Even bad tropes, the ones we can all agree are pretty weak or even actively horrible, have an origin. Now, one might say, why bother discussing the reason behind a bad trope? They’re just bad! Because there’s a reason behind everything, and it is always worth questioning and investigating. We study history, the good and the bad,Continue reading “The Everlasting Trope: Bad Trope Edition”
Category Archives: Thoughts and Analyses
The Problem with Premise
*I apologize in advance for all the mixed metaphors I always get a thrill when I hear of a slew of new books with genius premises…and then a sigh of discouragement swiftly follows. You see, I have been burned by premise before. I hear of a book that has a simply BLAZING, brilliant premise. I admireContinue reading “The Problem with Premise”
Peevishness and Lack Thereof
I am always intrigued by people’s pet peeves. By nature, they are highly personal, but there’s something funny about them well aside from the fact that many of them make no sense: We KNOW we cannot hold others to our pet peeves…but we kinda WANT to. Example: I love food, and I love varieties ofContinue reading “Peevishness and Lack Thereof”
Tried by Time
You know that kid’s song “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold”? I remember it from Wee Sing in Sillyville, but never mind that. I was thinking about this song recently based on a combination of my personal reading experiences and a few posts I saw about challengingContinue reading “Tried by Time”
War and the Military in Fantasy: Part 2
Herein reside a few scattered thoughts on war and the military in fantasy. For part 1 of this, see here. I think I tend to be just a little pickier about how war/battle/military matters are presented in fantasy novels. Honestly, I’m a bit of a stick in the mud. “That doesn’t make any sense. ItContinue reading “War and the Military in Fantasy: Part 2”
Hometown Lessons
So we just got back from an extended stay with family in our hometown over Christmas and New Years. It was wonderful. The kids got to play with Grandparents and Uncles and Aunts galore, and we got to just relax at our old stomping grounds. My husband and I are from the same city, soContinue reading “Hometown Lessons”
The Desert is More than Sand
I have lived in/visited a fair variety of climates. I’m from Oklahoma, I lived a while in Virginia, spent a summer working at a clinic in Chiapas, Mexico, and lived in Israel for six months as a Moshav volunteer when I was 17 (Judean Hills area, near Abu Ghosh). When I was in the MarineContinue reading “The Desert is More than Sand”
The Everlasting Trope: Stable Boy among Kings.
Or (according to TVtropes): Penny among Diamonds I desperately, inconveniently, and perhaps inexcusably, love this trope. I will be using it a bit more broadly than the tvtropes definition, as you will see, but the basic idea is the same. The poor lad or lass of low social standing somehow gets involved with the higher social classes–culturalContinue reading “The Everlasting Trope: Stable Boy among Kings.”
The Tombs of Atuan and Till We Have Faces
*SPOILERS* for The Tombs of Atuan and Till We Have Faces I just read The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin for the first time. It had been recommended to me before, and I have had my sisters’ copies of it (and Wizard of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore) on my shelves for years. MyContinue reading “The Tombs of Atuan and Till We Have Faces”
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast
I have mentioned before that I don’t really have writing advice to offer. This is for two reasons. One? The good stuff has all been said, no real need for me to rephrase it. Two? I don’t know that my way of writing and learning to write would be particularly helpful. But just in caseContinue reading “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast”
J. L. Odom 