Assaph Mehr's Blog, page 46

A (literally!) earth-shattering book launch!

 This week marks the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. That momentous, earth-shattering event took place on August 24th, around 1pm. What better time than to celebrate my second Roman-inspired novel?

I’ve got some cool things to share with you around that

Nyla (of Catgirl Roommate, by Stephanie O’Brien)

Dear readers, tonight on the interview couch is a human-shaped lunatic with the furry ears, tail, and manners of an oversized housecat. A cat who loves stealing boxes and lying on personal belongings, and despises clothing of every kind.

She’s here to tell us about her life with her  prudish, responsible neat freak roommate.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in a lot of places! Mr. Michi, the human who gives me food and a house, moves around a...

Walking the Streets of Ancient Rome

 

No, this isn’t an article about ancient prostitution. Get your mind out of the gutter.

I’ve written before about my love for ancient maps. This time, I want to present you with a collection of some great resources for 3D modelling of ancient Rome, which you can experience today and see for yourself how it might have felt to walk down the streets of Ancient Rome (and therefore, to an extent, Egretia).

The appetiser is the model of ancient Rome known as the Gismondi Plastico...

Dylan of Demarn (of In Pain and Blood, by Aldrea Alien)

 Dear readers, tonight with me is a spellster, eschewing the safety of the spellster tower for the freedom to roam the land.

He’s here to tell us about his life in the army, about how his first scouting mission went awry, and the mysterious and flirtatious Tracker.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in Demarn’s spellster tower. It was my whole world for much of my life, actually. It was more of a complex, us spellsters lived in the tower in the...

To Merch or Not to Merch? That is the Promo Code

I was approached by the lovely Melissa of Literary Book Gifts regarding merchandising. This is an idea I have been toying around with for some time, and planned to address in time for the (impending!) release of In Numina.

While ultimately my designs were not something that gelled with the Literary Book Gifts’ style, there was one decidedly awesome outcome. Melissa has created a special, store-wide 20% Off promo code for all Felix fans. So if you’re in the mood to spoil that speci...

Tierney J’Arzan (of Dracones Awakening, by Sheri-Lynn Marean)

Dear readers, tonight we reprint an interview from an alternate Earth. The young woman interviewed, an empath, will tell us about life with shape-shifting dragons and fallen angels.

Tierney walks into the room, and I’m stunned speechless. She isn’t really tall, maybe five-foot-five, but she’s slender, and holds herself as if ready to spin into action and put someone flat on their back. Her long wavy black hair reaches her back, but it’s the purple eyes scanning the room, a room that’s been...

Brandon Sanderson course on Creative Writing

In my continual quest to improve my writing craft, I watched the recorded Brandon Sanderson’ course on Creative Writing. I seriously recommend it to anyone writing novels, especially SciFi / Fantasy. Below are my thoughts about how to make the best use of it.

This is a series of lectures given yearly by Sanderson at BYU for graduate students, and is made available on YouTube. Sanderson focuses on his forte (epic fantasy), but touches enough on other genre fiction to make it worthwhile f...

Dembrek (of the DRUX series, by S.P. Joseph Lyons)

Dear readers, tonight with me is a man with a misty past, torn between heroism and rebellion. He is here to tell us about the power of love, as well as the power of heroes.

Note that we’ve previously interviewed Oreunasis, the Lord of the DRUX. It’s rewarding to see characters out of our earliest patron-books returning to the interview couch.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I was born on the home of the Original People. We were the first created...

Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin

This was one of the first fantasy books I’ve ever read, given to me by the same dear person who introduced me to The Hobbit. It was one of my childhood’s favourite books, and is probably one of my all-time favourites. I’ve re-read it recently, to see how it stacks up against the changing times.

What to expect

The novel was originally published in 1968. A young man grows to be a wizard, facing the consequences of his hubris and folly. Set in an archipelago with a bronze-age...

Coppélia (of The Girl With Acrylic Eyes, by Greg Krojac)

Dear readers, tonight with me is an android from the early 22nd century.

She is here to tell us about life in the future, about the place of android in human society – from various assistants to sex-bots. She is currently evaluating her purpose in life, and what makes her different from both humans and other androids.

You have an unusual name, Coppélia. Do you know why you were given that name?

I’m named after a character in the ballet Coppélia, a life-size and lifelike mechanical dol...