The hardest thing about writing fantasy isn’t the world-building. It isn’t the language. It’s not the basics, like the grammar or the punctuation. No, the hardest thing about writing fantasy is making it meaningful. Game of Thrones isn’t great solely because it’s entertaining. It has something to say about the nature of power and the […]
Read more "The Meanings of Things"I can’t remember why I chose to self-publish through Lulu. It probably came up first in a search for self-publishing platforms. After 3 years, I’m gradually cutting ties. I don’t love it. Let me count the ways. Cost. Lulu is expensive. Though is allows me to print in pocketbook sizes, which is the standard size […]
Read more "Lulu vs. Amazon"The novel I’m working on writing, tentatively called The Ascendants, is my most ambitious to date. This means more storylines, more characters, more places, and more cultures. More of everything. More chances to fuck things up. It started as a world-building exercise between myself and my brother. I created a spreadsheet with a list of […]
Read more "The Epic"One of the most exciting parts of writing fantasy is world-building. Developing an entirely new world, with cultures and creatures and rules very different from Earth, is a blast. My second novel, Pantheon, takes place on an island where the gods (11 of them) are all very real. Rather than being gods of things, like […]
Read more "Gods and Goddesses"This weekend, I sold books and spoke on panels at Starfest. One of the largest cons in Denver, Starfest is where I spoke on my first panel as an author, several years ago. It’s fitting, then, that I moderated my first panel there this weekend. Titled “Supporting Casts and Creatures”, the panel focused on tips […]
Read more "StarFest 2017 – The Aftermath"I’ve written three books. These are full-length fantasy novels. Dragons. Swords. Assassins. Magic. It’s all in there. It’s all happening. I never thought I’d write one. Then I went to Argentina for a month where I had no social circle, just a lot of free time, and boom. Most of my first book came pouring out. […]
Read more "Three"I started here. StarFest was my first con, a couple years ago. I spoke on a panel about writing combat. I was nervous but I think I did ok. Now I’m back. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, you’ll find my books at the WordFire booth. I’ll be speaking on panels about writing secondary characters, writing […]
Read more "StarFest 2017 – The Return"I was homeschooled until high school. For most of my primary school years, my mother was my teacher. She ensured I had an academic knowledge on all the necessary subjects, but she also taught me to think critically, to believe in equality for all people, and to respect women. This doesn’t mean I have a […]
Read more "International Women’s Day"I’ve just watched a video of George R. R. Martin explaining how he comes up with his names. From it, I’ve learned that he uses a) baby books, b) historical names, c) modern names that sound old, d) his own imagination, and d) slightly modified names from all of these. But at the end, he […]
Read more "The Name Of The Thing"Here’s the first chapter from my new novel, Pantheon, available on Amazon here. – Lars flung the torch into the pyre. The oils lit quickly and the flames grew. He stared into the center where his mother lay under a gray sheet. It was almost night. The light from the flames danced in the beads […]
Read more "Pantheon – CH1"
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