(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) I’ll admit it: this particular essay is kind of a grab bag of random techniques and technologies people have historically used to protect their belongings. But I think they merit … Continue reading
In the first part of MacGuffin or Grail, I suggested a set of criteria for judging whether your particular plot device was one or the other. Having given my protagonists in THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER a panoply of grails, my question … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Keeping a place or an object secure largely consists of three elements: first, you want to discourage or prevent people from getting in; second, you want to know when they … Continue reading
Myth and legend, going back to the beginning of mankind, is dominated by heroes, both male and female. Looking up to brave people, appreciating all they sacrifice to save everyday people is important. They inspire us to do braver things … Continue reading
(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) Anybody who’s played a rogue in Dungeons & Dragons is familiar with “thieves’ tools” as an essential item of equipment, with which one can pick locks and disarm traps. But … Continue reading
According to Webster’s dictionary, a MacGuffin (McGuffin or maguffin, as you prefer) is: ”an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance.” (emphasis mine) … Continue reading
Today we interview Joynell Schultz, who is launching a brand new apocalyptic science fiction romance series called Earth’s Only Hope. The prequel, Connecting is included in a huge, limited-edition science fiction and fantasy box set called Rogue Skies, all 24 stories for only 99c.
Continue reading(This post is part of my Patreon-supported New Worlds series.) In my anthropology and folklore classes I dealt with a pair of terms I think have some utility to the writer of speculative fiction: emic and etic. … Continue reading
An author figures out how to write a novel without scratching her head and wondering how the heck she painted herself into this craft corner only after she has written six to eight novels. If she hops genres, it can take even more novels.
Continue reading“How do you find time to write? “When do you write? Morning? Evening? Middle of the night?” “Do you have a goal of so many words per day?” “Does it work when you force yourself to sit in the writing … Continue reading
