Book Review: Dragon Draught, by Kristie Kiessling

I need to tell you about Dragon Draught, by Kristie Kiessling. Kristie is my fantastic writing partner, plotting accomplice, first reader, and one-woman cheering squad. What you many not realize is that she is also an amazing writer.

A Drift of Quills

Fictional Holiday Fun

Hello, and happy First Friday! Can you believe the year is already half over? If time flies when you’re having fun, then we must be having a blast! This time last year we chatted about what freedom means to us and how the topic figures (or not!) in our novels. Fun, right? This time A Drift of Quills is talking about fictional holidays and celebrations we use in our novels. It’s good to rule. I love the depth of creation behind world-building: the nitty-gritty, the if-this-then-that, the marriage of reality to imagination, the glimpses into the author’s head. Adding holidays to […]

A Drift of Quills

The Stuff Between the Lines: Fact or Fiction?

Hello, and happy First Friday! A Drift of Quills is digging into our very souls this time, unearthing our philosophical innards. The question of the month is: “Is there any particular code, belief, or faith that inspires our writing? How and why?” Yes, we’re getting all existential on ya… Read on to see how that looks in writing! In all honesty, I don’t think the limited space of this format is up to the task of dealing with the subject. The best we can do is skim the surface of the tender, personal area that is our beliefs, codes, or faith. […]

A Drift of Quills

Dreams, Schemes, or Circus Clowns?

It’s a First Friday again! A Drift of Quills comes together again, this time to air our lofty opinions about dreams in fiction. Are they good or bad? And joining us today we have author Gregory S. Close. You might remember him from the book I recently reviewed over here. Please give him a warm welcome! GREGORY S. CLOSE Author of In Siege of Daylight, Book 1 of Light, Dark & Shadow Gregory’s website A dream sequence can create an ethereal mood of otherworldliness, reveal hidden truths, foreshadow victory or doom, or even represent a second, hidden realm that parallels the […]

A Drift of Quills

Women, Violence, and Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Welcome to the First Friday Feature of our Fantasy writers group, A Drift of Quills! The Quills come together this month to tackle a controversial question: Does violence by or against women add authenticity to fantasy/sci-fi tales? Does violence by or against women add authenticity to fantasy/sci-fi tales?  Fantasy and sci-fi—No, fiction authors (at least those I know) write to entertain. We write about people. People, both men and women, are often violent, cruel, abusive, and criminally selfish. Our world has a long history of them, from Cain to Bashar-al Assad, from Jezebel to Griselda Blanco. Fictional worlds are rife […]

Picture This!

Welcome to the Friday Feature of the Fantasy writers group, A Drift of Quills! We Quills get together once a month to chat up aspects of reading and writing. This month we’re choosing a picture we think best represents some person, place or thing in one of our works. I don’t know about you, but I love seeing the pictures that have inspired my fellow authors in their writing. Sometimes their choices are surprising, and at others I nod my head madly and say yes, yes! So—wanna see what we’re envisioning? Read on! The character Crow, from my novel As the […]