Browsing all articles by Faith M. Boughan.
Our Monsters, Our Selves
The title of this article is taken from a panel discussion at World Fantasy Convention 2012—a panel that had so many voices who wanted to contribute that it had to be split into two parts! The topic of discussion was on the appeal of monsters in fantasy literature: Why, how, and to who do they […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Colchian Dragon
This is the second instalment of a series in which we explore some of the lesser-known creatures and monsters found in Classical mythology, as many of these fantastical beings have similar counterparts in today’s modern fantasy literature and film. It’s my hope that giving more “screen time” to some of the unique creatures from ancient […]
Arsenic and Old Leaves: The Art of Poisoning Your Fantasy Characters – Part 1
So, you’re contemplating murder. Er, that is, your character is contemplating murder. Effective modes of death and all that. Bloodless versus bloodbath, public duel versus private confrontation, “accident” versus spontaneous sword through the gut. That’s all well and good, sure…but have you considered poison? In the Middle Ages, poison was a highly popular means of […]
An Exiguous Exploration of Exposition in Expansive Epics
Thousand-page fantasy novels… a ten-volume series… appendices of historical detail… characters who feel the need to blow hot wind across the pages of every third chapter… what do these have in common? Exposition. Ah, exposition. Glorious, infuriating exposition. Whether you love it or hate it, read it or write it (or both), exposition is a […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: Hippoi Monokerata
Welcome to the final instalment of our series on lesser-known creatures and monsters in Classical mythology! Over the past year, we’ve looked at everything from ancient dragon-like creatures to ancient vampire-like creatures, and plenty of bizarre things in between. From the beginning of this series, it has been my hope that both writers and readers […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: Ophiotaurus
Ah, monsters. Who doesn’t love a good, unique monster now and then? As great as it is to read about another dragon or giant spider, there’s something special about a hero encountering a strange, unknown creature that adds both tension and wonder to a story. That said, coming up with a monster that’s “different” can […]
Five Common Mistakes Writing Fantasy Flash Fiction
During my time as a flash editor for various ezines, I’ve read a fair chunk of speculative flash fiction. Some excellent. Some good. Some bad. Some really, really bad. And as varied as the submissions tend to be, I’ve found that a common thread runs through the subs that lean toward being worthy of the […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Leukrokottas
Welcome to another instalment of Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman mythology! If you’ve been following this series for a while, jump down to the subtitle below. If you’re new, here’s the deal—this series is designed to explore some of the lesser-known monsters and creatures from Classical mythology, as many of them have parallels in modern fantasy […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Taraxippus
Raise your hand if you believe in ghosts. Oh, come on. You, over there, reading this on your laptop on the bus—go ahead, raise your hand. No one will know but me. Look, there’s nothing unusual about believing in ghosts. Humans have done so for thousands of years, playing the ghost card to excuse strange […]
Writing Fantasy Gender Stereotypes – Part One: Your Heroine is Too Beautiful
I’m not trying to open a can of worms here—I’ll say that right off the bat. I acknowledge that this topic is enormous, complex, and encompasses both a dearth of fantasy literature and gender theory, and I admit I am not an expert on either by any means. I am, however, a female who loves […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Telkhines
In this, the eighth instalment of the series on lesser known creatures and monsters of Classical myth, I want to take you far, far away from where we were last month. If you were squeamish about giant, killer ants, don’t worry—we’re leaving the desert and heading toward the ocean. And instead of creepy bug legs, […]
Fantastical Creatures of Greco-Roman Mythology: The Myrmekes Indikoi (Indian Ant)
For the seventh instalment of this series on lesser known creatures and monsters of Greco-Roman mythology, we’re going to look at something really obscure. So obscure, in fact, that there are only three known ancient Greek references to this creature. Some historians have theorized that this creature didn’t actually originate with the Greeks, but was […]
