Charlie N. Holmberg's Book of Magic - Book Tour and Giveaway

Unravel the secrets to crafting a masterful magic system
​from best-selling fantasy author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Charlie N. Holmberg’s Book of Magic
By Charlie N. Holmberg
Genre: Speculative Nonfiction, Writing Self-Help

Unravel the secrets to crafting a masterful magic system from best-selling fantasy author Charlie N. Holmberg.
 
Whether using magic as flavor or as an essential piece of plot, this book will guide fantasy authors, from new to experienced, through the delicate layers of creating, utilizing, and mastering magic systems.

In this book, we will...
*Discuss the schools, laws, and spectrum of magic
*Learn to build individual pieces of a magic system
*Dig into magic’s influence on worldbuilding
*Examine different types and styles of magic
*Develop and polish original magic systems

With workshops, work pages, and reference materials included, this succinct one-and-done guide to crafting the magical elements of the fantasy genre is a must-have for speculative fiction authors.

“If you haven’t had the fortune of attending one of Charlie’s writing classes (which I have), this is the next best thing. Book of Magic contains so much wit, wisdom, and practical suggestions for helping any beginning author, or veteran, make their magic systems rise up and be noticed. She uses expert examples from other authors you know as well as teaching a masterclass on developing magic systems from scratch based on methods she’s invented. You just may need this book to help find out what kind of magic-based diseases might be festering in your neighbor’s cabbages.” --Jeff Wheeler, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain series

 
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​Originality 

Before we get into the bones of building a magic system, I want to take a page or two to discuss originality.
 
Originality really is what separates a lot of books and a lot of authors. In fantasy, it’s tempting to default to an “easy” magic system so we can focus on storytelling. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—if I want to start my story in medias res[1], with a man being assaulted by a vampire in an alleyway, all I have to do is say “vampire” and the antagonistic force is set. I don’t have to waste time grounding the reader, because vampires are so common, I can start the story with no learning curve. And if I’m trying to hook readers on the action, then this is absolutely a tool I’m going to use.
 
Books can employ simple or preset magic systems when the goal is flavor, highlighting power, or invoking a fantastical setting. Easy magic has a shallow learning curve, and therefore can attract more readers, especially those unused to the conventions of the fantasy genre. But for those who want magic to be a large part of the story—tied in deeply with characters and plot—take a moment to differentiate yourself from the books that may sit beside yours on the shelf (or above and below you on the Amazon scroll). Take your time with it—don’t rush development. Great magic systems, like great stories, need time to marinate in your brain before they come to life on paper.
 
A few tips to spark originality:
 
Take note of what’s currently saturating the market and avoid it. If you bank off writing to market, then jumping on the bandwagon of what’s hot now can pay off in the short term. However, if you want something to stand out in one of the many slush piles of traditional publishing, or you want to guarantee your book will still be interesting ten years from now, consider taking the untrodden path.
 
Take a “done” magic and make it different. If your heart is set on elemental magic or powered-up tattoos, that’s okay! Just put a unique twist on it. This is what Stephenie Meyer did with Twilight. She took vampires (done, done, and done) and made them her own. This is also why you can have two books with seemingly similar magic systems and have completely different stories. Case in point, both Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer trilogy and Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker use color-based magic. But the magic is explored in such fundamentally different manners that the casual reader would never dream of comparing them.
 
In regard to my Paper Magician series, I wasn’t the first person to think of magical origami (though at the time, driving in my car between Idaho and Utah, I thought maybe I was). Paper magic is also in the 1999 manga series Read or Die, for instance. But my expanding paper magic into the realm of manmade materials made it unique. If you’re trying to turn heads, you don’t need an entirely unique, never-seen-before magic system (or hey, let the book’s premise be the unique element and go ahead and write about fairies or fire or whatever makes your id[2] happy). You can have something familiar with a unique twist or quirk.
 
Make a list. This process can be done with any aspect of brainstorming, not just magic. Make a list of whatever it is you need to figure out, such as what kind of creature will innately possess magic in your story (more on this in Chapter 6). And just start vomiting out ideas. The further down the list you get, the harder your brain is working, and the more original your ideas will be. (Note that going too far down the list might leave you with something too bizarre to realistically work with.)
 
