Marc Aplin's Blog, page 172
August 9, 2015
Elements of Fantasy: Zombies
The living dead. Zombies made their first documented appearance in 1929 when William Seabrook recorded his participation with Haitian voodoo ceremonies in The Magic Island. Seabrook had been interested in witchcraft for many years prior to traveling to Haiti where he was inspired to write about the undead. He advocated cannibalism and fully described the […]
August 7, 2015
Setting as a Character
One of the joys of writing second-world fantasy is the ability to create your own world. You can set up spectacular vistas, ancient empires, mysterious ruins, or whatever else you’d like without worrying about real-world geography and history. You can organize it into places that the protagonists must visit, and in doing so, highlight the […]
August 5, 2015
Killing Ten Rats – Why A Writing Career Is Like Playing An MMO
As a fantasy fan it’s hard to avoid MMORPGs. Even if you’re not personally a fan of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, it’s likely you’ve heard of games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest or Lord of the Rings Online. Those not already based on beloved franchises have spawned books and collectibles. Many a writer […]
Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Movie Gets A Release Date
Sony Pictures just announced its movie lineup for 2016-17. Among the releases which includes the new Ghostbusters movie is a date for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. The movie is set to be directed by Nikolaj Arcel, famous for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), A Royal Affair (2012) and King’s Game (2004). It […]
The Thorn Of Emberlain Delay & Best Wishes to Scott Lynch
Sad news for fans of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch’s latest Gentleman Bastards book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has been set back a bit. It’s disappointing news as a reader, but sadder news as a fan of Scott Lynch. The guy is such a role model, such a friendly guy, such a funny person, someone who […]
Thorn Of Emberlain Delay & Best Wishes to Scott Lynch
Sad news for fans of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch’s latest Gentleman Bastards book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has been set back a bit. It’s disappointing news as a reader, but sadder news as a fan of Scott Lynch. The guy is such a role model, such a friendly guy, such a funny person, someone who […]
August 4, 2015
Tim Marquitz Interview
Writer, publisher, MMA aficionado, editor and a man of myriad talents, Tim Marquitz stopped by the Fantasy-Faction Headquarters (which caused a bit of a stir because we didn’t know we had one) and graciously agreed to be interviewed about his publishing empire, his writing, books and Kickstarter. Without further ado, here we go. So, Tales […]
Why I Don’t Generally Recommend Self-Publishing to Beginners
I am either the best possible choice as a judge for Mark Lawrence’s ‘The Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off’ or the worst choice. I should probably explain that, shouldn’t I? When someone comes to me asking whether they should self-publish a book I almost always convince them that no, they should not. The process of convincing […]
Why I don’t generally recommend Self-Publishing
I am either the best possible choice as a judge for Mark Lawrence’s ‘The Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off’ or the worst choice. I should probably explain that, shouldn’t I? When someone comes to me asking whether they should self-publish a book I almost always convince them that ‘no’, they should not. The process of convincing someone […]
Myke Cole’s ‘Javelin Rain’ Cover Revealed
We’ve made no secret that we are big Myke Cole fans here at Fantasy-Faction and it is undeniable that with each book Myke’s work gets better and better. If you’ve not read Gemini Cell yet then you’re really missing out because it is one heck of a good book and shows how far Myke has […]
