Last year, I gave my nine year old niece the first Harry Potter book for her birthday. She wasn't much of a bookworm... in fact, she preferred books on science or the natural world. Nonetheless, I decided to impose my love of Harry Potter on her and crossed my fingers that she would like it. … Continue reading But what if Hogwarts really does exist?
It's time for the second installment of my A-Z of Fantasy series, inspired by the letter B (what else?)! Although several fantasy B words resonate with me, that which calls strongest to me today is BARD. Perhaps it's the siren call of song winding through my senses after an evening singing with the Soulsongsters. Or … Continue reading B is for Bard
My new D&D character is a ranger called Ash. She is a northern plainswoman, a 'pale-skinned barbarian' in the imaginary world of our game. Hailing from a remote plains village that has recently been raided by thieving goblins, Ash and the village cleric (Alix) are the only surviving members of a party that set out … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: A tough induction for Ash
It seems I've finally gotten around to my promised post on "Why I Write" in response to Liv Rancourt's guest post in December. I should point out, though, that the focus is not so much on why I slave away for hours at the computer when I could be relaxing... it's rather on what's important about … Continue reading Four things I want my writing to accomplish
Today marks the first of a new series of posts I'm calling the 'A-Z of Fantasy'. Each post (roughly each fortnight) will be inspired by a different letter... and there are no other rules! I can think of many fantasy tropes beginning with A: apprentice, amulet, angst, armour, ale, armies... But in my view ADVENTURE … Continue reading A is for Adventure
I've decided to take on the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge. This means I'm going to read and review a minimum of six books by Australian women writers. It totally fits in with my pledge to read more this year, and will hopefully help me prioritise which ones on my expanding pile get the nod! … Continue reading Reading Australian Women Writers in 2013…
1. Poor Rhi -- my ranger -- is dead for good this time. (sniff) She was taken out on a snowy ledge by three ghouls, which paralysed and devoured her without her even swinging a blow. My party tried to preserve her body in the snow, but Rhi showed up later as a ghoul herself … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Shit happens… and then you die
Our DM is trying to kill us. No matter where we go, what we do, death lurks around every corner. In the last two sessions since I've chronicled, we've battled giant beetles, a massive wolf, multiple orcs and goblins, enormous crocodiles, dog-sized venomous spiders, and scary vampire bats that sucked our constitution points away... And … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: Doors and a Giant Staircase
Finally it is my turn to play The Next Big Thing and I'm a little bit excited. I was first tagged way back in November by Siri Paulson, but being in the middle of NaNoWriMo at that stage, I put it on hold. Then Sherryl Clark approached me in December and I couldn't see the … Continue reading The Next Big Thing – My Turn
I 'read' something like 30 books in 2012 (as far as I can remember). This isn't a huge total, but it's quite a few more than I suspected. 'Not reading' was one of my huge frustrations last year -- I couldn't seem to fit it in! Thank all the gods for audiobooks. Around two-thirds of … Continue reading What I read in 2012
Ellen Gregory 