, Bad Spell is somewhere in between. It's my favorite, but I don't think it's my best.
For one thing, it was the first published but by no means the first written. I've been writing stories since I was five, studying "how to write better" guides since high school, and I'd been intermittently submitting stories to publishers for twenty years before Baen bought the book. The editors did suggest some changes that I believe strengthened the story.
The title of course is something of a pun, and the book is fairly light-hearted. Probably this shouldn't be a surprise. After all, when I lecture about medieval history to my students, there's plenty of humor there. I think I tend to see the incongruity and humor in a lot of situations. (I get my sense of humor from my father. Unfortunately he didn't live to see this book.)
But it's not intended to be a laugh-fest. In fact, I've gotten some grumpy reviews about how they expected it to be funnier, and what was with all these serious themes? Because the book does include themes of mortality and redemption and similar knee-slapping topics, and a lot of it concerns people with very different perspectives needing to learn to get along.
My husband persuaded me to make it into a series, our young wizard hero having other adventures over the next 35 years or so of his life, becoming actually decent at magic in the process. For those of you who like a series, there are six novels, three novellas (short novels, maybe a third the length of the novels), and a three-volume "next generation" series.
After the book went out of print, I got my rights back and published it as an "indie," an independent author/publisher on Amazon, initially as an ebook and then with the other formats. It's my best-selling ebook (I have about 20 now), in part I think due to Tom Kidd's excellent cover (seen above) which I think captures the flavor of the book, even though it does not illustrate any specific scene (for one thing, no Oriental princess with a princess phone ever appears). Some people who read the book in the 90s are happy to read it again, and I'm also reaching a new generation of readers, which is very gratifying.
Indie publishing is in something of a wild-west stage right now. Far more indie books are published each year than traditionally published books. "Get rid of the gatekeepers!" would-be published authors cry. The problem is that the "gatekeepers" at the traditional publishing houses do keep some good books from being published, but they also turn away a lot of really really bad books. This makes it hard for the well-written indie book to emerge from the haystack. I've done surprisingly well as an indie, in large part I believe because I already had a fan base from before (we love you, fans!).
To whet your appetite for the book, here's the opening of Bad Spell.
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I was not a very good wizard. But it was not a very big kingdom. I assumed I was the only person to answer their ad, for in a short time I had a letter back from the king's constable, saying the job was mine if I still wanted it, and that I should report to take up the post of Royal Wizard in six weeks.
It took most of the six weeks to grow in my beard, and then I dyed it grey to make myself look older. Two days before leaving for my kingdom, I went down to the emporium to buy a suitable wardrobe.
Of course at the emporium they knew all about us young wizards from the wizards' school. They looked at us dubiously, took our money into the next room to make sure it stayed money even when we weren't there, and tended to count the items on the display racks in a rather conspicuous way. But I knew the manager of the clothing department—he'd even helped me once pick out a Christmas present for my grandmother, which I think endeared me to him as much as to her.
He was on the phone when I came in. "What do you mean, you won't take it back? But our buyer never ordered it!" While waiting for him, I picked out some black velvet trousers, just the thing, I thought, to give me a wizardly flair.
The manager slammed down the phone. "So what am I supposed to do with this?" he demanded of no one in particular. "This" was a shapeless red velvet pullover, with some rather tattered white fur at the neck. It might have been intended to be part of a Father Noel costume.
I was entranced. "I'll take it!"
"Are you sure? But what will you do with it?"
"I'm going to be a Royal Wizard. It will help me strike the right note of authority and mystery."
"Speaking of mystery, what's all the fuzzy stuff on your chin?"
I was proud of my beard, but since he gave me the pullover for almost nothing, I couldn't be irritated. When I left for my kingdom, I felt resplendent in velvet, red for blood and black for the powers of darkness.
© C. Dale Brittain 2022
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