Erotica, fantasy, and horror writer.

Most commented posts

  1. The Worm Ouroboros
    [Reading Challenge 2018]
    — 7 comments
  2. The Lady of the Green Kirtle (Part I) — 5 comments
  3. The Many Faces of the White Witch – Part I — 4 comments
  4. The Wild Lands of the North
    (and a bit about Giants)
    — 4 comments
  5. All Things Charn (Part I) — 4 comments

Author's posts

Kriss: The Gift of Wrath [Review]

Kriss: The Gift of Wrath  by Ted Naifeh Art by Warren Wucinich Oni Press, 2019 This graphic novel is the perfect gift for a middle school child of 11 – 12 who is getting into experiencing  adolescent angst, heavy metal, Goth culture, and fantasy fiction. The story is a time-worn one: a young orphan and …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/17/21: Fairy Tales II

The plasticity of fairy tales is demonstrated by these illustrations of Beauty and the Beast from over the years. In the original fairy tale, the Beast is never explicitly described, so artists had to use their imaginations. From the top left, going clockwise, he’s a spotted hyena, a wolf-boar, a very weird walrus-mole hybrid, and …

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Reading Challenge 2021

“I particularly enjoyed the fable about the Leopard changing his spots.”   My Authors Water Cooler Reading Challenge selections for 2021. Out of a list of 50 categories, the participant chooses 12, the idea being you read one a month. I hope I do better at this year’s than last year’s. Last year, it seemed …

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Questing Beast

The Questing Beast was a creature from Arthurian lore. It combined the features of a deer, snake, leopard, and dragon. Shy yet fierce, it was the quarry of King Pellinore, who spent his life searching for it. This Questing Beast was by artist Terri Whitlatch who specializes in speculative biology.  

Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/10/21: Fairy Tales I

Fairy tales were not intended for children. I repeat that, fairy tales were NOT intended for children. Just take a look at the Kay Nielson illustration for Cinderella above. Despite the name, Kay is a he, a classically trained Danish artist who worked heavily during the first half of the 20th century. The moment depicts …

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The Hills Have Eyes

And other body parts as well, apparently. Artwork by the great Ed Emshweller.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/3/21: Blues Singers

Entirely by coincidence, I found out that tables used for generating magic spells could also generate names suitable for blues singers from the first half of the twentieth century. Enjoy!   Blues Singers Sissy Withers Addie Gate Sister Willie Ella Denny Durst Quincy Pearl Slow Soft Bird Nickie Jackson Jerris Howler Jerkie Davis Viola Peach …

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Dating the Future

One of the things I enjoy about vintage SFF illustrations is how it’s possible to pinpoint the time in which they were painted by how they depict hairstyles, clothing, and other elements. Take the image above. The woman has a fashionable hairdo like that of the Moonbase girls on the Gerry Anderson series UFO (1970) …

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