Updates

• 
  Stephen Trolly: For everyone in here, my debut novel Rising Vengeance, is free I'm Amazon until Friday, when it returns to $0.99 USD.
  The link should be available on my personal page.
  Thanks, and I hope you enjoy if you choose to download it.
  If you do, please review...  moreFor everyone in here, my debut novel Rising Vengeance, is free I'm Amazon until Friday, when it returns to $0.99 USD.
  The link should be available on my personal page.
  Thanks, and I hope you enjoy if you choose to download it.
  If you do, please review as well. Thank you  

  • July 11, 2018

  • 
    Deleted Member Can't find a link here, Stephen. But found you on Amazon.
    Not my genre, sorry - but you have obviously put a lot of work into your writing.

    • July 12, 2018
  • 
    Stephen Trolly Here's the link for anybody having trouble finding it on my...  moreHere's the link for anybody having trouble finding it on my page.
    
    https://www.amazon.ca/Rising-Vengeance-Anarian-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B01MQ0JZUN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528162511&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=rising+vengeance&dpPl=1&dpID=51YM1zqr06L&ref=plSrch  

    • July 12, 2018
• 
  Christina "DZA" Marie: Check out part two of my four-part video series "Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling!"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhadq3zmDKc

  • April 14, 2018

  • Kell Inkston likes this.
• 
  Thomas Weaver replied to a topic in the group Fantasy Fanatics:

  The short answer: Take the saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" and flip it around. If there isn't at least a perceived need for something, no one will bother to invent it, or at least they won't be able to convince everyone else to adopt that in...

  • April 9, 2018
• 
  Stephen Trolly posted a topic in the group Fantasy Fanatics:

  I see a lot of complaints online about fantasy worlds like Middle Earth where technological advancement isn't on par with earth. Things like "if I lived for 6,000 years, even I would have invented the lightbulb by now."
  How do actual fantasy writers feel...

  • March 31, 2018
• 
  Robert W. Easton: Dragons can be the atomic bombs of fantasy power. How do suggest a dragon can be a main character ina fantasy work without overwhelming the other characters with its might? Any examples where an author has pulled this off?

  • March 29, 2018

  • View all 7 comments
  • 
    Robert W. Easton Right, that's the issue, I suppose. Its like Superman in Justice League or Professor X in the X-Men comics. Rule #1 of the story is sideline the character that could just solve all of the problems. A dragon as a co-protagonist creates many story-tension...  moreRight, that's the issue, I suppose. Its like Superman in Justice League or Professor X in the X-Men comics. Rule #1 of the story is sideline the character that could just solve all of the problems. A dragon as a co-protagonist creates many story-tension problems, leaving the author to either make the other co-protagonists demigods, weaken the dragon to some kind of silly lizard, or make the dragon turn into an antagonist. Otherwise, the tension is hard to maintain.  

    • March 30, 2018
  • 
    Stephen Trolly Maintaining the tension is the problem. Make the dragon the antagonist, and you've git a Dungeons and Dragons quest. Nothing wrong with that, but the story becomes predictable.
    Making other characters more powerful defeats the purpose of there even...  moreMaintaining the tension is the problem. Make the dragon the antagonist, and you've git a Dungeons and Dragons quest. Nothing wrong with that, but the story becomes predictable.
    Making other characters more powerful defeats the purpose of there even being a dragon in the first place, and so does weakening the dragon.
    It's better to have the dragon as a secondary or even a tertiary character that really only comes into focus when absolutely necessary.  

    • March 30, 2018
  • 
    Thomas Weaver Stephen Trolly: I think you are misunderstanding what I mean by balance. Characters need not be of equal power level for it to be believable that the non-dragons can at least survive the encounter and (if appropriate) get rid of the dragon. There seems...  moreStephen Trolly: I think you are misunderstanding what I mean by balance. Characters need not be of equal power level for it to be believable that the non-dragons can at least survive the encounter and (if appropriate) get rid of the dragon. There seems to be an assumption that dragons always function as monsters in a story, even where they're given speaking roles. *shrug* I must be reading the wrong stories.  

    • March 30, 2018
  • 
    Stephen Trolly Thomas Weaver: I understood what you meant, and I know that there are other ways to survive a conflict with anything as powerful as a dragon than just by matching strength, whether the dragon is the good guy or the bad guy.
    My point is that a dragon is...  moreThomas Weaver: I understood what you meant, and I know that there are other ways to survive a conflict with anything as powerful as a dragon than just by matching strength, whether the dragon is the good guy or the bad guy.
    My point is that a dragon is a massive presence by virtue of its existence. To try and give some kind of character balance with a character like that, screen time should lean towards the other character to give them depth. That balances the huge physical and mental presence that a dragon automatically seems to have.  less

    • March 30, 2018
  • 
    Robert W. Easton Another way to look at this is Puff the Magic Dragon. Puff is clearly the power. What does Jackie provide in their adventures? Only companionship, and while that companionship is clearly crucial to Puff, is that the only thing mere humans can provide to...  moreAnother way to look at this is Puff the Magic Dragon. Puff is clearly the power. What does Jackie provide in their adventures? Only companionship, and while that companionship is clearly crucial to Puff, is that the only thing mere humans can provide to the mighty dragons in adventure stories? One: get the dragon away on some side quest, or two: subjugate the dragon emotionally to its companions.  

