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The Perfect Blade For Every Battle
It’s a dangerous world out there, and if you’re not careful you could soon find yourself on the wrong end of an opponent’s knife, a zombie’s tooth, or a werewolf’s claws. If you’re reading this, then I’m assuming three things: first, you’re in terrible danger. Second, you have, for some reason, kept a copy of…
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The Story Behind Traitor’s Blade
Note: I originally wrote this for Upcoming4.me back in 2014. There are a number of things you try do in the middle of an fencing match: concentrate on your form, look for a hole in your opponent’s defence, dream up the plot for your fantasy novel…no, wait, that last one is a terribly bad idea.…
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The Reader Is The Choreographer: Writing Fight Scenes
I’ve been getting asked about how to write fight scenes a fair amount these days so let me start with a first principle: Violence is boring.
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The Secret Origins of Traitor’s Blade
I often get asked where I got the ideas for The Greatcoats–the swordfighting travelling judges at the heart of Traitor’s Blade and Knight’s Shadow. Here’s where a few of the ideas came from. Itinerant Judges During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, England saw the rise of itinerant judges – travelling magistrates who would go through counties…
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Keeping the plot moving forward
Note: I originally wrote this for OpenBookOntario.com back in 2014. How do you keep your plot moving forward? This question tends to hit writers in the second act of their novels. The challenge isn’t so much about adding events to the story as it is about creating a sense of forward momentum and increasing urgency.…
