5 Shows to Fill the Game of Thrones Void

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Netflix’s The Last Kingdom

No matter what you thought about HBO’s final season of Game of Thrones, there’s a void left that’s consuming the world, leaving viewers wondering what to do now that winter finally came, and went.

I’ve seen all manner of articles suggesting that if you like Game of Thrones, then you’ll love Westworld, Orphan Black, or even Avatar (yes, the cartoon).

No, you will not, because if you’re truly a fan of the series, you didn’t stick around 9 years for the love of sympathetic killers, sex-craving politicians, or reckless children.

You did it because you love fantasy.

And fantasy brought to life by grand settings, believable characters in believable costumes, captivating stories, and sword-slashing action.

Lots and lots of sword-slashing action!

Here are five shows, for real this time, that will fill the Game of Thrones void.

Vikings

History Channel’s Vikings

Think […]

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Sci Fi Fantasy You Should Check Out in 2019

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Shadow of Colossus

Another draft down, one more draft to go. My novel is almost ready for the world.

With 120,000 words, 43 chapters, all separated into 4 parts, I never expected it to blow up to this magnitude, but I guess that’s what happens when your fictional world takes on a life of its own.

Now to send this over to my editor (if I can afford one… sigh), take a break for a couple months, then get back to it with fresh eyes.

But in the meantime, I’d like to share my top choices of sci fi fantasy that I wholeheartedly recommend you check out in 2019.

Note this isn’t a list of new releases, just things that I’ve recently checked out, or I’ve got on my radar.

Books

the Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

The Three-Body Problem
Aliens have set their eyes […]

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5 Great 2018 Christmas Gifts for that Geek in Your Life

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Red Dead Redemption II

Only three days left, and you still don’t know what to buy your geek for Christmas yet.

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

Here are 5 great presents that any geek would love.

Google Home

Google Home

Geeks love gadgets, especially ones that interface with the internet.

The Google Home turns your entire abode into a smart house.

Tell it to set the alarm, turn on the lights, play music, ask about the traffic, how’s the weather, or anything else you see in an episode of Star Trek.

The Poppy War

the Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

This new epic fantasy trilogy published earlier this year made my to-read list because of its compelling blurb.

A dark-skinned peasant girl enters an elite military school and soon becomes part of a bloody war. Throw in […]

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2018 Writing Resolutions

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s that time of year again when the internet is full of goals and resolutions and weight loss promises.

And unpublished writers are proclaiming books are going live this year.

I know. I’m guilty. I’ve been saying that for the past three years now, so I’m going to be more realistic this year, while at the same time surging ahead with all goals.

Here’s a little recap of last year and further plans for 2018.

Writing Progress

With two ebooks in the works, I’ve really took on a huge challenge.

The main novel Guardian of the Cursed Crown is about two thirds revised. Actually I would have been finished by now if my editor Jesse hadn’t done such a great job in pointing out all the issues with the story. Now everything about the book – the story, the world, the characters […]

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5 Great 2017 Christmas Gifts for that Geek in Your Life

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8bitdo Wireless Gamepad

It may be true that geeks like me don’t talk much about presents (or anything for that matter), but we do a lot of networking, and share common ideas.

If you’ve been wondering what to get that geek in your life for Christmas, I’ve got you covered.

Here are 5 great 2017 Christmas presents geeks worldwide would love to unwrap on everybody’s favourite merry morning.

Game of Thrones House Stark Stein

Game of Thrones House Stark Stein

It’s going to be another year before we finally get to see the conclusion of the epic fantasy Game of Thrones (the HBO version), so in the meantime let your geek reminisce all the action of Westeros while drinking ale from this House Stark stein.

True, Eddard wasn’t a drinking man, but maybe if he’d taken a couple of swigs, he would […]

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Elements of World Building – Evolution

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Photo credit: José-Manuel Benitos at Wikimedia Commons

Imagine a massive city of brick and steel, with buildings stretching to dizzying heights and electrical conduits snaking through the ground to power its lights, computers, and lifts. Surrounding this city is a defensive wall, lined with battlements and dotted with great gates.

Everyone walks around wearing jerkins and breeches, and the guards patrol the streets in plate mail and armed with swords. There’s also magic, of course, elemental stuff like fire and ice and electricity, along with dark temporal summonings and white healing abilities.

For transport, horses pull passengers on floating vehicles. Greater distances are covered using large, wooden, three-mast ships capable of soaring through the sky, with wings to control their direction, and kept aloft by gas turbines.

People would be able to travel to different planets on these ships, to similar cities with similar settings.

Sounds awesome, right?

Well […]

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Elements of World Building – People

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Photo credit: Rufino at Wikimedia Commons

I read once that, unless described, a fictional character is often visualized as having the same features as the person imagining him.

That means that if you’re white, you see the character as being white, and similarly for if you’re coloured.

It’s strange because, even though I am of African decent, whenever I start a new fantasy novel I always imagine all the characters as being white. This is probably due to growing up watching fantasy movies that have been dominated by white Hollywood actors. Conan the Barbarian (the 1982 version), Red Sonja, Clash of the Titans (again, the 1981 version) were all full of white characters.

And then there were the fairy tales that my young impressionable mind absorbed: Jack and the Bean Stalk, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast. You see where I’m going here.

Single-Race Fantasy

Because fantasy is based […]

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2017 Writing Resolutions

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Image courtesy of krishna arts at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So long, 2016.

It feels like it flew by in just a couple months. I know I say this every year, but this is the year I’m going to publish that debut novel.

Now something like that is easy to say. So in order to get things going, here’s a little recap and how I plan on accomplishing my goal.

Writing Progress

If you’ve been following along for a while, then you know that I’ve been working on two ebooks: the short story collection Chronicles of the Cursed Crown, and the main novel Guardian of the Cursed Crown.

Progress has been slow, but I did hit a milestone.

Last year I sent the short story collection to my editor Jesse, and he already responded with his comments. Then I started revising the main novel.

This year I plan to pick up my revising […]

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5 Great 2016 Christmas Gifts for that Geek in Your Life

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Image courtesy of Graphics Mouse at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So you’ve got a geek in your life. Maybe it’s your spouse, maybe a brother or sister, or maybe your child. You know they like science fiction fantasy, but what kind of Christmas present does that translate into exactly?

Well you’re in luck. Fortunately, being an expert geek myself, I’ve got some ideas for you.

Here are 5 great 2016 Christmas gifts for that geek in your life.

Logitech Harmony All-in-One Remote

Logitech Harmony All-in-One Remote ($141.41)

At any point in time, I’m juggling at least four remotes. There’s a remote to control the tv, a remote to control the cable box, a remote to control the laptop, a remote to control the wife.

Ok, maybe not the wife, but the point is that it gets old pretty fast. And just one misplaced remote […]

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Elements of World Building – the Map

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The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion: Map

As a child playing jrpg’s like Final Fantasy or adventure games like Zelda, I’d always spend several minutes with the included map, gaping at the large continent and the smaller islands scattered over some imaginary ocean.

I loved looking at the mountains and rivers and villages, ancient ruins and mysterious caves, anxious to start my adventure as a character dropped off at some random point with nothing but a sword and a sack.

Even today, when I start reading a new fantasy novel, I obsess over that first page with the map of the world, trying to remember the locations of roads and cities that I’m certain the protagonist would visit.

So seeing that I have this passion, it surprises me that one of the mistakes I made when I first started writing fantasy was not truly mapping out the world […]

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