Gryla. If I said that name on an American street corner, nobody would bat an eye. If I said it on the streets of Reykjavik, Iceland? Someone would hastily cross the street and give me a nervous glare. On the island-nation of Iceland, Gryla is as nasty a Christmas entity…
The bats told me someone was coming up the road. They always sound the first alarm, with their little chits and clicks. From my position atop the border wall, looking out on a green living world, it always makes me smile. Because it means someone’s trying to brave Haunt. We…
He slips in a window. Silent. Calm. The room around him is full of bookshelves and display cases, showing awards, trophies, and such shiny regalia. But he ignores those. Moving across the floor with barely a whisper, he comes to his target. A small locked box hidden in a corner.…
You probably knew this already, but…evolution continues! It continues to happen, all throughout the world, amid the vast numbers of species sharing this little green dot with us. Here’s just one example of such. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We’ve used a lot of antibiotics since their invention in 1928. (Yep, they aren’t…
Let’s lighten things up and talk about apocalypses! Yes, it’s highly Wrong to root around in the radioactive soil of the ‘Apocalypse’ context. That’s why I do it. What curious revelations might we find? Could we employ some in books? There must be a way. But first, we must ask…
When I use the word, “Priest,” what do you envision? Someone droning in front of a congregation perhaps? At least during the day. At night they blast demons with righteous fury! Or at least that’s how the last campaign went. Darn sneaky Mimics… What about “Priestess?” Maybe a group of…
If our universe doesn’t have an edge, how is it expanding? Why is the alphabet in the order it is? Why didn’t they put X at the end? Or O before N? What if, centuries ago, someone making a calendar accidentally missed a day. Then we’d all feel like something’s…
The monster is coming. You hear its shuffles down the hall. The door won’t budge. No way out! We’re all familiar with this trope. Seen it a hundred times in movies, books, TV. On some level we know what will happen. Yet somehow, whenever this moment arrives, it sends a…
The first real “Traitor” character I remember reading as a kid, was Cephelo from “The Elfstones of Shannara.” Smarmy slimeball, completely amoral, ego the size of a small planet…this guy could make used car salesmen uncomfortable. His actions messed up a lot of things in the storyline. Fortunately for everyone…
How Obscure Mythologies Can Become Powerful Story Characters I can’t claim expertise in urban fantasy yet – only written one book in it (so far!). So, when working out the storyline for “The Stiamaq Emerald,” I had to figure out a good solid plotline without too much complexity. First major…
