Ever walk into an empty room and feel like you’re being watched? Ever feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end for no apparent reason? Maybe you’ve encountered a real-live ghost. In this week’s spoooooooky episode, we’re talking about things that go bump in the night, particularly phantoms, spirits, apparitions, poltergeists….you know, ghosts!  Whether you believe in the existence of ghosts or not, you want to create a well-rounded ghost character that makes us true believers.  But Katrina and Genny are sick of reading the same old clichés. Either ghosts are as friendly a ..read more

If you could have any magical ability in the world, what would it be? Would you fly over the rooftops of your hometown? Would you control fire and water? Would you bring your poor houseplant back to life?  In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny discuss the limits of one’s imagination—more specifically, all the wonderful and weird and unexplainable magical abilities you can give your character.  After all, fantasy is where magic can feel free and safe to express itself—why wouldn’t you want to sprinkle a little magic into your world? Before we dive in, we make the distinction between s ..read more

New York City, Paris, King’s Landing, Chicago, Metropolis: What do all these cities have in common? They’re all featured in fantasy novels. Whether real or imagined, cities are common settings in urban fantasy and high fantasy alike.  So the question is: how do we write about urban spaces that feel so real that your readers will be asking you, “Where can I find this place?” And how do we make existing cities feel magical? Here are a few tips: Give your city a personality Use your five senses Draw a map Use Google maps Spend a day in your made-up city Think vertically Establish what the ..read more

In today’s special mini-episode, Genny flies solo as Katrina takes one small step for woman, one giant step for adulthood. And, of course, left to her own devices, Genny chooses to talk about satyrs, those Ancient Greek mythological creatures who kind of look like the devil, but who are really just looking for a good time. She discusses their origins, and the difference between satyrs and fauns and Faunus and Pan and Dionysus….well actually, you just get to listen to her spiral into a ball of confusion about the difference between all these characters. We’re not quite sure if she came to a con ..read more

Mermaid straight ahead! A’hoy mateys. Today, we’re going unda da sea and into the mysterious world of mermaids, mermen, and merfolk! We want to know where our fascination with mermaids comes from. To do that, we need to go back to the beginning to learn more about the origins of this mysterious clam-bra-wearing being. Did you know that mermaid lore spans thousands of years and shows up in various parts of Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, the British Isles, and Southeast Asia?  So, we all agree that mermaids were a real thing to our ancestors. Sometimes she’s good, sometimes she’s bad, s ..read more

Villains are people too! Well, sometimes. In today’s episode, we’re talking about those characters that your readers love to hate. From the worst of human nature to the best of supernatural species, every reader is looking for a good “bad guy”. But sometimes, authors don’t always deliver. Either we don’t spend enough time unpacking that “crossroads moment” when the villain chose the path of darkness, or, as Katrina puts out, they’re just an amorphous blob with little personality, motivation, or reason. Being evil for evil’s sake gets kinda boring, ya know? Even if your character is the Devil h ..read more

What is a witch’s spell without plants? In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny dive into the world of herbalism and magic. Every plant on the planet is imbued with magical properties and health benefits, so we aren’t even going to try and tackle them all in one episode, cuz ain’t nobody got time for that. Instead, we pick a handful of the most interesting herbs and plants that your character might use to cast spells, heal their friends, and harm their enemies.  Our picks for today’s episode are: Angelica Belladonna Cactus Basil Lemon Balm Mugwort Yarrow Wolfsbane Rue Dittany of Crete Drag ..read more

In today’s episode, Katrina and Genny give you a blueprint (or questionnaire) to help you in the worldbuilding stage of your fantasy writing. Let these questions act as your worldbuilding guide: Ask yourself what kind of society your character lives in What are the different forms of governance? Is there a well-established class system? (low, middle, upper-class) Is there a strong proletariat? Do they feel exploited? How are labourers perceived by others? Are merchants respected by the upper-class? How does your character’s society treat the poor, sick, elderly, and marginalized? Do mytholog ..read more

What is impostor syndrome? Maybe you’ve heard this pop psychology phrase buzzing around social media lately, or maybe you’re hearing it for the first time. Put simply, impostor syndrome is the belief that you are a fraud. If you’re a writer and you have impostor syndrome, you don’t feel like you’re really a writer, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. We’re here to tell you that impostor syndrome is a load of codswallop! In this episode, Katrina and Genny explore this phenomenon in an effort to demonstrate why impostor syndrome is not only a bunch of nonsense, but also why it ..read more

In our very first episode, we take a look at the books that inspired us in our worldbuilding and writing. We thought it would be a piece of cake to name all the books that helped us create our own fantasy worlds, but it turned out to be quite difficult. The result: Apparently Genny is super into Greek mythology and Katrina is obsessed with Irish folklore.  If you get nothing else from this episode, hopefully you're inspired to broaden your horizons and realize that when it comes to fantasy, there are no books you SHOULD read. It is a genre of absolute freedom, and with that said, the onl ..read more