For example,

1. Unicorns
2. Vampires
3. Pegasi
4. Flying frogs
5. Flying fish
6. Giant bats
7. Giant butterflies
8. Wolves with butterfly wings
9. Forest-eating caterpillars
10. Three-headed snakes

 
Based on that list (which I literally did write off the top of my head and have not changed from the rough draft of this book for the sake of reality), I really like the idea of forest-eating caterpillars. And they can transform into giant butterflies, so that’s a two-for-one.
 
Remember, more often than not, simpler is better. It’s really easy for us to go overboard with our worldbuilding and open a giant can of worms that will devour and suffocate our readers, so it’s important to keep it simple. Take a moment and think of the best magic systems you’ve read in your favorite books. More likely than not, you could explain them to someone quickly and concisely. Getting too complex with magic steepens the learning curve and frustrates readers.
 
Rule of thumb? If you, the author, have to continually look at your notes to remember how your magic works, your reader isn’t going to stick around to learn it.
 
[1] Meaning “in the middle” of the action.
[2] A la Freud: id, ego, super-ego. The id is your carnal desire, your impulses, your pleasure center.
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Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, including the Paper Magician series, the Spellbreaker series, and the Whimbrel House series, and writes contemporary romance under C. N. Holmberg. She is published in over twenty languages and is a Goodreads Choice Award, ALA, and RITA finalist. Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names. A BYU alumna, she discovered in her thirties that she’s actually a cat person. She lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at www.charlienholmberg.com.
 

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Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
 Of course! My name is Charlie N. Holmberg and I write fantasy and romance novels. Storytelling is my life; when I’m not writing or otherwise planning a book, I often don’t know what to do with myself. I enjoy baking cakes and weightlifting, or messing around with my two punk kids.
 
What are some of your pet peeves?
 When people used “hung” instead of “hanged” for the past-tense of being hanged by the neck until dead. Gallows style. And misused apostrophes. XD
 
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
 Creative
Extroverted
Playful
Whiney
Honest
 
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
 I’ve been writing since I was thirteen years old, but I was under the impression that I was not an author until I was published. I started a lot of truly terrible books in my teenage years that I never finished, but honestly, I got my first million words out of the way through fanfiction and online writing-style RPGs. For the first, I wrote (and even finished) fan fiction for Fushigi Yuugi and Rurouni Kenshin (ask me if I was a big anime nerd. I am SO glad streaming didn’t exist back then because I would never have left the house). For the latter, I was very involved in a Runelords (by David Farland) RPG and a Star Wars RPG.
 
I started taking my writing more seriously in college and finished my first (also horrible) book at the age of 19. It was 167,000 words long, and to date it is still the longest original fiction I’ve ever penned. (The longest non-original fiction was 420,000 words. Fan fiction, baby.) I didn’t finish my second novel until age 21. I used it for my final project in my History of Creativity class. I got an A-.
 
I debuted with my ninth finished novel at the ripe age of 26.
 
Do you have a favorite movie?
 Howl’s Moving Castle by Studio Ghibli. I adore the book as well. Both versions of this title are comparison works for literally half of my repertoire.
 
Which of your novels can you imagine being made into a movie?
 The Paper Magician almost made it! It was optioned by Disney until COVID came along. I think it would make a really fun movie. On a lower budget, though, The Fifth Doll would be my choice.
 
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
 My sister, who also writes, started this thing when we were teens about us having squirrel muses. I remember once being with my group of writing-nerd friends and all of us drawing our squirrels. And whatever food we ate (ie candy) whilst writing was squirrel-chow.
 My squirrel was named Puff-puff.

What inspired you to write this book?
 In the brainstorming process, I almost always discover my stories’ magic first. Whether it’s a full-fledged magic system (like in The Paper Magician) or just a spark of magic (like in Followed by Frost), my brain loves the *fantasy* element of fantasy novels and beelines straight to that. I think I was in a conference or the like and the idea of writing a craft book on magic came to mind—I jotted it down in the bottom corner of my notes. But of course, I didn’t have TIME to write something like that. It was just an idea, but it’s an idea that liked to revisit my brain once in a while.
 
When I got an idea for what I could include in the book, I would jot it down. I teach a class at conferences about magic systems, but I didn’t think that would be enough for my own craft book—I wanted to have things in there that were new and fresh, so I tried to brainstorm in that direction. My brain would collect ideas here and there; record them in a notebook or on my phone. And then at the beginning of the year, in between other fiction projects, I thought, “Well, why don’t I just outline it?”
 
