writing fantasy

Lost Sock Memorial Day and the Great Fantasy Sock Conspiracy

Leave a Comment / Fae / / 2 minutes of reading

Today is Lost Sock Memorial Day, and fantasy readers know perfectly well that socks do not simply “go missing.” Somewhere beyond the washing machine lurks an unseen kingdom of fae creatures, goblins, or possibly liberated house elves, all conducting mysterious business with our unmatched footwear. After all, fantasy has immortalized swords, crowns, rings… and at least one very important sock.

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The Battles We Remember (and the Ones We’re Not Sure Happened)

Leave a Comment / Interesting Bits / / 5 minutes of reading

May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts—one of the rare moments in fantasy with a date you can circle on a calendar. But most fictional battles don’t come with anniversaries. Some feel like they should. Others might not have happened at all. And a few… aren’t the sort anyone would want to remember too closely. Which raises an interesting question: in fantasy, what actually makes a battle worth remembering?

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The Fire Before Summer: Beltane in History and Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Celtic Myth & Culture / / 4 minutes of reading

Beltane, the ancient Celtic fire festival marking the beginning of summer, once stood as a powerful turning point in the year—a night of bonfires, fertility rites, and thinning veils between worlds. Though largely forgotten today outside neo-pagan circles, Beltane still echoes through Celtic-inspired fantasy, where it often serves as a moment of magic, transformation, and looming consequence. In this post, we explore the origins of Beltane, how it was celebrated, and why it continues to shape modern fantasy storytelling—including its pivotal role in The Rivers Ran Red and other Celtic-influenced works.

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Why Fantasy Worlds Feel Smaller Than Middle-earth

2 Comments / Reading, Worldbuilding / / 5 minutes of reading

Fantasy maps have the same problem as those diagrams of the Earth and the Moon: they make impossible distances look deceptively small. A quarter-inch on the map between Rivendell and Hollin hardly seems worth mentioning—until you realise the Fellowship spent weeks walking it. Why does Middle-earth feel so much larger than other fantasy worlds, even worlds that are technically bigger? The answer may lie not in the map itself, but in the long, cold, weary miles between the names.

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Why Bridges Are Always Trouble in Fantasy

Leave a Comment / Food for Thought, Myth & History, Worldbuilding / / 5 minutes of reading

Bridges look simple, but they quietly reshape the world around them. From Tolkien’s Last Bridge to the rainbow span of Bifröst, bridges in fantasy turn geography into decisions, create natural chokepoints, and mark the crossing from one world into another. As history shows—from Roman Corbridge to the Rhine in 1945—who controls the bridge often controls the story. Which may be why so many unforgettable fantasy moments happen right in the middle of one.

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Pretty But Wrong: The Problem With Fantasy Town Maps

2 Comments / Book Culture, Worldbuilding / / 5 minutes of reading

Towns don’t just pop into existence because a hero needs a tavern. They grow around water, trade routes, resources—and they carry the scars of their own history. As a writer (and a lifelong map nerd), I can’t help studying fantasy town maps like archaeological sites. If the layout doesn’t tell me why the town exists, where it started, or how it grew, then something’s missing. Let’s talk about crooked streets, suspicious bridges, and why Hobbiton is pretty but perplexing.

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