Marc Aplin's Blog, page 176
June 14, 2015
Breakfast of bullshit: Futurephobia, the Hugos and the invention of SF’s past
Today we have a guest blog by MD Laclan who has a lot to say about the recent Hugo fiasco. many of you will be familiar with Mark, who has cemented his place as one of the UK’s top Fantasy authors with his Wolfsangel Series (the forth of which, Valkyrie’s Song, has just been published by Gollancz) and the incredible Son […]
June 13, 2015
Exploring Wattpad
At my first Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, which you can read about here, I met a group of people who all publish their writings on Wattpad. Indeed, I met one author whose book had been picked up by an agent, and was published traditionally this year, due to their success on Wattpad. So, it has […]
June 12, 2015
The Iron Ship by K. M. McKinley: Extract & Cover Art
A few weeks ago I was sent a book called The Iron Ship, the first thing that struck me about this particular book was the fantastic cover art. It is far from your typical fantasy cover, but at the same time it is somewhat familiar. I think it reminds me of older adventure novels. As […]
June 11, 2015
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
Seraphina is tangled amid the grapple for power between the dragon rebels and the human court. The dark secret of her true identity – half-dragon, half-human – has now become her advantage. Only she has the power to unite the kingdom of Goredd, and she intends to use it. She scours the land for the […]
June 10, 2015
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
You know when you spend a silly amount of time setting the mood for someone that is special to you. You experiment with the lighting to make sure it is just perfect, maybe light a candle so the room fills with the luscious scents of vanilla and coconut and then you put some music on […]
June 9, 2015
How to Write Good Dialogue: Courtesy of Mass Effect
Here’s a question for you. You’re reading a book and the pace starts to drag, but you’re still curious to know what happens next. What do you do? The answer for me is obvious: you skip to the next section of dialogue. Good dialogue takes the story forward and shows character. Good dialogue crackles on […]
June 8, 2015
Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes by Henry, Josh, and Harrison Herz. Illustrated by Abigail Larson.
Re-imagining fairy tales has been going on since the invention of fairy tales, so it stands to reason that it was only a matter of time until someone did the same with nursery rhymes. Monster Goose does pretty much what it says on the cover. All the mini poems are rewritten to feature monsters of […]
June 7, 2015
Friendships in Fantasy
While there’s something to be said for great romances in fantasy (trust me, I love ‘em), it’s really the genre’s deep, unswerving friendships that drive it forward and keep us all scrambling for the shelves. It’s hard to turn around without bumping into classic examples like Sam and Frodo, or Harry, Ron and Hermione. Throw in […]
June 6, 2015
So What’s The Fuss About Ulysses?
There was a time when a writer’s most technological tool was the typewriter. With the advent of computers and the first word processors, writers entered the digital age. This early software was little more than a basic text editor but the ability to edit your work without having to retype an entire page or cover […]
June 4, 2015
Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy – Part One: Strong Women
The problem with the new and yet very important desire to portray realistic, strong women with agency, is that some people fixate entirely on the first part of this – the word “strong” – and take it to mean something very specific. In fact, it has created a stereotype in and of itself. One of […]
