I’m often asked how I first thought of Amped Up. The idea hit me when I was at a friend’s house. I distinctly remember the moment. I was thinking about a concept in a book I had read called I Am Number Four. The main character received a scar on his leg whenever certain people died (ambiguity intended—no spoilers!), which intrigued me. He developed powers seemingly at random throughout the book, and I thought it would have been neat if he developed a special one each time a scar formed. My mind correlated the scars with tattoos, and my imagination took it from there.
Soon, I was visualizing a magic system tied to tattoos that people had—which I called amplifiers or amps for short—and I named the people that had them conjurers. However, I wanted to expand the magic system beyond merely powers tied to tattoos. I wanted there to be different levels of amps, so some conjurers had an innate advantage over others. I wanted there to be different types of amps, so not everyone could utilize the same ones. I wanted a unique way for amps to be acquired, so conjurers had to compete for them against their peers. And I wanted amp limitations, so conjurers had to make difficult decisions on when to use them.
The ideas flowed freely from there. Vitalia was formed, a hidden city that only conjurers could see with barrier towers around it. Genesis was formed, the coming-of-age ritual where students faced trials on a dangerous mountain to acquire amps from different temples. And constraints were formed, like having an amp’s power level and recharge time associated with the temple from which it was acquired.
More ideation came afterward to develop and hone the concepts, characters, settings, and storylines that became the final manuscript for Amped Up, but the original idea of powers contained within tattoos was the birthplace of everything else. I wrote Amped Up because it was the book I wanted to read—and I hope others find as much enjoyment in its pages as I do.