As you may have heard me say by now, my goal this year is simple: don’t be butter scraped over too much bread. In other words, I …
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The Consolation of Fantasy
Storytelling and enjoying fairy tales is not a childish or simple-minded pursuit. It’s a noble calling, in some ways, especially …
How to Build a World in Both History and Fiction
This post originally appeared on November 14, 2019, on A Light So Lovely. I’ve been thinking, lately, about the question of …
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Forming the Moral Imagination with Fairy Tales
This post originally appeared on September 29, 2020, on A Light So Lovely. I recently received a wonderful question from one of …
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How to Achieve Artistic Perfection
People are drawn to beauty. There’s no denying it. The Greeks believed in perfection of form, a kind of harmony that had the power …
Finding Your Mentor Through Stories
We all recognize the trope of the mentor figure in the hero's journey, right? Luke Skywalker needs both Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda to …
What the Kingfisher Can Teach Us About Living Well in Crisis
Is there anything more perfect than this photo of a kingfisher? It won an audience award a few years ago. For obvious …
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Your Quarantine Reading List
Well, it's official. There's at least another month of lockdown/quarantine/social distancing going on in the US. Rather than lose …
Why is This (slightly embarrassed) Fantasy Author Reviewing Golden Age Mysteries?
I can't help it. I don't care about genre conventions. If there's a book that grabs you by the throat, turns you upside down, …
To Make it Through Quarantine, Read… A LOT
It's all a bit overwhelming, isn't it? Especially if you spend too much time reading the news media. There was a time (I think) …
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Empathy vs Compassion: Or How Game of Thrones Got it All Wrong
We are told that empathy is what makes us human. Without empathy, we would be sociopathic and cold-blooded. In fact, screenwriters …
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Introducing: In a Certain Kingdom (Teaser)
I'm happy and excited to premier the teaser for my forthcoming podcast, "In a Certain Kingdom." In that podcast, I will retell …
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February 2020: Updates from the Author Life
It's been quite some time since I've updated my readers about life and work. Time to redress that. It's been an incredibly rich …
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The Sun Eater cycle – Best Epic SciFi Series of this Decade
You've heard me rant about bad storytelling before (like here, for instance). And I will admit I have been a bit worried about the …
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Six Best Fantasy/Sci-fi Books of 2019
Recently, one of my friends asked me to recommend some new books that were not merely good, but great. I had to stop and think for …
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Should We Emulate the Masters or Subvert Them?
Seems like an obvious answer, no? I certainly thought so. Of course we should be inspired by the masters, even copy them …
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Five Favorite Fantasy Novels with Best-selling Author Miles Cameron
Last night, I invited best-selling fantasy and historical fiction author Christian Cameron (Miles Cameron to his epic fantasy …
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Symbols of the Cosmos in Slavic Mythology
Book 5 of my Raven Son series is a plunge into regions we have not yet explored in the series, particularly the land of the dead …
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