Born on Earth just after the turn of the 26th Century, Mordecai The Brown is a wizard of considerable skill. His enmity for modern science and...
J.S. Morin
The 5 Minute Shortcut to Creating Cultures
Often times you'll find a need for a foreign culture in your writing. But you can convey a sense of a vibrant, multicultural world without having to...
What Does it Take to Make Your Book Into an Audiobook?
Audio is a great way to reach readers who prefer listening over reading, or those who spend a lot of time on cars, in trains, or otherwise on the...
Ken Hughes Interviews J.S. Morin
Today I'm lending space on my blog to author Ken Hughes. Last week I did an interview with Ken. Here is his his interview, with me answering the...
Year 3 of My 5-10 Year Overnight Success Plan
So... January 31st marks the 3rd bookiversary of Firehurler. I'll have been a self-published author for three full years. I'd like to say the time...
Worldbuilding in Skyrim: Politics
Anyone who follows my blog knows that I have a keen interest in worldbuilding. So when I decided to dust off Skyrim and have another go at it, I...
The A, B, Cs of Fantasy
A - Adventure Because a life of stability and hard work just isn't in the cards. B - Battle Something to break up all the walking, riding, and...
Writing Prompts 3
Looking to write but can't think what to write about? Here are five more writing prompts to give you an idea to build around. 1 - Aliens have made...
Miracle on 34th Street Fan Theory
'Tis the season and I've been popping in all the Christmas classics this season. But as I was watching Miracle on 34th Street (in the original 1947...
Writing Prompts 2
Looking to write but can't think what to write about? Here are five writing prompts to give you an idea to build around. 1 - Three strangers meet at...
What If More Video Games Were Text-Based
I am old enough to remember Zork—the original text-based versions before they came out with graphics-enabled editions. It was an entirely different...
Writing Prompts 1
Looking to write but can't think what to write about? Here are five writing prompts to give you an idea to build around. 1 - Someone has been...
Level Up Your Writing: Words Are Experience Points
Are you a good writer? Want to get better? Well, you'd better get out there and earn more XP. Whatever innate talent and ability you think you have,...
4 Tips to Get Ready for NaNoWriMo
November 1 kicks off the annual writing extravaganza known as National Novel Writing Month (or more commonly, NaNoWriMo). With a goal of 50,000...
Amazon Lists Their 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime
Amazon just made a list of 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime. I went through the list and I had read 23 (I didn't count...
Black Ocean Playlists – Salvage Trouble
Music is a major theme in Black Ocean. Carl Ramsey was raised in a family that made its living dredging up old acts from the past and passing them...
Don’t Be Fooled By Space Opera
Maybe you know what space opera is, but in case you don't, I'm going to peel back the misconceptions. Space Opera is not what you think it is. First...
Worldbuilding in Harry Potter
I've already taken a look at the worldbuilding in Star Wars. Now it's time to take a look at a fantasy setting that most of us known quite well:...
5 Worldbuilding Questions About History
How far back does your history go? There's actual history (everything that happened in your world), recorded history (what's happened since people...
The 3 Writing Rules I Break All the Time
You hear the advice everywhere. It gets pronounced from high upon soap boxes, repeated as gospel, and heeded often without thinking. It makes for a...
When to Stop Worldbuilding and Start Writing
There are two common problems I hear when people are having trouble with their worldbuilding. One camp is overwhelmed by the task, the other unable...
Why Fiction Writers Are Crazy
Fiction writers are crazy. The non-fiction sorts can get away with having a normal outlook, describing things that exist and events that happened....
Writing an Episodic Series
I've written a series of long books. I've written one of more "standard" length books. But my current series is comprised of long novellas. I did...
Worldbuilding in Star Wars
I talk a lot about worldbuilding, but this time I'm going to show how it is conveyed in an example that (nearly) everyone is familiar with: Star...