L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 18

Unconventional Merchandise

I am pleased to announce that the next wave of merchandise related to my stories will soon be available! Here are a few of the highlights:

Katie Hoodie. Do you dream of being a necromancer? Are you a prodigal apprentice? Do you want to feel at home in graveyards, battlefields, and ancient ruins? Then this is the hoodie for you! Made out of the finest fabrics and designed to inspire awe and terror in anyone foolish enough to oppose you, this hoodie is an almost perfect replica of the robes Katie...

Chapter Titles

I’m curious to know how people feel about chapter titles. So far, The Unconventional Heroes Series has not made use of chapter titles. Instead, it’s just Chapter One, Chapter Two, and so on. In contrast, The Attempted Vampirism Series has made use of titles (e.g., Part One: The Debtors’ Knell).

How would you feel about chapter titles in Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan? Would you prefer to have them, or would you prefer to just stick to the old way (Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc.).

Inci...

Second Plot Outline Completed

I have just completed the second plot outline for Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan. It is roughly 14,000 words long (compared to the roughly 7000 words of the first plot outline). I am now fairly happy with the overall plot and direction of the story. There will, of course, be further modifications as the story is actually written, but I’m just about ready to sit down and write.

 

Camping (Flash Fiction Fridays #33)

Note: This is one of those snippets that might easily be expanded into a short story in the next collection (e.g., The Sheep Dragon).

The serious expression on Katie’s face might almost have been menacing if she hadn’t been so tiny. Timmy had checked with a few of the maids to make sure that he wasn’t simply overestimating how big a child her age should be. Nope. The maids had all agreed. Katie was tiny and adorable – not that he’d tell her that. Since she had become his apprentice, she had don...

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

So, I finally got around to watching Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.

I enjoyed the movie, and I can see why it won all the awards it did. However, I have to admit that there was something that prevented me from perhaps enjoying the movie as much as other people did, and it boils down to a simple difference in philosophy, albeit one that might as well be axiomatic in how fundamental it is.

Nihilism.

Being able to experience everything, everywhere, all at once has turned the ‘villain’ ...

Role Reversal (Flash Fiction Fridays #32)

Katie looked down at the scruffy, ragamuffin of a boy who had been left at the gates of her castle with little more than a cheese sandwich and a banana. His eyes were red, but he’d scrubbed his cheeks as best he could to hide any evidence of tears.

“So…” Katie began. “You mother left you here?”

The boy nodded.

“Because you’re a necromancer?”

The boy held her gaze even as he blinked back fresh tears. He used one ragged sleeve to wipe at his face. “There was a plague in my village. Everyone was so...

Rebirth (Flash Fiction Fridays #31)

The teenage girl took another painful, laboured breath and allowed the smile to slip off her face. Her parents had gone home for the day, so she could finally stop pretending that every breath wasn’t agony. If it wasn’t for her parents, she would have stopped fighting years ago. But they loved her so much, and she just… she couldn’t bear the thought of making them sad. Even if it was hopeless, even if every treatment attempt only added to the pain, she’d keep fighting, just so she could keep tho...

Almost a Hamster

Want to know something interesting? When I first came up with the idea for Cosmic Delivery Boy, Cuddles was not a guinea pig. Instead, he was a hamster.

So why did I make him a guinea pig? The answer is actually pretty simple. I wanted an animal that could, theoretically, blend in as a pet in Australia if necessary (e.g., if he ever decides to pay Mr Edwards or Simon a visit). However, you can’t own hamsters as pets in Australia, but you can own guinea pigs. Thus, Cuddles became a cosmic guinea ...

Systemic Risk

With recent events in the banking sector, I think there is a wonderful discussion to be had regarding what does and does not constitute systemic risk. Unfortunately, financial education is (arguably deliberately) not at all something that schools focus on during high school. Even in university it is relegated solely to those disciplines that specialise in it.

Yet I would argue that understanding the banking sector and the financial sector at large is critically important in any functioning de...

Body Language and Gestures For Non-Humanoid Characters

Body language and gestures can play an important role in characterisation. We can see this via some of the characters from The Unconventional Heroes Series.

Gerald, for example, is often depicted as nervous, anxious, and fearful. This isn’t done solely through words but also through his body language and gestures. Conversely, Avraniel’s body language and gestures suggest a character who is confident to the point of being brash, a person who prefers actions over words and who will gladly wade kne...