Category: urban fantasy books

TROPES AND TRAPS – Avoiding Cliché in Fantasy Writing (part 2)

Trope and cliché aren’t that different. Maybe a good working definition can be that a ‘cliché’ is a badly done or over-used ‘trope’, while a ‘trope’ is a ‘cliché’ used imaginatively to remind the reader of what’s familiar and likable in a genre. In the former situation, the author is lazy; in the latter, they’re … Continue reading TROPES AND TRAPS – Avoiding Cliché in Fantasy Writing (part 2) →

TROPES AND TRAPS – Avoiding Cliché in Fantasy Writing

It’s tricky to balance writing originally while still pleasing readers. If a fantasy author does this right, they’ve made magic. But it isn’t easy. Fantasy readers generally like more of what they’ve liked in the past, so an author needs to 1) be aware of the genre’s tropes and 2) include at least some of … Continue reading TROPES AND TRAPS – Avoiding Cliché in Fantasy Writing →

When is it Criminal to be a Magician? The Making of a Noir Fantasy: THE LORDS OF POWDER (part 4)

One only has to stand overlooking Tintagel Castle’s coastline in late November, when the tourists are gone and the aged stone fortifications and dwellings are your only company during frigid, dark gray weather just before nights hits, to feel close to whoever occupied the place 1,500 years ago. I stood as near to the drop … Continue reading When is it Criminal to be a Magician? The Making of a Noir Fantasy: THE LORDS OF POWDER (part 4) →

Author Endorsement of THE LORDS OF THE SUMMER SEASON (and all my other books)

Its gratifying when a fellow author reads and endorses my work. S Alessandro Martinez's most recent novel is Helminth, a horror story in the mold of H P Lovecraft. Here are his thoughts on all three of my modern fantasy books (the acoustic guitar image above matches the psychedelic mood of one of these novels, … Continue reading Author Endorsement of THE LORDS OF THE SUMMER SEASON (and all my other books) →