Roderick T. Macdonald's Blog, page 11
November 21, 2023
Story Fragment #6: Tell you a Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! It is story time once again. My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here, # 3 here, # 4 here and #5 here. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I will share I …
November 13, 2023
Rambling thoughts on travel
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! A quick word about travel. In fantasy novels travel is a hard one to manage. As a writer you find yourself researching how fast and how far someone can walk, how far a horse can carry a character, and how they were used historically (hint: galloping for long …
November 7, 2023
Story Fragments #5: The Salt Miner’s Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here. # 3 and #4 I will not link today, maybe later. You can find them here, easily enough. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I …
October 31, 2023
Happy Hallowe’en!
Hello my friends and the occasional relative! Enjoy this day celebrating all things otherworldly (a great day for fantasy readers and writers, if I say so myself) secure in the knowledge that the saints will all be marching in tomorrow to celebrate the bond between human and divine. (Reminds me of a Dio lyric…) I’m …
October 28, 2023
Oh yeah, there’s a sale
A quick note to inform my friends and the occasional relative that The Thief and The Demon is on a happy Hallowe’en sale until October 30th in the UK and US. The ebook version is on sale, right at this very moment! I really should have The Killer and The Dead on sale too, but …
October 24, 2023
Story Fragment #4: The Viper
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Inspired by my recent delving into archives I sat down on 10/18/23 at approximately 8pm and decided to write two words and see where they went. I declared it done in 30 minutes. Then went back and messed with it and declared an extended version done after 2 …
October 17, 2023
Story Fragments #3: The Long Night
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! It is official: this has now become a series! Of over used exclamation marks, probably. #1 here, #2 here. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I will share I still have hopes to use – will …
October 10, 2023
Continuity, Epiphany, Procrastination
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! I had a conversation this weekend. It happens. In it I explained the boring drudgery of repeatedly going through a book you have written, making changes each time, and then going through it again to make sure that the changes are consistent with the existing text, and where …
October 3, 2023
Story Fragments #2: I grew up rich
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! It is official: this has now become an occasional series! Of over used exclamation marks, probably. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I will share I still have hopes to use – will you guess which …
September 26, 2023
9 Problems and a new beginning
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! A new opening has been written and integrated into the manuscript in progress. Callooh and callay and all that. No seriously. I am genuinely frabjous about it. I mean it didn’t grow unwieldy, it seems pretty elegant in terms of adding depth to character interactions and will help …
