No, I’m not talking about the anime 😉 When is a story too dark? I’ve often come across some variation of this question between Goodreads and Google+. It got me thinking about what a dark story is. It’s different for everyone. When someone says a story is dark, what does that mean- to me anyway? Setting: The…
image credit: H.P Lovecraft by AbigailLarson “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”—H.P. Lovecraft I share the same birthday month as H.P. Lovecraft! Excuse me while I pass out. This is what’s so amazing about books. Lovecraft has been dead…
Another Insidious: Chapter 2 clip was released today. Despite the whole curse of the sequel thing, this one looks like it might be as scary as the first one. I’m so excited for this movie. Insidious, the first one, had actually scared me. It was so creepy. Hopefully, the second one lives up the hype. It…
There comes a time in almost every fantasy writer’s life when we have to make a map. They can be kind of a pain and they take forever to make. Since my funds are limited, I couldn’t hire someone to do it for me. So, I did research. I pulled out all my fantasy books…
Along the lines of multiple perspectives- how do you keep several distinct voices in your head? How can one author manage to write a story with multiple voices? Even if you have only 3 or 4 POV characters, you’re novel could still have a large cast. Each of those characters needs their own voice? The first…
You want to tell your story from 4, 5 or 6 different characters. Maybe even more. This will be a headache, especially if you’re going with “even more.” Prepare for it. My current work-in-progress wants to be told from 11 different perspectives. It’s been a nightmare. The main issue with multiple perspectives is if…
Thanks to Diane Carlisle’s suggestion on my last mythical creature post, here’s another awesome character to inspire your world-building efforts. Stories of her are popular in Russia, Poland, Czec Republic and Slovakia. “The name of Baba Yaga is composed of two elements. Baba means “grandmother” or “old woman” in most Slavic languages… Yaga is probably a…
Horror is making a comeback! My favorite, favorite, favorite type of story is the haunted house tale. This is the epitome of subtle horror. I love it. So, when I found out they were actually releasing an old school haunted house movie, I was beyond excited. The Conjuring didn’t disappoint. Most movies like these have slow…
What’s worse- prison of the mind or soul? Camin Barice and Jammary Surrette are held captive by those that now rule the worlds. One is forced into a life trapped in a windowless mansion where he can never use his wings. The other can travel, but her powers and memories belong to The Custodians. Even…
I had a total nerd moment when I first saw the trailer for Pacific Rim. It’s like a live-action anime- only it doesn’t look stupid! Every time I saw a movie poster or a new trailer, I got really happy. This is like the ultimate nerd movie. I mean come on, a major trope in…
