Are you ready for Fiction Shots #2? Giddyup! A Drift of Quills are writing again—It’s a flash of fiction! Three different stories inspired by one picture. The catalyst for these stories comes from the whimsical “Non Lo So,” by Zhiyong Li on Artstation. It tickled our fancies, for sure! Pour yourselves a nice cool glass of lemonade (or a delightfully warm cup of hot cocoa, depending on the hemisphere), and see where our imaginations have travelled… Fiction Shots #2 Flash #1: Opposite Tricks By Robin Lythgoe When Toady says they’re to paint the Widow Grayling’s house, Akasha stares along […]
Tag Archives: writing
A Drift of Quills: Conlang (What’s That You Say?)
Conlang—constructed language—is today’s topic for A Drift of Quills. Do we make up our own languages for our books? How? If not, why not?
A Drift of Quills: What’s Our Inspiration?
Writers and other creative people have many different approaches to beginning their projects. Today A Drift of Quills are talking about what inspires us to write our stories. They’re near and dear to our hearts, and writing a novel is an extraordinarily personal experience!
Blood and Shadow is Now Available!
I am thrilled to announce that Blood and Shadow, the first novel in the Mage’s Gift, is now available on Amazon! It’s taken a lot longer to get here than I’d planned, but we’re finally there, and book 2 is not far behind. No, really. A vengeful mage. A powerful gift. A naive youth. Sherakai never wanted to become a warrior like his father and brothers. Satisfied with being fourth in line to inherit title and responsibility, he wants only to be Master of the Horse. But on the eve of his sister’s wedding, a terrible gift arrives and Sherakai’s course […]
Another Update—In Case You’re Wondering!
Hello, wonderful readers! I just wanted to make a drive-by post to let you know I’m still breathing. I’m deep into edits of Book One of The Mage’s Gift: Blood and Shadow, and I just want to say ohmygoshhowcaneditingbesoslow?! Yeah. Like that. I would like to give a percentage of progress. Something concrete, like I’m 62% finished. But silly things like “consistency” have me going back and forth in the manuscript until I’m dizzy. But… I’ve got two little snippets to share with you. First, a picture of the timeline: Yes, it’s small. Yes, some of the words look kind of blurry. […]
A Drift of Quills: In Search of (Writing) Time
Writers, what do you do to find time—or to make time—to write? Readers, are you curious how the minds behind the books work some of their magic? See what “A Drift of Quills” has to say!
A Drift of Quills: Research or Treasure Hunt?
Does the word “research” give you the shivers? Dark memories of term papers or visions of endless numbers and figures? Well, it’s the first Friday of June (already!), and A Drift of Quills is here to show you what research means to fiction writers!
A Drift of Quills: Tackling Writing Challenges
This month A DRIFT OF QUILLS is talking about writing challenges we’ve faced, and how we’ve resolved them. And—we’ve got a guest! We’re so pleased to welcome P.S. Broaddus, who has recently released his debut middle-grade fantasy novel.
Five Good Things (Mar 11)
Five Good Things is such a great article to put together. I get to share some of the cool things I’ve found while procrastinating researching my own writing! Use Scrivener to Manage Your Blog http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2016/03/03/scrivener-book-marketing/ Writing straight into your blog software (WordPress, Typepad, etc.) presents its own problems—you can’t write offline, and searching through old blog posts to find mentions on a specific subject can be difficult. Boy, has Joanna Penn got some great advice! I’m definitely bookmarking this page. The Arcanist’s Mill – A Wizard’s Tower Map with a Twist http://www.fantasticmaps.com/2016/02/the-arcanists-mill_a-wizards-tower-map/ Jonathan Roberts makes awesome, drool-worthy maps. Lands of […]
A Drift of Quills: The Purpose of Magic
Magic—what’s the value or purpose of magic in fiction? This month A Drift of Quills is taking a peek under the corner of the magic carpet. Naturally, we’re talking about why we, as authors of fantasy, write about magic. Since we were wee sprouts we’ve been enchanted (punny, right?) by stories about magical beans, geese, unicorns, dragons, kings, gingerbread houses, swords, ships, and all kinds of diverse things. Magic opens the doors to new ideas, exciting places, amazing people. It encourages our imaginations and broadens our horizons. Best of all, it allows us to step out of the mundane, lift […]