As I begin this blog post, I frankly hope that it won’t take me long.I have other things I need to get to, such as working through the edits for The Valley of Decision. I am reading the manuscript behind my editor, making my own changes and incorporating her suggestions. Nearly all of them, anyway….
Tag: writing
Character Profiles: The Too-Powerful Sidekick
She wanted to scream. There were so many blasted ships and no way to stop one little boat from escaping. Though she was terrified of the sea dragons, she prayed that they would rise from the water. She prayed for another of Artham’s sudden, dashing arrivals, but she knew he was on the other side…
Character Profiles: Rotten to the Core
And all that sat by the fire were sad, Save Ogier, who was stern, And his eyes hardened, even to stones, As he took the harp in turn; Earl Ogier of the Stone and Sling Was odd to ear and sight, Old he was, but his locks were red, And jests were all the words…
CSFF Blog Tour: Red Shirts and Snapped Threads
In my last post, I criticized Beckon for its high casualty rate. I thought it would be good, today, to consider why characters are killed, and why they ought to be. One common reason for killing characters is to (in the words of one author) “create peril”. Many poor red shirts* have lost their lives…
Character Profiles: The Suave Villain
What sharp little eyes you have, my dear. – Lord Archelaeus Burleigh, The Skin Map Archelaeus Burleigh was an earl – rich, refined, well-dressed, every inch an aristocrat. He was a great traveler, too, and a man of books. As may be expected, he was very reasonable, in the sense that he generally gave people…
CSFF Blog Tour: Character Profiles: The Autobiographical Insert
I sighed and put my head down on the steering wheel. “I hate shrinks. But I guess I could take you to see Dr. van Pelt.” I had to start seeing Dr. van Pelt after my first book, Imaginary Jesus, came out. With all the hallucinations of Jesus and time travel and talking donkeys, my…
You Had Me At Hello
A couple weeks ago I checked into Becky Miller’s blog on writing and found a post on Hooks Versus Openings. While analyzing what sort of novel opening is best, she quoted Jerry Jenkins: I recently critiqued a beginner’s manuscript that began, “I’m sure we’ve all heard the old adage …” Well, if it’s an adage,…
Character Profiles: The Crazy Person who Knows Something
“So … do we call you Peet?” Janner asked, fishing for more answers to his mounting questions. “Is that your real name?” The Sock Man stirred the boiling pot with a long wooden spoon and didn’t answer. The Igibys stared at him in an awkward silence. “What’s a real name?” Peet said finally. He pointed…
CSFF Blog Tour: When Pop Culture and High Fantasy Collide
In my review of Realms Thereunder, I said that Ross Lawhead was like D. Barkley Briggs in rejecting the ideal Elves of Tolkien for the ambiguous fairies of folklore. There is another way in which they are similar: Both invoked pop culture in their fantasy novels. I’ve been pondering this. Is it a bad idea…
Character Profiles: The Masked Hero
“We’ve come to save you. This man in the ridiculous black costume – ” “It art not ridiculous, thou pigeony person!” ” – is the Florid Sword. Or you can call him Gammon, like I do.” – Andrew Peterson, The Monster in the Hollows The Florid Sword was a dashing hero in black, jumping down…