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My Recommended Fantasy Reads

My Recommended Fantasy Reads

Winter is my favorite time of year to curl up fireside and read. I can still remember one holiday in the 1990’s when I’d first discovered The Wheel of Time and spent my entire break in front of the fire churning through Robert Jordan’s voluminous books (I think there...

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How I Create Characters

How I Create Characters

Many of you have been asking about my process for creating characters—how I came up with certain characters, and more generally, how I make my characters seem real. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have read one of my earlier posts on organic...

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On the Author’s Responsibility to Fans

On the Author’s Responsibility to Fans

I’ve been thinking about my responsibility to you as my readers, and that got me to thinking about universes. Not the kind that surround us but the kind we carry with us—worlds complete, comprising places imagined by others, populated with people not of our creation,...

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Paths of Alir on Audible October 18th!

Paths of Alir on Audible October 18th!

I know the majority of you are waiting for Kingdom Blades at the end of this month, but an increasing number of people are asking me kindly when Paths of Alir will be available on Audible, and I can now confirm the audiobook will be released on October 18th. You can...

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Critique/Criticism and New Writers

Critique/Criticism and New Writers

I’ve hit my saturation point. It’s time to cast a plea broadly to all new writers who are trying to write a novel or churning their way through short stories and writing to me or others asking for feedback. Listen, I'm not just trying to be curmudgeonly (or...

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Cephrael’s Hand is now on Audible!

Cephrael’s Hand is now on Audible!

I'm thrilled to report to all of you audiobook lovers that today Cephrael's Hand releases on Audible! I know this is a long-awaited moment for many of you, and you have my sincerest gratitude for being so patient. The book is narrated by the talented Nick Podehl, who...

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Where is Book Four????

Where is Book Four????

Since I’m being asked this question many times a day in tones varying from polite interest to downright exasperation, I’m getting the idea that people might appreciate knowing where Kingdom Blades stands in the lengthy process that begins with my transcribing the...

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In Gratitude – Two Chapters from Kingdom Blades

In Gratitude – Two Chapters from Kingdom Blades

I'm not sure what inspired me this year (maybe your calls through the ether have reached me subliminally), but it occurred to me that one way I could express my gratitude to you, my readers, is by posting a couple of chapters from Kingdom Blades, the upcoming fourth...

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The Treatment of Sexuality in A Pattern of Shadow & Light

The Treatment of Sexuality in A Pattern of Shadow & Light

Some of you have written in asking me about the presentation and treatment of homosexuality in my novels. You pointed out that the majority of incidents involving homosexual characters portray those characters as being evil. You indicated to me that in presenting...

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How to Stay Inspired (and an Update on Kingdom Blades)

How to Stay Inspired (and an Update on Kingdom Blades)

Inspiration is one of those elusive words, like “muse” and “success.” It evades us, confounds and confuses us, bewitches when it visits and devastates upon its departure. It’s that girl glimpsed across the subway terminal, or that place in a dream that you just can’t...

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Artistic Integrity and The Pressure to Be Other Than We Are

Artistic Integrity and The Pressure to Be Other Than We Are

Most people think of the word integrity as ‘adherence to moral and ethical principles,’ but there is another definition equally important to understanding the word: ‘the state of being whole, entire or undiminished.’ The two meanings of integrity are integral to each...

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Destiny and Fate in Fantasy (and Life)

Destiny and Fate in Fantasy (and Life)

Destiny versus choice, fate versus free will—these are core concepts in fantasy. Whether addressed indirectly (“You were born to save the world”) or as a subject of the character’s growth (“Accept this role and take up your sword”), the concepts often form the woof...

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Grounding Fantasy in Reality and Tackling Controversial Topics

Grounding Fantasy in Reality and Tackling Controversial Topics

A reader wrote in to me recently and mentioned that while she didn't have the same visceral reaction to a particular scene (no spoilers) as many other readers had, she didn't like that one of the characters had to use sex as part of the resolution of the conflict in...

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The Strands of Elae and Their Associated Adepts

The Strands of Elae and Their Associated Adepts

Many of you have been asking about the magical strands of elae and their associated Adepts. This is a pared down version of the chart that appears in Paths of Alir (that chart contains information that would be spoilers for the earlier books). I plan to soon include...

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Author Q&A and a Plea to Aspiring Writers

Author Q&A and a Plea to Aspiring Writers

To my readers: please know how much I appreciate your emails, mentions and comments! Recently, many of you have written to me asking similar questions. I thought it would be best to answer all of you here on my blog in order to give your questions adequate address....

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How Much Should Authors Interact with Readers?

How Much Should Authors Interact with Readers?

This new age of social media makes it easier than ever for readers and writers to interact. Whether via reviews posted online, comments on a blog, forum discussions, Facebook or twitter, authors now have the opportunity to engage with their readers via multiple direct...

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Immortality and Gods in Fantasy

Immortality and Gods in Fantasy

It’s interesting to me how many novels, plays, poems (and even, dare I say, religions) deal with immortality without really dealing with immortality, i.e. immortality is automatically assumed, more understood than explored. In our concept, gods are immortal. In fact,...

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Writing Kingdom Blades (PSOL Book 4)

Writing Kingdom Blades (PSOL Book 4)

Many of you have been asking when book four in A Pattern of Shadow & Light will be released. All I can tell you right now is that I’ll have Kingdom Blades to you at some point in 2016 (the Muse willing). For comparison, each book in this series runs around 300,000...

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3 Reasons Every Indie Author Should Be Advertising on Facebook

3 Reasons Every Indie Author Should Be Advertising on Facebook

As an independently published author, I’ve noticed a lot of advice floating around about building my author platform, establishing my brand and the importance of having a social media presence. What I haven’t seen people blogging heavily about is the value of Facebook...

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