The knight looked out over the rolling hills, hands on her knees and sword resting on the ground in front of her, ready to be snatched up at a moment’s notice. It was dark, with only the moon and the faint flickering firelight providing any visual on the surrounding area, but her eyes were sharp and well-accustomed to seeing in near pitch-black. The plains where they had made camp seemed to stretch endlessly, grass rippling...
Read moreby Savannah Jade Firm arms wrapped around my body as we lay atop a dark green crocheted blanket in the sand. Each grain molded to the contours of our figures, leaving imprints in the shape of mini sand dunes. Past his shoulder where my chin rested, my fingertips grazed the peak of the nearest dune, tracing the curvature of Earth’s natural occurring memory foam. The sand trickled down, forming a small waterfall that shimmered like...
Read moreby Meahgan Ferral In the dark of the woods, where sunbeams rarely kissed the ground and strangers never stepped, there was a small community, tucked away in the leaves and branches and dirt. I’ve lived my life there, in a cabin with my parents and sister. The two of us spent our childhood roaming beneath the trees with our parents at our heels, whispering in our ears to never wander too far, to never stray...
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Science fiction allures and enthralls because of the unique worlds each story holds. At the core of science fiction, there’s science: some new knowledge, discovery, or breakthrough. Then, there’s technology: how that science is applied, from daily life to a planetary or (inter)galactic scale. When you hear “science,” your mind might jump to physics, biology, chemistry—all those hard sciences. But don’t discount the social sciences, like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Blending together different sub-sciences leads Read more…
Romance is the genre that inspired me to write as a kid. It felt more welcoming and attainable, since I viewed it in an escapist light. I realized I didn’t have to take myself or my writing so seriously, but rather just try to write something fun, interesting and well-written. Another beauty of romance, no pun intended, is how central love is in our lives. Everyone wants to love and be loved in some sense Read more…
Our pulse quickens. Our eyes grow wide. We gasp for breath, shudder, and shrink back into our seats. Horror readers—and writers—are a true contradiction. As our favorite genre hurls us mercilessly into our deepest childhood frights, feeds us to monsters, and speeds us headlong into destruction and death, we’ve never felt more alive. What is it about wandering through words, away from the safety of the light, into the terrors of the darkness, through dizzy Read more…
Sitting amidst the woods with the golden glow of the sun, you watch satyrs run by with their flutes. Fairies zoom to join them. Well, except for one. She’s barely the size of your finger, but you still manage to see her smile beneath her wide eyes. The fairy offers a hand to you. Sound familiar? Fantasy is a genre known for bending reality in beautiful ways. Whether the world is based on our own, Read more…
In thrillers, good and evil are divided. Moral choices stay clear, though risks are high and calls are hard. For all the palpitation-inducing danger, for each acid spurt of adrenaline, what whiplashes protagonist and reader through each thriller’s plot is the knowledge that they have something worth saving. They are the ones who will fight for good. They are the ones who will face down evil. Mysteries can twist the reader’s perception with unreliable narrators, Read more…
I read all genres, but mysteries were there for me when the going was rough. During the hardest times in my life I engaged my overactive mind in high-stakes puzzles, in fictional webs of deceit, and in dropped clues and red herrings. Each mystery pointed out the truth: sometimes, life went sideways, the world went wrong, and people went wrong, too. I didn’t want to be gaslit into thinking everyone was safe. I knew that Read more…
By Brianne Simone (TW: ableism and sexual harassment) “There is news I must share with you, Doireann.” Patrons bustled around us as Jamie stared intently at me. I could feel their curious eyes lingering as they passed, but Jamie was as immutable as a rock in a river. “It is my wish to marry your sister.” The din of the village died down to little more than a murmur. I was sure I’d understood him perfectly, yet part Read more…
By Zenia deHaven Just as the organist struck the first chord for “Here Comes the Bride,” the electricity in the chapel coughed and died. This bride and groom were uncharacteristically relaxed on their wedding day. They were not the kind of people to micromanage every dilemma they could get their soon-to-be-wedded hands on. Mistakes happen. Life happens. That said, they did not expect that a fallen power line four blocks east would fry the electricity Read more…
By Patrick Edinger Lloyd Alexander, author of more than forty titles, was a product of World War II. During his service, he was stationed in Wales which led him to write many stories inspired by Welsh culture. Of them, the high fantasy pentology the Chronicles of Prydain may be the most notable with memorable characters like the Assistant-Pig-Keeper Taran and his companions Gurgi, Elonwy, and Fflewddur Fflam. As the story unfolds in a grand adventure, Read more…
By Theodore Boronkay Many authors try to incorporate multiple perspectives into their writing in place of the singular point of view (POV) of the protagonist. There are advantages to doing so, including gaining a clearer and more heterogeneous view of the fictional setting and being able to peer into the minds of more than one character. However, one of the most taxing challenges of employing multiple perspectives in a novel is the POV switch: that Read more…
By Inanna Carter For me, the hardest part about writing a book is realizing just how much there is to write. Word count is becoming more important in traditional publishing every year, and whether you outline carefully before typing a single word or write freely as the ideas come along, if your completed manuscript ends up too short or too long it could be difficult for you to get (again, traditionally) published. Save the Cat! Read more…