World Building: Cultural survival

World Building: Cultural survival

What does it take to ensure a society survives and grows? What makes one region successful, while another struggles? Why do societies fall? Big questions – can they be included in a novel? Jared Diamond in his massive and erudite

World building: Underground

World building: Underground

Underground environments are both common work places for some, a place to explore, or a fragile ecosystem that can kill a human. A perfect place to set a story! In this category I include mining, natural cave systems and geysers.

World building: Research

World building: Research

Building a new world, or recreating a past one can be quite a lengthy process of research. Imagine, if you will, the ancient wizard pouring over dusty scrolls, the kindly librarian searching out a rare book, or a vat of

Time travel, scifi and 2018

Time travel, scifi and 2018

How was 2018 for you? I hope it was a year when you got some things done, and enjoyed the process. I thought instead of more world building at a time of year when everyone is too inebriated/tired/shopped out, I’ll

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

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

althist

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