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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 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
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
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
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?
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
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)
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...
read moreOn Isabel and Pelas in Paths of Alir
****SPOILER ALERT***** When I wrote the scene with Isabel and Pelas in the second half of Paths of Alir, I expected it could become controversial. I knew it would hit some readers in a way that felt morally uncomfortable, but I never imagined that the scene would be...
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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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Ultimate Epic Fantasy Writer’s Playlist
"Two boys arrived yesterday with a pebble they said was the head of a dog until I pointed out that it was really a typewriter." ~Pablo Picasso Inspiration comes in many forms. There are as many sources of inspiration as there are artists to be inspired. A simple turn...
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3 Things Every Indie Author Needs to Know Before Starting Out
Paths of Alir, the third book in my award-winning epic fantasy series, released in stores on Saturday (Yay!!). Along the runway to this book release, I started my own publishing company and created the imprint Five Strands Publishing. Since starting on the indie...
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4 Steps to Writing Organically, Part II – Viewpoints, Mimicry and Imagination
Think of writing like sailing a massive ship. There are an enormous number of mechanical actions that synergistically combine to keep the ship plowing forward through the waves. It behooves you, as the captain of the vessel, to have an understanding of all of those...
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Pantser or Plotter: 4 Steps to Writing Organically (and the Science Behind Why You Should) – Part 1
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...
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How to Avoid Cliches (or The 4 Things You MUST Know Before Starting A Novel)
A reader recently wrote to me and asked, how do you write a novel when every time you start (oh, so many times!) you get a few chapters in and suddenly become deluged with doubts? And how, when you’re so well-read in the genre that you’ve read it all and seen it all a...
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4 Steps to the Ultimate Compelling Villain
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...
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They’re here! Spectacular new covers for A Pattern of Shadow & Light Books 1-3
When I began thinking about cover design for Paths of Alir, the third book in my award-winning epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow & Light, I started looking through covers for similar fantasy books published in the last few years. When I published...
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How Not to Write Yourself into a Corner (in Your Novel and in Life)
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...
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#Excerpt from Paths of Alir, A Pattern of Shadow & Light Book 3
Paths of Alir, the third book in my epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow & Light, is in the final stages of pre-production (cover design and layout for press). The publication date is scheduled for October, 2014. Believe me, I understand that...
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Breaking Up With Your Novel
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,...
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