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Author Archives: Casey Blair
Guest Post: Mark Engleson on When Lack of Social Grace Crosses the Line
When Lack of Social Grace Crosses the Line An autistic responds to “The Shealy Logs†(Burgin Mathews, No Depression, Spring 2020) In “The Shealy Logs,†Burgin Mathews relates the story of John Shealy, who created decades of logs of performances … Continue reading
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Tagged actually autistic, asd, autism, disability awareness, mark engleson, responsibility, social anxiety
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Guest Post: Michael R. Underwood on Five Tips for Cultural Worldbuilding Without Building a World Bible
Worldbuilding can be an intimidating part of writing science fiction/fantasy, whether it’s an epic fantasy or a distant far-future space opera. There are many ways focusing on worldbuilding first can go awry, chief among them the possibility that worldbuilding becomes … Continue reading
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Tagged culture, how to finish a story, michael r underwood, mythology, power dynamics, research, worldbuilding
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Guest Post: Kathy L. Brown on Miss Lutra’s Squirrel Stew from “Water of Life”
In my prohibition-era, urban fantasy novelette, Water of Life, investigator Sean Joye searches the Southern Illinois hill country for Caleb, a missing moonshiner. His trek, beyond a flooded river and through a forest bristling with ice and fae ill intent, leads him … Continue reading
Guest Post: Nerine Dorman on Making a Cooperative Initiative Work
It all started innocently enough about five or so years ago. A fellow author sent me a link to an article about the Book View Café, and we figured: why don’t we do something like this? By this stage many of … Continue reading
Guest Post: Brandon Cornett on Creating Believable Characters in Speculative Fiction, With Diaries
A pop quiz for speculative fiction writers. Think about your current work-in-progress. Maybe it’s a short story, a novel, or a play. Now, thinking about your protagonist or main character, answer the following questions: What are your character’s greatest fears … Continue reading
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Tagged character building, freewrite, journaling, writing exercise
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Guest Post – Knives Out: A MICE Case Study by Ziv Wities
Rian Johnson’s superb Knives Out has stabbed its way into our hearts and minds. It’s not often that a screenplay so expertly crafted makes this kind of a splash. So, let’s use Knives Out to learn about MICEâ —a handy approach to story focus and structure, incredibly useful for writers and re-writers. And as we go, we’ll use MICE to examine some aspects of Knives Out’s intriguing construction.
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Posted in guest post
Tagged analysis, case study, guest blog post, knives out, story structure, Ziv Wities
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Guest Post: Mystery Cults and the Secret World of the Occult in Urban Fantasy by Laurence Raphael Brothers
The premise of magic-done-only-in-secret is not exactly an original conceit, and indeed it has become so familiar over not just years but generations of fantasy literature that it is hardly something to be questioned when it appears. It’s a convenient explanation for how magic can possibly exist in our familiar and ostensibly non-magical world.
Still, the idea of a very widely-kept secret to which thousands of people are privy may seem rather implausible. Surely someone would let the information slip? But as it happens, there are quite a few historical examples of widely-held secrets that were kept so well we aren’t sure what the truth of them was anymore.
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Guest Post: “We Get By with a Little Help from Our…” by Vincent Scott
So, love’s great, right? All types. It’s a fascinating quirk of brain chemistry that leaves us caring about each other so much we’ll sacrifice resources and fight against oppression for someone else’s wellbeing. Spending time with people you love is, … Continue reading
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Tagged friendship, guest blog post, guest post, writing relationships
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Guest Post: Debbie Lynn Smith Daughetee on Rediscovering the Voices of Woman Horror Writers
When I first started to take my writing seriously, I went to see Ray Bradbury at a UCLA event. I loved Bradbury’s work, my favorite short story being “The Veldt.†You can imagine my dismay when he stood on that … Continue reading
