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Paternus: Rise of Gods – Hardbacks Kickstarter – Ends Today!
What can you say about Dyrk Ashton that others haven’t already said? I am frankly at a loss, however I will say that his first book, Paternus, has place on my shelf of books that must be read. It takes so many myths and legends, weaves them into each other so smoothly you come to […]
NaNoWriMo 2019: My Personal Experience – Part One
As I am writing this, I am feeling completely burned out. My hair is a mess (is that another silver strand sprouting up?!), my eyes are puffy and twitchy, dark circles nestle beneath and I am desperately trying to hold back a yawn…aaaaand the yawn wins out. I managed to force out 400 words this […]
Help Us Pick 2019’s Best Fantasy Books
Hello Factioners! It’s time to start making our Best Fantasy Books of 2019 list! You can nominate as many books as you like. They must be full length novels, and they have to be new for 2019. Trad, small press, self-pub all qualify. The list won’t be published until New Year’s so if something is […]
On the Importance of Critique Groups
Writing can be—and often is—a solitary journey. The stereotypical and sometimes romantic notion of a writer alone in a room penning the next great novel does stem from truth. Most of the time, writers do their work alone, whether that be in a coffee shop surrounded by people or in their one-bedroom apartment surrounded by […]
Fierce Fantasy Night – Writing Panel Recap
Living in a mostly rural area, I get few opportunities to attend book signings. For the big names, you can guarantee you’ve got to travel to London, but when my local Waterstones made me aware of a Fierce Fantasy night they were hosting back in June, with a panel of female authors, I knew it […]
Fantasy-Faction is Looking for Contributors!
Hello Factioners! I hope you are all enjoying your beginning of autumn/spring (depending on your locale. In my area of the world we are gearing up for a chilly Halloween full of fake spiders and candy corn! In Fantasy-Faction world however, we have run into something even spookier! We are low on contributors! So, if […]
Legacy of Ghosts by Alicia Wanstall-Burke – Cover Reveal
Writing Legacy of Ghosts may have been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in a creative capacity, but choosing a cover artist didn’t take a second thought. Pen Astridge created the cover for Blood of Heirs, book one of The Coraidic Sagas, so it made complete sense to ask (beg) her to create something for […]
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 […]
