On the verge of another story

So with Star Wanderers coming to a close, at least as far as the actual writing is concerned, I’ve recently found myself back in that weird writerly place where I don’t have any pressing projects to work on.  Whenever this happens, I find that it’s generally a good idea to start something new. Until just a… Continue reading On the verge of another story

Trope Tuesday: Mentor Occupational Hazard

Being a mentor to the hero can be a pretty tough job.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the tvtropes page: If you don’t have to convince The Chosen One who just wants to be normal to grow a spine and accept the Call to Adventure, you have to convince your blindly excited and dangerously eager young pupil that You Are Not Ready to learn the Dangerous… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Mentor Occupational Hazard

Update on STAR WANDERERS and other projects

So I’m back in Kutaisi again, recharging my netbook battery due to some chronic electricity problems out in the village.  Seriously, I think I heard a transformer explode this morning.  Anytime it rains, you can prettymuch expect a blackout here in rural Georgia.  Hope for the best, plan for the worst–but that’s the subject for… Continue reading Update on STAR WANDERERS and other projects

Trope Tuesday: Wicked Cultured

This week’s Trope Tuesday series post is by request from a reader. Evil villains aren’t always grotesque, brutish, foaming-at-the-mouth barbarians.  Quite often, they are wealthy and aristocratic, with exquisitely refined tastes and an extraordinary degree of eloquence.  It isn’t just that evil is cool (though it may overlap with this), or that the barbarians have finally… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Wicked Cultured

Trope Tuesday: Hero’s Muse

One thing about the hero’s journey is that it tends to be very male-centric.  It’s possible to pull off a gender-swap, or to follow the structure loosely while allowing for substantial variation, but the basic form follows the assumption that the hero is male, and that most of the women he meets fall into one… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Hero’s Muse

Trope Tuesday: The Vamp

Also known as the temptress or the seductress, the vamp is one of the more dangerous characters the hero meets on his journey.  A devastating beauty who is as evil as she is sexy, she uses her feminine wiles to exploit men’s flaws to her own advantage.  If the hero falls for her, he will be destroyed.… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Vamp

I cannot tell you…

…how much I’m looking forward to being back in Georgia. My flight leaves from JFK on Saturday and arrives in Istanbul at about 6 am on Sunday.  The flight to Tbilisi doesn’t leave for another seven hours, so I plan to take the tram downtown and see some of the sights.  I’ll arrive in Tbilisi… Continue reading I cannot tell you…