Logan Shadowhand presented some challenges for me as he evolved from a roleplaying game character into a fantasy fiction protagonist. I had no literary aspirations for the character until I recreated him as a non-player character for one of my Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. He and his elf partner (who was also destined to become [...]
Entries Categorized as 'Writing Journal'
The evolution of Logan Shadowhand
Filed under Writing Journal on August 12, 2008
Keywords: Chronicles of Jord, fantasy fiction, Logan Shadowhand, protagonists, Shattered Amulet
Skipping the details
Filed under Tips & Tools, Writing Journal on July 22, 2008
Keywords: descriptions, Logan Shadowhand, Shattered Amulet
I envision a scene in my head first then write. The more vivid the pictures in my mind, the easier it is for me to write. Of course, this method comes with drawbacks. If my mental vision is muddied, I struggle putting words down. My descriptions also tend to rely on visual cues more than [...]
Staring me in the face
Filed under Writing Journal on July 8, 2008
Keywords: Logan Shadowhand, motivation
I generally don’t pay much attention to my desktop’s display appearance. I’ve got a monitor full of windows when I’m working, or I’m playing a game in full screen mode. Thus, my wallpaper tends to be ignored. I used the default setting for the longest time. I think I had a piece of software that [...]
The ties that bind
Filed under Writing Journal on June 24, 2008
Keywords: Chronicles of Jord, fantasy fiction, Logan Shadowhand, Shattered Amulet
It’s pretty rare to find a stand-alone fantasy novel anymore. Fantasy fiction tends to come in sets: trilogies, episodic series, or some epic number of volumes. Part of this is marketing, the building of a brand and fostering reader loyalty to that brand. The artist in me prefers to think of it in terms of [...]
Maiden of Pain goes out of print
Filed under Writing Journal on June 5, 2008
Keywords: Maiden of Pain, manuscripts, proposals, publishing, Wizards of the Coast
I received an email from Wizards of the Coast publishing on Tuesday, notifying me that they are declaring Maiden of Pain out of print. This is pretty common practice for publishers. Unless you’re a bestseller or under contract for future titles, you’re a candidate for pruning. I fall under neither category.
The email stirred up quite [...]

