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Category Archives: worldbuilding
A Brief History of Jews in China
Continuing my inadvertent series about surprising cultural connections (and my ruminations on the fact that history so often repeats itself), I recently came across this article in the New York Times about the clampdown on public practice of Judaism in … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, history, medieval, Mongolia, religion, research, worldbuilding
Tagged china, Chinese Jews, history of Judaism, Jewish history, Kaifeng
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Alien Intelligence, Close to Home
Thanks to a clever octopus in New Zealand who escaped back to the sea, there’s been a lot of talk lately about animal intelligence. A recent book by Frans de Waal questions whether we are even smart enough to know … Continue reading
Posted in essays, fantasy, science fiction, worldbuilding
Tagged alien intelligence, aliens, animal intelligence, cephalopod, dolphin, octopus, science fiction, Termite Queen
1 Comment
Developing Fictional Worlds: The Nits are All you Have
As you may know, my most popular blog entry (still) is the one entitled Bilbo Baggins’ Bathrobe: A Example of Poor World-building. Every month or two, someone new discovers this post and feels they must take me to task for … Continue reading
Posted in essays, fantasy, fiction, history, medieval technology, research, Uncategorized, worldbuilding, writing
Tagged fantasy fiction, world-building, worldbuilding, writing
5 Comments
40 Years of Rule-based Magic: Celebrating the Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons
As many of you may know, this year we celebrate the 4oth anniversary of the Dungeons and Dragons Role-playing system. No doubt some of you readers have been players at one time or another, no doubt some of you have … Continue reading
Posted in essays, fantasy, fiction, magic, worldbuilding, writing
Tagged D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons 40th anniversary, fantasy, fantasy writing, gamers, gaming, magic, worldbuilding
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Frozen: World-building on Ice
I’m starting to see a series here on the blog about my thoughts on the world-building of various new films. Today’s subject is “Frozen,” a fun and surprisingly anti-Disney-trope Disney film. Not being real big on princesses, I wasn’t sure … Continue reading
Posted in character development, essays, movies, worldbuilding
Tagged character, Frozen, Frozen movie, ice, ice magic, ice palace, Kristoff, worldbuilding
1 Comment
Longing for Spring: researching a historical garden
In just a few months, on July 1, Elisha Magus, book 2 in my Dark Apostle series, will hit the bookstores. Needless to say, I am thrilled. But when my window shows a snowy landscape, and my radio suggests that … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, history, medieval, research, Uncategorized, worldbuilding
Tagged 14th century, English garden, gardening, historical gardens, historical plants, horticulture
3 Comments
Bilbo Baggins’ Bathrobe, revisited, with special guest, Lisa Evans
Back at Arisia in January, I had the pleasure of sharing a panel on historical research with Lisa Evans. When I found out her specialty is European patchwork, I asked if she would write me a guest blog with her … Continue reading
Posted in essays, fantasy, history, movies, worldbuilding
Tagged bathrobe, Bilbo Baggins, dressing gown, Hobbit films, patchwork history, Peter Jackson, quilting history, The Hobbit
2 Comments
The Lego Movie and World Building
I know, I know, I’ve promised to get back to historical blogging, and I promise I’ll blog later on this week about some nasty historical detail, really! So this will be a quick one. Lego is about the most literal … Continue reading
Posted in movies, worldbuilding
Tagged Lego, Lego movie, legos, Mongolia, movie reviews, secondary world, world-building, worldbuilding, youtube
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