Blog Tour Guest Post by Liesel Hill: World Building

BLOG TOUR STOP: GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY!

For today's blog tour stop I am featuring the new release by Liesel Hill, (my review to come later)
Quantum Entanglement (Interchron #2):

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

Published: September 17, 2013 by Create Space

Five months after traveling to a post-apocalyptic future where collectives reign supreme and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper was returned to her own time until the threat to her life could be neutralized. She thought Marcus and the others would return for her within a few weeks, and now she’s beginning to worry. 

When travelers from the future finally show up to collect her, it’s not who she expected. With the return of her memories, she wants more than ever to see Marcus again, but a snake-like woman whose abilities are a perfect match for Maggie’s, an injured Traveler, and decades of civil unrest to wade through all stand in the way of their reunion.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Karl traipse through the countryside, trying to neutralize Colin, who’s promised to brutalize and murder Maggie if he can get his hands on her. When a collective woman is left for dead, Marcus heals her, hoping she’ll be the key to killing Colin and bringing Maggie back. But she may prove as much a hindrance as a help.

The team struggles to get their bearings, but things happen faster than they know. The collectives are coalescing, power is shifting, and the one called B is putting sinister plans into action. If the team can’t reunite and get a handle on the situation, their freedom and individuality—perhaps their very identity—will be ripped away before they can catch their breath.

WORLD BUILDING BY LIESEL HILL

The Challenges of World-Building in Book 2 of a Series

When you first begin a fantasy or scifi series (dystopian, in my case) you have to build a world that your readers can imagine with all five of their senses. You have to immerse them in the world so that it’s both real and unforgettable.  

But what about when you get to later books in the series? Do you have to maintain the same level of world-building throughout?  An argument could be made for either answer, but I say yes. If you want your series to remain awesome all throughout, definitely keep up the great world-building. I’ve read a few series where the world-building wasn’t kept up, and they still ended up being okay, successful series. But when authors skimp on this aspect, they lose the opportunity to fix their story in their readers’ minds. In well-written stories, the world-building is every bit as important as the characters or the plot. The three go hand-in-hand, making a lush, compelling and memorable narrative that will keep readers coming back.  

Let’s take Harry Potter for an example. The final two books were mostly character-driven, as we were given in-depth histories. I know many people didn’t like that, and it’s entirely a matter of opinion, but I think the reason they didn’t like it was because so much of the world-building they were used to was absent. All throughout her series, every new locale Rowling explored, be it the ministry of magic, one of Harry’s cramped bedrooms at the Dursley house, or a simple joke shop, was chalk-full of world building. She never let up. And she weaved it so intricately with the storyline that one simply could not proceed without the other. They all combined to create a rich, wonderful, memorable world that’s made her one of the most successful novelists in the world. She’s left everyone who reads Harry Potter longing to attend Hogwarts, even adults who hated school. That’s saying a lot.

So, when I sat down to write Quantum Entanglement, book 2 of Interchron, I knew I’d have re-immerse readers in my world, or else they’d lose interest. Many series bog down in book 2, and I didn’t want that happening with mine. Often it’s a plot problem, but I think world-building can move the story along every bit as much as plot. Again, hand in hand.

So, I endeavored to move my characters through new locales (for me it was actually the same place in different time periods, but still) and keep them running. Basically, they’re leap-frogging through time, ducking oppressive government regimes and trying to stay ahead of a homicidal collectivist who wants to kill Maggie before she can make it back to the safety of her beloved Interchron. Her brother and a man who may or may not be in love with her--though she’s in love with someone else--come along for the ride. (Don’t you just love dystopian angst?)

You’ll have to check out Quantum Entanglement to see how I’ve done with keeping up the world-building in book 2. And now’s the time to do it. Right now, it’s on sale for $0.99, but that’s only for a limited time. Hope you all enjoy it!

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