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.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Reading is easy. We sit in a comfortable chair, perhaps by a warm heater with cat on lap/dog at feet and a hot drink. That’s often why we read, to share vicariously the bad times and good with characters while
