Magic and World Building in the Dream
- July 12, 2024
Dear Reader,
In book publishing news from the dream, Grim Dark launched July 3, 2024. The Mystic Dark Miniseries opener tale is now available everywhere outstanding books are sold.
I sneakily republished Devil's Sins on July 5th. Volume 1 of the Apocalypse Denied Miniseries is also now available as an ebook everywhere quality books are sold. Print books and audiobooks are on the way!
Lord of Dragons launches July 17, 2024. Kiss Dark launches August 14, 2024. And thus ends my preorder experiment. I will report on my findings and let you know my thoughts concerning preorders when the dust settles.
Serialized Miniseries and Book Bundles are now available from Ophelia Kee. Check out the two completed digital concepts:
Kingdom Rising Audiobook Bundle
Royal Council Audiobook Bundle
In serial posting in the dream
The Draoithe Saga continues.
Valkyrie Riders has three completed tales and is currently posting scenes from Nephilim's Claim. Smoke might be in some serious trouble when his Valkyrie decides it's time for him to die.
I have currently paused Lyons Gate, following the first three tales. Apocalypse Denied has paused following the publication of the first two novels. Mystic Dark has paused, awaiting the launch of Kiss Dark.
Gods of the Dream is experimenting with video scenes for Lost One. Those take time to create, so that miniseries tale adds chapters much slower (about one scene every two weeks). Also, like Mystic Dark, Gods of the Dream is a work in progress. I haven't written all the stories yet. Lyons Gate and Valkyrie Riders have completed their arcs, and all manuscripts have concluded. (I think, maybe.) I reserve all rights to add stories in the future, but have not done so to either of these miniseries in over four years.
Shameless Self Promotion
Now is your best chance to find my entire ebook collection for a promotional price at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Some Stories are even FREE! Find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/OpheliaKee7624 all month!
In other writing news
Bookvault launched its integration with Payhip recently. Because of the fees associated with Bookvault, I may need to join the alliance of independent authors. So this means I need more time. Bear with me. As usual, I wasn't ready for it and have to wait for funds to secure print on demand, but it's coming to the dream soon, along with print bundles. Stay tuned for further updates.
I finally discovered how to link my Google Adsense account to Ophelia Kee Speaks and maybe create an income stream from the blog. I don't think I will quit the day job yet, but eventually, it may do something.
Over 100 subscribers support Ophelia Kee on YouTube, and I want to thank everyone who has subscribed and enjoys my video shenanigans. I'm super excited watching those numbers inch up.
I'm happy with what I'm doing at the moment, but I can't say I'm not hopeful about getting monetized in the future. I don't think most wide authors can earn a living simply by selling books. Multiple streams of revenue are necessary. So not only do they need ebooks, print books, and audiobooks, they also need monetized blogs, podcasts, video content, etc. I wear the golden handcuffs of the day job at the moment, but how wonderful would it be to write full time instead?
Supporting your favorite independent authors and other creatives helps them continue to craft the great escapes, the wonderful experiences, and the art which touches the soul. Sincerely, thank you from the depths of my heart. Your support matters because you enable the dream to continue.
Behind the Scenes - World Building with Magic in a Romantasy Saga
If you've been following me for a while or reading the stories set in the dream, you will have some experience with the world of the dream. Please allow me to offer my unique creator perspective for your consideration. If you only recently stumbled over the dream and have read only a few or none of the stories, pull up a chair for the inside scoop directly from the author on how magic affects the world building of the dream before you embark on your first or next reading experience.
Imagine a universe in which magic shapes the threads of destiny and an enchantment brings soul mates together. This is the basis for the dream, a world eerily similar to our own, but one in which magic exists. It is seriously real and influences the destinies of those who acknowledge it and those who don't. Humans and immortals alike get caught up in its near sentient design. They may unknowingly or deliberately follow a plan to either ruin magic or save it.
My understanding of all of this when I began writing in the dream didn't exist. I've only discovered these things as I looked back over all the different stories. I also have the luxury of viewing not only the currently published tales, but all the unpublished complete and incomplete manuscripts and loose scenes. So I have an unfair vantage point with which to analyze the world building components which make up the dream.
The magical realism of the Draoithe Saga speaks directly to the human desire for connection and love. It blends the concepts of soul mates with that of divine fate. The dream is the unknown hand influencing the future. There are supreme beings manipulating the dream, but they inhabit the dream they created and suffer influence by the same near sentient magic the dream controls.
In the Draoithe Saga of tales, the magic suffers from an imbalance because of a dark prophecy spell written by one of those supreme beings, the king of the devils. The magic of the dream seeks to correct the balance of magic, which the spell damaged.
As the chaos of the Unlikely Kings Prophecy nears its foretold conclusion, things have gone awry, so the dream uses the immortal need for a mate in its attempt to correct the situation before it's too late. The connection the dream creates between people makes love appear even more potent - almost magical in itself. It banishes eternal loneliness, the disease which kills immortals far more readily than poison, a bullet, or a blade. It creates fated mates, all the while steering the couples toward defending the magic.
Magic represents love's indescribable beauty while reflecting its elusive qualities, making romantic relationships in these stories more appealing for readers. The characters in the story who find and claim their mates are stronger and have more fulfilling lives. Those who don't, or can't, are pitiable with only a fraction of their potential manifested.
In the dream's romantasy, magic not only draws couples together, it creates paths for even the most unlikely of pairings to work. This sets the stage for the characters to find and claim the one partner made to walk beside them and to fight against those who perpetuate the imbalance. Each couple seeks to gain their happily ever after, or happy for now, all things considered, while realizing the importance of who they are and how their contribution to the balance matters.
Sneak Peek at Nephilim's Claim - Story Description
Wanna see what's coming next? The video for the story description for Nephilim's Claim is on YouTube. I'm still working on the character introductions, so look out for them soon. Do you like the cover? Let me know what you think about it in the comments.
Valkyrie Riders Volume 3
A Draoithe Saga Tale
Craving the soul of a dragon
Keira Berhnun is a powerful Nephilim, who has followed her visions and avoided her dragon mate for centuries, unwilling to bind herself to a man seeking to use her for flight. When her situation alters and she needs to take a piece of his soul to continue her career, Keira learns her magic isn’t enough to protect her from the danger chaos has loosed in the dream.
Maddox Talog, the grey dragon Smoke, finds his Valkyrie as a victim of one of Peter Elliot’s maniacal medical experiments after searching for her for over six centuries. She’s not the submissive fragile human he worried he’d find, and Keira immediately claims him for her own, allaying his fear of rejection when she accepts his offer of protection.
Still, Smoke struggles with how to handle her alpha immortal claim when she predicts dangerous events in which he must act in his role as a knight protector of the realm. When he discovers she engineered his death, he’s furious enough to back out of their arrangement.
Nephilim’s Claim is the third volume in the Valkyrie Riders miniseries and part of the Draoithe Saga by Ophelia Kee. When an alpha male dragon and a broken Nephilim meet, sparks fly in this steamy fantasy romance. Is the match between them truly made in the dream if Keira needs him dead and wants to rip apart his soul? Or can a dragon’s magic grant her needs and lead to eternal bliss if Smoke can claim his Angel?
It’s more than a story; it’s an experience. Welcome to the dream…
Urban Fantasy and Steamy Paranormal Romance with Fated Mates 18+ HEA! NC!
***Warning: Adult Themes, Fantasy Violence, and/or Explicit Sexual Situations. Intended for a Mature Audience.
As usual, this post got long and I have more work to do. I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend. Until we chat again, please don't forget to post your kind reviews when you read and know you are always welcome to the dream...
Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
Ophelia Kee
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