Kate Flournoy

Well Mark, I would disagree. Not that you have to have a character— obviously, there’s no other reason to write a fight scene than if it is affecting one of your characters— but that you should not describe everything, and that you should use short sentences. Now it sounds like I’m nitpicking, but I have very legitimate reasons for presenting…[Read more]

That’s certainly an interesting opinion, but is love at first sight really even possible? I mean, if you just look up one day and see this guy staring at you across the room, are you automatically just going to think “wow, he is the one! Already I love him so deeply that it cannot be anything but true love!”?
Now don’t get me wrong— I’m…[Read more]

Oh boy, I knew as soon as Daeus saw this post he would be off! I was just waiting for it! So glad we have an expert here to tell us what we don’t know.
Now I have a question.
Isn’t the footwork employed in fighting with a dagger pretty similar to the footwork employed in fighting with a sword? (A broadsword). I have a fantasy hero who is…[Read more]

I have no idea. I know I probably wouldn’t have time for it, though it sounds like terrific fun, because I am so busy helping my little brother with his tomato growing business, helping my family with our log cabin rental business, helping my Dad with his apple growing hobby, canning those apples, helping our cabin guests survive our terror of a…[Read more]

Oh good! I’m glad I was actually helpful.

Necklaces— a good idea, but somehow to me it would seem to be odd for a male hero. Maybe that’s just me.

Daeus… seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?
🙂 Haha.

Oh wow, that would be great! It would be the perfect opportunity to explore the more nitty-gritty aspects of married life— the pork chops that the wife burned, and the way her husband bravely ate them or loudly complained, depending on his temperament; the wife learning to manage a household, raising their first child, learning to economize…[Read more]

I certainly cannot claim to know the ins and outs of sword fighting, but I have found it helpful to look up instructional videos—though I haven’t got around to watching any of them yet :P—and illustrated ‘lectures’ or articles on technique. One thing to keep in mind, though, as you do this, is what kind of sword fighting are your characters…[Read more]

Oh yes, I couldn’t agree more. Some of the challenges I like in writing my own books are making the love stories (every one of my books is a love story to some extent, though not what you would consider a romance) as fresh and original as possible. My first book (The one that I would still acknowledge to be mine, that is) had a pretty ordinary,…[Read more]

Oh yikes, I just realized I missed a letter in my title. Sorry— there’s supposed to be an ‘r’ after the ‘p’ in present— or apparently, ‘pesent’. 😛

Thanks for the quick definition— I think I get it now.
Yes, I agree one hundred percent with what you said about perfect characters.
Books without hardships? *Shudders*. Disgusting. A perfect story where everything is just hunky dory all the time would be worse even than a character that way.
And now we are out of a discussion. Can you think of…[Read more]

Remind me, what’s dystopian again? Is it the genre where the government basically has control of everything? Just curious, and couldn’t remember.
That’s an intriguing point you made about characters being more likeable if they are closer to perfect. I can definitely see where you are coming from, but how far would you carry that? Personally, I…[Read more]

I’ve not read a ton of romance novels (none, in fact, unless you count Austen and some of her contemporaries) but I’ve read too many stories to count that have love stories in them. And thus far, I have not encountered the pine needles and cedar shavings thing. Lucky me, right?
Now, I write fantasy, so a lot of my thought process works towards…[Read more]

Florida! That’s nothing like Ohio, let alone the Hocking Hills! 🙂
I’m glad to be on this forum.

Hey, I enjoyed it immensely! Thanks for starting this topic, Hope. I love discussion. (I’m sure you couldn’t tell). 😉

Hm… Edwin Brook. The name sounds pleasing to the ear, but to me it does not sound particularly dramatic. (Which you may have done on purpose, for all I know— maybe he’s not a dramatic character).
The name definitely brings an image to mind— I’m seeing a tall young man with dark brown hair, somewhat hazel-ish eyes, and a quiet, dignified…[Read more]

Haha, so in other words, ‘I’m starting to grow a tad bit weary of wrangling over this topic and would appreciate it if someone would start a new one’. I feel for you, believe me.
But allow me to clarify one thing: my question was not does God use such people, since duh, obviously He does, but is it somehow okay (morally right) for them to lie…[Read more]

Oh boy, and here I was thinking all along that we were mainly trying to determine whether spying was right, as it is a form of deception! Well, that clears up a lot. What other ways are there to lie in war? I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
Nevertheless, Daeus, some of the points you made above in your last really long comment (I am…[Read more]