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What Makes Fantasy Work? Part 1

Readers love Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and they love a handful of later fantasies. But a lot of stories don’t go viral, don’t get hundreds of reviews, and in fact get tepid responses. So what makes fantasy work? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Magic In The Story: The Two Faces Of Magic

This week we delve deeper into the mysteries of ‘Magic in the Story’ and find ourselves confronted by the fact that there are two faces of magic in Narnia. · Christopher Miller

Magic In The Story: What’s The Big Deal?

Magic — just the mention of it can cause many a “good Christian” to draw dividing lines, take sides and ready for attack. Are we being discerning or just overreacting? Join our new series: Magic in the Story. · Christopher Miller

Label Me The Anti-Christ or Give Me A Grilled Chessus!

I remember it well, my first novel had just been published and reviews were starting to appear on various blog posts and retail sites. To my delight the posts were almost unanimously positive. The comments were packed with kids and […] · Christopher Miller

When Science Fiction Meets Fairy Tale

At first glance, science fiction and fairy tales appear to have little in common. They’re like water and oil. What could tales about nasty step-mothers and magic share with stories of high-tech gadgets and trips to other worlds? For starters, both address themes of human experience through the fantastic, and both bear the imprint of the culture of their time. · Jeff Chapman

Realism And Twenty-first Century Stories

If all characters are victims of disaster, I suggest readers or viewers stop caring and start looking for the “out.” Will the character die and come back? Have a narrow escape? Have a death that only looks like death? In truth, all the arguing and betrayal and refusal becomes–predictable and boring and unrealistic. Soon the characters seem more like caricatures because none acts with nobility or courage or hope. All display their flawed selves with so little inner struggle. And this, we’ve come to believe, is realistic. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

May I Have A Word?

It’s easy to use the word word, but hard to define it with words. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? A sound with meaning? Not really. · Yvonne Anderson

Are You Sitting Down For This? (Why I’m Taking A Stand For Writers Everywhere)

Chances are if you are reading this post, you are sitting down. And if you are like most Americans (we writers are some of the worst) you’ll probably spend at least 12 hours of your waking day sitting on your […] · Christopher Miller

Seeking A Better Country Than Middle Earth

Watching Peter Jackson interpret J.R.R. Tolkien is like watching a master jazz impresario play Beethoven. The original is classic; the interpretation as a new work is equally brilliant. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

What Constitutes “Derivative”?

Some scholars claim J. R. R. Tolkien owed a debt of influence where he claimed none. I find this criticism to be thoroughly ironic because the great accusation against writers of high fantasy today is that their work is derivative, a mere shadow of, you guessed it, J.R.R. Tolkien. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

What Makes A Villain?

John Otte has villains on the brain today. He’s trying to figure out what makes a villain truly effective in a story. Stop by and help him figure it out. · John Otte

Holidays And Celebrations

J. K. Rowling was not alone in making use of this-world holidays. C. S. Lewis created a powerful, and Christian, message in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by referencing the fact that Narnia suffered under a never-ending winter–always winter and never Christmas. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Evil And The One Ring To Rule Them All

Tolkien, as most speculative readers know, was not attempting an allegory. Nevertheless, his mythopoetic world, the result of his sub-creation, contains parallels with reality. In fact, his world throws revelatory light on what he believed about certain things in the real world. One of those things is evil. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Success Of Fantasy By The Masters

According to Dr. Drout, Tolkien, and I would argue Lewis, created a bridge for contemporary readers to step into the realm of the fantastic. These writers tied their magical, mystical worlds to the world readers knew and recognized. Interestingly, they did so in vastly different ways. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Mayhem And Its Meaning

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy might be the benchmark for grand battles, notably in the battle of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of Bywater in The Return of the King. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Stories Of Sacrifice

I think there’s something to the idea that self-sacrifice is appealing. C. S. Lewis was particularly good at weaving self-sacrifice into his stories. It, of course, is crucial in the (traditional) opening book of Narnia–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Why Aren’t Adults More Inclined To Read Fantasy?

George MacDonald, a contemporary and friend of Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain, wrote fairy tales not only for children, but also for adults, and surprisingly, from our 21st century context, his work sold in the thousands of copies throughout Europe and also here in the U.S. · Dean Hardy

Introducing N. D. Wilson

Publishing as N. D. Wilson, Nate writes middle grade fantasy for the general market, including the well-loved Cupboards Trilogy. His most recent release is the much acclaimed The Dragon’s Tooth, first in the Ashtown Burials series, which received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal. The paperback edition is due out next month. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Dark Is The Stain: The Fast

Just as I’ve learned there’s many ways to fast, so there are many ways to prioritize so as to focus on writing productivity. · Kaci Hill
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