The Unwanted

Today’s post is a recent scribble. A new short story? A new novel? We’ll see how it develops, but know that it’s a touch of sci-fi, and one I do intend to develop further in the future. Outlines and notations are already swimming through my head, apparently moving into the same high-rise apartments as the [...]

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Inside Idasia: Religion, Part 1

Welcome, one and all, to the first edition of “Inside Idasia,” a new feature here on the Waking Den that I hope will shed some light into the dark places of The Hollow March. The opening topic, as the title would imply, is religion—something I don’t think we see quite enough of in the fantasy [...]

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A Dash of Character for your Fantasy

This season is, among other things, about character. As we give thanks for what we have, voice hope for what we want, and reach out to hopefully help others maintain or acquire both, we paint pictures of ourselves for all the world to see. Now, naturally, human beings aren’t defined by a single season—a person [...]

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The Hollow March: Finalized Cover

Good cover art is one of the defining qualities of a novel. Without it, you simply lack that opening dose of eye-catching glory; that certain visual character that will (hopefully) draw the mind as surely as it draws the body near. Oh, money’s involved in there somewhere too, but we try not to think about [...]

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Sneak Peek: The Hollow March

Busy, busy, busy. It’s a busy month all around, I must say, and I’m not talking about National Novel Writing Month (though it’s certainly appropriate for this post). While many writers are out there right now scrambling toward 50,000 word goals, I’m caught dead in the midst of the marketing part of the publication program. [...]

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The Science of Cover Art

Old adages hold that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Shouldn’t—but the simple fact is, most of the world does. The cover art of a book, like a title, provides the first impression of a work for passing readers’ eyes. Ideally, you want them to sing a sort of siren’s tune for anyone [...]

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Welcome to Idasia – or, Maps, Maps, Maps!

(Geography follows below, but for the final version of Idasia’s map, consult “The Great Fantasy Extravaganza!“ Welcome, all, to a little sneak peak on my upcoming novel, “The Hollow March.” While I’ll have other goodies appearing in days to come, I thought you all might be interested in a glance at some of the locales [...]

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“The Child’s Cry”

It’s just one of those weeks. Good turn of phrase, and one we’ve all heard before, I’m sure – but usually, we mean it in a bad way. It’s just one of those weeks. You know. The kind we don’t talk about, so we get all vague and shy. Well, let me just say it [...]

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The Hollow March Begins

For two years, I have spoken here and there of a mysterious book in progress. Between bouts of poetry and short story fancies, I have penned, edited, and re-edited this work countless times, in my own attempts to reach that forever out of reach pinnacle of perfection we writers view as something akin to the [...]

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Short Story Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from a little story I just whipped up this morning, after a touch of reading on the rather lovely – *cue sad laughter* – state the media’s in. Always good to have a healthy reminder now and then, but in this case, it spurred a touch of the creative in [...]

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