katie

No @writefury I haven’t— is he a Trump type, then? 😛

You know you’re a writer when you find yourself seriously considering modelling a villain after Donald Trump.

“Defenestration. There’re only two ways to do it. There is the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way is the sign of a political greenhorn. The wrong way is blue eggs and beef. That is what my opponents do. The right way is what I practice and will continue to practice.”

A rich but cheesy male voice boomed from the television, “This…[Read more]

I think there is.

If ethnic minorities present a challenge to an author who is not familiar with that group, they also present a fascination to the reader who has probably been as uninformed as we have.

As a side note, there are often certain cliches that people unthinkingly fall into for ethnic minorities. For instance, there are gazillions of…[Read more]

Absolutely right @Ivy-Rose. It’s not a big deal. Skin is skin. I might even go so far as to say if we are ‘shamed’ into including minority groups when it wasn’t originally part of the story, it would hurt the story. Just like randomly inserting any story element would.

As for a good way to use diversity in a story, @wordfitlyspoken, I would say…[Read more]

That is so cool @Daeus. You may be on to something there.

@hope

Here’s my idea. It’s all based off of the theme of joy. First, how about the birds have a special role in this society for nurturing and fostering joy? Secondly, it would make sense if this villain were not only a physical bad guy but an opponent of the theme. He would literally be an opponent of joy. Naturally, the enemy of joy is hate.…[Read more]

As far as birds go, would it work to have them be symbolic of angels? Now that sounds really wacky, but angels are pretty much messengers, aren’t they? And maybe the bad guy wants to bring down all the servants of the Prince so he can get more directly at the Prince Himself. ?????

I like the thought behind the article – to make things how they really are because realism is not just different, it is good. What’s kinda funny though is that, at least with the male protagonist thing, from what I’ve read, female protagonists are actually the majority trend now. That’s fine with me, but the issue, of course, is that this is a…[Read more]

That was a good read, and though for the most part I agree with his reasoning I don’t think it’s maybe such a big deal as he seems to think it.
In my work male characters are decidedly in the majority, but that’s not because I’m ignoring or belittling the importance of women. It’s because I write a lot of battles and quests and adventures and…[Read more]

That was a good read, and though for the most part I agree with his reasoning I don’t think it’s maybe such a big deal as he seems to think it.
In my work male characters are decidedly in the majority, but that’s not because I’m ignoring or belittling the importance of women. It’s because I write a lot of battles and quests and adventures and…[Read more]

@the-happy-bookaholic

Why don’t you just contact me through my contact form. You can’t attach the file, but I’ll reply to your message and then you’ll have my email address and can contact me directly.

Contact

“There is no doubt that I am by far the prettiest.”

Others glare at me.

“Come on! Just look at my beak!”

Forty other beaks are flaunted in outlandish poses.

“Hmph!” I tilt my head back contemptuously and fall off the branch. At first I’m afraid, then I just decide to fall fashionably. Then I remember my wings.

Write a story about a fantasy…[Read more]

Hay hay! You use rhyme. I’m a rhyme-aholic myself.

One of the best things about this poem is that overall the rhythm of the words is pretty smooth.

Personally, I don’t think I would have had the last line of every stanza a near or exact copy. That is a good poetic trick, but I would tend to only do that when there are at least four lines per…[Read more]

@hannah-c

That’s for me not to know and for you to find out. Could be a horror story. Could be a romance. Could be a satire. Who knows? Could even be a poem.

Barbecued Baron. Delish. 😛

You guys ALL have my sincerest sympathy! 😛

Smigly and I took a second swoop on the palace. This was the part I liked most. I let my wings fold as I dropped to the ground. Smigly flew over. “Sorry Bif,” he said, “Forgot the barbeque sauce. Be back in a moment.” Smigly was the most forgetful dragon I knew. Right now, that was a benefit because that meant I got to eat more of the knights, and…[Read more]

I can totally see Buckland in that, @writefury! 😛 Ugh… there are no words to describe my loathing of that character.

‘I glanced up from the clipboard in my hand and squinted my eyes against the bright lights of the set, fixing them on the two men who stood waiting for me to speak. “Okay, guys,” I said. “You both got your lines down?”
The…[Read more]

Speculative fiction