Fantasy stories, books, and tips for new writers

We tend to think of ourselves as having consistent worldviews, opinions, and attitudes, but our mood affects us more than we know. In a research I remember from my days as a psychology student, researchers interviewed people as they came out of movies and asked about their opinions and views. They found that people who had just stepped out of a sad drama had more pessimistic views than those who had just watched a comedy. ​ And while you could say that perhaps it was the mela

These days, it feels like everyone has already thought of everything; for any idea you might think is original, there’s someone out there who’s already thought of it, done it, and probably gotten rich for it. You can see it on social media—there are a million trainers, coaches, and people who want to sell you the sacred knowledge of the same thing that another thousand people are talking about. It’s the same with movies—you start watching one, only to realize halfway into the

I finished writing two fantasy novels before I began the project of publishing one. Each one took about a year to write and another half a year to a year to edit. Considering those timelines, I thought that getting them out into the world would be a piece of cake—I mean, the real work was already behind me, right? But I was wrong. Few things are more satisfying than typing the last word that marks the completion of your novel. That moment when you know you’ve got the juicy, t