Category Archives: Writing Fantasy

6 Essential Questions for Building a Magic System

World-building is one of my favorite parts of writing (and DMing – insert shameless plug for my new podcast style YouTube channel about D&D and storytelling). As a fantasy writer, one of my biggest challenges (but one I enjoy immensely, make no mistake) is creating magic systems. There are a lot of really great resourcesContinue reading “6 Essential Questions for Building a Magic System”

How to Write Your Werewolf

There’s a sort of subset of fantasy that we call “supernatural” or “paranormal”. This subgenre features magic like fantasy does, but generally in a more contemporary (and often spookier) setting. In it, we see things like vampires, ghosts, and today’s topic: werewolves. Werewolves are a staple of paranormal and horror stories, but there’s room forContinue reading “How to Write Your Werewolf”

Mermaids Around the World

As I sat down to brainstorm a blog post (and as I’m writing, as a matter of fact), my friend Bex finally convinced me to watch the 2023 live action The Little Mermaid. I wouldn’t say I’ve been avoiding it, but it hasn’t been high on my to-do list (shocking, I know, given that I’mContinue reading “Mermaids Around the World”

An Interview with L.E. Richmond

I recently discovered a fellow writer on Instagram who I immediately started following. Her name is L.E. Richmond, and her debut novel, The Mermaid’s Tale, comes out this fall. It has a gorgeous cover and a fantastic premise, and I can’t wait to read it! What’s more, she was kind enough to sit down withContinue reading “An Interview with L.E. Richmond”

Faster Than Expected

(This was meant to be a video, uploaded earlier this week. However, I’ve been under the weather and lost my voice, so instead of putting it off any longer, I decided to post the script!) Heya word nerds, Kate here! Boy, it’s been a crazy month. You may remember that earlier this year, I sentContinue reading “Faster Than Expected”

How to Write Your Unicorn

I’ll be honest, now that I’m trying to post here with some sort of regularity again, I sometimes have trouble figuring out what to write about. So occasionally I’ll look back through past posts for inspiration. Considering I’ve got about ten years of backlog (wait, what?!), there’s plenty to choose from. (Actually, the ten yearContinue reading “How to Write Your Unicorn”

7 Favorite Fictional Weapons

As promised, I’m back with part two of my favorite fictional weapons! Before we jump in, let’s go over the rules. To be considered for this list, the item in question must be a weapon. As I was looking at other lists of fictional weapons for inspiration, I was confused by some of them, becauseContinue reading “7 Favorite Fictional Weapons”

5 Favorite Fictional Swords

I sat down this weekend to write a blog post listing my favorite weapons from fiction (mostly fantasy). And while that list will happen at some point, I ran into a bit of a snag. I was trying to pick entries from different weapon types, but there are too many swords to just pick one.Continue reading “5 Favorite Fictional Swords”

Making Magic (Systems)

Spell and curses, potions and enchantments. I just love magic, don’t you? It makes the worlds and stories in the books we read just come alive. But creating that magic takes a little more effort than waving a wand and saying “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.” Not everyone makes their magic systems the same way, but IContinue reading “Making Magic (Systems)”