One-Word Metaphors: Stretching Words to Their Limits
"The waves lapped the sandy shore. Overhead, the stars twinkled cheerily. A bank of clouds rolled in and a driving rain chased us from the beach. We were both huffing and puffing by the time we reached the quaint little cottage we had rented. It was pitch dark inside....
City Mapping
In my earlier blog on Amateur Cartography, I covered the basic concepts behind how to draw a map to go along with your fantasy story. Mainly I focused on what ought to be included, what readers expect to be included, and how to go about conceptualizing the map from...
Goblin Speech
One of the things that readers have found most interesting about the goblins of Firehurler is their language. While many races have their own languages, the goblins come as close as you can get to being unpronounceable to humans without actually crossing that...
Goblins in the Twinborn Trilogy
What is a "goblin"? Since they are fictitious creatures, it's okay for there to be more than one answer to this question. However, while you're here, I'll share my take on them. Physical Appearance In silhouette, a goblin would look like a starving human child with an...
The Secret of MINH (Made in NH Expo)
Just spent the weekend signing books at the Made in NH Expo in Manchester, NH (which has nothing to do with experimental, intelligent rats). There were great crowds, especially on Saturday, and lots of people were stopping by the booth. For my first book signing, I'd...
Whimsy or Physics? The Hidden Rules of Magic
Magic is one of the defining characteristics of fantasy. Whether you are looking at "high" or "low" magic, it's going to be in there somewhere (I'm pretty sure that fantasy without magic is historical fiction or some other genre). That said, the treatment of magic...
Goodreads: Where Authors and Readers Connect
Goodreads, in case you've never heard of it, it a site where people can do to find book recommendations. They have millions of members and even more reviews. The content is user-maintained, by and large, making it sort of a cross between Wikipedia and the reviews...
Writing Unforgettable Scenes
Forgettable (adj.): Easily forgotten, esp. through being uninteresting or mediocre. Ick. No one wants that for their writing. One of the best ways to avoid this is through the help of your early (beta) readers. You can't just go asking if your book was boring; few of...
Showing: How Not To Tell
Everything you ever read about writing advises you: "show, don't tell". It's great advice as far as it goes. You don't want to lecture to your reader, you want them engaged, seeing and feeling things based on the descriptions you give them to work with. What most...
Spoilers: Your Own Worst Enemy
There are few people in this world that like spoilers. When we see a movie or a TV show, or we read a book, we want to experience all the twists and turns without foreknowledge that might ruin the surprise. When discussing new things, people are usually polite enough...