I was able to complete one 4,433-word short story (on the second revision), begin a second short story (currently 1,155 words) and apply for a foundation scholarship! Baby steps, my people. Baby steps.
Month: February 2020
7 Tips to Forging Magical Weapons: Freebie is That Singing Swords are Annoying
No. Singing. Swords. Lol. Love this post!
In War of Nytefall: Eradication, events are set in motion due to a mortal wielding an enchanted weapon. The First of Durag appears to have the strength to eliminate Clyde. It has already depowered and killed many Dawn Fangs, so all of the vampires are getting nervous. I haven’t worked with a lot of enchanted weapons. There was Timoran’s deflection axe, Decker’s elemental axe, Delvin’s shield, and a few other things, but I’ve kept it a lot more low key than I expected. Kind of odd since I designed so many enchanted weapons in college. I did learn a lot during that stage of my life, so here are some tips if you’re going to add magical gear to your story.
- For the love of all dice rolls, do NOT load every power into one weapon. Nobody wants to see a hero with a sword the has healing, elemental…
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Tips for Understanding Black History Month- 2020 Edition
In this much needed Black History Month post P. Djèlí Clark answers questions, addresses concerns, and smites the willfully ignorant with judgment so sophisticated it’s beautiful to behold.
It’s that time of year again, Black History Month. Yes, I’m about 26 days late. Let me have this.
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What even is literary fiction?
This post prompted a great discussion, which is pleasingly typical of The Orangutan Librarian. The moment I read the title an image of Drax from the Avengers movie popped in my head demanding, “Why is literary fiction?” Lol.
Ahh isn’t this just the perennial question? Every time I have conversations about literary fiction, it seems to me no one can quite decide what it is or what it should be or how to define it. And if you try to get a definitive answer, you’re going to have a hard time pinning it down. Google it and you’ll find tons of opinions. Go on Goodreads and you’ll find a plethora of books described as literary fiction (…some of which probably aren’t, but we’ll get to that).
What got me thinking about this recently was watching a video by Alexa Donne pitting literary fiction against commercial fiction, which was an interesting point… but not one I entirely agree with. Because I’d say the whole point of calling something literary fiction is to place it in a specific marketing category. And if it doesn’t have broad appeal, that’s not…
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Haiti at the Crossroads, Government under Pressure
Thank you, “Repeating Islands” for sharing this information, despite how heartbreaking it is.
CaribbeanNew.net reports on the political impasse that has left Haiti without a functioning government, deflated the economy, and fueled insecurity, according to UN Special Representative Helen La Lime.
Leaders in Haiti must step up and end the political impasse between President Jovenel Mose and a surging opposition movement that has paralyzed the island nation since July 2018, the top UN official there said on Thursday in a briefing to the UN Security Council in New York.
UN Special Representative Helen La Lime updated ambassadors on latest developments in the prolonged divide which has left Haiti without a functioning government, deflated the economy, and fueled insecurity. “Haiti is about to enter in its second year with a caretaker government, its economy is forecast to sink deeper into recession, and 4.6 million of its citizens are now estimated to require humanitarian assistance,” she said, speaking via videoconference from the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“To…
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Monique L. Desir 