Behind the Book: Where Wicked Conjuring Began

In January of 2016 I was sitting at the tiny 4x2 wooden Ikea desk in a cramped townhouse in Guelph, Ontario, staring at a computer screen with an itch to write. In my final semester of university I only had four short months to enjoy the community and degree I had made my own before I would move back to Vancouver to start my adult life. In times of overwhelm, stress, or reflection, I always turn to writing. 

I had kept up my craft throughout university, writing a small-town country romance for a friend and a dystopian romance while backpacking during my semester abroad. But at the start of that final semester, I was without a new idea.

I have always wanted to write something with western magic; witches, wizards, creatures of lore, etc. However, since there had been a specific magical young wizard series dominating the genre for the last decade, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to create something original.

So I wrote something for myself instead.

I wanted a world where magic was real but in a more grounded, relatable way. Since I was in my final months of living in Ontario I decided to set that idea in Toronto. This started my gears turning and inspired a few key questions that would drive the story forward;

1. If magic is real, how would it actually work in our world?

   
   

2. What if the chosen one actually knew they were the chosen one and had worked their butt off to be strong enough to carry that mantle?

   
   

3. Why is magic secret amongst humans and what keeps it in check?

From there I just started writing and discovered the story as I wrote it. There was no plan, no outline, and I started writing right in the middle of the action:

The First Draft with Commentary

Oh Shit.

Yes, that was the first line of the Demons at the Doorstep for a very long time. 

Jessica bent over and grasped her knees, gasping in heavy breaths as clouds of hot air rose steadily from her lips. The brick wall in front of her was not good, not good at all. She could hear them approaching in the distance. The stampeding of their feet indicative of their level of finesse. Of all the nights to run into the witch hunters, they had to find her tonight.

In another homage to my time at the University of Guelph, I named the main character Jessica after my roommate. We had been randomly paired together in the first year dormitories, and she is one of my dearest friends to this day. In no way did I base the character of Jessica off of her  — I just wanted to pay a small tribute to my friend who made university all the more special. 

“Damnit,” she cursed to herself, straightening her back and surveying the end of the alley. Toronto was such a large city, she was still finding new streets and passageways even after four years of living there. Unfortunately, that also meant she was still learning new dead ends. 

I spent several weekends away in Toronto and was always astounded by just how big the city was. Compared to Vancouver, with a downtown you can traverse in under thirty minutes, Toronto felt astronomical in size. 

I love how the neighbourhoods of Toronto are so distinctly different from each other as well. One minute you’re surrounded by towering skyscrapers, and then next you’re walking along red brick buildings just a few blocks away. It is a city with character and a lot of corners.

She heaved a heavy sigh once she managed to catch her breath. It wasn’t easy. The crisp October air felt as though she were breathing in frost, even though snow had not fallen yet. She turned to face the way she had come. 

“This way,” a deep voice said in the distance. 

Jessica backed herself up against the brick wall and looked up. The sky was lit with dazzling hues of oranges, pinks and reds – far more vibrant than any regular sunset. Like psychedelic northern lights, it was mesmerizing. 

In this world, I wanted magic to be treated as another feature of nature. Having the natural world react with the strange colours well after sunset seemed like a good way to indicate the level of the overall threat, while also giving a glimpse of how magic fits into this alternative version of our world. 

She was a part of a small handful of people in the city, or around the world, that knew what those colours really meant. Strong magic was being cast tonight. It was her responsibility to investigate and, if necessary, stop it. She thought she had been getting close to the source when she was interrupted by the witch hunters. 

The ‘Fantasy’ in Urban Fantasy is almost always secret to the general population. I’m not sure why that is. It can be helpful for raising stakes and providing obstacles for characters. Personally, I love the ‘what if’ factor that this implies.

Wherever there were witches, there were witch hunters. They described themselves as a sacred band devoted to bringing justice to the imbalance of power created by the existence of magic. It was quite the slogan. 

In reality, they were a ridiculous cult dedicated to the eradication of all things magical. At least that was this group’s mission. She knew there were sects of the witch hunters all around the world, just as there were witches. 

Not the green faced, black-clothed, funny-nosed kind of witches of T.V. mythology. They looked just like regular people and, just like regular people, there were some bad apples amongst the bunch. Which was where Jessica came in. It was her job as a Beata to keep the balance in the world of magic. A job that was near impossible when she had to run for her life. 

Here the chosen one concept gets introduced. Beata is the Latin word for blessed. And since I had taken three semesters of ancient Latin as part of my degree it’s no wonder where I got that idea from. 

Fun Fact: I have never fully committed to Beataes (the plural form of Beata) being exclusively found in spell casters. Even though the origin of the mantle comes from remnants of Merlin’s power, I believe that magic continues to evolve over time just as nature does and don’t believe that it should be limited to one species. There could be arguments made that Nathan is actually a werewolf Beata as well. 

Since the belief in Beataes has faded to myth status in the world of Wicked Conjuring at the time Demons at the Doorstep takes place, we will never know for certain. 

“This way!” another male voice called out. 

Jessica growled under her breath. How stupid was it that a group of people who wanted to destroy all things magical, used magic to hunt it down? Their cursed compass directed them to anything with a strong magical aura. So being near Jessica made the stupid contraption go haywire. She had no idea how witch hunters managed to get a hold of such a powerful magical item, but it was a massive thorn in her side. 

It’s interesting looking back at this version to see just how many concepts managed to not only stay in the story, but come back to play important roles in the narrative. Keep an eye out for that compass throughout the series, it’s got a particularly important job to do in Book 4, The Eye of the Lion.

The first chapter also features Damien, just as it does in the final version. I was a sucker for an enemies-to-lovers dynamic before I even knew that was the term for it. 

The Story that Started It All

And so in my university bedroom, facing the end of an amazing chapter of my life and simultaneously seeking an escape from it, I wrote the first chapter for Demons at the Doorstep. It was only when I read it back that I realized a greater story was in there. I wanted to get to know Jessica better, find out who the mysterious Damien was, and further explore the depths of magic hidden in our world. 

I set out to write an action-forward, fast-paced adventure that I could disappear into for a few hours. I combined my love for mythology with familiar magical concepts and used my background in science and arts to create a grounded magic system that was based in scientific concepts. I fused all that with a love for snarky banter, witty comebacks, and characters who needed to find a purpose amongst the chaos.

Writers are always stronger when they write what they know and what they love, as opposed to chasing trends. Writing what you want to read, what you wish was out there on the shelves, is a great way to get started. And sometimes all it takes is one little question, or in my case three, to dive into a whole new world.