• Language Ex Machina.

    As far as fantasy goes, I’ve always been inspired by Tolkein’s scholarly breadth of detail in his worldbuilding, most notably his dizzying work with creating full, functional, quite honestly breathtaking structures of language. Naturally, this is something I’ve always wanted to weave into my worldbuilding for Aryneth, but, as one would imagine, languages are not…

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  • “‘…The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed…’” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling As we move along in the iconic Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, we reach the third book, which, for me, starts to really…

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  • Writer Quotes: Angelou.

    ““There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” –Maya Angelou. I am a woman of a million stories, each of them bearing down on me and trying to latch onto my imagination. I love this about myself; I have never truly known writer’s block and there’s always something I can be…

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  • “‘One’s own life is to be savored. The lives of others are to be cultivated.’” “Magic: The Gathering: The Secrets of Magic Anthology” edited by Jess Lebow The Secrets of Magic Anthology, edited by Jess Lebow, surprisingly revealed very few secrets, and I feel that my latest venture into the Magic: the Gathering world would…

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  • NaNoWriMo Report Card.

    NaNoWriMo word count goal: 50,000 NaNoWriMo word count reached: 22,033 NaNoWriMo grade: F So, National Novel Writing Month for me this year was not exactly spectacular. I didn’t even reach the halfway point, which is probably one of my worst showings so far. The thing is, though, I’m not too concerned about it because, while…

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  • Almost Quitting.

    Today, a terrible thing almost happened. I almost quit NaNoWriMo. With only a week left to go, that’s a pretty extreme decision, and the fact that there’s only one more week left to go is one of the many reasons I decided to keep going. You see, November is a very crazy month for me.…

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  • “‘Planeswalkers, tornadoes, plagues,’ counted Jodah, ‘all are natural phenomena. You can no more avoid them, or blame them, than you can blame an avalanche or a storm.’” “Magic: The Gathering: The Shattered Alliance, Ice Age Cycle Book III” by Jeff Grubb You may have noticed in my reviews of the first two books of the…

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  • Artist Quotes: Picasso.

    “Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.” –Pablo Picasso. Ever notice how you seem to have your best ideas when you’re too busy doing something else? This quote from Pablo Picasso brings that to mind a little, sort of like the quote from Agatha Christie that the “best time for planning a book…

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  • Review: The Missing Madonna.

    “Jimmy was the type, Mary Helen had been told, who could sell snow to the Eskimos. As a matter of fact, he had started out selling purses. ‘There’s a lot of money in purses,’ Lucy often quipped.” “The Missing Madonna: A Sister Mary Helen Mystery” by Sister Carol Anne O’Marie What’s not to love about…

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  • Author Quotes: Child.

    “Literary popularity was never a paramount object with me, even in my youth; and, now that I am old, I am utterly indifferent to it.” -Lydia Maria Child I cannot honestly say that literary popularity is never a paramount object with me; it’s something I strive for, something I’ve always wanted to cultivate for myself…

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