    • March 31, 2018
• 
  Thomas Weaver replied to a topic in the group Fantasy Fanatics:

  I reject the false dichotomy that a fantasy story must be either grimdark or fluffy-unicorn.
  
  Speaking of unicorns... I've read only one novel by GRRM, and that one only because it was dedicated to Roger Zelazny, one of my favorite authors. I don't mind...

  • March 27, 2018

  • 
    Stephen Trolly I agree that fantasy doesn't have to be one or other, and that ideally it should have a good mix of both.
    The problem is that, at least that I notice on my own writing, trying to write a light scene after taking it to a darker place is jarring and...  moreI agree that fantasy doesn't have to be one or other, and that ideally it should have a good mix of both.
    The problem is that, at least that I notice on my own writing, trying to write a light scene after taking it to a darker place is jarring and unless it's done carefully, ruins the flow of a story. The same goes in reverse, where a dark scene in a book that is promarily light can really damage the narrative if it isn't done well.
    I think that's why most writers stick to doing one or the other.  

    • March 27, 2018
    • -
    • 1 likes this
  • 
    Kell Inkston I find myself doing the same quite often. It's taken me many, many projects to start learning to hold myself back when it comes to tonal shifts, but I think I've gotten a fairly good grip on my other hand when one wants its turn.
    
    I feel your pain.

    • March 27, 2018
  • 
    Robert W. Easton I don't reada lot of fantasy these days. Maybe I fear the proposed dichotomy. I do like things to be blackest before the surprising resolution. But without a positive outcome, meh.

    • March 27, 2018
• 
  Ellen A. Easton joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 26, 2018
• 
  Robert W. Easton joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 26, 2018
• 
  Christina "DZA" Marie: Hello lovelies! I am new (both to the group and the site). So I shall give you a present.
  
  This is a poster for my upcoming graphic novel series "Sovadron," illustrated by John Hawkins. A little blurb for context:
  "Using her blood and the...  moreHello lovelies! I am new (both to the group and the site). So I shall give you a present.
  
  This is a poster for my upcoming graphic novel series "Sovadron," illustrated by John Hawkins. A little blurb for context:
  "Using her blood and the molten fires of the earth, she created two creatures to help her keep control over Eoroe and amass her army: the dragons and the demons. They and their descendants would be bound to her for all eternity."
  
  Finally, a question: if you have read epic fantasy graphic novels before, what would you say makes them good? What makes them bad?  less

  

  • March 26, 2018

  • Dawn R. Schuldenfrei and Kell Inkston like this.
  • 
    Eric Martell The cover certainly grabs your attention, but I think the woman is lost in the darkness. Perhaps she needs to be either brighter, or posed so that her outline is more highlighted against the dragons' fire. Just a thought. I do like the artwork, though.

    • March 26, 2018
  • 
    Kell Inkston The dragons are truly too sick to ignore. Absolutely wonderful imo.

    • March 27, 2018
    • -
    • 1 likes this
  • 
    Christina "DZA" Marie Thanks guys!

    • March 27, 2018
  • 
    Stephen Trolly I do really like this piece, but there's one thing with it.
    I'm not sure that I understand the point of the woman at all. Was she just there and was caught by surprise? If so, I would rather see her profile pointing away from the dragons, like she's...  moreI do really like this piece, but there's one thing with it.
    I'm not sure that I understand the point of the woman at all. Was she just there and was caught by surprise? If so, I would rather see her profile pointing away from the dragons, like she's running. If she's the SHE from your blurb, it would be better if she was centered, the focal point of power.  

    • April 1, 2018
    • -
    • 1 likes this
  • 
    Christina "DZA" Marie Stephen: yes, she's the "she" from the blub (Sovadron), creating the dragons.

    • April 3, 2018
• 
  Christina "DZA" Marie joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 26, 2018
• 
  Greg Alldredge joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 25, 2018
• 
  Stephen Trolly replied to a topic in the group Fantasy Fanatics:

  That Martin wasn't afraid to kill characters really helped me get into the series, but with how many of the deaths seemed so superfluous, it took a lot for me to keep going with it.
  Tolkien's characters were written where it was basically impossible to ...

  • March 25, 2018

  • E. S. Furlán likes this.
• 
  Merri Halma joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 25, 2018
• 
  Samantha FidlerNewby joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 25, 2018
• 
  Al Burke joined the group Fantasy Fanatics

  • March 23, 2018