L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 21
November 4, 2022
Accents Are Amusing
Although I’ve lived in Australia for the vast majority of my life, I did spend some of my formative years in the United States. This has led to my developing a somewhat unusual accent. When I first arrived in Australia, people would routinely remark on my American accent. Over time, I had assumed that I had lost that accent in favour of a more Australian one.
Not really.
Apparently, I still have something of an American accent. However, whenever I speak to someone who isn’t Australian (e.g., an ...
October 30, 2022
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween!
May your night be magical and your candy be plentiful!
October 27, 2022
Halloween Special: Future Mirror
Barton checked the time on his phone. It was almost one o’clock in the morning, and the rain had begun to pick up again. That was fine. His coat was waterproof, and his phone was one of the newest dwarf models. Besides, rain was exactly what he wanted. It kept visibility low and encouraged people to hurry along without paying too much attention to their surroundings.
Perfect weather for him to grab another corpse or two.
His attention shifted to the bus stop on the other side of the street. A bu...
October 3, 2022
The Little Things
One of the biggest mistakes people make, I think, is believing that they should only write about their characters doing awesome and heroic things. Sure, heroes do heroic things, but they also have lives outside of their heroic derring-do… and what takes places outside of their heroism can tell us a lot about who they are as a character.
Take someone like Timmy from The Unconventional Heroes Series. Sure, he’s necromancer, but he’s not just a necromancer. When he’s not saving the world, he has ho...
September 22, 2022
Surprise (Flash Fiction Fridays #26)
This is set a decade or so into a possible future of The Unconventional Heroes Series.
“Dragon!”
The cry startled Burin out of his musings, and he scrambled up the steps to the walls as fast as his short legs could carry him. He bit back a curse as he stumbled and almost lost his footing. Gods, he was proud to be a dwarf, but there were times when he wouldn’t mind having the long legs of an elf.
“Dragon! There’s a bloody dragon headed this way!”
Burin reached the walls and rushed over to the gu...
September 9, 2022
Two Sentence Stories
This is something I stumbled across recently: see how much of a story you can tell using only two sentences. It’s a bit strange, but I thought, why not give it a go?
So here we go.
“You ordered me to preserve humanity,” the artificial intelligence said. “You did not specify in what form.”The creature that wore the shape of a man smiled. “Allow me to remind you why fear is the quintessential human emotion.”The dragon held the most important thing in his hoard close. The little girl hugged him ...August 31, 2022
Alternate Origins: Katie
Because Father’s Day in Australia is this coming Sunday.
Timmy was no stranger to carnage. He was a necromancer. Yet this sort of pointless destruction still filled him with rage. Black Scales had gone on a rampage and burnt down dozens of villages. Why? Because he could. He hadn’t stopped to eat the villagers or their livestock, and he hadn’t taken any of their possessions. He had simply burned everything in sight and then flown away, content with the destruction he had wrought.
Wary of the dr...
August 28, 2022
Problem Solver (Flash Fiction Fridays #25)
“Don’t go too far, Katie.” Timmy reached and took Katie’s hand in his. “They call this place the City of Knives for a reason.”
His apprentice made a face. “Do I want to know?”
“No, you probably don’t… but you should.” His lips twitched. “This city is renowned for the rather alarming frequency with which people end up with knives in their back.”
“Why are we here then?” Katie asked. “You always say we should avoid looking for trouble unnecessarily.”
“Despite its infamy for the sheer amount of back...
August 11, 2022
Individualise Emotions
Showing the emotions of your characters is one of the most important things you can do to engage with your readers. Emotionless robots may well be interesting when they’re being sent after the protagonists, but reading an entire book about people without emotions can get tiring pretty quickly. However, a common mistake that writers make, especially newer writers, is forgetting to individualise the way characters show emotion.
What do I mean by individualise?
Simply put, not everyone shows emotio...
Multitasking (Flash Fiction Fridays #24)
Katie would have glared, but she was far too focused on not falling off the bamboo pole she was balancing on. “Master, I’m not sure I see the point of this.”
“It’s to help improve your balance.” The menacingly cheerful smile on her master’s face let her know that he had something up his sleeve. “After all, physical coordination is an important part of every necromancer’s training. You’d be surprised by how many necromancers each year meet horrible ends after tripping over.”
Katie had seen the st...
