Sometimes you need to write characters that are just nasty. In Night’s Favour, there are two characters who started off as generally homophobic.  One is actually an asshole, and the other is a bit of a dudebro.  The benefits of exposing this to a set of beta readers early on was that I identified some interesting things – one of which was that people didn’t like the dudebro very much in that configuration. And said dudebro is one of the “good guys.”  I wanted him to be liked.  Thus, when editing the story, chapters from his perspective lost any of their anti-gay vibe.  Despite the original vision, it didn’t really hurt his character or placement for him to join the human race – and having edited him, he’s more likeable, although perhaps not as… what.  Realistic?  I don’t know – Read More …

Here’s something worth getting philosophical about. John Romaniello has put up a pretty great post on the Heroes Journey.  Head off there and read it now if you’re at all interested in storytelling. It’s made me want to get a copy of the referenced book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, but aside from that it’s made me take a bit more of a jaundiced look at Night’s Favour.  I’m not sure whether total compliance with the generic hero’s journey is what I’m after by any means, but there’s probably a recipe in here for good stories. That’s what it’s all about, after all. One of the things I’m a bit uncertain about is how the proposed hero’s journey deals with co-operation, though.  Some of the best stories – well, sure, they have a main hero, or a prime point Read More …

As an intellectual property creator, I’m supposed to be highly enthusiastic about copyright. The problem is – certainly in my layman’s view – the laws on this stuff are just bizarre beyond all reason.  I’m doing more editing, which is a thing, but a couple of my pro beta readers (read: in “The Industry”) have said that a bit in my book needs to go. See, one character sings the happy birthday song to another.  I’m thinking, “This is pretty safe.  People have been having birthdays since before time.” It’s again fortunate that my friends look out for me, as this is a great exanple of how un-safe things really are.  Turns out: Warner own the copyright for that song, and gain revenues from its use. Well, what if you only use a bit of the song?  Like the first line Read More …