Parting Words
The third law of storytelling physics: time pauses when a mentor dies. Read more »
Follow Us
Get Our Email Newsletter
We'll send our best work every month.
Chris Winkle
Chris is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mythcreants. On the side she also designs, codes, and writes stories. When she manages to escape from chronic workaholism, she likes to drink tea, wear funny hats, pet kitties, and crush her enemies at the game table.
Is a Romance Between a Leader and a Follower Always Problematic?
In many stories a captain, boss, or other leader will have a romance w/ a subordinate, employee, or other follower. In real life, most militaries, businesses, and other organizations prohibit this sort of behavior, w/ good reason: A captain might refuse to put a beloved … read more »
252 – Weather in Fiction
It was a dark and stormy podcast. Suddenly, a host called out “what does weather mean in fiction?” So we decided to do that for a topic. That’s right, 30 minutes talking about the weather. Flee while you can! Or stay and discover what weather … read more »
Lessons from the Disingenuous Writing of Maximum Ride
I got a request for Maximum Ride, so here we are with The Angel Experiment, the first book in this bestselling series by James Patterson. By the title and the cover, we can assume the main character is an angelic young white woman. The chapters … read more »
Another Day, Another Diamond
Outside Joan’s window, humanity ran amok. The far hillside was covered in hobbyists building a mansion from macaroni. In the valley below, gamers fought epic bubble battles in towering tanks. Winding through it all were hikers on the 100-mile trail of ruffled roses. Her window framed the scene superbly, providing a portrait of society no artist could accomplish. Joan didn’t see it. She kept the shades pulled so the best view on Earth wouldn’t distract her from the most boring job there was. After all, it was the only job there was. Read more »
251 – What Does Genre Mean?
Scifi, mystery, literary, these are all genres, and each of them means something different. But what does genre mean, exactly? How important is it to the writing process, or the publishing process for that matter? Listen in as we tackle those very questions this week. … read more »
A Ludicrous Plan
Only a terrible plan can save us. Read more »
How Do I Indicate That Something Is Being Spoken in Another Language?
I’d like to know how to express that certain portions of dialogue are being spoken in a foreign language. So far I have handled this using italics, but my concern is that large sections of italics would be jarring to the reader. My protagonist is … read more »
250 – Oppressed Mage Shenanigans
Mages are difficult to oppress, what with how they can teleport and shoot fire out of their hands, but that doesn’t stop authors from trying. Some stories manage to get past the practical barriers of oppressing mages before running into the socio-political ones, but we’re … read more »
Explaining the Urban Fantasy Masquerade
Speculative fiction storytellers will go a long way to make fantastical situations feel plausible. Sure, they will never be perfectly plausible because magic isn’t real, but it’s still no good if our audience is wondering why the hero won’t use teleportation during our tense climax. … read more »