October Love, Wild Wanderings, and a New Book

Fall is here at last in my home of Missouri. Three days ago brisk winds blew in thunderstorms and chilly weather. Leaves are falling from the trees already. All the beaches we love to play and walk on have been temporarily drowned in the swell of the great Missouri River (but that didn’t keep us [...]

A Thing or Two About the Phoenix

1.  A phoenix can live between 500 and 1000 years, at the end of which it will build a nest and ignite, burn fiercely, and be reborn from its own ashes. 2.  The Roman poet Ovid maintained that the phoenix was not necessarily reborn from its own ashes, but that it would burst into flames [...]

Fictional Forests: The Real-Life Inspirations

“Beyond the Wild Wood comes the wild world,” said the Rat. “And that’s something that doesn’t matter, either to you or to me. I’ve never been there, and I’m never going, nor you either, if you’ve got any sense at all.” ― Kenneth Grahame The Wild Wood Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows was inspired [...]

Fictional Forests: Why They Enchant Us

“Only with a leaf can I talk of the forest.” ― Visar Zhiti Forests, in literature, can mean many, many things. Adventure, escape, danger, evil, magic, temptation, mystery, freedom, death, life, or shelter. Depending on the story, the setting, the characters, the author, or even the reader’s interpretation – a wood can be seen in [...]

Names of Strength and Whimsy in Literature

While researching names for my next book, I began thinking of all the names I've always loved from my favorite stories. What makes a good name, exactly? Does it need to have a certain sound? A particular meaning? A "feel" to it - happy, solemn, playful or fateful? I came up with a list of several [...]

Death Means Life

Harry Potter is struck down by his archenemy, visits the in-between, and makes the choice to return and finish what needs to be done – that is, conquer evil in the form of Lord Voldemort, thus saving not only the wizarding world, but the world entire. Death, for Harry, meant life. Gandalf the Grey is [...]

The Differences Between Fantasy and Fairy Tale

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between fairytales and fantasy? How do we know that Harry Potter is a fantasy, and Cinderella is a fairytale, and not vice versa? To start, a fairytale is a story within the fantasy genre. Fantasy, on the other hand, is the genre itself. Harry Potter may be [...]