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Intro If you’ve read my books—or even just the books I’ve recommended here on the blog—you probably know that I’ve got a thing for classic fantasy creatures. Elves, dwarves, orcs, and dragons are all awesome—which is why it’s always sad to me whenever I see other fantasy authors and readers ripping on them. (I mean,…
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Intro Percy Jackson and the Olympians—which The Lightning Thief is the first book of—is easily one of the most beloved middle-grade series out there. And, with the ongoing TV series, it’s only gotten even more mainstream over the last few years. So, if you haven’t read it yet, now is a great time to get…
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Intro Power levels are something that not every genre has to deal with but, if you’re writing sci-fi, fantasy, or superhero, it may be one of the trickiest things you’re going to have to tackle. For those of you who don’t know what I mean by “power levels”, I’ll explain. In many sci-fi, fantasy, and…
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Intro I’ve read a lot of really great fantasy series—I mean, a lot. Series with meticulous worldbuilding, beautiful writing styles, shocking twists, on and on. But, strangely, none of those series are the one that comes to mind when you ask me what the perfect fantasy series is. The Icewind Dale Trilogy—which The Crystal Shard…
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Intro If you write fantasy or sci-fi, you’re likely going to find yourself dealing with characters who speak languages that don’t exist in the real world. Maybe there are going to be aliens or orcs or even just regular old humans who, for one reason or another, don’t speak a regular Earth language. Which means…















