Uncommon Urban Fantasy

An urban fantasy author friend recently told me I need to develop my author brand. And at ten books in, I guess she’s right. But figuring out my brand has been rather difficult since I swung from grimdark steampunk to nonfiction fantasy worldbuilding, then most recently to urban fantasy. But after much soul-searching, I’ve decided my brand is going to be Uncommon Urban Fantasy.

But what does Uncommon Urban Fantasy entail? Well, I’ve made a list. Two, actually: one of what I intend to do with my Inner Circle series, and also what Inner Circle ISN’T.

Uncommon Urban Fantasy IS:

Mundane + Magic—All fantasy is really wish fulfillment, where we imagine how much better the world would be if something impossible actually existed; that if you looked into the shadows at the right angle, or walked down the right alley, you’d witness something truly magical. In Inner Circle, my aim is to add a layer of magic to our real world and juxtapose it against the mundane lives we all live. This means all my characters are real people who ALSO have access to magic. That magic will, of course, influence and warp who they are, but my goal is to create characters who are people first, then magicians second. Like how all X-Men start off as humans until they develop their gifts.

Mid-Stakes—My characters aren’t out to save the world, and they aren’t going to be rushing against time to stop a serial killer before s/he strikes again and kicks off a war between the gangs. Nor are they trying to get the enchanted B&B they recently inherited running while trading cozy cookie recipes with the grumpy witch across town. The characters will have goals that are exceedingly important to them, and while there will be deaths, these stories are mysteries based on the Agatha Christie mold rather than neo-noir procedurals with magic. So low body count and more sleuthing rather than running from one set-piece battle to the next.

Setting as Character—Most urban fantasy is anchored to a specific city, and as such, I will use as many real-world locations as possible. But I also intend to set (most of) my stories in a new real-life city per book, hence each cover incorporating a map of said city. I also plan on incorporating specific time periods into each book, such that the dates the stories take place not only influence the sense of time and place in the scenes but also affect the plot. That means the characters will age and mature between the books.

Mysteries Over Cases—This gets back to basing this series on Agatha Christie mysteries instead of Raymond Chandler, in that I intend on these to be fair-play mysteries… but, you know, with magic added in. I want the audience to be able to figure who did what and why at the same time as the protagonist, and I intend to seed all the clues properly, so the big reveal won’t just be “a wizard did it.”

Consistent, Anything-Goes Magic—This ties into the point above, where the magic plays into the mysteries, which means the magic has to consistently make sense so the audience doesn’t feel cheated during the big reveal. I’ve spent a lot of time examining magic systems as a concept, and feel pretty confident on this point. It might not be immediately apparent when reading, but there is an exceedingly crunchy magic system undergirding this series, which is an exceptionally difficult task since anything goes in this universe, meaning if you can dream up a type of magic, it exists in this world. Or… at least it could. Or will.

What Uncommon Urban Fantasy ISN’T:

Vampires/ Shifters/ Fairies—Believe me, I have nothing against all these creatures. Hell, Buffy was one of my gateway series, as was Vampire: The Masquerade. But I’ve read enough vampire stories, and seen enough alpha shifters vying to lead the pack, along with fickle fae and their deadly court intrigues. As such, these creatures will not appear in my stories, although I might give one or two of these a spin in my own very specific way. But I will say that 93.7% of my stories will be human magicians only.

Kissy Stuff—I have nothing against Paranormal Romance or Romantasy. I just don’t want to read it, and it generally annoys me when I think I’m reading a new Urban Fantasy story, only for a fated romance to suddenly surface midway through. It’s like getting a mouthful of raisin cookie when you were expecting chocolate chip. That’s not to say characters won’t fall in love and have their hearts broken along the way. Just that those will be subplots in Inner Circle, rather than the intent of the story itself.

Inconsistent 1^st Person POV—It is a very, very specific pet peeve of mine: to be living in the character’s head via 1^st person POV, only for the character/ author to withhold information that’s vital to the plot, which is revealed with much fanfare in the finale. I HATE this with the burning passion of a thousand suns. That is why all Inner Circle stories will be 3^rd person POV, with the audience aware of all the same information as the protagonist. Always. How else are they supposed to solve the mystery on their own if they don’t have all the info?

Snark for the Sake of Snark—Look, I’m Gen-X, which means sarcasm is my love language. Just ask my parents. Talking back gives me the dopamine pop I need to survive. But it’s also been done to death in this genre. Which is a real shame, since I love it so much. So, I’m trying out a less world-weary protagonist, a kid who knows how to hold his tongue, and when to use it to weasel his way out of a situation. Not to say there won’t be sarcasm and snark (Isaac, I’m looking at you), but it won’t be the knee-jerk reflex of all the characters. Just a few.

And that’s that. If this manifesto sounds good to you, please check out my Inner Circle Series. If not, I’m glad we got this out of the way now instead of fifty pages into a book. Go forth and find whatever story it is you want to read; our genre has grown too large to expect everyone to read the same sort of stuff because it’s the only game in town.