I like mentor characters.

This is not just me of course; the mentor and protagonist relationship is powerful. Some of the best moments in many stories are the first encounter with the mentor, the training and sense of discovery for the protagonist, and the eventual loss of the mentor character ...

After traveling several miles on winding roads, Adrienne Barbara Whippet has just arrived in the town of Barkham to meet her father. The only problem is that her first meeting is with a lawyer of her father’s estate and her father is no where in sight. Adrienne enlists the ...

It so happens that as I write these lines, I have a terrible headache. So I can't gather my thoughts enough for the third installment of my discussion of motivations and ideologies and actions, but I think I'm good to write what I'd promised- my review of ...

Points of View - part one

In literature, we know there are several points of view that can be used by the author. First person (everything is ‘I did this, I did that’), Third person limited (he does this, she does this, we can see the thoughts of only one character ...

When you're creating the look of your fictional world what can really help you in the design of the look and feel of it is coming up with a “Design Language”.
What I mean by this is the theme of the overall look of things and the reasons for ...

The Sleeping Satyr, the Barberini Faun

Last night, a distressed friend contacted me after a rather dreadful experience. She had just been on the most awkward dinner date with a man she thought was a gentleman based on his good looks and charm, but he turned out to be the ...

I had a meeting the other day with a director, who asked me “how do you approach a historical era to keep true to it?” and “how do you keep from being biased?”

I fear that I eclipsed the poor guy with my soap box lectures, but that aside, I ...

A ton of things have been written about “strong female characters”- how we need them in narratives, and what it means to have them in a creative work's cast. Tons of discussions and social media wars have been waged on what it is that makes a female character strong ...

Belle Starr is a space adventure queen inspired by Barbarella. She steels a little spaceship and tangles with some deadly space pirates whore after more than her treasures… This is sexy retro Sci-Fi Space opera 70's style! And not just “style” but this was actually MADE in the 1970s ...

LISTEN!

What makes bad guy intimidating? Tantz Aerine made a great newspost about the question, carefully outlining various key bad-guy properties like confidence, composure, efficiency, and amorality. Banes, Pitface, Tantz and I stomp ALL over that, traipsing about like drunken, muddy rugby players, as we blather on about our opinions ...