Jan 19, 2015 | Character Development, fantasy, Fantasy tropes, Kingdom Blades, Philosophy, World-Building, writing |
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,...
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 28, 2014 | Book Three, Imagination & Creativity, Philosophy, Plot Development, World-Building, Writer's Block, writing |
There’s something known as writing yourself into a corner. This phrase might be used to describe any number of authorial ailments, from the scene that mystifyingly “doesn’t work,” to the sinking realization—many chapters in—that your entire plot resolution hinges on...
Apr 22, 2014 | Book Three, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Paths of Alir, Philosophy, World-Building, writing |
Last week I finished penning the third book in my epic fantasy series and sent it off to beta readers. Paths of Alir was two years in the planning/writing, and the final clocked in around 300,000 words. (It is an epic fantasy. Providing a series is well-crafted,...
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...