As I commented in the previous installment of this series, my first novel was also my first experience trying to create a fantasy world from
A sense of place plays a critical role in determining whether a reader “gets into” a story or not. Place names can lend an aura
Ah, but what if it hadn’t been “James Bond”? What if the name Ian Fleming gave his super spy had been “Crane, Ichabod Crane?” Clearly,
Here’s a question for you, Dear Reader. What publisher would have taken Bram Stoker seriously if he’d submitted a book about a mysterious, terrifying vampire
Hello, my name is Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and I’m a recovering research-aholic. I know that research addiction is common among writers of speculative fiction (genres
Today, communication fans, I’d like to dismantle four sentence-like sequences of words that have something in common: muddled meanings caused by a poor (or possibly
Over the years, I’ve been called upon to move a story from one art form into another—to novelize a movie or play, to write a
One of the hardest things for some writers to learn is what goes into building a world in enough detail to engage the reader’s willing
As regular readers of my articles know, I have a bit of an issue with the way that people—especially highly public and influential people—use and
Most people know what a ’meme’ is. The dictionary definition is: “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to
Let’s write a reality check. Not all that long ago I repeatedly heard that the unemployment rate in the US was not 4.9 percent as
I’d be willing to bet that most people have had the experience of reading a headline in a news article (or media chyron) only to
