...it's a kind of magick

When describing the magick of my characters, particularly the many witches of variant abilities in THE BLOOD DRAGON, I always use the archaic spelling that refers to magick of an occult nature, meant to differentiate from the performance magic of magicians.

Magic, to me, is parlour tricks, still displaying a level of skill, but skill that's been learnt rather than existing naturally as an extension of the body, as a witch's might.
Magic is the sort that belongs to magicians who might delight children by pulling a rabbit from their hats. Or at the next level, Derren Brown, performing skilled tricks and illusions that deceive the mind.

Magick in my story is a gifted ability born onto you, or inherited, that you can't always help or control.
The witches in my story are dark wisps of women consisting of little more than magick and air. Their power is what fuels and sustains them - too omnipotent for me to be able to think of it as mere "magic".

Magick typically is meant to be neutral, neither dark or light in nature. Neither good nor evil. But fairy tales have warped our perception of it, and it's hard not to be influenced by them. However, in my book, the line between good and evil is blurred and confused, I hope lending a sense of realism to the idea that nothing is ever simply black and white. There are always extenuating circumstances that will affect a story and a characters' journey through it.

I love fantastical magick that is decidedly otherworldly in its charactristics. However, I do my research, making sure there's grounding in my supernatural creation. If it's so far out as to be unbelievable, then what's the point? I want the magick in my book to feel unreal-ly real!
I'm aware that I sound like one big walking contradiction. But doesn't magick always come across as the impossible made possible? The improbable, made probable?

Think of the most magickal books you've ever read... For me, the lines between the real and fantasical are always best when they're seamlessly blurred. "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern is a perfect example of this, "Practical Magic" by Alice Hoffman, "Caraval" by Stephanie Garber. And from middle grade literature, "The Divide" by Elizabeth Kay, and the ultimate example of magickal surrealism, "The Adventures of Alice In Wonderland" by the fantastical Lewis Carrol.

I admire all variants of magic/magick in literature. Fantasy is my preferred genre to read and to write. I've said before that it knows no bounds!
If you'd like more reading recommendations, I've got a fair selection of book reviews in blogs, and also a list of recommended books.

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Zuzu 🖋