Guest Post: High Fantasy Vs. Epic Fantasy

Welcome guest blogger Sara Letourneau! We connected with Sara on Twitter and through the many places she blogs (see bio below). Sara is super friendly, upbeat and knowledgeable, especially about writing fantasy, so we’re thrilled to have her here today to shed some light on the differences and similarities between high fantasy and epic fantasy. Take it …
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Retro Robin: You Are Mistaken, Mr. Darcy: How to Use Literature to Build Your Fiction Vocabulary

We’re running retro-posts for Robin while she’s moving into her new house. Hurry back, Robin, we miss you! The ability to mass produce books gave birth to the popular novel, the Bronte Sisters, George Sand and perhaps one of the best-loved novelists of all time, Jane Austen. Since Austen’s first book was released over two centuries …
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Historical Fiction: 3 Tips for Leaving the Slush Pile Behind

We hear it all the time: There are no new stories! Nowhere is this sentiment more potentially accurate than with historical fiction. But is it really true? Or is this a case of needing more out-of-the box thinking? Here are three ways to re-imagine the research. Take one tip or use all three and leave …
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Creating Names for Historical Fiction

What’s in a name? Shakespeare asked the question and we as fiction writers know the answer, the name is everything! Well maybe not everything, but critical, as names set the tone and define how readers view characters. Do we expect P. G. Wodehouse’s character Bertie Wooster to be an esteemed mathematician? Most assuredly, not. As …
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Walking the Tightrope: Embodying yesteryear, while embracing today’s reader

When you write historical fiction, you face great scrutiny. The tiniest mistake, or an over abundance of details, and you will generate comments. Angry heated comments. In a sense, you are always walking a tightrope between crafting authentic sounding prose and creating intelligible prose. One wrong foot and everything comes crashing down. If you want …
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You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy: How to use literature to build your fiction vocabulary

The ability to mass produce books gave birth to the popular novel, the Bronte Sisters, George Sand and perhaps one of the best-loved novelists of all time, Jane Austen. Since Austen’s first book was released over two centuries ago, people have studied her work. We love her books because they’re packed with social humor and …
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What Doth it Profit Thee? Building Historical Vocabulary

If you’re like me, you spend the whole day talking. Sometimes, when the Fates smile, I’m talking with my keyboard, and what I have to say requires access to a time traveler, for I am a historical writer. All fiction has a unique set of challenges, but I find the creation of believable period language …
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