Novels
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I have some amazing people to thank. But first a bit of history. Cobalt City started as a collaborative effort, the outgrowth of a game played with friends. I don’t really know when the fiction thing started. 2003, maybe? I had written my first Cobalt City story, my first Gato Loco story, actually. At about…
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This is a long post. I’ve run some variation of this as a mini-workshop for a few years and it’s helped at least one person. Maybe you’ll find it useful. Before you construct a novel plot and outline, you need a few key ingredients, so we’re going to start there. You’ll need to know your…
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I know I have other things I should be working on. That’s not ever a question. Hell, other than the epic fantasy novel I’m currently somewhere past halfway done writing, I have a few short stories I really should write and submit. And even if I was going to find time to write in the…
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I’ve been working on the first novel in my Ravensgate cycle for the better part of a year now. All and all, I’ve been really happy with the progress. I had a heavy outline done first, kept on target, and was closing in on about 75% finished with the first draft. Then I encountered a…
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Religion and spirituality is a driving force of culture. It provided a way to unify people beyond family or clan or race for centuries before such concepts of Nationalism were invented. The extent to which faith impacts a fantasy world says a lot about that world. This is particularly relevant when working in a genre…
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Upon finding out that I was writing “Epic Fantasy,” earlier in the week, a friend asked me if it would have orcs in it. This is an understandable shorthand. There is a lot of baggage when it comes to epic fantasy. And while the Ravensgate books will not actually have orcs in it, it’s still in…
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The best laid plans and whatnot. I can take comfort in the fact that everyone has a different process, and that what works for one person doesn’t work for everyone. I can tell myself that you have to follow the passion and write what you’re driven to write. I can even admit that there are…
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It’s a question that comes up after a certain amount of time in the writing experience. “As an author, how do you handle rejection?” Drinking. I suggest tea to calm the mind, or maybe some coffee to fuel the inevitable rewrite. If you prefer a beer and a shot of Wild Turkey while you kick…
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It’s the end of year and it seems everyone is putting together a year-end retrospective. And why not? I suppose the end of the year is as good a time as any to reflect on what has come before and where things are headed now. I had anticipated the year to be focused on the…
Tales from the Ragged Edge 