Erotica, fantasy, and horror writer.
The name Cleopatra conjures up images of an exotic Egyptian beauty, an ancient dynasty, a scheming queen, a seductress. In movies she’s been played by Elizabeth Taylor, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Joan Collins, and Theda Bara; and to this day she remains a popular Halloween and performing persona for celebrities like Katy Perry, Heidi Klum, …
Her hypnotic stare seared into my soul.
The gruff private eye who investigated crimes with a world-weary cynicism had his start with author Dashiell Hammett amidst the throes of Prohibition when organized crime ran amok. Paperbook books began to be widely available in the decade after, and the two combined for masterpieces of vintage kitsch like the above (actual) novel by Fredric …
Hungry yet?
Iconic female characters for SFF are hard to find… and by iconic I mean they will be easily known by any reader with a good knowledge of the field even if rendered by disparate illustrators. Elric of Melniboné, who was in last week’s post, is one: armored albino man with a sword. Molly Millions, who …
My heart burns for you.
This is a fresh pig’s tongue as might be available from a specialty butcher. Not very appetizing, is it? What if I told you it was most delicious, and that I created a recipe to cook it? Pork Tongue prepared in a pressure cooker 3 fresh pork tongues, cleaned 3 cloves garlic 2 bay leaves …
I’ve posted almost 1,000 randomly generated names on Twitter so far, and I thought it would be interesting to showcase my favorites. These are names up to June of 2018 that may be used for characters, either in a story or in a gaming situation. Characters I Queen Kapranje Liegestrud, an imaginary Scandinavian monarch …
Toxic, perhaps, and firing on all cylinders.
It’s not only the translations of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights that have changed over the years; illustrations of the classic have changed as well. The oil painting Alnaschar’s Fortune, by William Ewart Lockhart, embodies a realistic, dramatic Victorian style, but starting in the 20th century, children’s book illustrators showed a move towards abstraction …