Despite being one of my very favorite sayings (“Why does blah blah blah?” “Magic.”), magic must, unfortunately, make sense. This means if you are creating a world where magic exists, there has to be rules, and the rules must be
Announcing the Enchanted Forest Chronicles Readalong (plus a bonus!)
Hoorah! Our first of the year. You’ll notice, Squiders, that we’re changing from re-reads to readalongs. I want people who have never read the particular series we’re working on to feel welcome to join in. To start ourselves off for
The Dangers of Being Informed
So, like most of you, Squiders, I love to read. I love a drizzly afternoon with a book in my lap and a cup of cocoa close at hand. I love visiting new places and meeting new friends. And, also
Thoughts About Orphans
Been reading some children’s books lately, and, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, parents are a bit scarce, especially in fantasy. Everyone is either an orphan, ala Harry Potter, or something else has happened to remove the parents from the story,
Where’s the Line Between Science Fiction and Fantasy?
Answer: is there one? Kit, you say, of course. One has aliens and the other has elves. Both of which are made-up creatures that have no basis in reality. So where’s the difference again? Kit, you say, one has space
Travel Between Worlds – Scifi or Fantasy?
Just to be clear, we’re not talking about getting on a spaceship and jetting about the galaxy. It’s pretty clear which that one is. (Unless the spaceship runs on unicorns and rainbows, I suppose. …and now I want to write
Why is Speculative Fiction More Acceptable for TV Than Books?
Aside from being an obnoxiously long title for a blog post, have you noticed this? You’re talking to someone about the latest big science fiction movie. They’re excited for it. So you’re like, oh, hey, a kindred soul, and ask
In Defense of Fantasy: Multiple Sentient Species
Let’s look at Earth. We have exactly one sentient species: us. Humans. (Although, it can be argued that other advanced species – elephants, gorillas, dolphins, whales – are sentient, depending on what particular factors one’s looking at. But, for the
In Defense of Fantasy: Magic vs. Technology
To go in a slightly different direction, this week we’ll be looking at aspects of fantasy that tend to get flak from readers. Unlike science fiction, of course, fantasy doesn’t need to conform to modern-day scientific knowledge, but that can
Looking Again at Genre (A Rebuttal to Root Beer)
Early on in this blog’s life, I wrote a post about how genre is like root beer. Long story short, it seems like every story has some element that stuffs it into a genre, no matter what else is included
