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Monsters, the Monstrous, and Reclaiming the Other
Monsters—or, in the very least, the monstrous—show up fairly frequently in most speculative fiction. Whether under the guise of dragons and creatures from the deep (ocean or space) or by way of vampires and the fickle, often cruel fae, monsters and the absolute other of evil is a mainstay of much of our fiction. Casting the net […]
Writing Fantasy Saved My Mental State
Fantasy is sometimes referred to as “escapism” and it comes in many forms—whether that be reading a novel, getting immersed in a movie, or even playing a video game. That escapist state also comes while a writer is penning new stories—crafting new worlds, interesting magic, fun creatures, and adventurous plotlines. This is especially true when […]
As I Learn: How Your Story-Beast Moves
In the wild, lions live and hunt in prides. An adult male can weigh as much as 200 kg (mostly muscle), and an adult female can reach top speeds of 80 km/h—fitting since they do a lot of the hunting in the pride. These are creatures built for power and speed. Yet, these “Kings and […]
Worldbuilding Through Characterization
When somebody mentions worldbuilding the first thing you’ll think of is probably a lavishly detailed map, something filled with interesting geography, the locations of important cities, and maybe a dragon in the far corner. Or perhaps what springs to mind is a family tree of noble houses that lists their connections and feuds. Maybe you’ll […]
SFF and Queerness – We Need To Do Better
We’ve just said goodbye to June, month of queer visibility and pride (and gender-nonconforming visibility and pride, too—which many people (but not all) feel belongs under the umbrella of “queer”, and for sake of conciseness, I’m going to group the terms together here), in 2019, and I’m still standing here, yelling into the void about […]
5th Annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off: An Introduction
Hello, to all the followers of the SPFBO (Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off) the competition that began with an idle thought in the shadowed recesses of Mark Lawrence’s mind and is now in its fifth year. Some of the previous winners and finalists have been picked up by traditional publishing houses and some authors have turned down […]
What If… – Guest Blog by Tom Lloyd
Writing—It’s all basically the same whatever genre, right? No, of course I don’t believe that! If I did, I’d be trying to make my fortune in romance or something. There are a few reasons why I’m not (much to the disappointment of my friends, family and every person I’ve had to tell, “No, not that […]
Unicorn Mirror: A Compendium of Unicorn Lore
Introduction: The Ethereal Glimpsing of a Unicorn “The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were […]
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Vampires
Vampires. They’re better than zombies. I’ve demonstrated this conclusively in a previous article. From True Blood to Let the Right One In to V Wars, vampires are all over literature, films and TV and they show no sign off stopping. But let’s talk about vampires as they appear in that little corner of the world […]
On Planning My First Solo Author Event
Planning a book related event is stressful on all accounts, no matter if it’s a simple reading or a large writing conference. Regardless of size, the same questions remain: Will people have a good time? Does the agenda flow smoothly? Will people discover something exciting? Are there enough networking opportunities? What about food and drinks? […]
Blade Skill, Iron Sensing and Hypnosis: Behind the Scenes Look at Shadowblade – Guest Blog by Anna Kashina
Despite being a scientist in my day job, in my writing I tend to gravitate to fantasy. This means, magic rather than technology, supernatural and mystical as opposed to rationally explained. People often ask me why I am not using my science background in my writing, and up until now I have always come up […]
40 Years of The Perfect Organism: Does Alien Hold Up?
Spoiler Warning! This article contains many spoilers! When I was about 15, Aliens had a reputation among my friends as a great film. It was part war movie, part science fiction film: futuristic in a tough, edgy way. After watching it on a battered VHS videocassette and thinking it was excellent, I settled down to […]
