It's a good bet that most of us here who write, write fantasy, science fiction, or other speculative work.  This post should apply regardless of genre.  It came to mind when I was responding to the post about the Hero's Journey and I caught myself starting to make a lengthy comment about characters being more ordinary vs. extraordinary.  I finally ( Read more... )

I've noticed that there's a pattern in the publishing industry whereby more and more young authors (teens and younger children) get their novels published. However, the quality of content still comes to question. Do you think that a teen or child who has his/her book published contains substance that reflects the term "child prodigy"? Or should ( Read more... )

Recently I picked up an old book that the college library I go to was just giving away for free (obviously trying to get rid of books they no longer have a demand for). Lucky for me, I came across a book I think might have some value to it. The problem is, I don't have a lot of information about how to determine monetary value of a book nor does ( Read more... )

I suppose it's finally time for me to stop lurking and say hi. If only I knew what to say . . .

My name is mage_apprentice but only because apprentice by itself was already taken (boo). I decided to join this community when I decided that I didn't want to simply lurk anymore and wanted to share some experiences and articles with the community I've ( Read more... )

(This was inspired by a comment torylltales made on the comment that dear torylltales made  on the post below, which led me to think about how the different bad authors we know could be classed. Hope you enjoy.  It was fun to write. :D Thanks for the idea, torylltales! )

EDIT: LJ is being a bitch about letting me edit; it's going really slow. To ( Read more... )

 This is a proposition I came up with awhile ago, but I wasn't sure if it would be well-received. I know we're primarily an article-writing, dissecting, sporking community, but let's face it - until this November, we don't have much to go with. :P And since we all love reading, I thought...maybe we could have a weekly post where everyone recommends ( Read more... )

 Hey all ( Read more... )

I was pondering in my lair (read 'at my computer') when an interesting thought popped into my head: Star Wars is the greatest rip-off that cinema has ever seen. It basically took the good bits from everything and got away with it, making a shed-load of money in the process. To name a few: the opening text crawl from old adventure films like Flash ( Read more... )

       I was 12 when I watched the Fellowship of the Ring and read the LotR trilogy.  Tolkien and fantasy became my world.  What could I do a year later when I encountered the book Eragon but read it?  After all, the School Library Journal said that it would "appeal to the legions of readers who have been captivated by the Lord of the Rings trilogy ( Read more... )

As we've discussed a lot on AS (mostly with Halo/Twilight discussion), people continually misinterpret the play Romeo and Juliet. It's not supposed to make people feel that the couple had such a pure and wonderful romance, it's supposed to be a parody of it and an actual tragedy.

The real misunderstanding, I offer, lies in the interpretation of " ( Read more... )