Over the years, I’ve talked a lot about my love for diverse fantasy worlds. I particularly enjoy seeing black and brown people in non-stereotypical roles. In general, I love fantasy worlds where the main cast isn’t all white, het, cis, male. But, I’ve avoided writing a post about this topic Read more…
I haven’t had a chance to get into the kind of waterfall photography of my dreams. Hudson Valley and upstate NY have the tall waterfalls I’ve been chasing but I can’t reach them without a car. That doesn’t mean I can’t practice on smaller, local ones. When you have running Read more…
Creating fantasy races is probably one of my favorite parts of world-building. I talked a bit about this topic in the post Creating Unique Magical Fantasy Races. I love when authors deviate from the typical fantasy characters to create something new. If you’re using known fantasy races like elves, you Read more…
My quest to capture nice photos of nature often sends me to the same locations. That’s the magic of nature photography. You can visit the same location repeatedly and take different photos of one subject. A beautiful boathouse sits on a lake at one of my favorite photography spots. This Read more…
Last week, we talked about creating magic systems. Today, we’re going over questions to answer as you’re creating a fictional world. We’re talking countries, cities and towns. In fantasy, most stories have a monarchy. I’ll admit, I’m more of a non-tradition fantasy sort of person. I tend to enjoy books Read more…
You can kind of predict whether or not you’ll have a good sunrise and sunset. Complete overcast isn’t good. Clear days aren’t either. You may get some nice golden light on nature, though. But, the best condition is a partially cloudy sky. Can you do something similar to capture foggy Read more…
I’ve talked a lot about fantasy writing but the only world building template I created is in the book Building Dark Worlds. I thought of putting the template all in one post. But, that would be pretty long. Welcome to the Fantasy World Building Template series. Today, we begin with Read more…
Even small rays of light can shine out of the darkness. This year was a mess but despite that, I was able to take some of my best nature photos. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s happy to see the end of 2020. I’ve lost so many family Read more…
Weeks ago, Cartoon Network posted a video mentioning black medieval knights. Black inventors, heroes, and leaders are often left out of history. Ask yourself as you’re learning…who is the focus? Why? Question the story ✊🏿✊🏼✊🏾✊✊🏻✊🏽💖 The Crystal Gems say BE ANTI-RACIST! Visit https://t.co/5ukinriWYO to learn more. pic.twitter.com/gNLYLO9PER — Cartoon Network Read more…
A good horror story is subjective. According to Goodreads, horror is “fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the audience.” If your story’s not scary, is it still horror? People label Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles as horror. It’s a great series but I didn’t find the Read more…