The literary landscape, once envisioned as a diverse ecosystem teeming with voices, is increasingly shadowed by the looming presence of a few dominant players. In the realms of ebooks, paper books, and audiobooks, the concentration of power into the hands of near-monopolies is not just a matter of market share; it's a critical issue that is actively stifling the growth, […]
The Great War dramatically changed almost everything and everyone on Menelon. That is no secret, and Fernwall's Great War was no different. What is not generally known is what those changes were, and how they affected each culture. The war spanned three continents and an unknown number of islands. For a rare few, the major impact of the war was […]
Police Inspector Barbara Cole first appears in Raven's Tears and her story continues throughout the Raven & the Iris Series. In this series of shorts, which we're titiling "middle class life in Fernwall", we go back in time to Barbara's preparations to become a police detective, and take a peek at what middle class life looks like in Cascadia. Part […]
Today’s writers and authors have to learn how to wear many hats in order to get their words in front of readers, but in my view, the worst is editing. I hate editing. I really do. Michael says I’ve got a good eye for it, and maybe that’s so for certain aspects of it, but I hate doing it […]
The Kingdom of Vin-Nôrë survived the century-long Great War by the slimmest of margins. Those who remained after the last Confederation forces were driven from the coast faced challenges that would have defeated many. Their way of life had to be rebuilt, and in most cases literally from the ashes of what once had been. It was as King Castamir’s royal palace in […]
How do you know if you’re a writer? It’s the question every writer asks themselves. I don’t know one who hasn’t, at some point in the struggle to get words on paper, just thrown down the pen or chucked the keyboard at the wall in frustration, wondering if we really have what it takes. Well, over at LitHub Karen E, […]
Fantasy sailing ships are the front line war machine of The Great War. In the first Fire Mission story, the crew arrives in Bagédaan on a leaky old tub, but leaves on a fine naval schooner. In the fantasy and fiction world, there are several definitions of the "schooner," but in the 18th century, a schooner was defined as a […]
We love our multitasking, multi-functional phones, tablets and e-readers, but it seems our ancestors have been rocking that “all in one” vibe at least since early modern times. Practical? Well, we’ll leave it to our readers to decide, but it’s certainly a bravura display of the bookbinder’s art. A tip of the hat on this one to Open Culture. https://www.tumblr.com/erikkwakkel/74300240443/six-books-one-binding-heres-something-special
This is an essay about a lifelong love affair with fantasy world maps. I could have written it; so could my husband have, and any of several of my friends for that matter. We who are fans of maps just generally can be inordinately fond of fantasy maps, for what can possibly be better to a cartophile than a map […]
Police Inspector Barbara Cole first appears in Raven's Tears and her story continues throughout the Raven & the Iris Series. In this series of shorts we go back in time to Barbara's preparations to become a police detective, and take a peek at what middle class life in Fernwall looks like in Cascadia. Part I can be found here. […]
