Character Discussions: The Cocky Anti-Hero

One of my most controversial characters is Pablo from Birthplace. I’ve talked about this before: how I try not to create likable characters, and instead write them as honest as I can make them. I’ve also written a few “anti-heroes” so to speak: Enosh Tar’elian coming to mind. This is the sort of character who is …

Traditional Epic Fantasy Heroes in The Agartes Epilogues

One of the challenging things about writing The Agartes Epilogues is that it is not written from the point of view of “heroes” in the traditional sense. The point of view characters are regular people with selfish desires, who just get caught up in the plot either because of their actions or through reasons beyond their …

My Draft Process

I thought it might be interesting to talk about how I approach drafts in my novels. Actually, I’m sure it’s not, but I have to schedule some blog posts and this totally counts as my socializing for the day. Like with most writers, I think, my first draft is very slow. I used to write …

Aina’s Breath – “[This Author] uses characters like a garrote to strangle your heart.”

At least, that’s what one of my beta-readers likes to tell me. Another one is more succinct: “Fuck you. Fuck this book. Go away, I’m reading.” I’ve got nearly less than a month to go before release date. EARCs have been sent to reviewers, and some reviews have come in, but I may have bungled …