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

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

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