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
As part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013, I recently finished reading Shadow Queen (The Binding #1 -- first published Allen&Unwin 2009), a fantasy novel by my good friend and cafe writing buddy, Deborah Kalin. It's the story of Matilde, a young woman groomed to rule over a seething conglomeration of houses all vying against each other, … Continue reading Book Review: Shadow Queen by Deborah Kalin
Is there any creature more synonymous with fantasy than the DRAGON? I don't think so. I cannot count the number of novels and movies featuring dragons. They appear in many different guises -- they may be ferocious and evil, gentle and benevolent, or else plain disinterested in man. They may or may not speak or possess … Continue reading D is for Dragon
After my positive experience during NaNoWriMo last November (when I wrote a stack of words on my WIP) I'm now considering signing up for Camp NaNoWriMo. Yep. It can all happen again in April and/or July -- the word slinging, the discipline, the moral support from the writing community. This time we have the flexibility … Continue reading Packing for Camp NaNoWriMo
Some might think them a cliche, but for me castles are one of the quintessential hallmarks of classical fantasy. I love them -- soaring towers and turrets, imposing battlements, mazes of halls and corridors and bedchambers, walls so thick the characters can hold parties upon them . . . and so often overlooking a majestic landscape or … Continue reading C is for castle
I've been getting back into my WIP this week, which is hugely satisfying. After hitting the wall during NaNoWriMo in November, I lost momentum -- mainly because December is always crazy with Christmas and the start of summer, and then I was just getting going again in January when... stuff happened. But I am going … Continue reading Being an update on writerly progress
Ellen Gregory 