Magicalia by Jennifer Bell
What do Pokemon, Astronomy and Poetry have in common? Jennifer Bell will explain in her guest blog for us today!
One of the questions I get asked the most by readers is: where do your ideas come from? I always say they can come from anywhere, but they don’t just fall into my lap; I have to go hunting for them! As often as I can, I read books, listen to music, watch films, visit galleries and museums and play games – all to spark ideas and get my imagination firing.
Sometimes, ideas collide in unexpected ways. The inspiration for my latest book, Magicalia: Race of Wonders, came from three very different sources. The first was Pokémon, the wildly popular media franchise incorporating film, TV, video games and trading cards. Pokémon takes place in a world where humans coexist with various species of monsters endowed with special powers. It’s full of dastardly villains, young heroes and spectacular Pokémon battles! I love that there are different types of Pokémon, such as grass, fire, bug, fairy, ice and psychic. Magicalia: Race of Wonders was also inspired by my fascination with science, especially astronomy, which is full of mystery and the unknown. Lastly, I took inspiration from a famous poem by American poet Emily Dickinson, which begins:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
The poem got me thinking: what if hope was a thing with feathers? What if all our emotions were living creatures, each with unique abilities, much like Pokémon? What would they look like? How would they sound? Rage might be a ferocious fire-breathing tank with volcanic skin, while amusement could be a mischievous little floof who delights in tickling people and hiccups all the time. Confidence could be a giant strutting creature with powerful legs that allow it to jump higher than a building. I named these creatures ‘magicores’, and as they pinballed around my head, a story started to take shape.
Magicalia: Race of Wonders follows amateur journalist Bitsy and her football-obsessed best friend Kosh, who are swept into a world of ancient meteorites and secret organisations when Bitsy’s father is kidnapped by a woman with a magicore. Using an enchanted encyclopaedia called Magicalia, the friends must learn how to conjure magicores before following a trail of clues that will take them from London to India to Paris in a race to rescue Bitsy’s dad from a shapeshifting villain.
It’s the perfect read for any Pokémon-obsessed gamers or science nerds like me, as well as anyone who enjoys a thrilling adventure with unexpected twists and turns. The story contains high-speed chases, ancient riddles, magicore battles, super-powered burps and more! I hope readers have a blast discovering all the magicores. Perhaps the story will even spark ideas in someone else’s imagination that will collide and create something new.