Series

Confessions of a Ghostwriter: A Dish Best Served Cool

In a prior ”confession,” I talked about the qualities of a hero in context with a book I was writing for a client I code-named Murphy. My pointing out that a master of strong and intelligent followers would be more impressive than a master of weak, incompetent ones prompted Murphy to tell me that toning …

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Ghostwriter

Confessions of a Ghostwriter: Recipe for a Hero

A ghostwriting client (hereafter, ”Murphy”) hired me to write a coming-of-age fantasy. He’d written a proposed opening scene in which the reader meets a heroic character Murphy described as a combination of Gandalf the Grey and Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of which were appropriate to the role he was to play in the book—wise mentor to …

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Confessions of a Ghost (Writer): Writing Essentials (Rocky 1)

A client for my ghostwriting and editing services—I shall call him Rocky—once asked me what essential things a writer must do to lay the foundations for a writing career. He wasn’t asking about the writing itself, he explained, but about the things that separated those who break in from those who don’t. What and who …

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sherlock holmes

Confessions of a Ghost (Writer): I Dodge a Bullet

This is a true story. The names and titles have been changed to protect the guilty. A longtime collaborator whose movie script I was novelizing referred a client to me. ”He approached me to do this,” he said, “but I just don’t have time with shooting schedules and all. I thought you might be willing …

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WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Pitfalls, Religious Diversity, Schism & Pluralism

This article features my answers to several questions from the Catholic Writers’ Conference Online that I participated in for several years. They deal with the pitfalls of using religion in fantasy, how I deal with diverse points of view and schism in my work.  Q: What are the pitfalls of religion in fantasy and how …

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WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Checking with Religious Authority 

I found this question from an attendee of the Catholic Writers Conference I spoke at for several years an interesting one with a number of possible answers. Q: When should you check your work with a religious authority?  If I were presenting a piece I expected to be read as representative of my Faith, or …

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WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Heresy & Sin 

This question from the Catholic Writers Conference dealt with how I handled the complicated subject of heresy. Q: Have you ever had a story dictate you portray heresy or sin sympathetically?  How did you handle it? The protagonists of The Mer Cycle trilogy were considered heretics by the religious institutions they challenged. Both the orthodox …

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WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Cultural Influences

Q: Do you agree that religion influences culture?  Does culture influence religion?  If so, how much do or should you take that into consideration while preparing your book?  I think religion is at the heart of what we call culture. Our world culture is so steeped in religious principle that there’s no way to separate it …

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WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Warts and All

The question I fielded about literary license in a Q&A in a Catholic Writers Conference I participated in as a non-Catholic guest, (I’m a Baha’i) led to this follow-up question about projecting the flaws of a religion. Q: How can you project the flaws, conflicts, or other “warts” of a religion (particularly your religion) without …

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