One of the most important things in fantasy literature is the idea of the hearty meal. The hobbits’ second breakfast comes to mind, and the Turkish delight enjoyed by Edmund upon meeting the White Witch, and every scene from Harry Potter that takes place in the Great Hall. Food is important in fantasy novels, and … More Inspiration, October 12
My main character’s home city, Heredo, is situated on the banks of Lake Shiniren. Since I, too, currently live in a thriving city on the banks of a huge lake, I figured drawing from my own life would be efficient. I took this picture a few weeks ago when walking on the shore of Lake … More Inspiration, October 11
Third installment in the architecture series . . . I’m on a roll apparently. This strikes me as a nice, quaint little village on the verge of winter. Something about it is . . . relaxing. The lone lamp post has always held significance for me. It’s the Lantern that welcomes Lucy to Narnia from … More Inspiration, October 10
Continuing in the architectural vein . . . This is an actual photograph — check out all the dusters! I like the bridge-type structure in the background. I could imagine that being a train track of some kind. In the capital city where my heroine lives, Heredo, the train operates on a raised track above … More Inspiration, October 9
I love the old architecture in this photo. Churches, train stations, old buildings. I love thinking about what my cities are going to look like. Horse-drawn buggies, cobblestone, everything.
I feel like I can finally talk about this, because I have a date for when my fiction finally gets printed and I get to hold my own words in my own two hands. … More Story acceptance!
I have always loved Alex’s work. Right away when we began workshop together, when I was still a scared undergraduate in my head, I noticed that this guy wrote the kinds of stuff I like to read: the weird stuff, like watercolor dragons and alien flamingos. This guy has an imagination. His work stood out – and at the risk of sounding cliche or sappy, I knew we were gonna be friends. … More Story of the Week #14 — “Elegy in Running Water” by Alex Friedman
This week’s story is by a former classmate of mine. Megan graduated with her master’s degree a year before I did and is now studying for her MFA. Her writing is definitely what I would call Literary with a capital ‘L,’ and it’s no surprise to me that her stories are getting picked up left and … More Story of the Week #13 — “Lower Your Muzzle” by Megan Giddings
Since I’m bringing Story of the Week back after probably a year of neglect, I will treat you dear Readers to something short and sweet to start things off again. And since the deadline for the Fall 2014 issue of NEAT. is rapidly approaching, I think it’s appropriate to showcase one of the fiction pieces from … More Story of the Week #12 — “Cygnet Lake” by Doug McBride
I see a lot of those Internet lists that have titles like, “100 Classic Novels You Are a Dunce If You Haven’t Read by the Time You’re 20” and “20 New Novels That Are Totally In Style and Stuff So Read Them Blah.” The thing is, I have always felt a little iffy about these kinds of lists. . . . Therefore, I thought I’d make one of these list-y things. … More 10 Novels That Have Shaped the Stuff that Liz Writes
