A LOT of Fantasy stories have settings that are a version of feudal Europe, a remix of the more lurid aspects of the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, but I don’t identify much with that history. Maybe it’s my American mindset, but if I’m going to harken back to a past era, it’s going to be the Enlightenment. That period between 1780 and 1800 was just as awful as the Dark Ages in its own unique ways, but I find it more hopeful and energetic; an existential landscape where characters can make their own destinies, even in the face of prophecy. Again: American. One way that I indicate that period is the inclusion of muskets. The existence of gunpowder, though, has caused more that one avid Fantasy reader to ask, why would gunpowder exist in a world with magic? That is a GREAT question. Why would it? Who would use gunpowder if they could use magic? What does that say about that character? Or the nature of magic? Or the politics of the world? You’re asking the right questions. Keep reading.
Designing The World: Muskets & Magic
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What-the-when?!? Placing Ch 9 on the Fractured Timeline
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The World, Developing The Story, News, Story, 0
If you’ve started reading Chapter 9: “Delving Deep, or, The Macabre Misadventures of Misters Scrivener, Bellwether and Guess,” you’ve...
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Why is it so hot in the valley?
Todd Sharp, , BTS, The Circle, 0
We spent the afternoon at AJS Costumes, picking out wardrobe for an upcoming photo shoot for The Elect Stories....
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How Changing A Male Hero To Female Opened My Eyes To My Own World
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The Characters, Developing The Story, 0
One of the criticisms that I received in the first draft of the manuscript was that the genders were...
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Doubling back
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The Characters, Developing The Story, News, Story, 0
Intrigued by Todd Sharp’s portrait of an angst-ridden Jonny Guess featured on the cover of Chapter 9, a friend...
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Imaginary Soundtracks
John Crye, , BTS, Exploring The World, 0
I like to listen to music when I write. I think I may have started the habit when my...
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The Underside of Fantasy
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The Characters, Exploring The World, 0
With the arrival this month of our fourth installment – “Negotiation, or, The Various and Sundry Businesses of Mister...
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Designing The World: Fashion
John Crye, , BTS, Designing The Characters, Designing The World, 0
Another reason why I drew inspiration from the Enlightenment Era, particularly the years 1780 – 1800, is because the...