My To-Write List

After all my talk about No-Write Lists, it might seem like I have no intention of actually writing much of anything. So let me assure you that, just as there are some things I don’t want to ever write about, there are some things I will always write about, given the right circumstances.

Witches/Wizards/Mages/Etc. I love magic and all the fun, dramatic stuff it can do. The world’s folk stories are full of different ideas about how magic can be made. I just can’t say no to witches.

Dragons. Like mages, the world’s folklore is full of dragons. There are so many fascinating concepts about what abilities dragons have and what their purpose is. Almost every time I start writing a story, I ask myself, “How long has it been since I wrote a dragon story?”

Prehistoric Ruins. Stone circles, ruined castles, lonely towers, cliff dwellings… You name it! There’s such an evocation of history in a good ruin. Who build this place, what was its purpose, how was it abandoned… All of these add layers of complexity to any story, and I’ll work them in whenever I can.

Libraries and Museums. I’m a life-long reader. No surprise, right? There have been a lot of great books recently that feature libraries, and I’ve enjoyed them all. But, I almost put them on my No-Write List because there are so many. Still, what’s better than a collection of old books or other objects? What mysterious or malign artifacts might be gathered into the collection?

Questioning the Status Quo. This is more vague, but I love to delve into the common tropes and make people think twice about them. That can mean literally swapping all the characters’ genders, or just taking the person who is assumed to be evil and making them… not. Basically, I can’t pass up a chance to flip a stereotype.

There you have it: a few of my favorite things, literarily speaking!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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