When I see a mystical being in one of my favorite shows, I have to look it up. While doing this research, I realized Yuki Onna appears often in anime. This was fun! It’s fascinating linking a character from a show to actual mythology. “The Yuki Onna is one of Read more…
It’s always fun learning about creatures I’ve seen in anime. Here’s a fun mythical creature for you. A Nue is a legendary yokai or mononoke found in Japanese folklore. Sometimes called the Japanese Chimera, it is described as having the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog (tanuki), the Read more…
Where would my stories be without anime?! I’ve said this other times, but anime plays a big part in my world building and my stories in general. When my characters use their powers, I’m thinking of the classic anime power-up. When I’m picturing battles for my book, I get inspiration Read more…
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 Read more…
As you know, I pull a lot of inspiration for my stories from anime, especially powers, character features and weapons. Now, it’s time for anime weapons. I don’t simply mean how they operate. I mean how they look. Anime has some of the most creative-looking weapons and they usually have names and Read more…
Dark Fantasy novels usually have some sort of non-human or supernatural being. You always hear about the phoenix, dragons, unicorns, minotaurs, griffins, incubus, etc. What about the hundreds of other mythical beings? Every culture has its own creatures with its own stories. Tengu Image Credit: Snowwhite_Tears For some reason, I Read more…
The beautiful thing about fantasy wiring is nothing is impossible. I said something along those lines in Fantasy Worlds and Modern Technology. But, old habits die hard. In my current work-in-progress, one of my characters wields a scythe. Before researching, I imagined it looked like this: Nothing wrong with that. Read more…
I love, love magical ability. Sometimes, I imagine using my ability as I’m walking to work. The issue I had with my series is how to dish out unique abilities to a cast of over 30 without completely overwhelming the reader. All my characters are experts at molding the Power Read more…
Thanks to all your awesome comments to the post Can’t. See. Story, I now have no trouble picturing my world. Characters None of my characters are human and all have an unusual collection of features like dark skin, bright red eyes with thick bright white hair. It’s unlikely I’ll come across anyone Read more…
While riding through NY, I kept seeing this: I thought, why in the world am I looking at the Umbrella Corporation’s symbol? First, let’s process that I actually knew what this was without hesitation. For those who don’t know, it’s from Resident Evil. I soon realized this symbol was on Read more…
