I think I may have written this book in a past life. So much of A Princess of Mars reminds me of my 2004 novel, The Dark Age of Enya, I feel that I must be the reincarnation of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It has everything I love about fantasy: exotic locations, weird creatures, feats of derring-do,... Continue Reading →
The King of Castle Grayskull
Forward: I write fantasy because of Masters of the Universe. In 1981, when I spotted the He-Man action figure in the toy store, my life changed forever. I adored the detail of the sculpt, a rarity in those days, but it was the mini-comic the toy came with that sealed my love for all things... Continue Reading →
Nudity on Mars: Dejah Thoris, meet Thelana
In anticipation for the upcoming John Carter film, I decided to pick up Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, the first of eleven books in the John Carter series. During my research, I was completely floored to learn about the character of Dejah Thoris. Burroughs describes her this way, John Carter and Dejah Thoris... Continue Reading →
Never Knew Another
With a title like Never Knew Another, I imagined life deep in the woods, far from other human beings. It's amazing what another writer can imagine when looking at a book cover---and how different the actual story turns out to be. Never Knew Another by J.M. McDermott reads like a noir crime thriller set in inner city Chicago. But... Continue Reading →
Submission Guidelines for Publishing in 2012
Here are some submission guidelines, straight from the Writer's Market 2012. I only wish I was making these up!Don't do what we do, do what we say."We are being inundated with queries and submissions that are wrongfully being submitted to us, which only results in more frustrated for the writers." (That's not the only thing... Continue Reading →
The Devil’s Advocate: Everything You Know about Writing is Wrong
I always dress in my 18th century formal attire when I write.How-To Write Fiction? Advice is everywhere, from books to magazines to the Internet. Most of this advice focuses on plot, character development, and style. If you're an aspiring writer, you've probably gone over these before. But while I can't argue that plot or character isn't... Continue Reading →
Anna and the Devil
Forward: When I was eighteen, my sister and I visited the famous Byzantine castle in the Taygetos Mountains in Sparta (my parents hometown). Along the way, we passed through a monastery and met a nun who offered us a disgusting mix of water and orange powder. What I found peculiar about the nun was that she had... Continue Reading →
Why I Do Not Call Myself an Atheist
"I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of the imagination---what the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth---whether it existed before or not." John Keats Let me make a few things clear: I am not a Christian and I am not religious, nor do I align... Continue Reading →
Mythago Wood
I first heard about Mythago Wood on sffworld.com during a discussion of great fantasy novels. One moderator even called it "legendary". Intrigued by anything to earn such an honor, and a "World Fantasy Award" winner to boot, I decided it was in my best interest to check out the 1984 novel by Robert Holdstock.The premise of... Continue Reading →
Ages of Aenya Query #5
Condensing 157,000 words into one page is not an easy task. Ages of Aenya is a complex story, an adventure full of monsters, exotic locations, and heroes with their own passions and insecurities. It is a book, I believe, that can be read on multiple levels, as a straightforward fantasy epic, as a tale of... Continue Reading →

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