Kim Falconer's Blog: Supernatural Underground, page 12

The Magic of Magic in Fantasy – & A Solstice Shift

 .A Solstice ShiftWow, who can believe
it’s 1 July, with the year half gone already and the mid-year solstice just
behind us? “I know”, rhetorical question, but I can assure you my head is
spinning around, trying to figure out where that first half of the year has
gone!WinterI shall hope you’re
all in better case, but I suspect
quite a few folk ‘oot thar’ are feeling the same. JSolstice, as Kim

Midsummer - Winter Solstice is Nigh

Art by Stephani Pui-Mun LawHey Everyone,I invite you all to welcome the midwinter/summer Solstice! This marks when we have either the longest day of the year (N Hemisphere) or the shortest (S Hemisphere).  Here are the exact times for 2021.MIDSUMMER/WINTER SOLSTICESUN @ 0° CANCERLA - June 20 - 8:32 pmNY - June 20 - 11:32 pmLON - June 21 - 4:32 amSYD - June 21 - 1:32 amAncient HistorySince

2021: The year of forced introspection.

Y’all it has been a doozie of a year here. Freezes, flooding, work from home. 2021 has been pretty much as eventful as 2020. I eventually found an interesting balance. It takes lots of work and fails half the time. Not sure we need to get into how many times I forgot to click send on the grocery order or how many times I had to re-wash a load of laundry, but food was provided, and everyone has

An Interview With Amanda Arista – Talking Magic in The MERCI LANARD FILES and DIARIES OF AN URBAN PANTHER Series

 .IntroductionOne of the very special aspects of the Supernatural Underground
is being part of a community of writers, and Amanda Arista is one of the authors
who has been a friend and fellow community member here from close to the
get-go.

Amanda’s brand of fiction is paranormal urban
fantasy, and although I’m more of an epic kinda gal in writing terms, when it
comes to reading I love a

Supernatural Underground Guest, Lee Murray, Wins Two Bram Stoker Awards

Lee MurrayThe team at Supernatural Underground HQ are delighted to congratulate this month's Magic in Fantasy guest author, Lee Murray, on winning two Bram Stoker Awards. The Bram Stoker Awards are given annually by the Horror Writers Association for Superior Achievement in the genre.The 2020 Awards were announced on May 24 at this year's virtual Stokercon and the full list of nominees and

Preorders - Life or Death to a Book

Books you can preorder now. See links below.Hi everyone!I am so excited to share the cover reveal for Curse of Shadows with you! The release date is TBC but I'll have that to you as soon as I am told. Unearth the bones is the thrilling sequel to AK Wilder’s sweeping and romantic fantasy, sure to delight readers with epic magic and adventure. The weight of the world tips as the once-heir, a young

An Interview With Lee Murray – Talking Magic & the Supernatural In Her Short Fiction & "Taine McKenna" Series

 .IntroductionToday I’m delighted to welcome fellow New Zealand author, Lee Murray,
to the Supernatural Underground today, to share her insight into the magical
and supernatural elements of her writing. Lee has carved out a significant name for herself in
the Horror genre, both with her Taine McKenna
novel series and the recent short fiction collection, Grotesque: Monster Stories, as well as a

Adapting to Survive

 Cursed - the legend of King Arthur is reenvisioned on Netflix.Adapting a book to the screen has many names - remake, reboot, revision... But they all have one thing in common: the story is, in part or whole, rewritten to survive.From the point of view of the book, this isn't always good, where 'good' equals accurate or in the spirit of.... As I mentioned once in The Down Side of Adaptation,

An Interview With Kristin Cashore – Talking Magic In "Winterkeep" & The GRACELING REALM Series

 .IntroductionOver the past few years, I’ve nominated an annual
blogging theme for my Supernatural Underground posts – and this year’s theme is Magic Systems in Fantasy.My secondary theme is “Fun With Friends”, with the aim being to talk with fellow authors about the magic in their writing.As with most authors, I’m a reader as well as a
writer – and like many others readers I was swept up in the

Characters from Scratch?

 A Complete Guide to Special Effects MakeupCreating the characters for Crown of Bones was like the birth of Athene. They leapt straight out of my head, fully formed, screaming a war cry. Moments later, they took over the page, expanding their roles and behaved in ways I couldn't control. More than once, I found myself saying, "Really? You're doing that?"Crazy, I know, but I have come to believe