World building: Celebrations

World building: Celebrations

Woo who – lets have a party! Said every human in every culture since the dawn of time. There are more festivals and things to celebrate than there are days in the year, so the human race is definitely one

World building: Are we there yet?

World building: Are we there yet?

People have been making up ways to measure and define all the things for a very long time, perhaps longer than we can measure. So if in “real” life people make up stuff that becomes a standard, what shall we

Worldbuilding: Touch what?

Worldbuilding: Touch what?

If a smell can trigger a memory, then a touch can trigger an immediate reaction. Our vocabulary is rich in words that are repellent merely from their association with touch – moist slithers to mind. But the opposite is true

Twisted History

Twisted History

The sub genre that is Alternate History has – naturally – an illustrious history! But what is it? I’ll quote the wiki entry on the definition: “The Collins English Dictionary defines alternative history as “a genre of fiction in which the author

Writing News

Writing News

Been wondering what I have been up too? Well, probably not, but as I am still alive and squirreled away in my study, I thought an update might well be of some interest. Druid’s Portal: The First Journey has reached

World Building : Climate

World Building : Climate

It was a dark and stormy night… Trite words yet they bring a sense of expectation – of a horror to come, with wild deeds afoot. Climate is so variable that it can almost be another character in a book.

World building: Water

World building: Water

Water is the universal solvent, enabling life on Earth, and dissolving the hardest rock to soil over time. It can be the lightest mist, a cloud scudding across a sky so blue it hurts your heart. A mighty torrent of

World building: Landscapes

World building: Landscapes

Often the favourite part of a fantasy book is the map. A land of the imagination, full of cities with strange names, mountain passes guarded by trolls or otherworldly creatures, deserts of unending pain, oceans teeming with mermaids and sea

World building : Animals, plants and evolution

World building : Animals, plants and evolution

Designing a new world with its own creatures and plants is a lot of fun. There are so many resources available online that research can be a bottomless pit. However, this depth of knowledge will shine through in your writing.

World building: Creation

World building: Creation

Writing is quite a personal thing, with authors each having their own idiosyncrasies and quirks to help them imagine and get the words on the page. Books may start in a dream, but like anything worth doing, take days that