Worldbuilding: About Those Mermaids

Okay, I now need to research maritime trade in Northeast Asia and beyond in the Little Ice Age period, because our heroes are going to have a lot to do with the water. Yes, land adventures are a go, but they’re also going to have to deal with mermaids, water monsters, and inevitable sea trips to go rescue people. (Not what I expected from the original idea, but… yeah.)

Worldbuilding: Points of Divergence

All right, Russia. For the sake of a good alternate history, your Empire is going down.

Er. Let me explain.

Worldbuilding: Giving You the Cold… Everything

One thing writers tend to do is read voraciously, and omnivorously. I stumbled on Brian Fagan’s various archaeology/history books a while back (The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850 being one of the more recent ones) and ever since I’ve gone after all the books I could get hold of on environmental history. After all, if you’re trying to worldbuild, cultures and politics may come and go, but the environment people have deal with is a constant factor. It shapes their choices, decides a lot of their options, gives various combat bonuses and penalties.

Oni the Lonely Signed Copies back in

I’ve got more author’s copies of Oni the Lonely back up on my eBay account and Etsy. In case anyone’s interested. 🙂

Oni the Lonely Kindle up, Paperback in Review on Amazon

Okay, people, everything is set and the book in both versions is in review in KDP. So it should be available in a few more days!

Brief Book Update: Getting Covered

I’ve got the front cover art for Oni the Lonely,

Oni the Lonely Progress: Storming the LoC

Aaaaand the Library of Congress call number request is in. *Thud*

Book Progress Update – Formatting Oni

No, not creating odd folklore-inspired programs… though a computer oni might be more plausible than

Worldbuilding: Mountains in the Sky

I’m considering making a very high-fantasy setting. Not xianxia levels, we’re not having near-gods flinging nine thousand swords at each other, but definitely more xuanhuan/old-fashioned Western fantasy than wuxia.

On Writing: The Right Tools for the Job

When it comes to writing, I think it’s like exercising: whatever is most comfortable for you to use, and stick to writing with, that’s probably what you should do. Writing takes enough concentration out of the brain as it is. You don’t need to be fighting the distraction of the wrong font size