Apr 21, 2015 | Allegory in fantasy, Character Development, fantasy, Kingdom Blades, Paths of Alir, Philosophy, Story Concepts |
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...
Apr 7, 2015 | Adepts of Elae, Cephrael's Hand, fantasy, Maps and Artwork, Paths of Alir, Series mythology, Story Concepts, Strands (Elae), The Dagger of Adendigaeth |
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...
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,...
Oct 13, 2014 | Book marketing, Book sales, eBooks, fantasy, Indie Authors, Indie Publishing |
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...
Oct 6, 2014 | Book Three, Character Development, fantasy, Imagination & Creativity, Inspiration, Paths of Alir, Plot Development, World-Building |
“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...
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...