One of the things that attracts me to fantasy as a genre is the ability to read about -- and, even better, create -- fantastical imaginary worlds that really sing themselves off the page. It's the chance to visit wondrous places that only exist in fiction, and I heartily wish I could go there for … Continue reading Culture, China travel photos and fantastical worlds
This, believe it or not, is the 200th post on this blog. It began in January 2011 when I decided it was time to establish an official writerly presence on the interwebs. After five years of blogging half anonymously about anything and everything (including my writing life) on my beloved Forge and Brew, I crawled … Continue reading Celebrating 200 posts
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to "face one's fears". Without me really stopping to think about it, I guess the phrase has always had literal meaning for me. But what is fear, exactly? Wikipedia says fear is (in part) "an emotion induced by a perceived threat which causes entities to … Continue reading Facing fears (or the dead thing under the fridge)
As Camp NaNoWriMo hits the halfway mark, I too find myself at pretty much exactly half my target number of words for the month. That is: 12.5 out of 25K. OK, I might have kept writing tonight until I reached that point, might even have thrown in an extra paragraph at the end to stack … Continue reading Camp NaNoWriMo update — with Mr Tickle
After spending today in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, where all around is green, green, green, I've been inspired to participate in the current weekly photo challenge: Colour. We had a lovely time strolling through the verdant Australian bush -- past towering straight eucalyptus trees, vast sprays of tree ferns, flocks of squawking sulphur-crested cockatoos, crimson … Continue reading Study in Green (with lyrebirds)
First published in 2002, Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori #1) by Lian Hearn is the second novel I'm reviewing for the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge. I first read it in 2006, but for some unfathomable reason never did read the rest of the series. I must have been distracted by something, because … Continue reading Book Review: Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
Last week my niece, who's nearly 10, showed up with coloured plastic beads threaded in her short dark hair. She'd strung the beads onto three strands of hair near her brow, and they clicked and jingled and looked really cute and funky. She offered to thread some into my hair and I will confess it … Continue reading With beads and braids in her hair
One of the key tropes of epic, heroic and most other kinds of fantasy is the presence of the 'big bad' (in Buffy speak) -- otherwise known as the ENEMY. Enemy: A person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something; A hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, esp. in time … Continue reading E is for Enemy
Tomorrow is April 1st and that means . . . the beginning of Camp NaNoWriMo! My official plan is to write 25,000 words in 30 days. Maybe more. My actual plan is to complete the messy first draft of of my current novel-in-progress. I'm poised on the brink of the last act, the final descent into … Continue reading On the eve of Camp NaNoWriMo
After a longish break while half our group moved houses, we finally resumed our campaign this past weekend. To add to the fun, we played Dungeons and Dragons by candlelight. Yeah. * We resume our campaign in the middle of some woods after a mighty battle -- three of our party levelled up after the … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Beware giant chickens
Ellen Gregory 