MGOC Contributor News: Maria V. Snyder's Scent of Magic

Many Genres, One Craft contributor Maria V. Snyder has a new novel out in The Healers series--Scent of Magic.

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As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of friends and foes alike, she no longer exists.

Despite her need to prevent the megalomaniacal King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon's opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon's most horrible creations yet: an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible…again.

MGOC Contributor: Maria V. Snyder

MARIA V. SNYDER

EXCERPT from "Dumping the Info Dump" by Maria V. Snyder in Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction:

Imagine with me… You're curled up on the couch in front of a roaring fireplace with your favorite beverage within easy reach. Sleet is clinking on the windows while you're reading. The story draws you in, the real world disappears, your beverage cools, and…..WHAM! You hit an information dump and are either rudely ejected from the story world or become mired in paragraph after paragraph of dull explanation.

An information dump -- also known as the "info dump" -- is just that. A large chunk of exposition used by writers to explain backstory, technology, characters, etc… Basically a huge pothole in the middle of the story, bringing the story's action to a screeching halt. Many readers will not recover and will seek another book to read in their cozy living rooms.
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Maria V. Snyder changed careers from meteorologist to novelist when her first novel, Poison Study, was published in October 2005. Poison Study won the 2006 Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel, the Salt Lake Co. Library's Reader's Choice award, was a 2005 Booksense pick, and received a Starred Review from Publisher's Weekly. Her second book Magic Study was a 2006 Booksense pick and a RITA Award Finalist. Her third "Study" book, Fire Study, earned her a place on the New York Times Bestseller list. She also completed a three book "Glass" series set in the same world and a YA science fiction thriller titled Inside Out. Maria received her M.A. from the Seton Hill Writing Popular Fiction program where she is now a mentor. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania. Visit her at www.mariavsnyder.com.

MGOC Contributor News: Maria V. Snyder's Outside In

Maria V. Snyder's follow up to her Young Adult Science Fiction novel Inside Out, is aptly named Outside In.

The sequel about Trella and Riley is now available from Harlequin Teen. Outside In received three stars from RT Book Reviews.

"The characters...are well-developed, and the solid action sequences and world-building make for an entertaining read."
--Publisher's Weekly about Inside Out

Here's the back cover teaser:

Me?

A leader?

Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew.

That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion—between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again—while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside.

And something from Outside wants In.

posted by heidi