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Magical Fantasy Was Born
Do You Believe in Magic? follows a bullied 13-year-old boy who discovers a magical waterfall and embarks on an epic adventure as a wizard. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I grew up on the shores of western Florida and spent much of my childhood swimming in shark-infested waters long before the movie Jaws put a scare into everyone. At the time, I was too skinny to attract a shark’s attention. About ten other boys my age lived on my same street, and we hung out morning, noon, and night playing the usual sports that young boys love — football, baseball, “kill the carrier,” etc. — but as a group, we also played fantastical games that contained magic, monsters, and superheroes. It was in this setting that my imagination as a writer of magical fantasy was born and nurtured.
I moved from Florida to Upstate South Carolina about twenty years ago and drove from Tampa-St. Pete to the Clemson area on Interstate 75 many times. It’s about a 10-hour drive, which is quite wearisome. And the traffic around Atlanta can be horrendous. I’ve always found the rest stops to be a bit spooky, especially at night. My MC Charlie Magus also found them to be spooky. If you read Do You Believe in Magic?, you’ll get the picture.
The world you created in this novel is brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you wrote?
My first home in SC was on forty wooded acres that included a creek that wound through a forest to a waterfall. It wasn’t as magnificent as described in the book 😀, but it did serve as the inspiration for the story.
Plus, I am the author of The Death Wizard Chronicles, a six-book epic fantasy for mature audiences. I did a ton of hands-on research and world-building for that series, which came in handy for this one.
Finally, I am at home in the mountains. It’s where I now live, and I do long hikes at least three days per week. Characters in fantasy novels tend to wander around a lot in the wilderness, so I feel comfortable writing about natural surroundings.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I have written Dark Circles with young teens in mind. I tell potential readers that it is appropriate for 13 and older, though readers as young as 10 and as old as 80 have enjoyed it. When I say appropriate, I mean that there are no sex scenes and only very limited profanity. But like most epic fantasies, the series has its violent moments — sort of like the later Harry Potter books.
But just because a series is appropriate for young teens doesn’t mean that it has to be sophomoric. To the contrary, Dark Circles is a sophisticated work with a lot going on between the lines in terms of themes, allegorical elements, symbolism, foreshadowing, literary tropes, etc. My newsletter (Jim Melvin’s Realms of Fantasy) goes into extensive depth about this.
Some of the themes in my series are obvious: bullying, good vs. evil, coming of age, heroism. But in the end, the most important theme of all is the idea that only the best among us are willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good — the literary equivalent of a soldier throwing himself on a hand grenade.
All this said, if you only read books for pure pleasure and don’t really care about the literary stuff, my series still fits the bill. It’s a lot of fun!
When will book two be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?
Book Two (Do You Believe in Monsters?) debuted in late October 2023. Your excellent review of Book One mentioned that the early portions of Do You Believe in Magic? contain some deliberately slow pacing, and that was well said. In contrast, the pacing of Book Two is deliberately faster. To describe the second book as action-packed would be accurate, IMO.
The third book of the trilogy (Do You Believe in Miracles?) will debut on April 22, 2024. This concludes the series.
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Book 1: Do You Believe in Magic? (May 25, 2023)
Book 2: Do You Believe in Monsters? (Oct. 30, 2023)
Book 3: Do You Believe in Miracles? (April 2024)
Book 1 synopsis: After discovering a magical waterfall deep in the forest, a boy and his dog embark on an epic adventure in a fantastical world filled with monsters and magic. In the real world, Charlie is a 13-year-old nerd picked on by bullies. But in the fantasy world, he becomes a wizard wielding formidable powers. Standing in his way is a vile monster bent on destruction. Only those with a hero’s heart will have the courage to stand at Charlie’s side when the war begins.
History and Folklore
In The Captain of the Black Swan, a young orphan scrambles to prevent humans from discovering his magical treetop community as he comes face-to-face with an age-old legend following a devastating storm. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Diana: David and I are lucky enough to live in Dawlish, the small seaside town where The Captain of the Black Swan is set. The main railway line from London runs through the town and hugs the coast for several miles on either side.
The coastline is stunningly beautiful around Dawlish with high red cliffs edging the sea and local legends tell of elves and pixies who live among the wooded valleys and hidden coves.
One night, in February 2014, a vicious storm raged, bringing down trees and powerlines and tearing the roofs from buildings.
The next morning, David and I walked through the town and were shocked to see an enormous crater had appeared beneath the railway lines. Vast amount of rock had been pulverised and washed away.
By then, the sea had calmed and it seemed incredible that so much damage could have been done in a few hours when the railway had endured innumerable storms since it was built one hundred and sixty years earlier.
It took nearly a decade of work to stabilise the track. Sometimes, when David and I watched the engineers, we wondered if the storm alone could really have been the cause of so much devastation.
That was when we first thought about the Dittos and imagined how they may have been responsible for what happened without humans ever realising.
Which character in the novel do you feel you relate to more and why?
David: Burt, the owner of the recycling factory, has always been a favourite of mine. He is a bit of a hoarder, like me, and he spends a lot of time in his workshop making things out of other people’s rubbish. Again, like me.
When we started writing the story, it seemed Burt was so obsessed with running the factory, he didn’t care about Tom at all. But as we learned more about the characters, we realised Burt has many hidden qualities. Beneath his gruff exterior, he has a kind heart and there are reasons why he behaves the way he does.
It’s always good when characters develop as you write about them. It’s one of the things I like most about writing. Sometimes they surprise you!
I find that, while writing, you sometimes ask questions and have the characters answer them. Do you find that to be true? What questions did you ask yourself while writing this story?
Diana: I love questions! When I was at school one of my teachers told me it was impossible to get the right answers until we learned how to ask the right questions. I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, but I do now.
We certainly asked lots of questions while we were planning the story. The obvious question, was how the Dittos could have caused the damage to the railway line, but the more interesting question was why.
In the end, it was the characters of the individual Dittos that gave us our answers. The selfish characters, who only consider themselves, are the ones who cause the most damage. The kind-hearted Dittos, who value their community and the natural world, are the ones who keep asking questions until they discover the answers they need.
Can you give fans a peek into where Book 2 will take their favorite characters?
The Devil’s Footprints is the second book in The Dittos of Dawlish series. It takes the reader back in time to the 1860s when the railway line was first built through Dawlish by the great engineer, Isambard Brunel.
Only one character from the first book was alive then, and readers may find it hard to recognise him at first, as he is just a young boy when the story begins.
However, there are many new Dittos to meet, and even a few elves, who think themselves very superior because their wings allow them to fly wherever they choose.
Combining history and folklore, The Devil’s Footprints explores the importance of friends, family and honesty. With plenty of twists and unexpected echoes from the first book in the series, it explains how the Granite Gobblers first escaped from the dark regions far below the earth.
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When Tom, an orphan Ditto, shelters from a fierce storm in a rabbit burrow, he emerges to find Dawlish has been wrecked. Many Ditto houses have been blown down from the trees and their owners race to salvage their homes before they are discovered by humans.
Hearing the storm has also washed away the railway line, Tom hurries to view the damage. Swooping low on his flying scooter, he spots a huge crater below the twisted rails with strange tracks leading away from it. Could the old legends be true? Has the storm released monsters from below the earth? Or are other forces at work?
Calling on his friends, Tom sets out to find the truth before humans discover what has happened and the very existence of Dittos and other magical creatures is put at risk.
The Captain of the Black Swan is the first in the Dittos of Dawlish trilogy. Its lovable characters, engaging storylines and magical world will captivate young readers.
Order a copy today and explore a new world of magic.
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