This is a continuation of the It’s just a Job series. Elves as they appear in modern fantasy fiction were plucked from Norse mythology, where there were High and Dark Elves, and the Dark Elves were the forerunners of Dwarves as we know them in fantasy fiction. But Wood Elves were not part of Norse […]
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For any long-life species – vampires being a perfect example, but others abound – passing as a human in a world that doesn’t suspect their existence poses a number of challenges. Close to the top of the list (just behind the 11th commandment) would be how, when and where to trade off one “life” for
The Challenges of Serial Lives Management Read More »
There’s a ton of housekeeping and important stuff that we thought you should know about. “We” = the authors at Stories Rule Press. We’re writing this post collectively – more about that in a minute, along with a host of goodies and other stuff you’ll like. How We’re All Doing We’ve had a ton of
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Just like vampires, it seems specious to explain werewolves to an audience of fantasy readers. If you don’t know what a werewolf is by now, you’re not really a fantasy reader. But in order to keep this series of posts complete, I’m doing a post on werewolves, just as I did one on vampires. Unlike
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Demons once haunted the pages of religious texts and the odd horror movie, and that was it. They were welded to religion and faith as much as angels were. It didn’t matter what religion, either. Demons appear in some shape or form in every major religion in the world. But even though their roots can’t
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I feel slightly silly even attempting to write a definition post about vampires. They have become such a staple of fantasy fiction that asking “what does a vampire do?” tends get raised eyebrows in return or ‘d’uh!’ back. But their very popularity raises problems. Hundreds of authors have written fiction featuring vampires, and if they’re
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Wikipedia’s short definition of an Incubus is: An incubus (nominal form constructed from the Latin verb, incubo, incubare, or “to lie upon”) is a demon in male form who, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have intercourse with them. Its female counterpart is the
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One of the great things about fantasy — urban or otherwise — is the sense of history that emerges as you get into the stories. There’s always thousands of years of traditional and lore and memories tripping up the main characters. I’m a complete history nut to start with, but also love contemporary settings and
A Sense of History, and Cool Characters, too. Read More »
I’m always on the lookout for a good fantasy setting or neat mythology systems I can hammer and chisel into a cool fantasy idea. As a consequence, I do a lot of reading and research. One of the areas where I have been reading lately is Norse mythology. Unlike the Roman and Greek pantheons, which
Hel…More Crowded than Hell Read More »
I’ve been reading all the social network posts about the Covid19 lockdowns and social distancing, and the many ways people have discovered or invented to keep themselves occupied. Singing opera on balconies, building Lego cities…there’s been some amazing ideas (here and here for some of them). My own response has been very cliched: When I
Some site changes you might have noticed. Read More »