The Becalmer by Nick Wilford

  

The Becalmed

by Nick Wilford 

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GENRE: YA Sci-Fi 

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BLURB: Harica is gifted with the ability to defuse conflicts using her mind. When she is recruited to assist in resolving a war via an arranged marriage, she discovers that the reluctant bride-to-be has similar powers. Princess Jasmila doesn’t use her powers for good and when Harica arrives to help with the marriage arrangements, she fights back and sends Harica into a coma.

 It is through this comatose state that Harica discovers a mysterious liminal space populated by others who share her gift. In this new realm, she learns to do things she never believed possible, but soon things spiral out of control.

In the face of a terrifying and seemingly unstoppable adversary, Harica wrestles with the decision to come to terms with the dark side of her gift.

 Will she take ownership of it or turn her back on it forever?

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EXCERPT

I tried to get a handle on the energy and interplay between the two minds. Jasmila’s was, as I’d expected, much stronger, practically drowning out Narbert’s signals by sheer force, but that didn’t put me off. There would be something I could latch onto, a vulnerable side, even if it was buried deep. Obviously, I would have to concentrate on Jasmila first.

 The princess’s complacency was what I was counting on. If she already thought she had me beat, hopefully, her guard would be down.

Subtlety wouldn’t be the watchword here. I didn’t want to give her time to sense her plan hadn’t worked because then she would fight back all the more. I charged like a battering ram but quickly realized this wasn’t going to work. Pulling off something like this was a delicate operation that needed both parties to play along. The “bull in a china shop” approach wouldn’t cut it. Although there was a bit of give from Jasmila at first, once she rumbled my attack, her mind turned into a brick wall that I bounced off like a tennis ball. I tried to come back for more, attempting a more measured approach, looking for a crack somewhere, even a hairline one, but it was hopeless. It was like trying to tunnel under a mountain with my bare hands. Somewhere in the vicinity, I sensed Narbert, bobbing haplessly about, buffeted by the slipstream caused by the battle between me and Jasmila. I couldn’t help him. And we were both caught up in her orbit now, spinning helplessly.

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Worldbuilding in sci-fi

When writing sci-fi, one of the best ways to immerse readers in your story is to build a world that’s watertight in terms of its norms, conventions, rules and so on. Everything should seem natural to the characters because that is the world they’ve grown up in, it’s what they’re used to. How can such a seamless immersion be achieved? Well, the obvious answer might be to plan everything out in meticulous detail beforehand, and I’m sure that works well for a lot of authors. However, I can’t speak to such a technique because I’m not a plotter. I’m not a pantser, either; I’m somewhere in between, so I like to start with something of a concept, and usually a lead character who wants their story to be told. So, if you’re this sort of writer, how do you go about creating an intricate sci-fi world?

 For me, the answer lies in the characters. Everything starts with a great main character, and as you follow the character along their journey and observe how they interact with their environment, things should fall into place organically. It’s often said that there shouldn’t be a single word in the book that doesn’t advance the story in some way, and that goes for the worldbuilding as well. Only reveal as much as you need to serve the story. There’s a lot to be said for letting readers fill in some of the blanks themselves, and in fact that deepens their involvement. For example, say in your world the technology has been developed for clothes to clean themselves automatically after becoming dirty, and your characters are in a restaurant scene where someone spills red wine on their expensive shirt, which cleans itself on the spot. This might serve as character development, with the other diners laughing about that character being clumsy, something that is an important part of their interactions with the world. But if it doesn’t do anything to serve the story, there’s no need to shoehorn it in.

 Of course, with this approach, you might find that some things don’t completely add up once you’ve got to the end of the first draft, and that’s perfectly okay. The first draft is the messiest, loosest version of your story you’re going to get, and the worldbuilding is no exception here. This is the time to take stock, see where things connect or don’t connect, take note of what you can lose or change. This is all part of tightening the story, pulling loose threads together. You might find that some aspects play a bigger part in your story than what you had originally thought. For example, in The Becalmer, my protagonist Harica has the power to resolve conflicts by entering others’ minds. In the beginning, she doesn’t know where this power comes from, and neither did I! She thinks she is the only one who has this power. As the story goes on, she meets others who share it, including the villain, Princess Jasmila, although she actually uses it to deepen conflicts and cause chaos. Finding out where her power comes from becomes central to Harica learning how she can better wield it and strategizing on how she can defeat Jasmila. All of that is character development because it makes her stronger and more resilient as a person.

 In all, although the idea of creating an entirely new world in your story might seem like a daunting prospect, it really needsn’t be if you stay attuned to how your characters are moving through that world and how they are going after their goals. Treat worldbuilding as another aspect of storytelling and you’ll find it’s one of the most fun and satisfying parts of writing sci-fi or fantasy.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Nick Wilford is originally from Brighton, England and now lives in a quiet town in Scotland with his wife, three daughters and six rescue dogs. Wanting to make a career from writing, he trained in journalism but soon realized that the fictional realm was where his true passion lay. He enjoys writing speculative fiction, exploring the things that cannot be seen and “making the impossible reality.” Nick is the author of the Black & White YA dystopian series and has also published a collection of shorter fiction as well as curated, edited and published a fundraising anthology featuring a diverse array of talent. By day, he works as a freelance editor, and he also enjoys travelling to inspiring locations with his family, listening to music and helping unwanted dogs find loving homes.

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Blog: http://nickwilford.blogspot.com/ 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE 

Nick Wilford will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

RAFFLECOPTER: 

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