L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 52

A Question

How would you guys feel about a collection of short stories set in the same world asThe Unconventional Heroes Series? I have some stuff thatdoesn’t really fit into the main storyline that I think people would still enjoy. To give you some idea of what I’m talking about here are a few examples of short stories that might be included:

A short story told from the point of view of one of Black Tower Castle’s maids. What does she think of Timmy and Katie, and how does she cope with all the strang...

Giving Thanks

Even though I’m not an American and I live in Australia, I thought I’d use today to offer some thanks.

At the very top of the list, of course, are thanks for my family and friends. My life is so much better and richer for having them in my life, and there isn’t a day that goes by without me feeling so lucky to have them.

However, I would also like thank everyone who has ever read anything that I’ve written. Just knowing that people are out there reading what I’ve written has helped me get thr...

Revisiting A Story

Something that I like to do from time to time is to revisit a story. Perhaps the most obvious reason to do this is because it’s generally quite fun to go back and read something that you’ve enjoyed in the past. It’s not unlike watching one of your favourite movies again. You get to enjoy it one more time. However, revisiting a story can also be a very informative experience.

Once a story has been publishedit rarely changes. Barring something like a revised edition, most published stories stay...

Dual Citizenship

As most of you are probably aware, I was not born in Australia. Today, I acquired dual citizenship. In other words, I am now a citizen of both Australia and the country of my birth.

Naturally, if I intend to run for political office in either country, I will have to renounce my dual citizenship. Alas, I shall have to content myself with scheming to become the supreme ruler of only a single country. Oh, well. I can barely even imagine the paperwork involved in ruling one country, never min...

The Importance of Failure

I’ll start off by statingthe obvious: failing hurts.

But failing can also be very important.

Think about all of the times you wrote something thatpretty much everybody liked. How much attention did you pay to the criticism you did receive? If you’re like me, you probably found it hard to focus on the criticism even if that criticism was quite constructive. The problem is that when almost everything works, it becomes incredibly easy to overlook what doesn’t work. Aspeople, we generally enjoy r...

Going Back To Bradbury

I had the pleasure, this weekend, of going back and reading through some of my favourite short stories by Ray Bradbury. I do like to return to my favourite authors from time to time, but it has been a while since I’ve returned to Bradbury.

What I love most about Bradbury’s short stories is how he can take a relatively mundane topic (e.g., a pair of shoes) and not only flesh out engaging characters but also make the ordinary extraordinary. He is every bit as good at capturing a young boy’s sen...

Halloween Hijinks

Here’s a little something I put together for Halloween since Halloween is exactly the sort of thing Timmy and company would enjoy.Please note that it contains spoilers from all three parts ofThe Unconventional Heroes Series.

Halloween Hijinks

Timmy wondered, not for the first time, if perhaps Katie was a tad demented. No, that wasn’t fair. His adorable apprentice was not demented so much as slightly megalomaniacal, and what was currently unfolding in the dining room was a case in point.

When...

The Importance of Relatable Humour

When writing something that is supposed to be humorous, it can be very easy to fall into the trap of making everything weird and zany. Although this can work, it can also fall flat if the weirdness and zaniness goes beyond the reader’s ability to suspend their disbelief.

One way to reduce the risk of going beyond the reader’s ability to suspend their disbelief is to start a story off in a relatively normal fashion before gradually increasing the more unusual elements of the story. This preven...

Why I Like To Write Humour

I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t always write humour. When I first started writing longer fiction as a teen, I tended toward more serious stories. If you look at the five authors who most influenced me as a writer, you’ll find that they’re not a particularly humorous bunch. For reference, those five writers are (in no particular order):

J. R. R. Tolkien H. P. Lovecraft Ray Bradbury Jack Schaefer Stephen King

Of those five, I would argue that King is the one who dips most frequently into hu...

Why Katie Doesn’t Go To A Regular Academy

Just a bit of amusement in the lead up to Halloween…

Timmy sighed. What hadhe been thinking sending Katie to a regular academy? She was certainly too clever to be in one, but he’d thought that the chance to socialise with more children her age might be good for her.

It had been – but not in the way he’d expected.

Katie was now the undisputed ruler of the academy. The other children had unanimously elected her supreme ruler after she had led a bloodless coup against the institution’s various...