Have you ever felt as though you were born in the wrong century? Or yearned for the elegance and manners of time gone by? I'm willing to bet that, on reflection, your reverie ended with the realization that there are some conveniences of modern life you'd miss if you could really go back in time.

But what if you could reinvent the past and go back ( Read more... )

Every spring I receive a slew of emails from teens asking about how to prepare for a career as a fantasy writer.
They ask questions like:

• What coursework should I take in high school?
• What should I major in at college?
• Is a master’s degree recommended?
• How much can I expect to earn as a fantasy writer?
• How should I prepare for a writing career?

The way I usually tackle creating holidays for my fantasy worlds is to base them off of holidays in ours. But that still leaves a lot of room for imagination. What are the reasons people celebrate? Well ( Read more... )

A while back, a friend I were discussing a YA fantasy we'd both just read. I was commenting on how interesting and vivid the world was. She was complaining about how little she related to the main character. As we explored the reasons for our vastly different reactions to the book, I realized that while she reads books for the characters, I ( Read more... )

    Whether you are creating an alien planet or another time in earth’s history or just a neighborhood where your characters live, you'll have to do world-building.  The following is the list I use when I create an alternate world.

*  Where is this place - can one get to it from Earth or is it in alternative universe?
*  Planetary Geography - of ( Read more... )

Every writer has probably heard those four words in the title more often than any other piece of writing advice. Authors of all genres stress over what exactly "writing what you know" means and how they can do it effectively. But for fantasy authors, the challenge seems especially great. We're writing about magic and mystical creatures and ( Read more... )