I found I enjoyed it. I outlined it and then just brain-dumped my thoughts under every section. I went into the PowerPoint for my magic class and pulled it in. I know workshops really help to cement an idea, so I wanted to include those in the book as well, even designing them so readers can write directly onto the page as they go. Oliver Heber Books had reached out to me for the possibility of publishing previously, so the route was set!
 
What can we expect from you in the future?
 I don’t have any more craft books on the docket right now, but I’m full steam ahead on fantasy fiction! I’ll be completing my Whimbrel House series (book 4, Wizard of Most Wicked Ways, releases March 4th, 2025, and I’ll draft book 5 next year), and I’m releasing a romantasy duology called The Shattered King, with book one coming out next fall. After those series are finished, I’ll be releasing a historical series—the first book is called The Hedge Witch’s Cure for Marriage, and I’m very excited for it!
  
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
 So in Charlie N. Holmberg’s Book of Magic, I have several appendices for writers to utilize. One of these appendices is a list of commonly used magic in fantasy novels. This list can be used in three ways: 1) choosing one of these magics to ensure an easier learning curve for magic for the reader, 2) avoiding these magics to encourage a more original magic system, or 3) twisting one of the magics to make it your own.
 
I was thinking about this while playing Final Fantasy XVI with my husband, and I thought, okay, what if I took my own advice? What if I took something off this list and did #3 (twisted it)?
 
So I chose healing magic. How would I find a way to make it uniquely mine? And I came up with an idea that really stuck with me. That idea had babies with Final Fantasy XVI (the MMC is inspired by Joshua Rosfield), and then playdates with [ahem, my favorite novel] The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon and To Poison a King by S.G. Prince. And I drafted that book in fifteen days. It wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye in May and it existed in July.
 
So . . . check out that appendix, I guess. It’s MAGICAL (pun intended).
 
Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
 I created this book to help other fantasy authors craft fun, believable magic systems, but I think it would be a fun read for those who just enjoy reading fantasy. Sometimes it’s fun to peek behind the curtain. ;)
 
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Paper and ink to set the reader at ease, a bright lilac to inspire creativity, sharp lemon to mimic magic, and freshly cut grass for theme (that one will make sense after you read it).
 
Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book.
 Obviously one cannot write an adequate book on magic systems without talking about Brandon Sanderson.
 
Once upon a time, I hired a good friend of mine as a personal assistant/head editor. Her name is Kristy, and she’s one of the most competent people I know. I wasn’t utilizing her full skillset, so when a bigger, better job offer for her came along, we parted ways amicably.
 
Said job offer happened to be for Dragonsteel, which is Brandon’s company.
 
In Charlie N. Holmberg’s Book of Magic, I wanted to address Brandon Sanderson’s laws of magic, but I wanted to make sure I did it in a super legal way. So I contacted Kristy simply because she’s a fountain of knowledge and asked her what I was legally aloud to quote, and she told me. And she said if I wasn’t sure, I could send it into Dragonsteel for review.
 
“Who would I send it to?”
 
“Me.”
 
So that made it pretty darn easy to get review eyeballs on it :D

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
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Nov 12
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
  
Nov 13
Ellwyn's Blog
The Dungeon Crawlers – GUEST POST
Bedazzled By Books
Book Bites....with a side of coffee
Craving Lovely Books
The Bookshelf Fairy
Twisted Book Ramblings
 
Nov 14
@endlessfairytales
Introvert Booklover
Haley Cavanagh Books
M.C.V. EGAN ❧Defining Ways❧
Books all things paranormal and romance
My beauty my books
Painting With Words
 
Nov 15
magicalbooknook
Nina Soden #TheRedheadedAuthor – GUEST POST
Book Review Virginia Lee Blog
C.A.Milson
Celticlady's Reviews
Girl with Pen
Literary Gold
The Scratching Post
 
Nov 16
I'm Into Books
I Smell Sheep – REVIEW
All The Write Stuff
Midnight Book Reader
 
Nov 17
Watch Us Sparkle Blog
Webs and Blogs For Writers
ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ ASTROLOGY
Scrupulous Dreams
 
Nov 18
Anna del C. Dye official page
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree
Insane Books
Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
Sylv.net
Royally Insane Books
 
Nov 19
Author Sahara Foley
☼  A Place In The  Spotlight ☼  with M.C.V. EGAN
Wine Cellar Library
Country Mamas With Kids
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
The Book Dragon
Trixie Reports Books
 
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