5 Real Chambers of Bones and Human Remains

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Image by Satish Indofunk at flickr cc

I’ve seen them in movies like Indiana Jones. I’ve seen them in novels like Gotrek and Felix. I’ve seen them in games like Dark Souls.

And every time characters come across a chamber full of them, it’s meant to be so horrific that the weak-hearted screams while dramatic music plays.

What am I talking about?

Human skulls, bones, and corpses decayed beyond recognition.

You would think that a room or cave filled to the brim with this stuff would be too horrific to keep close to society, right?

Well they’re not. In fact, they’re actually considered great tourist attractions.

Where are these places?

Here are 5 real chambers of bones and human remains.

Capuchin Crypt, Rome

When Capuchin monks arrived at the church of […]

Posted in: Topics

Top 5 Movie Villains More Powerful Than the Heroes

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Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I always hate when a hero has to fight under constraints.

For the entire story, his abilities are amazing.

His attacks are strong and his reflexes are fast. When opponents strike, he’s no longer there. He punches and kicks bad guys into next week.

Everything is going great.

Then we reach the story climax. The hero confronts the big villain. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s going to be awesome.

Suddenly, someone pulls out a bag of kryptonite and our hero falls to his knees. Then some punk who could have been crushed like a toothpick starts taking advantage of the situation.

Lame! Lame! Lame!

I want to see the hero throw his hardest punch and the villain simply grunts while wiping the blood from his mouth with a smile.

Who are these villains?

Here’s the top five that I’ve come […]

Posted in: Movies

Could Interstellar be the Best Science Fiction Movie Ever?

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Interstellar (2014) directed by Christoper Nolan

Amazing.

If I were asked to sum up what I thought about Interstellar in one word, that would be my answer.

Amazing.

This movie is truly a marvel of science and imagination, reaching a level so high on the creativity spectrum that it earns the honor of being called an orgy of science fiction.

Other than Interstellar, do you know how many orgies of science fiction I’ve come across in my life?

None.

This is the only one, and it achieves the honorary status without giant robots or laser beams or invading aliens.

I left the cinema astonished, thinking about events as I drove home, as I woke up the next morning, even as I did my chores the following weekend.

I’ve always craved a movie like this

A movie where a group of characters would go out for the first time to another galaxy and […]

Posted in: Movies

Get My Free Ebook The Knights Scroll

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The Knights Scroll by Jevon Knights

I’ve finally finished my first ebook, The Knights Scroll.

The scroll is a collection of short stories filled with remarkable experiences ranging from a being who would rather die than continue not living to a mighty king so angry that he attacks the sea.

Each story is no longer than 2000 words, making them quick but satisfying reads.

And to show my appreciation that you’re here, I want to give it to you, free.

Simply click here, enter your email address and download it.

Posted in: Stories

Criteria for the Perfect Writing Space

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Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve sat to write at home and ended up with nothing.

I get to my chair or couch, crack my knuckles and put fingers to keyboard, only to end up watching television and falling asleep.

Then I wake up about 1 in the morning, curse when I remember I have to work the next day, run to the bedroom so fast that I almost trip over the couch, then wake up the next morning feeling guilty about not writing anything.

I usually promise myself I’ll get some writing done when I get back home, only to repeat the same process all over again, tripping over couch and all.

Now this wouldn’t be a problem if I could wake up 6am, all refreshed and ready to hit the day, and start writing.

But I […]

Posted in: Writing

The Most Reliable Place a Writer Can Research Factual Information

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s a typical scenario.

You’ve got an amazing concept to explain or an awesome fiction story to tell.

So you start writing down the details. The words are flowing great, and the sentences are pouring out.

You feel as though you know exactly what you’re talking about. After all, you’ve thought about it so much that you’ve pretty much lived it.

And you know that when you’re finish and it’s ready to be shared with the world, everyone will love it.

Then suddenly, you hit an “unsure fact” obstacle. Your fingers skid across the keys. That inspirational tune playing in your mind comes to a scratching halt. It’s like slamming your F1 car straight into a wall.

Now you’re unsure about that last sentence you just typed because you just don’t know if it’s possible.

You’re wondering something like, what gear […]

Posted in: Writing

Don’t Narrow Your Mind with Reading and Writing Like the Way I Did with Sports

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Image courtesy of Idea go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I was growing up, I always thought the world only had three real sports: cricket, basketball, and football (or soccer in America).

Let’s call them the big three. Do anything else and you were just playing the fool.

And being a young male, the only way I could add any value to the human race was to pick a sport and excel at it.

Seeing that I had no interest in cricket, and that I had never seen a basketball court until my teens, my only option left was football.

Tried as I might, till this day I have never excelled in football, which by extension of my world meant I never excelled in sports.

This narrowed perspective on sports stems from school, and it also extended into my reading and writing activities.

But There’s More Than Just the Big […]

Posted in: Writing

Writing Inspiration from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge

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Photo courtesy SyFy

I cursed the day when man filmed the first reality show.

There’s nothing more annoying than someone being followed by a camera and talking useless trivia.

But I didn’t realise that reality shows also spanned to people with a purpose (and I’ve been watching Pawn Stars all this time).

The latest, and surprisingly inspiring, is Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge on SyFy channel.

For a fantasy writer like me, coming across this show was like tripping over an ancient Egyptian vase in your back yard.

Who is Jim Henson?

So in case you didn’t know, Jim Henson is the creator of the Muppets. He also created several characters in Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and the Storyteller, and his studio produced movies like Dark Crystal and the Labyrinth.

While he passed away several years ago, he left quite a legacy.

In the reality show Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, […]

Posted in: Writing

Revising the Pitch for My Novel

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you’ve been following me for a while now, then you probably know than am looking for an agent for my debut novel, Guardian of the Cursed Crown.

One of the important elements I need to accomplish this is an intriguing pitch.

If you’re wondering what a pitch is, then just turn around any book or dvd case and you’ll get a good example.

A pitch is like a more fleshed out version of a blurb, describing a book in a couple sentences in a way the catches the attention of agents and readers.

Sometimes the words pitch and blurb are used interchangeably, but I’m not so sure they’re the same thing.

The Elements of a Good Pitch

A good pitch points out the key elements of a story without revealing too much. It can’t be too wordy.

Of course, you can’t […]

Posted in: Marketing

The Real Purpose of Facebook for Writers

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ll just go ahead and say it: I hate Facebook.

With that, I could imagine music scratching to a halt, loud gasps filling the air, and chairs dragging on the floor as everyone turns to see who is the weirdo that dared to make such a blasphemous statement.

But it’s true, and I say it without apology.

Just a couple of seconds on the damn site fills me with more pain than having to watch a marathon of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Why Do I Hate Facebook So Much?

It’s too distracting.

Everyone’s poking everything, inviting you to play Candy Crush, checking out pictures, sending flirty messages. Basically doing nothing productive (and I already spend enough time doing nothing productive).

You would think that a place as text intensive as Facebook would be a writer’s dream, right?

But it’s not.

Reason being is […]

Posted in: Writing