Normally, on Thursdays I use this space to geek out about something related to games. For example, I have a deck in Hearthstone that’s doing really well, I have thoughts on how important board game expansions are to a base game’s life cycle, and I want to help more people get comfortable with the somewhat… Continue reading Fear Not The Muse
Category: Notes
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Adventures of Robin Hood
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/robinhood.mp3] Long before things like 3-D, CGI, THX and all those other wonderful acronyms came along, films were seen as extensions of the stage. Actors brought their best Shakespearean bombast, sets were designed as you would the sort of staging you’d have to quickly break down in the dark between acts, and directors framed and… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Adventures of Robin Hood
Cycles, Trilogies & Other Fancy Words For 'Series'
While I’m busy moving myself and my Canadian half into our swank new Lansdale pad, here are some thoughts I’ve had recently concerning what was lately called “The Project”. I’d originally planned this out as a trilogy of stories to introduce the world, build up some of its history and cultures, and do my utmost… Continue reading Cycles, Trilogies & Other Fancy Words For 'Series'
About Amateurs
The word “amateur” has a bad connotation. You might look at an art’s student attempt to recreate the Mona Lisa, or a mod for Half-Life designed to make it look like Wolfenstien 3-D, or an Uwe Boll film and say “Ew, that’s completely amateur.” By that, you’re likely to mean “poorly designed, conceived or executed,… Continue reading About Amateurs
What's In A Title?
So. The Project. Nice and enigmatic, but I doubt people will be flocking to Amazon to download it to their Kindles. Mrs. Alchemist keeps asking me why I haven’t given it a real title. Honestly, it’s because I can’t pick one. What we have here is a story with a fantasy setting. The protagonist, Asherian,… Continue reading What's In A Title?
The Need To Write
“I once knew a writer who tried that route (psychoanalysis). Cured him of writing all right. But did not cure him of the need to write. The last I saw of him he was crouching in a comer, trembling. That was his good phase. But the mere sight of a wordprocessor would throw him into… Continue reading The Need To Write
Like Water Over Rock
It seems that more often than not, stories in popular media from novels to motion pictures spring fully formed from the heads of their creators. Like Athena emerging from the cranium of Zeus, except she’s a goddess and a lot of these stories are more likely to ride the short bus than a blazing chariot.… Continue reading Like Water Over Rock
Jotting in the Margins: Writing Smart
There was an excellent post made about “Moff’s Law” – which is, in essence, the notion that anybody making a comment about ‘just enjoying a movie/tv series/novel/game without analyzing it or thinking it through’ is demonstrating monumental stupidity. I think it’s worth noting, however, that if the creator of a work doesn’t engage their brain,… Continue reading Jotting in the Margins: Writing Smart
Programmatic Mission Statement
My career path has been, to say the least, an odd one. I knew that published fiction was a tough field to enter, and that attempting to make a living from it directly out of university would be difficult, if not impossible. That knowledge, coupled with a challenge issued by a flatmate, pushed me in… Continue reading Programmatic Mission Statement
Canned Goods: History of Lighthouse
Since even after the lion’s share of my first day back at work I still have a veritable mountain of e-mails to which I must respond lest a client become incensed or the universe explodes or something else monumentally dire occurs, here’s something related to the novel upon which I’d be working if I had… Continue reading Canned Goods: History of Lighthouse
