I’ve been re-reading A Wheel of Time lately, and one of the things that struck me is the sheer complexity of the characters and the cultures. I don’t just mean the sheer breadth of detail Jordan included. I mean the fact that almost every character, and every culture, seems to have shades of grey. The… Read More
In Praise of Sarah J Maas
I recently heard something remarkable about Sarah J Maas (though I haven’t been able to ascertain whether or not it’s true): that she hired a personal trainer as part of her research in writing A Court of Silver Flames. The theory goes that since Cassian is in excellent shape and knows his body very well… Read More
Writing Fiction As Uncovering Fossils: One Published Writer’s Process
I wanted to write a blog describing my process of telling stories. It’s the kind of thing I like talking about, and it’s also the kind of thing that as a younger writer I would have loved to read. When I was younger I loved hearing other writers describe their style. So with that in… Read More
17 Best Fantasy Novels and Series
One thing fans of fantasy novels seem to always want is more fantasy novels. I’ve seen a lot of questions in forums and Facebook groups along the lines of, “I like X book/author, what other books would you recommend I read?” Unfortunately, most of the responses don’t say why the rersponder would recommend Y or… Read More
Why I Write
Note: I wrote this in February 2015, but thought it was worth finally posting. This past year (editor’s note: this was 2014), I’ve hit dead ends on every story I started. I tried to write a sequel to The Dragon’s Curse. My characters didn’t cooperate, and getting words on the page was like pulling teeth.… Read More
