(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) When my Russian translator was working on Turning Darkness Into Light, he kept sending me queries about how I wanted him to handle certain bits. You see, that novel contains … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Language doesn’t have to be spoken. We’ve discussed written languages before, in the context of books and literacy . . . but it’s also possible to communicate through the body, … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Last week we talked about languages as if they’re distinct, clear-cut things. That is very, very far from the truth. … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) There’s a joke which goes: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone … Continue reading
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 suspension of disbelief. This is especially important when writing about places that no one alive … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In talking about marketplaces and wandering vendors and shops, we’ve left out one key aspect of how those types of commerce get carried out — an aspect which rarely shows … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Shops — in the sense of an actual buildings dedicated full-time to trade — are a fixture of the modern world. While we may occasionally visit farmers’ markets, get our … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Writing this essay has earwormed me. I own an album of period music by the group Sirinu, which includes the song “New Oysters Street Cries.” It’s a seventeenth-century round advertising … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) If I want to buy something, I go to a store or hit up the internet. In the science fictional future, I might 3D print many of the things I … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Whether you’re a king or an ordinary citizen with some property, you can’t take it with you. When you die, your money and your goods and your land have to … Continue reading
