The Temple of Shirith-Kah is coming to Arkavia, to destroy the old gods, burn the land and blacken the sky. In the shadows of the Velderwood, unwitting guardians defend the only thread of hope against a demon sent to destroy it. Termaris is a surly mercenary with a talent for killing, but he cares little for wars, […]
Today I will briefly introduce you to another of my main characters, Macalla. A ghost. Not literally, you understand; this is a nickname given to the araquan people of the Velderwood. The araquan are an elder race, beautiful in an otherworldly fashion with skin as pale and flawless as virgin snow, white hair and grey almond-shaped eyes. […]
I feel a weight lifted from my shoulders. Ethné, one of my main characters, has a back story that I am finally happy with, and one which I hope will both intrigue and shock readers as it plays out through the chronicle. It happened while planning a rewrite of the last chapter of Warlords, to create […]
Today I would like your feedback. I am posting the revised intro scene for one of my main characters, Ethné; a troubled girl trying and failing to learn magic. Do you like it, does it work? First a quick explanation of why I revised it. Old advice which writers need to bear in mind is […]
There is something wonderful about fantasy novels in that they evoke a sense of ancient history, as though when turning the pages we rediscover a forgotten part of our world. In turn, these stories often refer back to even more ancient times, where the foundations of that world began and the seeds of the story were […]
“When the gods speak, they have not the voices of mortal men. They cannot be understood by words or speeches or written scrolls. When the gods speak, the heavens move, the seas rage and the wind whispers across the land. When the gods speak, mountains rise and kingdoms fall, life begins, and life ends. This […]
Magic exists… really. Whether or not in the real world, it certainly does in the worlds I create. I have to believe in it, and somewhat paradoxically it has to have rules to be believable. For a good long while I didn’t structure my magic in Warlords of The Dreaming God because whilst it is […]
Ethné is the second of my main characters, a frustrated Arkavian girl of 21. Today I would like to tell you a little more about her and her life at the start of Warlords of The Dreaming God. She whiles away her days imprisoned (as she perceives it) in the tiny village of Torlenmere, deep in […]
Many years ago I started drawing maps to visualize the places I was writing about, at that time mostly for role playing games but later for my novels too. I started with just pencil on paper, cities, fortifications, countries… continents. At one stage in my teens I even fancied being an architect I liked drawing plans […]
A few years ago I had a slightly scary experience when training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, where my instructor devoted a lesson to developing an awareness of what is going on around you, trying to sense where other students were with your eyes shut. The Japanese call it haragei. I volunteered to kneel in front of the instructor […]