Three creation myths from the knife fight.

•••
Once there was stillness and darkness, and then at this time, something in the darkness stirred. Something in the darkness opened its eyes. "Am I awake?" asked something in the darkness.

( Something else opened its eyes... )

by He Liyi...is a charming and beautiful illustrated collection of minority Chinese folktales, from the Zhuang, Bai, Tibetan, Uighur, Kazak, Tulong, Yi, Naxi, and Thai. I found it to be a nice evening's reading, and were it in print, I would certainly buy a copy, as much for my own pleasure as for the rare case when I need something to read to ( Read more... )

A good authorial voice is one that is intimate and natural, not damaged by such as the customs of academic writing that crush individual style. This voice carries emotion and energy because it isn't forced ( Read more... )

roost
rest
nest

A graphic-story script. Sort of. Not ready yet.

Cast:
The Maiden. The Maiden's character design constantly changes.
The Rain.

Page 1
A scene of thirst. There is a man slumped against a wall, beside an empty rain-catching-pot. You can see the rain gutters on the roof above it; the pot is cracked wide open. There is a tree with wilted leaves. There ( Read more... )

In the Heian court, it was a mark of sophistication to make references to poems with grace and ingenuity. The Pillow Book makes mention of refined ladies learning all the many volumes of Man'yoshu by heart ( Read more... )

The best thing about writing mythology for fournations is that it's so free. I have it a little easier than my collaborators, maybe, because I'm writing for the dreamers, and it seems natural for them to have slippery grasps on things like time and facts, but more importantly, I'm not trying to unearth and story-shape the half-understood things that I dream ( Read more... )

To be read in Mako's voice.See this painting; it is one of the ancient tools of war. In those days the kings of the world did not wish to endanger their subjects, so they built men out of smoke and iron to do war on their enemies ( Read more... )

Thanks, all! I think that's enough female names. I'm still short about two dozen male names (for symmetry with the female ones) and some vague number of last names, based on the volume I estimate (haven't compiled those yet.)

I'm compiling a list of Indian names for the Story-Games Names Project, which is an effort to compile lists of names from a variety of sources. When it's complete, it'll be printed as a book, and all proceeds from it will go to a charity (apparently at the date of writing the charity has not been finalised yet, but I'll post when it is). If you ( Read more... )