Magic items (Building a fantasy series, part four)

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018 by Beth

Magic items tend to be staples in most fantasy, and weirdly, they never played that big of a part in stories I’ve written before. There are a few important ones, but no epic quests that involve picking them up along the way, which means Spectrum Blade will be a little… Read the rest...

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Creating your book heroes (Building a fantasy series, part three)

July 24, 2018July 24, 2018 by Beth

The characters for Spectrum Blade were actually one of the first things I came up with. I spent a long time stewing over rough concepts for each of the heroes that would join the party, in addition to rounding out some villains. But while the characters themselves came together pretty… Read the rest...

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How long should epic fantasy be?

July 17, 2018January 4, 2024 by Beth

As part of outlining a novel, I always have to plan how long it needs to be. Sometimes they make it. Sometimes they fall well short. One thing I don’t do is try to pad up my word count with unnecessary scenes. Sometimes a book needs fleshed out a little… Read the rest...

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Resources for BJD book props

July 14, 2018July 14, 2018 by Beth

I puzzled over the best way to share these resources to go with my new video for a while, then decided the best option was probably making them available in a post on my site. I don’t post about doll things here too often, but it’s still the best way… Read the rest...

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Making a fantasy world map (Building a fantasy series, part two)

July 10, 2018June 28, 2018 by Beth

I’ve been fascinated by fantasy world maps since I was a kid. I always told myself that when I eventually published my own fantasy books, I’d make sure they had maps. Preferably ones I drew myself, since I’m a control freak like that. Having done map making the “right” way… Read the rest...

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Building a fantasy series, part one: Creating the world

July 3, 2018June 27, 2018 by Beth

I ran across a great article from NowNovel that came with an infographic laying out some things to address when creating a fantasy world. For convenience, I’ve included it here. To get things started, I’ll share a quick breakdown of the answers for a few of these, as well as… Read the rest...

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Building a series from the ground up

June 26, 2018June 11, 2018 by Beth

Before I even started the book, I decided I was going to put paranormal stories aside after I finished Her Midnight Hunter. Right now, I’m hoping to be done with it in August, so that I can tackle a new project in the fall. My first instinct when returning to… Read the rest...