(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Much like childbearing, sleeping is a fundamentally biological process with a lot of culture built around it. Even the biological part can be treated as fair game for worldbuilding, of … Continue reading
So. Let me take you back a little while. Back in 2002, I attended the World Fantasy convention in Minneapolis – I did the usual things one does on such occasions, even met at least one author whom I fangirled … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) We often like to think of religions as clear-cut things, with distinct boundaries between them. In reality, they’re often anything but; they borrow and copy and change and blend, in … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In creating a fictional polytheism, it’s useful to have a sense of what kinds of gods are possible. The honest answer to this is “anything you like.” There’s nothing inherently … Continue reading
So, you may have noticed that I just, JUST, had a new novel come out – “The Second Star“, now doing the rounds in paperback, ebook and audio editions and garnering reader responses and reviews that are making me very … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Polytheism is everywhere in secondary-world fantasy. While some settings feature a monotheistic church of some kind — usually one modeled on Christianity, as the word “church” implies — there’s a … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently powerful being may be indistinguishable from a god. What is a god, anyway? This is a question that … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In Aztec cosmology, warriors who died in battle or sacrifice were rewarded with Huitzilopochtli’s heaven, accompanying the sun in its journey from rising to noon. The western half of the … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Pregnancy is far more than just a biological process. And as any woman who’s ever been visibly pregnant can probably attest, every second person out there feels like they have … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) A few years back I was invited to speak on a panel at the American Library Association’s annual meeting, on the topic of “Technology and Science Fiction.” Since I’m a … Continue reading
