I was a lot like Bastian, the main character in The Never Ending Story, when I was ten. My imagination was so powerful it sometimes frightened me. I could almost see and hear my daydreams. My family and teachers thought I was an odd kid who needed help. They complained I was always "in another world"... Continue Reading →
Chapter 10 Demons of the Deep Grayquid are inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's Deep Ones All eyes fixed on the beams not three feet overhead. A latticework of sunlight and shadow played over their terror stricken faces. The men moved frantically in the narrow quarters below, watching, waiting, listening. Little noise came from the upper decks,... Continue Reading →
Chapter 9Ex-LibrisMist rolled about the domed edifice, caressing the corroded stone, entwining the Mare Nostrum as though something living, coiling about the tall pillars and the oars. The fluted columns reflected in the ebbing water like the tendrils of some monstrous cephalopod waiting to greet the wary sailors. Cambses donned his helmet, its horsehair crest... Continue Reading →
I know, I know; it's a movie. One of my all time favorites, actually, and in one poll I saw, no. 9 of all time. I would never have bought the book, however, if the movie had come first. It was published in 1973, two years before I was born, which doesn't seem right because... Continue Reading →
I've been wanting to make this list for a long time, a greatest of, but strictly for fantasy novels. So this list excludes a lot of great books, like the Sci-Fi masterpiece that is Frank Herbert's Dune. I also left out things that could be construed as fantasy, but also fall into other genres, like Marry... Continue Reading →
Let me tell you how I killed her—how I killed the only woman I ever loved. I am a wretched thing, truly, and have little else to offer but this story. Hear me out, if you are wanting for a tragedy, but I give you fair warning: this is no tale for children or the... Continue Reading →
In the 2004 film, Troy, Achilles kills Hector after a climactic battle, and Andromache, beset by grief for the death of her husband, basically does . . . nothing. The actress gives a performance of subdued shock, blinking heavily before slacking against the parapet wall. This is in stark contrast to the way Homer describes the... Continue Reading →
For two decades, my family and friends have struggled to understand my need to tell stories, and to have those stories be recognized. They sometimes see it as just a need for approval, or praise, or fame. While praise does motivate me, what really drives me to write is much simpler: we who suffer from... Continue Reading →
Ask any ten people if they know Frankenstein and you will undoubtedly get a YES. Such is the power of the mythos created by Marry Shelley, an early female novelist who, in 1818 (200+ years ago!) at the remarkable age of 18, hid the fact of her sex to get her book published. It is... Continue Reading →
It seems today that fantasy has been hijacked by "world builders"---writers so enamored by Tolkien, that their No. #1 priority is to build a convincing world. While I am all for convincing worlds, I am not all for it if it hinders the telling of a story, or takes the place of one. I won't mention names,... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
You must be logged in to post a comment.