Kim Falconer's Blog: Supernatural Underground, page 5

Styling Characters in “The Gathering of the Lost”

.Last week, inspired by Kim Falconer’s recent  More Than Meets the Eye: Styling Characters post, I took a closer look at styling characters in The Heir of Night (Heir).The premise of Kim’s post is that a character’s depiction through “style”, whether clothing or arms, can provide insight into their personality, as well as their part of the story’s narrative arc, or their current mood and

Sister Acts: From the “Band of Sisters” to True Sisterhood

 .

Styling Characters in "The Heir Of Night"

 .Kim FalconerI loved Kim Falconer’s latest “More Than Meets The Eye” post on Styling Characters so much I asked her if she would mind if I did some spin-off posts on styling characters in my own The Wall Of Night series. And was even more thrilled when she said “yes”!The Styling Characters premise is that a character’s depiction through “style”, whether clothing or arms, can provide insight into

Styling Characters - More Than Meets the Eye

 Costume and style can situate the reader in time, place and era. Mulan (Yifei Liu). Photo: Jasin Boland. © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc.  Character Clothing as DepictionCostume and style reveal much about a character and for many authors, utilizing this technique comes naturally. But in writing workshops and critiques, costume design is often overlooked. I thought it would be fun to explore the

From "Band of Brothers" — to Bromance!

 .My premise, of course, is that the bromance is both integral to, and a natural extension of, the "band of brothers" in Fantasy. :-)The great film bromance...The bromance is the platonic friendship between two companions, often from diverse backgrounds and usually part of a larger band, who are brought together by (usually adverse) circumstance and sworn closer than brothers. Once, we would have

Environment - More Than Meets the Eye

 Dune by Frank Herbert - Novel Poster 1965Today I want to explore the impact environment can have on a story. From subtle to profound, I think you'll find there is more than meets the eye...First off, think of stories like Dune, Frank Herbert's SFF novel recently produced as a Netflix Series. I mean, Dune! The storms that cover rich resources, the sandworms that devour all and pose a constant

"Listen with your Heart" and other great mentor lines

 Meeting the Mentor 2.0Meeting the Mentor is a phase in a hero's journey where the soon-to-be-Hero, who has just faced a fear and RUN the other way, needs a little encouragement to take the first step on their journey. Honestly, who doesn't need a little encouragement, but this one will hit the hero in a very specific way. The mentor is person/object that helps ease the fear of the hero that made

Celebrating The "Band of Sisters" in Fantasy

 .I loved reading fantasy and science fiction from an early age, but even when quite young, I couldn't help noticing that it was so often boys and men that went out and had the adventures, while women mainly stayed at home. Eowyn, an outlier in the LoTR 'verseThis was certainly true in classics such as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where Eowyn is very much the exception that proves the rule,

Backstory - More than Meets the Eye

Jinx/Powder from the adult animation Arcane by Pxfuel What is a Backstory?The backstory in creative work is more than meets the eye.  It is a background or history made to support or explain a character, land or kingdom so that the plot will make sense. As far as Fantasy novels go, there are abundant examples as the often complex storylines and generation-spanning scope can take some explaining.

The Power of Words: How to Write a Compelling Blurb that Sells Your Book

Writing a book is hard work, but promoting it can be even harder. One of the most important elements of book promotion is crafting a strong blurb or promotional copy. You need something that will grab readers' attention quickly. Whether you're self-publishing or going through a traditional publishing route, learning how to write your own hook is essential to get your book noticed. In this article