Sep 8, 2014 | Character Development, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Organic writing, Philosophy, Plot Development, Story Concepts, World-Building, writing |
After my last blog post on the four things you must know before starting a novel, in which I suggested not inventing a character, kingdom or creature until the story calls for it, a number of readers wrote in to ask, should nothing be planned? My answer is absolutely...
Aug 18, 2014 | Character Development, fantasy, Philosophy, Story Concepts, Tropes, villains, writing |
I want to talk about villains. Not the blackened-to-the-core, maniacally twisted kind or the ultimate evil, soul-devouring kind—I’d say genre fiction is all too familiar with stereotypical antagonists of this ilk. No, I want to talk about the villains you love to...
Jul 22, 2013 | Character Development, Philosophy, writing |
I was recently in dialogue with a reader about the use of homoeroticism in my novels. She asked if I had intentionally created a correlation between two homosexual characters (Sandrine du Préc in Cephrael’s Hand and the Prophet Bethamin in Dagger of Adendigaeth) and...
Jun 23, 2013 | Book Three, Character Development, Excerpts, fantasy, Plot Development, Story Concepts, writing |
As some of you may know, I’ve been traveling in Europe this month gathering a plethora of research for book three. Much of the third installment of A Pattern of Shadow & Light is set in the Empire of Agasan – specifically in the Sacred City of Faroqhar – which in...
Apr 29, 2013 | Character Development, Imagination & Creativity, Plot Development, Writer's Block, writing |
As writers, we innately tend to know when our story is working and when it isn’t. I like to describe this awareness as a sort of resonance, but it could just as easily be compared to an engine with all pistons firing. A skilled mechanic can tell just by listening when...
Oct 31, 2012 | Character Development, fantasy, Plot Development, World-Building, writing |
Many thanks to The Cover by Brittany for originally hosting this post on her blog. Some fantasy authors cringe at the topic of world-building, but actually, it’s one of the most thrilling aspects of writing genre fiction. When we write fantasy, we become...