Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about MAUS, Art Spiegelman's moving holocaust graphic novel, now recently banned by the Tennessee School Board. Schools in Tennessee are run by ninnies, apparently, because all seven members voted to keep the book from the hands of middle schoolers owing to the book's depiction of... Continue Reading →
Any fan of fantasy will tell you worldbuilding is a big part of why they love the genre. Ever since Tolkien hit the literary scene, authors of lesser imagination have been all too eager to cut and paste Middle Earth. Open any book from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time to George RR Martin's A... Continue Reading →
We're probably going to catch a lot of flak for this, owing to the immense popularity of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, perhaps the most sprawling epic ever written, rivaling even A Song of Ice and Fire in verbosity. But from what we (Heather and I) were able to assess from the first book... Continue Reading →
Stephen King once said in an interview, and I paraphrase here, "literature is a superior artform." This was in regards to his books being turned into movies. He wasn't all too concerned about the accuracy of on screen adaptations to his works, because, for him at least, a film could never be as good. I... Continue Reading →
In this episode of the Story Matters podcast, I sit down with my 11-year-old daughter, Sophia, to discuss Christina Soontornvat's A Wish in the Dark. While this book was required reading for her middle-school English class, we definitely didn't regret it! A Wish in the Dark is set in an alternate-history, Asian-inspired world, with only... Continue Reading →
I picked up Icefall at a book fair at the University of South Florida. I came as an alumnus to talk to my old professors and to showcase The Princess of Aenya. They accepted two autographed copies of my book and offered me one of their autographed titles in return, and since I love Norse... Continue Reading →
Quick Blurb: John Connelly's The Book of Lost Things starts off strong, with an evocative hook that instantly draws you into the story. But the middle hundred pages or so felt like needless padding, and I started to lose interest. Much of what happens feels random and disconnected to the overall plot and the development... Continue Reading →
In Greek mythology, Charon is the name of the ferryman who crosses the River Styx, delivering the Dead from the land of the Living to the Underworld. In the case of Demacharon, his name could not be more fitting. I introduced Demacharon in Ages of Aenya, and became unexpectedly invested in his story. Intended as... Continue Reading →
Imagine if, in The Force Awakens, everyone was either cruel, evil, or a bumbling idiot, except for Rey. Then imagine a Star Wars sequel where Rey isn't just a Mary Sue, but doesn't actually do anything to move the story forward, where she just waits on her planet for people to show up and tell... Continue Reading →
I used to have a love/hate relationship with Amazon. I considered them a necessary evil. Sure, they have monopolized both the music and the literary industry, making it almost impossible for local music and book stores to survive, but on the other hand, they provides an outlet for independent creators who otherwise would not have... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
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