 There tend to be two main types of villains: the type of villain that is Just Plain Bad, like the rats in Redwall or the orcs in Lord of the Rings. Then there's the complex, potentially redeemable villains, like Darth Vader in Star Wars or Loki in the Marvel Universe. Watch the video below or scroll down to read the blog post for my discussion!
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Did you know that fictional foods have inspired real-life recipes and cookbooks? Join me as I talk about why food is such an important part of world-building and share about some of my favorite fiction-inspired foods. Do book reviews really matter? Yes! Both to readers and to writers, book reviews help spread the word and share the love of reading. In this episode, I share my experiences (and rules) as a book reviewer and share about the video that gained me over 100,000 views in just a few years! Every culture has its quirks, and it's so much fun to see those unexpected differences show up in a fantasy or science fiction setting! Today I talk about real-life cultural differences, and the way in which my science-fantasy work-in-progress has required me to develop my world more. What books have you read that jolt you outside of your own culture and immerse you in an entirely different perspective? What should the hero do when he finally has the villain in his power? Use non-lethal means of incapacitating his enemy? Kill him? In this video, I talk about why authors (or readers) choose one over the other, and why sometimes killing the villain is necessary. I grew up surrounded by large families and I love it when families and siblings show up in fiction. Watch the video to find out one of my favorite fictional families! I've written before about mistakes a lot of fantasy authors make when naming their characters, but some authors really know what they're doing when it comes to names. These are my favorite names, and a little bit about the characters and stories themselves: I have read so many fantastic books in 2019, both SFF and nonfiction. What books did I pick out of my TBR pile this year? Check out the video, and the links below! A few weeks ago, I posted a video about how disability and chronic illness is represented in fiction, both insensitively and sensitively. The video was inspired by a blog post by author Hannah Heath, who deals with chronic pain and other issues related to her Lyme Disease, and who has included characters with disabilities in her own fiction books. I reached out to Hannah and asked if she would do a Skype interview with me for my YouTube channel and she said YES! This video is longer than my usual videos (30 minutes) but totally worth the time. Hannah tells her story with chronic illness, discusses the three most common misrepresentations she sees in fiction, and recommends some books that tell a great story while sensitively including key characters with disabilities. Recommended Books   Maybe it's imperfect. Maybe the flow isn't great, maybe the characterization is just a little flat, maybe there's one glaring plot hole. And maybe it's still one of your favorite books. Today I'm talking about those imperfect books that still capture the magic of story. Share your favorite flawed book! |