Fantasy Worldbuilding: Part Two
Last week I wrote about backstory, worldbuilding as an element of character, and taking each changed element of your world to its logical conclusion. This week I have three more questions you might want to ask yourself if you are writing a fantasy novel and want to make your fantasy worlds rich and satisfying. Okay, I realize this one is similar to #1, but at the risk of repeating myself: 4) Have you made your characters a product of the society you created? One of the things that really makes me sigh in high fantasy is when an author creates a medieval- (or other-) style world full of...
Read MoreFantasy Worldbuilding: Part One
If you are working on a fantasy novel, these are a few questions you might ask yourself to make your worldbuilding believable and satisfying to the reader. Three more questions will follow next week! 1) Are you thinking of worldbuilding as an element of character? Consider how much of who you are is informed by your culture, your religion, the attitudes of your family and your society. Now consider how much of your daily life is affected by where and how you live—city or country, rich or poor, hot climate or cold. The world you live in is not a backdrop for your life like a stage set, it’s...
Read MoreWriting Superstitions, or How I Gave Up True Love with the Mailman to Become a Published Author
I don’t remember why I started it. Plenty of authors do it—or they did before email submissions became so prevalent. I know I did it when I got my very first short story published in the journal Prairie Fire. And after that it became a tradition. Whenever I submitted a manuscript, I kissed the envelope for luck before mailing it out. Now, I was brought up to be a skeptical, logical sort of person—and I am. But lately I’m not as quick to stamp out the little rituals and incantations that help me through the day. I blame the publishing business. So much is out of our control. There is...
Read MoreThe Speech
When I told people I was working on a new website, a few people asked me to be sure I kept up this speech I gave at the launch of my first picture book. It’s about what reading means to me: My cousins and I had a grandfather we never knew. Somehow, even though he died before we were born, he was still the great patriarch of our family. He was “The Fa”—according to our parents a wise and gentle man. A perfect father. But how could that be right? Our grandfather was abandoned by his parents not long after he was born and lived in the tuberculosis ward of an orphanage until he was 9 years old....
Read MoreAbout Me
Hi! I'm Lena, a young adult fantasy author from Toronto.