I’m hosting guest authors through most of April and May, as I am swamped with Awesome Con DC and welcoming Baby Boy Brightley into the world. This guest post was written by Ben Blake, the author of Blood and Gold (Songs of Sorrow), The Gate of Angels (Songs of Sorrow), The Risen King, and A Brand of Fire (TROY). World-Building and Authenticity There’s an old quote about building characters, which Stephen King attributes to Thomas Hardy. I don’t know myself, but it goes; “Compared to the dullest human being walking on the earth, the most brilliantly drawn character in any novel […]
On Writing and Publishing
63 posts
I wrote this post over a month ago, and I’ve only just now gotten up the courage to publish it. What’s different now? Well… Things Unseen, the first book in the A Long-Forgotten Song series is almost done (I’m working on the final copy edits and formatting), and the third book in Erdemen Honor (which still needs a title) is not done but is still POSSIBLY on track to be published by Awesome Con DC in April. Basically, I was so discouraged that I didn’t even want to admit how discouraged I was. Sad, right? My sales are still excruciatingly […]
In addition to fantasy, one of the genres I come back to again and again is historical fiction. I also read a lot of international fiction. I love great characters, but I also love that sense of the exotic, something new and different than everyday modern life. Historical periods are wonderful to explore in books… maybe I wouldn’t want to live in revolutionary France, but it makes a great setting for dramatic stories! These are a few of my favorite historical periods: England 1000-1400s The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet: Comprising Sunrise in the West, the Dragon at Noonday, the Hounds […]
If you’re considering self-publishing, you’ve probably been doing some research about how to avoid the various scams and predatory “services” and vanity presses out there fighting for your attention and money. It’s a rough world… there are a lot of people and businesses who are eager to take advantage of authors. Before you give any money to anyone for any service, please check out the following links as appropriate: Preditors and Editors Writer Beware, and here’s the page on vanity presses and scam warning signs, along with an extensive list of other places to check out any publishing house you […]
One of the things I’ve realized about my writing is that it’s easy for me to write and edit and write and edit and write and edit some more and then rethink everything and lose confidence and…. never actually finish a piece. There are a few reasons for that: lack of planning (I tend toward pantsing, as in writing by the seat of my pants, even though planning would probably work better for me), lack of focused time to really dive into my work and figure out where I am and what needs to be done, and most of all, […]
One of the concepts I’ve found myself exploring through my writing is heroism. What makes a hero heroic? What makes a hero believable? What makes him (or her) interesting, charismatic, courageous, or just stubborn? I don’t mean just a protagonist in the literary sense. A protagonist can be a hero, an anti-hero, or anything in between. I enjoy reading about all kinds of characters, but I find myself drawn to the heroes… the ones who do something truly great, even when it costs them everything. So what makes a hero heroic? Courage? Love? Self-sacrifice? Physical Courage It’s hard to imagine […]
I just read this fantastic article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on A Career vs. Publication. If you’re an author, a wanna be author, a just-for-fun writer, or have ever thought about writing, go read it. You might have noticed that the publishing world is changing pretty quickly these days. Among other upheavals, indie publishing has become not just an option, but a good option. As writing blogs, conventions, and advice proliferate, both online and in the real world, there is a lot of advice out there. Have you ever tried to parse through that advice to find what will work […]
This is a guest post by Sabine A. Reed, the author of the The Demon Mages (Book 1 in The Power of Three series). Thanks, Sabine! Sabine also interviewed me on her blog. Hi, My name is Sabine A. Reed. I am a fantasy author, and I have been in love with mythological creatures and fantasy writing since I began to read. Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite, most mysterious and often used creatures in writing – elves. To Elf or not to elf; their role in fantasy The origin of elves is not known. They […]
This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Kyra Dune. Her most recent publication is Firebrand. . Do What Works for You I’ve read a lot of articles about writing fantasy. I’ve heard it said over and over that every writer in this genre must spend copious amounts of time creating their fantasy world, its rules and laws and histories, its races and religions and magic, before ever sitting down to actually write out a story. I’m here to tell you it isn’t true. Okay, maybe in some instances it is true, if for […]
This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Sophie Duncan. Her most recent publication is Sacrifice of An Angel. Magical Forensics Thanks very much to C.J. for hosting me today as part of the Blogger Book Fair. C. J. asked me to write about the magical forensics my sister and I developed for our book, Sacrifice of An Angel. It is the first book in a new-adult contemporary fantasy series called The Haward Mysteries that mixes the modern British crime drama with magic, demons and all manner of dark arts. I write this series with my twin […]