Author Jo De-Lancey gives a lovely, heartfelt account of the writing of The Blue Mage, the sequel to her debut The Crystal Shore.
I’ve wanted to be an author since I can remember. When I was a child, I used to write stories about enchanted scarecrows and read them out to my older brother, Dan, and his friends. I was always daydreaming of other worlds and other possibilities. I played my first ever Final Fantasy game as a teenager, and I was hooked. I really wanted to read a book that felt like those games and when I couldn’t find one, I decided to write my own.
I came up with my main character, Killian O’ Shea, in 2002 and began planning his life and adventures. I started work on the first draft of The Crystal Shore, the first book in my four-part series, in 2008 and finished that two years later. After this I did the usual thing of sending it to agents and getting rejected. Unperturbed, I started writing the sequel, The Blue Mage in 2011.
Then 2012 happened, and my world fell apart. I was working on The Blue Mage one morning in April, completely unaware that my life had changed forever. Around midday my parents appeared on my drive, which was odd as they live over 100 miles away. They’d driven up to tell me that my big brother had been killed in a car accident that morning. All work on The Blue Mage stopped there and then. The first draft was 70% complete and remained that way for years.
For six months, I did nothing creative. I even told my brother’s girlfriend to throw the print-out he had of my manuscript of The Crystal Shore in the bin, as I didn’t see the point in doing anything any more. After some time, those feelings passed and I got back to it, to The Crystal Shore that is, not The Blue Mage – I couldn’t face that book.
I spent the next eight years rewriting and editing The Crystal Shore. (I also made a start on two other books during this time too). During those painful years, I’d send The Crystal Shore to agents, get rejected, spiral into depression, pick myself up and edit it again. This went on for so long and The Blue Mage lay festering and unfinished. Death, failure, loss and coping with loss are prominent themes within The Blue Mage, and I had so much of those in my life at that point, I felt I couldn’t go back to that book. Not yet.
In 2020, I decided to hire an editor for The Crystal Shore – I was at the point where after so many edits myself, I didn’t know where to go any more. I found a lady I wanted to work with and booked in for a two-pass developmental and line edit. She had a very long waitlist but that didn’t bother me, I only wanted the best for my book. My plan was to get edited, then try agents again, however, that plan changed all because of a song.
Wonderful Life
One night I was listening to music and drinking mojitos when Wonderful Life by Black came on – you’ll know the song as soon as you hear it. I hadn’t heard it for years, so I looked it up and started reading about it. I discovered that the artist was in a terrible place mentally and had been dropped by his record label when he wrote that song. He ended up recording it and releasing it himself. That song, that everyone knows, was indie. I started thinking to myself, ‘well, I’ve hired an editor, so why not hire other professionals and release it myself? Why should I pin all my hopes on finding that one agent, who might not even exist?’ The next morning, I hired an amazing artist and a proofreader. I later learnt the difference between a line and a copy editor, so I hired a copy editor too. I soon had the exact same team of a traditionally published author, but without the agent or the publishing house.
While my book was waiting for its copy edit in November 2021, I thought, ‘well, if I’m releasing The Crystal Shore next year, I’d better finish off The Blue Mage.’ So, I finally pulled that old manuscript out of its dusty vault and finished off the last 30%. The original 70% had to be re-written line by line before I’d even let my partner (my very harsh, but free editor) look at it. The story was mostly fine – apart from that awful 40k chunk that went straight in the bin – but the writing was terrible. It seemed my style had improved immensely over the last 9-10 years.
I went back to The Blue Mage as a different person. I was strong enough to cope with the darker themes, and I poured all the hurt, pain and confusion I felt over losing my brother, directly into my characters. They helped me share that load, that pain. My therapist suggested that I try and find a way to keep my brother alive with my writing. After a lot of thought and consideration, I found a way. I won’t say what it is, as it’s a bit of a spoiler, but he’s there.
I believe with The Blue Mage that I’ve truly turned one of the worst times in my life, into something beautiful, soulful and full of meaning. My hope is that when others read the book, they can feel what I’ve done, be able to relate to it, and get some comfort too, alongside having a fantastical adventure in another world.
I’m so glad that I didn’t give up. Despite the traumas, the thoughts, the feelings and the spirals into deep dark depression, my characters were always there in the back of my mind, willing me to come back and finish their story.
Sadly, Black isn’t with us any more, so I can’t personally thank him for kickstarting a change in me, but he does have an acknowledgment in the back of The Crystal Shore. And that book is of course dedicated to my big brother, Dan.
(c) Jo De-Lancey
About The Blue Mage (The Tempered Soul Series Book 2):
The Gramarye – a mysterious and powerful artefact – has been stolen by a demonic being and bestowed upon a small group of oppressed mages in Vermor. With it, they have a chance to open a gateway to the Otherside – a world of limitless untamed magic.
Defeated and broken, Killian O’Shea must pick himself up and try to fix the wrongs he’s set in motion. Once again, he teams up with Captain Lily Rothbone, and despite the confused tangle of feelings they have for each other, they sail across the sea in search of answers. Killian and Lily, along with a handful of her crew, traverse the unfamiliar and beautiful land of Freischen, where they discover the key to stopping the demon lies in a forbidden ritual.
Killian must contend with the bizarre power that’s growing inside him and using his very life force to fuel itself, and he’ll have to risk his sanity and life if he’s to stand a chance of smothering the nefarious magic of the Gramarye.
Lily will face an ethereal spirit from her childhood as she decides which aspects of her being are worth giving up, what it means to be a pirate captain, and whether someone with her broken past is capable of loving.
In Vermor, Sasha, a lone travelling trickster, is persuaded to join the group of mages. She’s drawn in by the prospect of the infinite power that will be hers once the Gramarye has consumed enough souls.
As the Gramarye grows in power, gateways will collapse, and souls will be lost. All that stands against it are a dejected thief, a doubting pirate queen and a ragtag crew of swashbucklers.
The Blue Mage by Jo De Lancey – Book Two of the Tempered Soul Series – is out now. Paperback £15.99|Kindle £4.99 available via Amazon and to order in all good bookshops. Order your copy online here.
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