Month: April 2026

The possibilities are endless. Or are they?

Asking others, there were varying responses. Having infinite pizza might solve the question of what to have for dinner for a while, and a teleportation device sure would cut that daily commute and give back some time. Most people initially start big, a large house and being able to have as much money as they needed. But then, money ultimately buys freedom and time, so why not go straight to that instead?

Now, let’s add a restriction to how much magic you can use. In Book 4, the use of too much magic causes the realm to become unstable and liquefy. It reverses what we see in Book 1 when Yas visits Victorian London and sees how magic can create the realm. So, think again about your choices. What can you achieve without constantly having to conjure? How much magic might be too much?

Whatever your response, it prompts some deeper questions. Why did you choose what you did and what might you really be seeking?

What are you really searching for?

Are you looking for more time, to be able to think without feeling under pressure, and to be able to get more done in the day. Maybe you want time for you, when all the responsibilities of the day are taken care of?

Perhaps you’re seeking clarity, looking to understand people and the world around you without having to second guess. What did that person really mean? What really matters in this situation and what choice can I make that I won’t be replaying in my mind later?

Or maybe you’d decide to conjure something that benefits others? Heal disease, solve hunger, help the climate?

Digging deeper into why you’d conjure what you decide takes us to the last and perhaps most uncomfortable question in this thought experiment, what does that say about you?

Choices speak words

Sure, in the moment you can choose to conjure anything convenient. But remember, if there’s a limit to how much magic you can conjure, you must be careful with your wishes. Do you still want to make it immediate and convenient, or should it be more meaningful for you?

To be meaningful though, you need to think about what that means to you. Do you want something grander for yourself, nobler for others or subtler for quality of life for you and your loved ones?

Whatever you choose, it paints a picture of you. And that picture may or may not be in line with the picture you feel like you’d like to portray about yourself. Ultimately the ability to conjure anything gives us a freedom. And with that freedom, how do we choose to use it?

What do the Word Guardians conjure?

The same dilemmas play out for Yas, Sam and their friends in the realms. Sure, they have battles and need to conjure weapons and shields in the moment for self-defence, but they still must think about those deeper questions. Do they seek defence or retaliation? Do they seek to win at all costs or use force only to regain balance? Ultimately, their ‘why’ is to protect the imagination of readers, and the magic that they cast is in service of this.

To learn more about the magic of the Word Guardians, and their enemies, The Controllers, read the book series. See also what resonates (or doesn’t) for you in how you’d like to react to the challenges that the Word Guardians face.

Click the button below to view and buy the books in your usual Amazon store (available in paperback and kindle editions).

So, you don’t need much in your survival pack really. However, there’s two key pieces you do need though, for a visit to a realm.

Opening a portal to a realm

The first, and most important part of being able to visit a magical realm, is being able to open a portal. In Who can visit the realms of the Word Guardians series?, I talked about having belief, magical ability and a key.  We see how this comes together for Yas in Excerpt from Book 1: When Yas discovers magic and how Yas then comes to believe, develop her innate magical ability and open portals to other realms.

For Yas and Sam, they have several keys on the necklaces they wear. The faces of the dies, the pendants, help them both find doorways into realms and detect when a portal is nearby. They discover other keys too, but their pendants also help them with the second part of visiting a realm.

Getting home again

Like any adventure, you need to get back home again. When visiting a realm, that means knowing where the portal is that will get you back to the outer world. This could be the same doorway that took you there, as Yas and Sam find when visiting ancient Alexandria (Excerpt from book 1 – Escape from Alexandria). It might also be a portal that can only be opened by someone else, which causes Yas and Sam to become trapped in the Otherworld in book 4 – The Lost Beginnings.

An exit portal can be opened the same way as a portal to enter a realm. You need belief, magical ability and you need to know where the door is. Magical ability comes a little easier once in a realm and magic is all around you, but it depends on the realm as you’ll see in the upcoming book 5, The Story Thief.

What about surviving in the realm?

As I mentioned earlier, while you’re visiting a realm you can draw on the magic that powers it to conjure what you need to survive. Food, drink, clothing, can all be created to provide your daily needs. But, as you find out in the stories, you can also get injured, or worse. So, caution is needed, as you would exercise on any adventure.

What’s in the realm visitor’s survival guide

So, a realm visitor Survival Guide is maybe a little different from what you might expect, but important, nonetheless. You need the ability to open portals to visit a realm and get home again, and you need to have your wits about you while you’re visiting. Without the ability to open doorways, you’re not going to get very far on your magical adventures, and this learning is a big part of book 1 – The Battle for the Peacekeepers for Yas.

To see how this plays out for Yas and her friends, click the button below to view and buy the books in your usual Amazon store (available in paperback and kindle editions).