The Cup of the Shining Sun launches mid-November!

My novel The Cup of the Shining Sun will go live soon. This book is the first in a trilogy called The Legend of the Cup. Travel is a huge inspiration for me. I never write about a place unless I’ve personally experienced it. There is so much to learn from the colors, smells, light, landscape and vegetation, sea and sky in a locale. I feel these shape the people who live there. And the people are the crux of the stories, in all their diversity.

The Cup of the Shining Sun takes place in Greece, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, India, and California. Yep, been there. My travels are the shoestring variety, not the jet set, hitchhiking and public transportation. This story unfolds in 1974, but whispers from ancient times about a legendary cup imbued with power reach back 3,000 years. 1974 becomes pivotal. A coup deposes Emperor Selassie of Ethiopia on the same day a young American woman visits his palace and unwittingly leaves with his prize possession.

So, if you enjoy the genre Magical Realism with a twist of adventure and travel, you’ll enjoy The Cup of the Shining Sun.

The genre of this story, Magical Realism, is often listed as a subset of Science Fiction/Fantasy. Still, there are differences worth noting, especially if you are like me and find genres limiting. I know genre serves the purpose of defining stories, so the books can be lumped together, on shelves or digitally, which makes it easier for the reader to choose the type of story they want to read. With so many published books, we do need help, but genre can be restrictive.

What about the stories that cross boundaries and defy neat categorical definitions? Authors choose what they want to write. Some authors are consistent and build a readership based on a type of story. Some aren’t. So, here’s a quick rundown of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Magical Realism, genres that can overlap in ways. I subscribe to Magical Realism since it provides the latitude I enjoy most.

Magical Realism fiction takes place in a real world, like the one we live in, except otherworldly elements show up. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s name is often mentioned as the forerunner of this genre associated with Latin American literature. Some have termed it a result of colonialism since it often dealt with politics of oppression. In his work One Hundred Years of Solitude, magical elements show up when yellow flowers fall from the sky to mark a character's death. The magic in Magical Realism is accepted because the material reality of the story is solid even though its counterpoint is magical. Isabel Allende, Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, Haruka Murakami, and N. K. Jemisin, among others, are fine examples of Magical Realism. They deal with fantastical elements in a realistic tone that are anchored in a real-life setting but peppered with mystery and meaning.

Keyword search terms often follow this pattern: Science Fiction-Fantasy-Magical Realism. But technically they differ.

Science Fiction takes place in altered worlds or brand new worlds, not our current reality, but in realities based on science.

Fantasy takes place in a world entirely different from our reality. Think Lord of the Rings series. Fantasy often involves magical elements in a created world. A fantasy world does not have to resemble our own.

In Magical Realism, the world does have to resemble our own…with magic thrown in for good measure.

The Cup of the Shining Sun takes place in accepted reality, real geographic locations, in 1974. The magical element stems from the legend that leads the main character, a young woman, to evolve.

I hope you will enjoy The Cup of the Shining Sun, the first in the trilogy called The Legend of the Cup. Sign up for my email to receive a book release announcement mid November.

The next book in the series will take place in India, Madagascar, and France. Stay tuned!